Warm air heating system

[supersadie]

I have bought a house with a warm air heating system (probably installed when the house was built 25/30 years ago).

As I have allergies which are exacerbated by it, I'd like to replace it with a central heating system that would also heat the water.

Conflicting info about the cost of such things. I thought it might be expensive but my electrician says not.

Can anyone give a rough idea of the cost? Does the ducting have to be removed, or can the new heating be installed through/round it?

House is a 4 bed det over around 2000sqft.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[DaveHerns]

Presumably you want radiators heated by water ? In which case you need an heating engineer rather than a plumber. Unless he's planning on installing new fangled electric radiators (which you won't want)

 

[supersadie]

Sorry - is this the wrong section of the forum? It says 'plumbing and central heating'. Assumed there'd be some central heating engineers on here?

 

[supersadie]

I thought someone here would be able to guide me on what information to provide and some idea of cost range. It was a polite enough question.

 

[OvertonPlumber]

About 5k plus vat

 

[supersadie]

Thank you, Mr Benchmark. That's really helpful.

 

[bernardgreen]

Does the ducting have to be removed,

If air passing through the ducts is causing an allergic reaction then there has to be something about the ducting that is "contaminating" the air with the allergens that cause the reaction.

Hence it would be sensible to remove the ducting if it is the source of the allergens.

A properly maintained warm air heating system should not by itself cause an allergic reaction. If filters are removed or not properly cleaned then this will allow normal house hold dust and other possible allergens to become air borne via the heating system.

 

[DaveHerns]

OP, what I meant was that you should have asked your plumber/heating engineer for a price rather than your electrician. How do you currently heat your water?

 

[supersadie]

Ah. I'm with you now. I just happened to be chatting about it while the electrician was removing some light fittings for me, saying I thought it might be a bigger job than I'd anticipated. He said not to worry and a good heating engineer would be able to do it no problem. I can see re-reading my post that it looked like I'd approached him directly about this. My bad.

I have a multipoint gas water heater.

 

[gasmanxxxr1]

I would also say around the £5k plus vat mark

 

[supersadie]

Thank you gasmanxxxr1. Do you tend to take all the ducting out or is there a way of doing it without. I can't visualise the scenario so sorry if that's a silly question. Would the cost generally include boiler, rads, the lot or do I need to cost those up separately? Thank you for bearing with me.

 

[ianmcd]

No need to remove the existing ducting just leave it in place , sorry cant say anything about the cost as havent seen the job , only thing that I can offer advice on is check the existing flue on the warm air unit it may be made of Asbestos and if it is can be costly to have it removed properly

 

[supersadie]

Many thanks. That's useful to know.

 

[gasmanxxxr1]

Everything is included boiler, rads etc.

I did a job very similar to this one only 2 weeks ago, we managed to remove a great deal of the ducting and the flu was just twin wall, but every house is different so your installer will have to make a judgment call

 

[JohnD]

Warm air heating is rare in the UK, but common in North America, where the technology has continued to improve.

If your problem is with dust and allergies, you may find that modern Hepa filters or electrostatics will fix it. Parts for the electrically heated warm air system will be found if you search "Electricaire" but there used to be gas-fired systems as well. I wouldn't be surprised if there are facilities for filters to be fitted in the ductwork of yours.

There might be a sticker or other record for whoever serviced yours. You neighbours may also have similar systems and may have gone through the same thing.