electric warm air heating - replace with boiler/rads?

[2maddogs]

I am in the process of buying a (very) small modern house, built around 1980, it has warm air heating and an immersion heater. (it does have a gas supply).

Should I take out the warm air heating and immersion and put in a combi boiler and rads?

Ideally I would wait a year and see how it goes, but I would like to fit new flooring when I move in, so if I'm fitting a boiler and radiators I would want to do it straightaway to minimise disruption. On the other hand I don't want to pay out for a boiler if not necessary.

Its hard to tell how expensive/efficient the current system is, the current owners have the thermostat on low for health reasons and use economy 7 to heat the hot water at night, then use it frugally during the day. That doesn't sound ideal to me.

I could also make good use of the space taken up by the heating unit and the hot water tank.

Would I be able to find someone to service the heating, and get spare parts?

Supplementary question - am I on the right forum here or would I be better in electrics?

 

[swbjackson]

I'd say get rid as soon as. Last one of these I came across it would have been cheaper to burn £5 notes.

 

[flameport]

Gas is certainly much cheaper than electricity, but how small is the house, and what type of house is it - detatched / terraced / cluster type?
No use paying £1000s for gas heating to be installed in a tiny property, as even substantial savings on a tiny fuel bill are still tiny.

Also - what type of warm air heating? Is there a central storage core which is heated up overnight?

 

[2maddogs]

It's a terrace, set back half way at one side, not quite the smallest house possible but not far off - living room 20'x12', small kitchen and stairs to the side, door between living room and stairs, double glazed back door, all windows double glazed. So probably not too expensive to heat.
Heating is a tall thin unit in the corner of the kitchen, with vents at the bottom (front). I'll have to find out if it is heated overnight.
I remember one of the outlet air vents is in the middle of the living room.
I suspect it's going to be a case of, not worth the cost to replace but it will always be a bit unsatisfactory (groan). Or at the very least, move in and see how it goes.
I'll come back when I have more info.
thanks for the advice so far

Any idea how would I find someone to service/repair electric warm air heating please?

 

[Agile]

Warm air heating needs little maintenance apart from cleaning/replacing the filters which can be a DIY job.

Any competent heating engineer should be capable of dealing with it.

It may not be terribly expensive to run.

You should take daily meter readings for the first couple of weeks to get an idea of the running cost.

Sometimes those houses had unfirm walls and mounting rads can sometimes be a problem. I went to quote on one and the only brick walls were the deviding party walls.

Tony

 

[2maddogs]

OK thanks I will take your advice. It will be good if I don't have to pay out for a new system.

 

[simond]

We are currently installing warm air off a gas combi, using a heat exchanger air handling unit.

Instant hot water and efficient warm air, all from a condensing water boiler.

Alternatively, look at Lennox condensing warm air units, they are 94.5% efficient. Done a few this year.