Warm air heating

SimonBck

Has anyone had any experience of replacing a warm air heating system and replacing with gas central heating? I viewed a property that has WAH. I have been given advice to stay well clear . We liked the property but didn't know how much of a hassle/cost it is to remove.

cranford

I have lived on the same house for nearly 50 years and have had warm air all of that time. The last unit was replaced 10 years ago at a cost of about £2300 but if you are going down that route you need to find a warm air specialist. At the time I did look at a wet system but without throwing out lots of furniture where the radiators would go it was a non starter.
Warm air units operated in a modulated way these days rather than the on or off modes of those made 40 years ago. In the last 10 years there have been changes in the warm air unit designs and its easy to have water heating, some rads and condenser units.

NewShadow

I've done a quick search and there are a few threads that you might find interesting/informative - they might not directly relate to your property/situation, but they might help with some of the questions you want to ask:

changing from warm air heating to radiators

Warm air heating system, is it easy to remove ??

Removal of 1970's warm air heating unit containing ASBESTOS!

Cost of hot air central heating

Warm Air Ducted Heating System Removal

If you want to look for other threads - I searched on google for:

warm air heating system site:forums.moneysavingexpert.com

st999

One of the reasons I had my warm air heating removed and replaced with radiators was that BG (who were the only company in my area that would service it) were increasing the maintenance to over £300 a year.
Every time the bloke came to service it he kept finding reasons to make me spend more money.
Ventilation wasn't correct keep door shut, next year remove door and put a dirty great floor vent in.
Next year put a big hole in the wall etc.
Because of all the extra ventilation the kitchen where the warm air unit was became vey draughty and every time it fired up there was an almighty draught, the kitchen also cooled down quite quickly when the heating was off so we had to keep the kitchen door closed all the time.
After 25 years we gave up and had it replaced with a combi and radiators, saving £300 a year maintenance and 4,000 kWh of gas.

SimonBck

Thank you all for your responses. I think it might be a bridge to far for us to go after the property.

ashe

Or you could use it as a negotiation tactic to reduce the price?

st999

Having warm air heating was one of the reasons my house didn't sell when I tried to downsize.

When I decided to stay that is when I had it removed.

BunyipLondon

I was quoted 3000 but we ended up keeping it and really like it. It warms the house really quickly, we don’t loose space to radiators  and our bills are not expensive . I wouldn’t be completely put off 

Phil4432

I replaced a warm air heating system with radiators in my house.  Got the price down on the house I was buying, as the boiler was nearing the end of its life.
But I made the mistake of installing one of the new WA systems.  It was pants.  Not only that, but it became clear that supposed warm air installers know nothing about the product. And if you ever want to extend your house, its not quite as simple as just putting another vent in the new room.  You may need a larger fan unit, or add a rad.  Having a rad and warm air may not be great, as the air is moving.  And WA is generally a noisy system.     

Barter the price of the house based on the cost of a new boiler/rads.  Take asbestos removal into consideration also, especially if its an old system.