changing from warm air heating to radiators

simongregson

heating_help_required wrote: »

Hi
I had my warm air heating unit condemned today following a routine service. From what I can gather the reason is due to the fumes spilling back into the flat rather than going up through the flue. The guy showed me using smoke matches. My question is how much would it cost to replace this kind of heating? Does it need replacing?I dont really want radiators as I live in a flat so installation of pipework etc would be an issue.
By the way the system I have is a Johnson and Starley J25-32 Mk3 Modairflow
Thanks for taking the time to read this.

I am not a gas fitter, but it may be that there is a problem with the flue or the ventilation, rather than the unit itself. Do you have air bricks in the wall near the unit for ventilation? Are they clear of obstructions? Is your gas fitter actually qualified to service warm air units, as they need seperate certification? This might ber the reason they did not want to look at it.

Having said this, the problem obviously needs fixing before you can use it. We have a warm air unit and our gas fitter has basically said that as long as he can get the parts it will keep going forever.

nicnicnicnicnicnic

Hi

I wondered if anyone knew of any reputable plumbers in the Leeds or West Yorkshire area who can fix a warm air unit.

We think the warm air unit is great, we have the perfect temperature in each room and nice hot water as required, but we really struggle to get a plumber who is not only qualified, but can actually resolve an issue!

Thanks
nic

richardc1983

nicnicnicnicnicnic wrote: »

Hi

I wondered if anyone knew of any reputable plumbers in the Leeds or West Yorkshire area who can fix a warm air unit.

We think the warm air unit is great, we have the perfect temperature in each room and nice hot water as required, but we really struggle to get a plumber who is not only qualified, but can actually resolve an issue!

Thanks
nic

I know of a good heating engineer in the Leeds area. He is very good and knows his stuff I will PM you his details.

JoeJoe863

HI,
have been reading this topic with great interest. I live in north east London in a fairly newish estate. When i bought it it came with warm air ducted to each room. It made me thirsty and mouth was lawasy dry. So I decided to get my self a fan dangled combi thingy boiler and all new radiators.

Got a few quotes but in the end I found a really nice Gas Safe Engineer to do it foe me 7 Radiators, plus a lovely valliant. (i am told its German so probably very well made)

And i think it was very well worth it. Now i have a massive space in my airing cupboard where the old water hot water storage tank used to be and my bill is a lot lower than before. I'd say if any one is thinking to getting one then do it. If it is done properly you will have not hassle at all but a nice warm toasty house and plenty of hot water on demand.

i paid just under £5000 for mine and they did it all. Decommissioning, installing, cleaning, testing and certification and oh of course decoration and filling up the old vents.

Lovely boys and i would recommend them to any one.

Ciao, ciao

JoeJoe

wallbash

I kept my warm air system , never had a problem with thirst! and saved ........... £5000

Lgas

ollski wrote: »

What total and utter rubbish on virtually all counts, bg will get absolutely nothing for advising that johnson and starley should install a new system...
Nothing to go wrong except for a cracked heat exchanger blowing carbon monoxide out of every vent in the house in the event of a fault, blocked water circulators with soot from the pilot light, noisy super expensive fans, permanent pilots x 2 £££, dust in suspension etc etc. I have attended more carbon monoxide incidents from these awful creations than even fires!.
That said new ones are better and the room sealed ones better still.
With johnson and starley as a rule the white ones are full of brown asbestos and the beige ones are ok but ring them with the serial number and they will tell you.

100% agree with this post, it is ridiculous to imply that BG would 'make up' a reason to condemn a WAU, and I am shocked that there are people on here considering working on their own warm air units that are not gas safe registered. BG are always 'safety first', there is absolutely no reason to make up a reason to cap off a warm air unit, these units can be extremely dangerous if they are not serviced/looked at regularly and at the very least I highly recommend that a CO detector is located in the same room. I know that when they are very popular and they do seem to provide a nice amount of heat but for people to say there's nothing to go wrong with them from a safety point of view, is rubbish.

For the poster that asked what is involved in a WAU service, the fan is removed and cleaned (as someone else said, relocation position is imperative), the burner is removed, the heat exchanger is thoroughly checked for integrity, the burner pressure is checked, a flue flow check is done to check continuity of the flue, and to check that the smoke is clearing and not coming out anywhere within the property, a spillage test is done to ensure that the products are clearing whilst the appliance is running, and a flue gas analysis is carried out to ensure the appliance is not producing high levels of carbon monoxide. Ventilation, ducts, and the return air path are also checked.

Does that sound simple? There's a reason engineers don't typically like receiving WAU service jobs! (I don't mind them myself). There's not a lot to 'go wrong' with these appliances, as in they don't breakdown often, but getting these safety checks done is important.

wafers

As others have said, this thread makes a very interesting read.
We have just had our 1971 Electricaire electric warm-air heating system removed by asbestos removal specialists 'Shield'. It was loaded with asbestos and hadn't worked for years.
After getting a range of quotes for 'wet' gas central heating and a combi boiler, I have only just stumbled across this thread, which is making me wonder.
A lot of the warm air systems mentioned on here sound as though they are gas operated. Ours was electric, running on Economy 7.
My questions are:
1. Is there a manufacturer out there who would make a unit which would match up to our ducting and manifold left in place after the old unit was removed?
2. Is an electric warm air system and a separate electric immersion heater REALLY cheaper to run than a gas combi?
3. What sort of price are these kind of systems fitted?
4. We will probably sell our house and move up the ladder in about 5 years. Don't the general public prefer gas combi central heating (we are looking to spend money which will add value to the property, rather than create 'bargaining points')
Thoughts welcome!
Thanks.

saniax

Hi guys !

I have a warm air heating system in the house. The boiler is really really old (Johnson boiler open flue) and fails the test, says needs new flue in loft???

I want to really change the boiler. My mum has a boiler she changed which is in good nick but the heating in her home is the radiator one. Can i still use this boiler or what else can anyone recommend that wont break the bank balance??????

Canucklehead

saniax wrote: »

Hi guys !

I have a warm air heating system in the house. The boiler is really really old (Johnson boiler open flue) and fails the test, says needs new flue in loft???

I want to really change the boiler. My mum has a boiler she changed which is in good nick but the heating in her home is the radiator one. Can i still use this boiler or what else can anyone recommend that wont break the bank balance??????

Hi...why not repair what you have as converting from a warm air system can be a pricey proposition.... lots of info here and here.

HTH

Canucklehead

westv

I've just bought a flat with a J&S IT19-25mk2 heater - yes, I know it's ancient.

When I bought the place the previous owner indicated that the unit hadn't been serviced in the 2 years he was there (although he was only there for around 5 days each month) and he couldn't supply any documents. However, there's a sticker on the unit from a J&S registered company that mentions the unit needs servicing again in March 2012. Was there ever a time when it was considered these units didn't need an annual service - could the sticker be quite old??
I've just checked the air filter and that's clean.

I've also downloaded the user guide from the J&S website and it mentions on there that sometimes the pilot light will need to be relit (such as when the electric supply is switched off I thnk). This seems to be behind the front panel but I can't seem to be able to open it - it seems stuck at the bottom but I don't see a catch.