old style gas air vent heating
- Thread starter MarcoM
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If it's common in the area you'll probably find someone who can work on it, but not many people bother getting the qualification any more as most warm air systems have been removed. Think I've seen a grand total of one gas-fired warm air system still in use in the last 13 years
I have seen a few old systems. Last one I saw was in Carlisle, a [Would believe it a flood damage insurance claim]
A word of Caution? some of the ducting for the warm air can contain Asbestos also seen Asbestos around the heter itself, but all depends on the make and model.
Ken
A word of Caution? some of the ducting for the warm air can contain Asbestos also seen Asbestos around the heter itself, but all depends on the make and model.
Ken
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You'd really need some more info on it. While gas/air heating in domestic propertys is a very old fashioned way of doing things and will be a lot of old ducting in there, it doesn't mean the Warm air unit is necessarily old, they still make warm air units today, so if ever it goes on the blink completely you have the option of just upgrading to a new unit rather than pulling the house in two laying in new pipes everywhere for wet central heating.
What I would say is if you buy the house, without question get the unit checked and fully serviced by someone experienced as soon as possible, a faulty old unit or one which has not been fitted correctly can be very dangerous with potential to blow fumes all through the property.
What I would say is if you buy the house, without question get the unit checked and fully serviced by someone experienced as soon as possible, a faulty old unit or one which has not been fitted correctly can be very dangerous with potential to blow fumes all through the property.
Nothing wrong with WA of installed, set up and maintained properly.
It is true, though, that their are relatively few RGI's that bother with paying to be licenced for them. And youngsters have probably never worked on them. Best bet in this regard os to search the Gas safe find an installer - 'tis very easy:
Find by Location - Gas Safe Register
You will then be able to tell if you have a local guy. At least this year
all the information you have been given is good advice, if you really want the house, and it is and old system try and negotiate enough of a discount to have a new system installed, but all the asbestos advice is correct and can be very expensive to have this removed
I lived with Warm Air heating unit for several years and will share with you my experience:
1. Warm is air blown into the bathroom, displacing the existing air. Where did this moist and erm..... stale bathroom air go? out of the bathroom door down the passage and sucked back into the inlet duct of the system for re-distribution to all of the rest of the house. lovely!
2. Kitchen, as bathroom see above. Imagine the smell of cooking chips coming from the grilles in the bedrooms.
3. Poor comfort: Hot when the hot air was blowing on you directly, then instantly you felt cold the second the thermostat switched it off. A few minutes later a cold blast of air when it restarted before the hot air from the heater reached the grilles.
4. No zone control. Hot kitchen when cooking, yet the thermostat in cool lounge kept the system running which pumped more hot air into the kitchen. OK I would sometimes manually close [I use the term 'close' loosely here, there was always some air that managed to get through] the kitchen grille, but then forget to open it again before I went to bed. It was impossible to get a comfortable temperature in every room. Lounge temp was OK'ish (other than 3 above) where the thermostat was, but other rooms that were too cold one day could be too hot the next if the sun shone on them because the grilles didn't have any thermostatic control.
5. Noise: Voices, TV etc traveled through the ducts from one room to another, especially in the bedrooms where the grilles were back to back. This wasn't so noticeable when the system was running as the noise of the fan & moving air drowned it out.
Hope that helps your evaluation.
1. Warm is air blown into the bathroom, displacing the existing air. Where did this moist and erm..... stale bathroom air go? out of the bathroom door down the passage and sucked back into the inlet duct of the system for re-distribution to all of the rest of the house. lovely!
2. Kitchen, as bathroom see above. Imagine the smell of cooking chips coming from the grilles in the bedrooms.
3. Poor comfort: Hot when the hot air was blowing on you directly, then instantly you felt cold the second the thermostat switched it off. A few minutes later a cold blast of air when it restarted before the hot air from the heater reached the grilles.
4. No zone control. Hot kitchen when cooking, yet the thermostat in cool lounge kept the system running which pumped more hot air into the kitchen. OK I would sometimes manually close [I use the term 'close' loosely here, there was always some air that managed to get through] the kitchen grille, but then forget to open it again before I went to bed. It was impossible to get a comfortable temperature in every room. Lounge temp was OK'ish (other than 3 above) where the thermostat was, but other rooms that were too cold one day could be too hot the next if the sun shone on them because the grilles didn't have any thermostatic control.
5. Noise: Voices, TV etc traveled through the ducts from one room to another, especially in the bedrooms where the grilles were back to back. This wasn't so noticeable when the system was running as the noise of the fan & moving air drowned it out.
Hope that helps your evaluation.
Bg cover them, I've done hundreds of J&S and old balmforths with them....still qualified to work on them now on my own but I'm not keen to given the choice!
The Yanks fit a lot of these systems because they use the ducts/vents to distribute cooled air from A/C in the hotter months. Energy is also much cheaper there. Can't see a reason for fitting or keeping a system like this in The UK.
Are you kidding? Vent and heat recovery uses ducted air. In top specced custom homes, eco and semi-eco, many are being fitted. Permanent fresh air coming in, pre heated via warm outgoing air.
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Lived in a USA spec house (ex-American Airbase) for a few years fitted with Warm air ducted heating.
Furnace in Utility room input to burner side of furnace from utility room only accessed from outside so separate to house.
Warm air side could be recirculate in house or fresh from outside.
Bathroom and Kitchen vents we rarely used and had extractor fans fitted.
We had bedroom vents closed off and ducting control closed to upstairs.
Biggest problem was the warm side room vents at ceiling level (so no 'fun' on the floor in the winter).
Running costs came out about the same as warm water heating but as others have said it was noticable when the 'stats cut in or out.
The interior walls take ages to warm up on return from winter holidays.
As the air is warmed you can feel warm quicker but the temp drops quicker also.
Do make sure the ducts are both sealed and well insulated.
Don't use any additional heating that produces water vapour as part of conbustion as circulation will make whole house damp.
Furnace in Utility room input to burner side of furnace from utility room only accessed from outside so separate to house.
Warm air side could be recirculate in house or fresh from outside.
Bathroom and Kitchen vents we rarely used and had extractor fans fitted.
We had bedroom vents closed off and ducting control closed to upstairs.
Biggest problem was the warm side room vents at ceiling level (so no 'fun' on the floor in the winter).
Running costs came out about the same as warm water heating but as others have said it was noticable when the 'stats cut in or out.
The interior walls take ages to warm up on return from winter holidays.
As the air is warmed you can feel warm quicker but the temp drops quicker also.
Do make sure the ducts are both sealed and well insulated.
Don't use any additional heating that produces water vapour as part of conbustion as circulation will make whole house damp.
hi agan,
just a question on tbe asbestos ducting.
would this definetly need to be removed or could it be left in place?
I am not sure whether regs allow asbestos not to be removed if left untouched
but if this was the case would a tradesman be happy to lift floorboards
where this stuff is just below?
thanks
just a question on tbe asbestos ducting.
would this definetly need to be removed or could it be left in place?
I am not sure whether regs allow asbestos not to be removed if left untouched
but if this was the case would a tradesman be happy to lift floorboards
where this stuff is just below?
thanks
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