Neighbours replaced warm air with boiler now spending more money

st999

Where I live some of the houses are identical, same style, same heating, etc.

Most have lived here since the houses were built 20 years ago.

When the houses were built they all had gas warm air heating.

Some neighbours removed the warm air heating and put in condensing combi boilers and radiators.

I am in all day, retired, with the heating on from 08:00 to 22:00 and my gas bill is about £570 a year, 18763 kWh.

Some neighbours, who changed their heating and go to work, have their heating on for an hour in the morning and 6 hours at night.

Their gas bills varied from £500 to £600 in the past year.

So they spent about £5000 to replace their warm air heating to save money as a combi boiler and radiators are more efficient than warm air heating.

Rubbish!

Not one has significantly used less gas than me.

I get 14 hours heating a day with my warm air heating for the same money they spend for 7 hours of radiator heating.

Even I didn't believe it. But it is correct.

Identical houses just different heating systems.

I used 18763 kWh of gas and some used 20121 kWh of gas in the past year.

One only used 17325 kWh.

Plus in 2 of the neighbours houses, they have had nothing but problems with their boilers, failed fan unit and circuit boards.

I'm sticking with my warm air unit even if it is 20 years old.

And when it needs replaced it will be with another warm air unit.

davetrousers

You'd save more money if you had it on for less time.

st999

You'd save more money if you had it on for less time

The post is not about me saving money.

lucylucky

Maybe they use a lot of hot water which they prefer to heat with combi boiler?

How do you know so much about all your neighbour's finances and heating settings?

st999

How do you know so much about all your neighbour's finances and heating settings

Drunken party, I was on pills so wasn't drinking.

I must never let a drop of alcohol pass my lips again.

I was the party bore.

simongregson

Warm air units are actually very efficient, even the old ones are a lot better than the radiator boilers at the time. A lot of people seem to get them replaced for no reason, but more fool them. It also has the benefit that it breaks a lot less! It is the most common form of heating in the USA, just it is seen as a novelty over here.

moonrakerz

I too have a warm air system - everyone seems to look down on me with varying degrees of pity in their eyes - BUT - I know it is cheaper to run than a wet system !
............. and I don't have radiators cluttering up the walls.



Yeah, and I'll agree with that !

C_Mababejive

The whole thing about combi boilers being more efficient is a huge lie.

Give me a high efficiency storage system any time.

C_Mababejive

moonrakerz wrote: »

I too have a warm air system - everyone seems to look down on me with varying degrees of pity in their eyes - BUT - I know it is cheaper to run than a wet system !
............. and I don't have radiators cluttering up the walls.



Yeah, and I'll agree with that !

[obvious]My what a huge puussy...[/obvious]

reeac

There's a well documented effect that humans feel warmer with a radiant source of heat e.g. a radiator than they do when surrounded with warm air even if the thermometer shows the same reading in both cases. This normally leads people to set thermostats higher with a warm air system and hence increases running costs. This seems not to be the case with you and so probably you wear more clothes or feel the cold less than your neighbours. Warm air systems have the advantage of less plumbing and so less chance of leaks, scaling and corrosion but are best suited to smallish properties as the duct sizes become cumbersome in larger buildings and need to be allowed for early in the design process.

Sunnyday

In our last house we had warm air heating and we loved it. When it eventually did need replacing we used a similar unit from Johnson & Starley.

Where we live now has radiators and a back boiler which is also good but i prefer the warm air any day. Cheap to run and cheap to replace, not much to go wrong really.

You`ve brought back some good memories for me - and our cats loved it too

SD