Electrics and gas
The casing of a night-storage heater is cracked and the core bricks are visible. Has the survey electrically tested the heater, or only noted the damaged case?
The survey has only noted the damaged case. It has not electrically tested the heater. The casing of the night-storage heater is cracked and the core bricks are visible, which is physical damage the inspection can record. Exposed bricks and a split case are not a test of the element, the controls or the supply. The survey did not energise the heater or take any reading at the terminals. The finding stops at the damaged case.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Night-storage heaters hold heat in a brick core and release it later. A cracked casing lets you see those bricks, and it may let dust or a hand reach parts that should stay covered. That is a condition note about the case. It says nothing measured about whether the heater still charges, whether the insulation around the core is intact, or whether the circuit feeding it is sound. The home survey did not do those electrical checks.
Leave the heater off until an electrician has looked at the damaged case and the supply, and keep that visit separate from the home survey. Tell the solicitor the finding is a cracked casing with bricks visible, not a tested appliance. Do not ask anyone to break the bricks out or to open the core further on the back of this note. The survey has not electrically tested it.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you only note the cracked casing and the visible bricks?
- Was any electrical test of the heater outside this visit?
- Which parts of the heater stayed unopened and untested?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the note as a damaged case, not an electrical test.
- Ask an electrician to inspect the heater and its supply.
- Do not treat visible bricks as a test of the element.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the heater still feels warm in the evening, was it tested?
No. Warmth, if you notice it later, is not the survey. The inspection did not energise the heater or measure the circuit. A cracked case remains a visual note. Feeling a casing on another day does not become the electrical test this visit left undone.
Does a cracked casing mean the bricks must be discarded?
Not on this report. The survey has recorded that the bricks can be seen through a damaged case. It has not assessed the bricks, and it has not instructed anyone to remove them. Visible core bricks are a condition note about the casing, not a decision to scrap the heater.