Storage Heaters

[Bugtownboy]

Would it be possible to build a masonry stove -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry_heater

That also could be heated by electrical elements throughout the build. Massive ‘storage heater’ at the centre of the house, fueled, when needed, by wood or briquettes (made from waste wood or Bracken for example). Other times, heated by excess PV or cheap rate electric.

Combined with UFH gives you a fairly robust, flexible heating system.

Can’t see Barratt’s or Persimmon building them, though

[chris_n]

Would it be possible to build a masonry stove -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry_heater

That also could be heated by electrical elements throughout the build. Massive ‘storage heater’ at the centre of the house, fueled, when needed, by wood or briquettes (made from waste wood or Bracken for example). Other times, heated by excess PV or cheap rate electric.

Combined with UFH gives you a fairly robust, flexible heating system.

Can’t see Barratt’s or Persimmon building them, though

Very popular here in Austria (not with the PV elements though).

[Bugtownboy]

In-laws came from Hungary - popular there too. Don’t know why they never seemed to catch on in U.K. ?

[AE-NMidlands]

weren't some so broad and long that the whole family could sleep on top of them? In Siberian peasants' huts, or wherever...

[Oldgreybeard]

I remember helping a friend build a rocket stove that was encased in concrete, years ago. The long horizontal bit was built like a bench across the width of the room, with the masonry flue going up the corner of the room. This was in an old granite cottage and one firing was enough to heat all the concrete up and keep the house warm all evening and through the night. Only downside was the noise when it was burning, but the burn didn't last that long, maybe a couple of hours. No idea how hot it got internally, certainly close to red heat for the horizontal steel tube when at the height of the burn.

[Joeboy]

That's the last and scabbiest storage heater cleaned up and painted. It will go in the North facing lower bedroom and do its thing!

[Andy]

I see there are plugs on your heaters. This is all on my assumption you have plugged them in to the sockets. Just in case its worth pointing out. I'm not an electrician but mine flatly refused to install a fused box for a tiny storage heater on the wall. If someone who is a qualified electrician wants to correct me then please feel free Heating units need to be individually wired to the consumer unit in general. Being an ultra cautious kind of guy I hope you are staggering the heaters. The way the circuits work you might end up having more current than you think through the wires despite it being rated for a 32 amp fuse on the ring. If there are bad connections in the sockets they might be getting quite hot with the sustained currents. Its definitely worth getting the wiring checked by an electrician. My understanding is the rings are more for intermittent loads. I'm trying to work out how to pull a cable around my freshly plastered walls :<

If you google 'maximum current on 2.5mm ac' then it shows 17 amps max continuous or about 4kW. Depending on where you have plugged in the storage heaters you could easily be exceeding this.

This is a good video showing why there might be more current than you think on one side of the circuit. Worth watching to the end.



When we took over our property there was some really bad wiring. Sockets chattering/sparking and some cables in the attic that had melted themselves and the overflow from the cold water tank. It was really lucky there wasn't a bad fire.

[AGT]

I think electricians get worried about too much..
If the load is less than 13amps get it plugged in!
I think Joe is doing a great job!

[Joeboy]

I see there are plugs on your heaters. This is all on my assumption you have plugged them in to the sockets. Just in case its worth pointing out. I'm not an electrician but mine flatly refused to install a fused box for a tiny storage heater on the wall. If someone who is a qualified electrician wants to correct me then please feel free Heating units need to be individually wired to the consumer unit in general. Being an ultra cautious kind of guy I hope you are staggering the heaters. The way the circuits work you might end up having more current than you think through the wires despite it being rated for a 32 amp fuse on the ring. If there are bad connections in the sockets they might be getting quite hot with the sustained currents. Its definitely worth getting the wiring checked by an electrician. My understanding is the rings are more for intermittent loads. I'm trying to work out how to pull a cable around my freshly plastered walls :<

If you google 'maximum current on 2.5mm ac' then it shows 17 amps max continuous or about 4kW. Depending on where you have plugged in the storage heaters you could easily be exceeding this.

This is a good video showing why there might be more current than you think on one side of the circuit. Worth watching to the end.



When we took over our property there was some really bad wiring. Sockets chattering/sparking and some cables in the attic that had melted themselves and the overflow from the cold water tank. It was really lucky there wasn't a bad fire.

Thank you, I am trained up to 4,500V equipment and careful in my connections and the SH's are running across 4 separate circuits. Thank you for raising the heat potential of poorly made off connections. The majority of my heaters run at 0.85kW with a peak of 2.55kW, no worries.

[Andy]

Cool, I thought of going down your route but got told off by my electrician. He does that regularly when I come up with new ideas. Hopefully it is good info for those without the knowledge.