Warm air heating and why I might switch to radiators.

PhilE

So I had a new warm air system installed in my property earlier this year, as an upgrade over an old warm air boiler.

In short the installer gave me the wrong fan, there were other issues which I've covered in other threads, he then declared himself bankrupt and disappeared.

My options are either to change the fan unit, or disconnect the fan and hook up rads to the new boiler which seems to be working well.

Warm air despite the being slightly more noisy, has some advantages to it, my favorite being the reduction in condensation. You can also have an electronic filter installed which filters out pollen and mold.

Here's the major problem I'm having, the engineers available to help if there's a problem are few, and there are even fewer who actually seem to be well trained and knowledgeable.

2 out of 3 installers I've spoken to (and that's most of the installers in London) admit to not actually having much knowledge on warm air systems, and have to refer to the manufacturer to find out which units to install. None of them have offered to check the air ducts in my house, or seem to know who to refer to if I need them repaired. Seems to be a case of we install it, and if you have additional problems good luck.

As I may be renting, I need to know that I have a good, available engineer should something go wrong.

So Im thinking of paying a few hundred quid more to get rads installed, count my losses and be rest assured that I have a conventional system that can be repaired and serviced relatively easy.

Any shared experiences on warm air and changing to rads, appreciated.

cranford

I have had warm air in the same house for 45 years and since 1988 have used Nordec Heating who are near Gatwick but on their web site they say they cover London. they specialize in warm air so it may be worth giving them a ring. I did consider converting about 6 years ago when i had the last new unit installed but it would not work without giving up some of our furniture. I have a cover plan with them and since 1988 I have only had one call out and I leave the pilot on all the time and have never had to light it.
I would be surprised if you can hook up radiators to a warm air unit, I think you would be looking at £5k plus to start again.

https://www.nordec.co.uk

PhilE

Its a combi boiler plus a separate unit containing the fan. So the boiler can be hooked up to rads.

McKneff

What model is it

I had to have a warm air boiler/unit.
Was told a combi boiler woud only work with radiators with water running through them.
Warm air was something totally different

cranford

Looks like it could be a unit such as the Worcester-Bosch 25Si Compact which says rads can be attached. Dont know if the warm air unit can be disabled though.

PhilE

Johnson and Starley Quantec boiler.