The worst invention in the world. Ever.

The electric storage heater.

In my callow naivety some years ago, the first flat I ever rented was heated exclusively by electric storage heaters. Or, I should say, it wasn't heated. The idea of these misbegotten domestic appliances, is that they store heat from the cheap supply of electricity at night, and then release it, when required, during the day. The examples in my flat worked fine, except for the fact that they didn't absorb much heat at night, and the heat they did absorb, gently wafted away during the day, leaving the flat in permafrost in the evening.

Now, whenever I enquire about a flat, the first question I ask is: 'Has it got gas central heating?'