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Johnson & Starley Aquair Heat Interface + Combi boiler - replacement for current Warm Air system

Hi everyone

Having recently moved to a new house, we're looking to replace a ~20 year old J&S economaire warm air unit with a gas fired combi & J&S Aquair unit. This will allow us to make use of the ducting in the house and provide us with on demand hot water. Does anyone else have this set up? All installers have suggested that this is the easiest route to go down --- other than the obvious wet system with rads, but no rads in the rooms has become a bit of a bonus

My reservations about this mainly relate to the running costs. We'd probably be looking at a 20kW Aquair unit, to work alongside the gas boiler - effectively double the amount of 'things' working to heat my house.

How do people make this make sense? Does it not cost an arm and a leg to have a boiler and a glorified fan (aquair unit) both running together?
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Comments

  • markin
    markin Posts: 3,860 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Not very efficient if it needs 80c flow temp?

    AQUAIR S is a “water to air” heat exchanger unit with a heat output of 10, 16 and 20 kW (assuming a hot water supply at 80 ˚C is available
  • Not very efficient if it needs 80c flow temp?

    AQUAIR S is a “water to air” heat exchanger unit with a heat output of 10, 16 and 20 kW (assuming a hot water supply at 80 ˚C is available
    I had this thought too  :| . My other fear is that a 20kW unit running for an hour at current prices is close to £6... i dont know how people with this set up make it work at these costs
  • markin
    markin Posts: 3,860 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 5 April 2023 am30 9:53AM
    It's blower is 530w, but as it says it needs 80c  I'm not sure it would work if you set it at 40c 24/7

    The 20kwh is how much heat it can exhange.
  • I knew I'd be missing something when doing that calculation - that allays some fears - thanks @markin
  • Hello @karlos3112, I wondered what you decided on this? I’m looking at the same thing and would be interested to know if you went ahead
  • Quest73
    Quest73 Posts: 128 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Hello to both @karlos3112 and @Holmfirthlass
    Did either or both of go ahead with this please? This is exactly what we are about to do...and I'm nervous
  • paulypops
    paulypops Posts: 23 Forumite
    Second Anniversary 10 Posts
    My mum had one installed just before Christmas, so far so good. Only downside from her install is the fan is a bit louder than the Old J&S Warm air heater. I think she has seen about 20% decrease in both Gas and Electric Usage too, as of course she got rid of her emission heater. Her next door neighbour also got one installed at the same time too, and they have told me they are happy with it too. I think my Mums was the 16KW version but not 100%, and it was just a Standard Ideal Combi Boiler.

    One other benefit for her is not having to find someone who could service the Warm Air heater as we found they were getting very hard to get hold of and they charged a small fortune for a straight forward service.
  • FreeBear
    FreeBear Posts: 17,336 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    In the current climate with a drive towards net zero carbon emissions, we should all be considering heat pumps.
    With an existing warm air heating system, I'd be looking at an air to air heat pump - You could get a system that provides cooling in the summer, which might be good for some people. For a heat only system, you would benefit from a £7500 government grant (not sure if that would be available if the system also did cooling).
    Worth getting a quote even if it is just to compare costs.
    Her courage will change the world.

    Treasure the moments that you have. Savour them for as long as you can for they will never come back again.
  • We have Aquair.

    Gas Safe Register visited and said no to heat pumps as literature cannot state they save money as they do not.
  • We have Aquair.

    Gas Safe Register visited and said no to heat pumps as literature cannot state they save money as they do not.
    They might, it depends on the particular circumstances and the quality of the heat pump installation; at current prices it's pretty close either way.  With a grant of £7,500 available towards a heat pump it might even work out cheaper to install   
    Reed
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