A relative is thinking of buying a 70th flat which has a warm air heating system. Apparently the estate agent did not know anything about it. I tried to find some info but I am non the wiser. Has anybody ever had this heating system? It's aJohnson & Starlet Hi-Spec M31 unit.
Warm air heating system
- Thread starter elisa123
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1. Its Johnson & Starley.
2. There are two type of louvred outlets. One is plain, the other (called a register) has a small lever to open / close the vent slats and thus control the hot air flow.
3. Johnson & Starley are still in business I believe, so may be able to help.
4. Have a look at https://www.gotogasdocs.co.uk/f/m/J.../Installation Instructions/HISPEC M31 ISM.pdf for the manual.
2. There are two type of louvred outlets. One is plain, the other (called a register) has a small lever to open / close the vent slats and thus control the hot air flow.
3. Johnson & Starley are still in business I believe, so may be able to help.
4. Have a look at https://www.gotogasdocs.co.uk/f/m/J.../Installation Instructions/HISPEC M31 ISM.pdf for the manual.
why could it not be changed for a new warm air system that includes air conditioning ?
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I’ve been in my new (70’s) house for 3 months now with a Johnson Starley fitted. It’s 50 years old, and no way would I swap this for a wet system. Loads more room to put things where I want them. It heats up much more quickly. Don’t rush to change it. Massive disruption and expense for no reason. Don’t let it put your relative off.
I agree. I grew up in a 1970s house with warm air heating. My parents still live there. Excellent system. Heats the house up from cold really quickly. No radiators anywhere.
I am a Gas engineer so know the difference, but great memories as a kid dragging the dog away fro the register to get a heat when getting dressed for school , blody thing kept pushing me out of the way 
the inlaws dog does that -he plonks himself right on top of it.I am a Gas engineer so know the difference, but great memories as a kid dragging the dog away fro the register to get a heat when getting dressed for school , blody thing kept pushing me out of the way
yes they love it , great memories, wasnt so funny soaking wet getting ready for school though , and fighting the dog
I lived with Warm Air heating unit for several years and I hated it for the following reasons:
1. Warm air was 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 hallway where it was 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. I hated the smell of cooking 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 cooler lounge kept the system running which pumped more hot air into the kitchen. OK I would sometimes manually close the kitchen grille, [I use the term 'close' loosely here, there was always some air that managed to get through] but then forget to open it again before I went to bed, so got up to a cold kitchen in the morning. 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 in because unlike radiators, the air outlet grilles didn't have any thermostatic controls fitted to them.
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 drowned it out.
6. As per 5 above, the fan was noisy, never failed to wake me up when it started up.
1. Warm air was 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 hallway where it was 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. I hated the smell of cooking 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 cooler lounge kept the system running which pumped more hot air into the kitchen. OK I would sometimes manually close the kitchen grille, [I use the term 'close' loosely here, there was always some air that managed to get through] but then forget to open it again before I went to bed, so got up to a cold kitchen in the morning. 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 in because unlike radiators, the air outlet grilles didn't have any thermostatic controls fitted to them.
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 drowned it out.
6. As per 5 above, the fan was noisy, never failed to wake me up when it started up.
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That's a very well-explained set of reasons - fair enough. It goes to show that different people have different preferences, I guess...
I read it as he has 69 flats and was buying one more.
Andy
Andy
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