storage heater bricks what can they be used for?

lovelyjubbly

Just read the thread about recycling on here and it mentioned a solar cooker and storage heater bricks and it got me thinking as my husband had just dismantled a storage heater, he has used the metal bits to repair our homemade garden bonfire incinerator (it was originally made from an old washing machine, but has burn through in many places) I know not everyone approves of bonfires, so I apologise to those people.
now he has stripped out all the wire from the heater, all the nuts and bolts switches etc, and put them in his huge collection of nuts and bolts etc, now we have a pile of storage heater bricks which i really want to make use of as they are like new. My husband want to extend our garden path with them, but they seem too good for that, any suggestions? is there a way of harnessing the heat and warming some water or something????? or is that too wacky? :rotfl: I don't think the solar cooker is any good for us as we live on salads and don't cook much, I would love any ideas, either realisitic or wild!!!!

OddjobKIA

as you live on salads then the pwerfect soulution is as a heat pit in a green house.

Dig a hole in the centre of your green house put in your fire bricks, cover and get a tube simalr to the one that comes out of the tumble dryer tie it up to thte top of the roof and fit a small computer type fan on the end it will run of an old car battery. Throught these wonderfull hot summer days have the fan suking in heat and when night time comes swap over the terminals and let it suck the air from the heat pit up into the green house creating a nice warm atmosphere all night.

http://www.itsnoteasybeinggreen.org/inebg_faq.htm#waterwheel

miss_corerupted

this sounds good, i work at a visitor centre and we are going to have a refurb soon, so i might just cadge some stuff from there.

we only have 2 storage heaters and i'm not sure how many bricks are in each

But this link has made me think about everything that's in the buliding

so u may have loads of threads off me soon asking for ideas



Wooden cladding (wood burner)

niccy

i think my friend made a kiln with some

Ken68

Hi Lovelyjubbly....I use them in the bottom of some sun cookers I made to absorb the heat and transfer to a pot which heats the water. Basically it's an old 'copper' tho an old tin bath would do. Box it in to insulate .
Last year was better than this year for hot water. Lots of info in Google 'sun cookers' or a site called Selfsuffientish.
Don't think they will wear very well as a path, frost and all that. The greenhouse idea is the best I've heard yet for redundant storage heater bricks. Neighbour has something similar using a £12 photo electric panel to power the fan/battery setup. He copied it from It's Not Easy Being Green tv as mentioned.

lovelyjubbly

thanks for the ideas for heating the green house and for heating the water, I will be investigating both, I also think the idea for the path is not only a bad idea, but not the best use of the bricks!

biggywee

We built a bbq/firepit type of thing with ours. 6 bricks by 5, 5 or 6 high. push two of the short side bricks in a bit to create a wee ledge for a wire grill. Works great.

George_Bray

biggywee wrote: »

We built a bbq/firepit type of thing with ours. 6 bricks by 5, 5 or 6 high. push two of the short side bricks in a bit to create a wee ledge for a wire grill. Works great.

Good idea. Does anyone know if they are frost-resistant, e.g. if they get a bit damp and then a frost hits the bricks, will they crack?

Ken68

I have some out all the seasons,George, no appreciable deteriation.
Am thinking of making a garden oven, similar to Jamie Oliver for cooking and water cooking in the winter, flare it up early in the day, let it ember down, taken out the food or whatnot midday, then let the storage heater bricks heat up for the remainder of the day and transfer to house say (in the winter) 4pm.

moonrakerz

In the olden days when I was nipper, and central heating hadn't been invented - the only source of heat in our house was a coal/wood burning black stove. This stove had an oven on the side, in the winter bricks were put in the oven, then before bedtime they were wrapped in a towel and put in the beds as "hot water bottles" !

Ken68

moonrakerz wrote: »

In the olden days when I was nipper, and central heating hadn't been invented - the only source of heat in our house was a coal/wood burning black stove. This stove had an oven on the side, in the winter bricks were put in the oven, then before bedtime they were wrapped in a towel and put in the beds as "hot water bottles" !

Good God, Moon, you take me back...just remember our similar set-up oven used for cooking, then a gas cooker, then electric...now microwave/steamer/remoska.
Curious how cheap cooking is nowadays,also with slow cooking and pressure cooking. So many alternatives.