A nightstore heater in a flat we let in Ilam, Christchurch, landed face down on the floor after the recent 5.3 aftershock in Christchurch. These things must weigh about 200kg so it's a good thing there was no-one in the vicinity. We were very fortunate indeed not to be involved in a tragedy.
A toddler or small child would most likely have been killed. On investigation it was immediately obvious the clown that installed it was very negligent.
The 3 heavy supporting feet have two 6mm holes each - these are supposed to be used for heavy gauge screws or bolts through to the floor. However in this installation there was nothing through to the floor boards at all. The only means of attachment was the puny top bracket - of the 10 or so 25mm super screws only 2 were into a stud.
The photo below shows the nightstore face down. On the wall is the the top bracket. The different colour beneath the bracket is just the old wallpaper paper, not a panel or such as it appears.
Here's the bracket with the torn hole - it appeared to be secured to the nightstore at one end only.
So I recommend checking the mountings of your nightstore heaters. In this case I decided to dump the stupid thing as a) the tenant uses the heat pump instead, b) they are insanely heavy to lift back up and c) the elements don't last long anyway at about $45 each d) they are costly to run compared to a heat pump.
Fortunately it's easy to unscrew the back cover and remove the bricks 1 at a time from the rear, leaving the empty case to take out last - all quite easy. We'll either redecorate the wall or easier, fit a tidy book case or the like in the meantime to hide the old wallpaper.
Fitting heavy gauge screws with the heater in place would be difficult job - it's far easier to do it at the time of installation.
A toddler or small child would most likely have been killed. On investigation it was immediately obvious the clown that installed it was very negligent.
The 3 heavy supporting feet have two 6mm holes each - these are supposed to be used for heavy gauge screws or bolts through to the floor. However in this installation there was nothing through to the floor boards at all. The only means of attachment was the puny top bracket - of the 10 or so 25mm super screws only 2 were into a stud.
The photo below shows the nightstore face down. On the wall is the the top bracket. The different colour beneath the bracket is just the old wallpaper paper, not a panel or such as it appears.
Here's the bracket with the torn hole - it appeared to be secured to the nightstore at one end only.
So I recommend checking the mountings of your nightstore heaters. In this case I decided to dump the stupid thing as a) the tenant uses the heat pump instead, b) they are insanely heavy to lift back up and c) the elements don't last long anyway at about $45 each d) they are costly to run compared to a heat pump.
Fortunately it's easy to unscrew the back cover and remove the bricks 1 at a time from the rear, leaving the empty case to take out last - all quite easy. We'll either redecorate the wall or easier, fit a tidy book case or the like in the meantime to hide the old wallpaper.
Fitting heavy gauge screws with the heater in place would be difficult job - it's far easier to do it at the time of installation.