Asbestos in storage heaters?

[fido]

As our landlord is installing gas central heating we have to get rid of the old storage heaters. The only way we can do this is by dismantling them. Are they likely to contain any asbestos?

[TKelly]

Yes, absolutely full of it, clear the area.

[Derek Geldard]

Not in my experience. They mainly constitute heating elements similar to cooker rings but a different shape, and firebricks.

You could save the firebricks and use them to build a barbeque or Tandoori oven -sometime.

If you come across any frangible fibrous insulation (unlikely) avoid breaking it up and wear a facemask. AIUI not all of the risk Re: insulation fibres relates to asbestos.

DG

[Dorothy Bradbury]

I assume that is tongue in cheek :-)

Earliest storage heaters did use asbestos cement board, affected heater part numbers are listed on the web. As a rule they tend to be very old, very big, very inefficient.

Later storage heaters (1985+) used rockwood & silica as plain white slab, thin board inside a woven covering. Silica is actually a waste product, originally developed by ICI, used in refractory linings & cat conv matrices. Microtherm, the typical tradename, allows far higher st/htr temperatures to boost efficiency - but still poor.

S/Htrs are 40-220kg+ of which 25-190kg is the bricks so ensure every brick removed before moving a heater.

[dom]

Yes older ones do, and the asbestos may have crumbled into dust.

I found a web listing of models containing asbestos when I was removing mine - and one did indeed contain asbestos in poor condition.

If you must remove the bricks take sensible precautions. Ideally get it outside first. Spread out plastic sheeting. Spray water to dampen down anything fibrous. Bag everything as soon as possible.

[Mogga]

Your landlord has to get rid of them as they are his and not yours?

[The Natural Philosopher]

no.

[fido]

delivery

Or get it delivered for free

Thanks for all your replies. The website I accessed indicates I'm ok. We volunteered to get rid of the storage heaters, anything to keep the landlord happy, and hopefully discourage him from increasing the rent.

[cupra]

I hope you've put them on ebay - you can get a few quid for them if they're in half way decent condition! (Collection only!)