Buying a house with old storage heaters

Robin9

@katiekatiekatie


1860's is the property listed ?   If so another degree of cost re alterations and insurance.

Is this the heart driving the thought of buying an old cottage -  rather than practicality of a home with small children ?

katiekatiekate

Robin9 said:

@katiekatiekatie


1860's is the property listed ?   If so another degree of cost re alterations and insurance.

Is this the heart driving the thought of buying an old cottage -  rather than practicality of a home with small children ?

It's not listed. We're considering it because it's on the same lane as where we live now and there is really nothing else in our price range. We're in a tiny 2 up 2 down and this is bigger but needs a lot of updating which we could do over time. 
But with another baby on the way and the cost of child care it would take a while until we could afford to make a real difference to the property except for maybe the heating. 

markin

If its already rendered external insulation would be easier but probably more expensive, get quotes for internal and external, internal would be even cheaper if your up to doing it DIY room by room.

rp1974

I've the feeling that this cottages ongoing upkeep would become an unaffordable nightmare to be honest,particularly with a tight budget,unless it's a dream property in the majority of other respects.
If practical then keeping the existing setup and tweaking to your requirements and very importantly insulating to the best possible degree would maybe be the best available option,still might squeeze the budget though.
Who knows whats round the corner though nowadays?.

Northern_Wanderer

Lots to consider here. My own personal experience - storage heaters cost a fortune to run and don't necessarily give you a warm house. Although, the purchase price will probably be less due to the SHs. Installing a new heating system is not cheap, there's a lot of disruption and it's hard to find trustworthy tradesmen IMO. All building work costs have increased and will likely do so more in future. There are long waits for tradesmen. Buying a fixer upper can save you money on the purchase price but it can also be a real PITA to do the fixing up. You can save money DIY-ing but if you have kids then I'd suggest you may want to consider something a bit more modern so that you spend this precious time with your kids rather than stressing over a refurb. If you plan to pay tradesmen to do the work, do you know how much this might cost you? Possibly more than you think. Recently got some shocks myself!

Honestly though, if I was buying now, I'd avoid electric SH and I'd probably try to get something that needed less work as I just want it finished now so I can relax, live in my home and not have to think of these things. I try to do as much DIY as I can but find it physically and mentally demanding now. You can't buy back that time with your kids, they grow up very fast, don't waste that precious time. I know it's really hard buying a house though, all the more reason to really consider every angle.

Ectophile

There's an open fireplace but without a survey it's another unknown as to whether that would need work to make it safe. It's probably too small to put in much of a wood burner.

If it's any use, the fireplace in my house is about

56cm, 22" wide

60cm, 23½" high

39cm, 15½" deep

and a 5kW wood burner fits in quite snugly.  Anything less than that, and you're either looking at a tiny wood burner, or it's totally impractical.

How much firewood costs depends on how good you are at scrounging, and how much effort you're willing to put in yourself.  Most of mine is free.  But I have to get it home myself, chop it up myself, and season it for two years before it's fit to burn.