Replace Warm Air heating or put in Combi/Rads?

whiskywhisky

Hi All

The house I live in has had a Johnson + Starley Warm air heating system since it was built (around 1970). Which as you can imagine is on its poor old legs.

Just incase people are not aware of these systems. In the living room (corner) we have the control unit - which is about 3 ft by 2 ft (from floor to ceiling). This is obviously all boxed in, on the 1st floor we have an airing cupbaoard which is used up by the hot water tank. Plus we have the cold water tank in the loft.

In an ideal world I would have a Combi/Rads - however our house has hard floors. Concrete down stairs and big floor boards upstairs which has to be broken to take out. Therefore neighbours who has replace to Rads have a lot of the pipes showing (ugly).

So what should I do - replace with Combi/Rads. This will look ugly with some pipes showing, but we get a fair amount of space in the living room. Along with having to decorate most of the house (due to warm air grills) - even if I did most of the labour work I guess it will cost all in around £12k.

Or do I do the simple thing and replace the hot air system with brand new - this will cost around £1800.

Any ideas? Anyone done something similar??

wallbash

We also have Johnson + Starley Warm air heating system
With 'huge' boiler etc, but house seems to be built round it so its well hidden!
Why are you wanting to get rid if it , If it still works?
The company that services mine, has no problem getting spares.

You want to get rid of a system that works, no ugly pipes, freedom from wall rads
and spend £12000 or maybe only £1800

whiskywhisky

Sorry should have mentioned I have had a few problems. For the last couple of years we have had to use an Immersion Heater for the Hot Water tank, as hot water part of the Johnson + Starley needs replacing. I was told it is not feasilble to replace just that, I might as well do the lot.

The immersion being expensive to run and have to be replaced fairly frequently.

EliteHeat

If you're happy with the warm air unit, it will obviously be a great deal cheaper to just replace it as opposed to installing wet central heating.

Although never massively popular in this country, they are extremely quick to heat the house up. They were used much more in the U.S., in fact the Simpons have one.

The downside to them are that not many Corgis are trained to work on them, they circulate dust around the house, they definitely need annual servicing and (worst case) if they go fatally wrong they will pump CO to every room in the house and kill the lot of you - whereas a faulty gas fire is more likely to take out one or two people.

Make certain that you have a working carbon monoxide detector with these.

P.S. The new ones have a summer cooling mode I believe - quite useful.

WestonDave

No expert on warm air heating, but you would have to get a massive efficiency saving from the wet system (rads etc) to offset the £10k differential in price so I'd reckon moneywise you'd be a lot better off just replacing like for like. That said we had an entire new Worcester Bosch combi system fitted and the old vented system ripped out for half the cost you are thinking of, and there are tricks to minimise the visual impact of the radiator pipes - in some rooms run the pipes down convenient corners (kitchen and hall) and some run the pipes down the side of the window so they are mostly hidden by curtains. At a push you might be able to use some of the old ducting to carry the pipes?

Whether the current offerings are reliable is another matter!

whiskywhisky

EliteHeat - you are correct with the Carbon Monoxide and Summer Cooling. Someone a few doors up got a new system (£1800) put in and it has both of these functionalities built in.

WestonDave - I am also trying to justify whether I will reap the cost benefits. Not only from efficiency savings, but I guess/hope to move home in a few years. And I dont think the extra 10k will be increased in house value (even with the Combi + extra room space).

I guess if warm air was a bit popular in the UK I probably not have any hesitations. But maybe it is where I live (Kent) I always seem to have a nightmare finding someone who will work on it and the cost of the parts are very high.

ormus

just scrap it and get a proper wet system fitted. it was/is very inefficient and parts/labour are high.
you can tell how good it was by the sheer number fitted in the uk. very few.
comparing the usa to the uk is just stupid. who really needs AC in the uk?

Canucklehead

Good afternoon: My OH replaced a WA system in a 2 bed maisonette (Greater London) with a condensing combi (Vaillant Eco Tec 831) and 6 rads last spring £4800 all in. The client was able to enlarge her bathroom as a result of the freed up space. CH pipework was boxed in and all heating ductwork/venting was removed.

WA systems can be very effective and as said, predominate in North America.

Key benefits include:

1. Provides heat quickly, distributing warm air to all parts of your home
2. Can centrallly filter and humidify when equipped with the right accessories
3. Can easily accommodate the installation of central air conditioning

The 3 points above are dependent on the standard of the initial installation, the airtightness of the property, the level of insulation and annual service checks. These systems utilize mechanical ventilation: you will not find the mould, mildew and damp that is commonplace here in the UK in North American homes.


HTH

Canucklehead

EliteHeat

Canucklehead wrote: »

Good afternoon: My OH replaced a WA system in a 2 bed maisonette (Greater London) with a condensing combi (Vaillant Eco Tec 831) and 6 rads last spring £4800 all in. The client was able to enlarge her bathroom as a result of the freed up space. CH pipework was boxed in and all heating ductwork/venting was removed.

WA systems can be very effective and as said, predominate in North America.

Key benefits include:

1. Provides heat quickly, distributing warm air to all parts of your home
2. Can centrallly filter and humidify when equipped with the right accessories
3. Can easily accommodate the installation of central air conditioning

The 3 points above are dependent on the standard of the initial installation, the airtightness of the property, the level of insulation and annual service checks. These systems utilize mechanical ventilation: you will not find the mould, mildew and damp that is commonplace here in the UK in North American homes.


HTH

Canucklehead

Good, informative, knowledgeable post.

Don't you get fed up though with DIY muppets posting their ill-informed, ill-considered, unprofessional and misleading opinions on every frikking subject under the sun here? especially when they later post for advice on a leaking sink trap, yet feel qualified to offer opinions on controlled appliances.

whiskywhisky

With costs side of the things - I have the money and do not mind purchasing what I also feel is a "better"system in the Combi/Rad for around £5k.

But along with this is the extra costs - like redecorating the whole house. With the grills removed this will be needed, plus the living room which houses the "johnson + starley" I will need extensive decorating and replace the flooring for the living room.

Maybe I need to have a think indoors and plan whether the extra space will be a great benefit, before trying to pick 1 of the 2 systems?

Canucklehead

EliteHeat wrote: »

Don't you get fed up though with DIY muppets posting their ill-informed, ill-considered, unprofessional and misleading opinions on every frikking subject under the sun here? especially when they later post for advice on a leaking sink trap, yet feel qualified to offer opinions on controlled appliances.

Yep..does get tiresome...lets hope the folks who post here asking for help (or just lurk) don't blindly follow the dodgy advice and become worm food :eek:

Now, what has happened to that notice at the top of the forum ?

Canucklehead