How can I reuse or recycle storage heater bricks?
Carole sent an email asking about storage heater bricks:
does anyone know what to do with old storage heater bricks? Just had 4 old heaters taken out and I suspect the plumbers will just take the lot to the dump so want to see if I can save them and reuse them or find somewhere that can recycle them.
In one of my past lives, I was a labourer, helping renovate student houses during a summer holiday, and we had to remove some storage heaters once and let me tell you, those boys are HEAVY.
As a minimum, I’d offer them on Freecycle/Freegle in case someone can use them … for something. The only thing I can think of on this delightful Monday morning is infill for landscaping but I’m sure there are more useful reuses for them than that…
Any ideas? What about recycling options?
I’ve used these storage heater bricks as a surround to my open fire (not too close) but they absorb the heat nicely and keep the sitting room at above freezing for coming down the next morning.
And the garden edging idea is good – these bricks are really sturdy.
If the bricks are made of standard ceramic or the like, you can use them in your oven to help maintain temperature and even for cooking after the oven is turned off. They’d likely be good for the inside of a barbecue pit or pizza oven, too.
do they contain any ASBESTOS though ???
Obviously they retain heat, so what about using them to pre-warm the bed before getting in?
I’ve used the bricks as paving stones/stepping stones in the garden.
Put them anywhere at all in a greenhouse or polytunnel. They’ll absorb heat during the day and let it out at night, making the temperature inside more even and raising the night time temperature nicely.
Maybe a good way to do this would be to use them as big paving stones or as a flat potting area in one corner, so they never have to be moved.
What a neat idea, Alice! Thanks for that, shall put it to immediate use …
I plan on building a ceramic barbecue pizza oven with mine. Anyone had experience of this?
Are they safe to use in a pizza oven. I’m building one at the moment and I’m worried they might contain dangerous materials like asbestos 😷etc.
anyone know what they’re make of??
Hi,
Any Storage Heater made after 1974 ‘should’ be Asbestos free. However, it’s worth checking post 1974 model owners etc to see if the storage heater was serviced as it would not have been uncommon for some rogue or unscrupulous traders etc using old Asbestos components to save them money etc.
But if using more modern heater (ceramic) blocks it should be safe. Best bet if using near/around food is to seal/cover them with thick aluminium foil or sheeting as that won’t rust etc.
Hope this helps.