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Original poster

Opinions on warm air systems?

15 replies

hereagain1 · 26/10/2017 12:17

I have never lived in a house with electric heating and I have just seen one with a "warm air system". I know nothing about it and just wondering whether it's efficient and whether it will be a lot more expensive than gas central heating? The property has no gas at all, so everything is electric and I'm concerned about how much it's going to cost me?
Anyone here with electric warm air systems? How much do you spend a month during the winter?

thank you

OP posts:
frenchfancy17 · 26/10/2017 12:20

We ripped ours out and installed gas central heating.

The house was sold to us as having warm air heating but in fact had been disconnected for 20 years!

hmcAsWas · 26/10/2017 12:22

We have an air source heating system. Its actually cheap to run in energy costs

Read this here

flyingpigsinclover · 26/10/2017 12:24

How old is the system ? We had one ages ago and it was useless unless you sat on the floor right by the outlets.

SilverSpot · 26/10/2017 12:29

We ripped ours out and installed gas central heating.

Yeah we had ours replaced with wet UFH downstairs and radiators upstairs.

SandLand · 26/10/2017 12:33

There was a tend for thus round us when we were house hunting 13 years ago.
Check all rooms are heated (lots had unheated bathrooms) and check condition of thexwalks where thexair comes out. Lots were in really poor condition (decorative and structural).
We bought a different house with central heating....

SilverSpot · 26/10/2017 12:36

How old is the system ? We had one ages ago and it was useless unless you sat on the floor right by the outlets.

conversely ours meant you had a hot head and cold feet because the blowers were in the cealing upstairs!

KickAssAngel · 26/10/2017 12:41

I live in the States where warm air is the norm, but it's gas powered. I can't compare the cost though as our house here, although 'average' for the area, is about 4 times the size of an average UK house.

Pros: no wall space blocked off by radiators. No risk of water leaks from the heating system. Circulates well around rooms. Air-con also runs through it.

Cons: you can hear it working (I find the sound comforting, like white noise, but some may not). You kind of have to have the whole house running to make it work. BUT - the upper rooms don't get as much air as it's being pumped up from the basement, so the bedrooms are a different temperature from the main living area, it's hard to get a consistent temp and you can't easily control one room at a time. There are small areas of the floor where you can't put furniture, although I find these easier to navigate than radiators.

madameweasel · 26/10/2017 12:43

I can't comment on electric warm air, but we've had gas powered warm air in our last 3 houses and we love it. If the system is installed well, it's very efficient, warms the house quickly and you don't get the cold spots you sometimes get with wet radiator systems. You can also get HEPA filters if allergies are a problem in the family. We're now in a house with radiators and I hate it. They're rubbish, they're in the wrong places and they're getting in the way of where I want to put furniture!

I have no idea how expensive or otherwise it may be to run - afaik, electric heating is usually quite a bit more expensive than gas.

Horridemma · 26/10/2017 12:53

Love warm air systems. Just replaced the boiler for an old one and the difference is amazing. No horrible radiators everywhere. No radiators also means no temptation to put damp washing near them.

We have UFH in extension as it is difficult to extend warm air system.

PigletJohn · 26/10/2017 14:27

energy from electricity costs about four times as much as energy from gas.

How old is the house and the heating system? The Electricity Boards used to sell a scheme called "ElectricAire" but it fell out of fashion about 40 years ago. Parts are difficult to find and AFAIK only a few enthusiasts persist with it. I don't know if the number of companies servicing it in the country is dozens, I doubt there are hundreds.

MrsFezziwig · 26/10/2017 18:47

I have just moved into a house with an old warm air heating system which I knew when I bought the house would need replacing. My hot water comes from a separate combi boiler. Have had to use the warm air heating a bit, so my experiences are:
Pros:

  • no radiators, which I love as it’s a small house
  • heats up very quickly and evenly
Cons:
  • very noisy
  • blows dust round the house (but the house was empty for several months so there was loads of dust lying around, plus the seals on the filter which is supposed to remove the dust have perished so it’s plainly not working as it should);
  • 3 rooms are unheated.
I’ve had someone out to quote me for a new system. He says new models are not noisy, and you can get an additional filtration unit so the air should actually be cleaner than normal. Also in summer it will blow cool air round the house. You can also run the whole thing off a combi boiler so have hot water and heating from one source. Unfortunately he didn’t seem to think it was a viable option to retrofit the 3 rooms without heating, so would have to have alternative sources of heat so wondering if the whole thing’s going to be too much of a faff and I should just have the whole thing replaced. Absolutely love the no radiators though! And my system is gas so no useful advice about costs I’m afraid. Would love to hear from anyone who has opinions about warm air heating and apologies in advance for potential thread hijacking Blush
PigletJohn · 26/10/2017 19:28

I've heard replacement filters for the old systems mentioned, probably from one of the specialist suppliers. I don't know about the seals. I hear it can be difficult to get parts in general.

They're very popular in Canada, so I expect the technology is more advanced on modern systems.

Ellieboolou27 · 26/10/2017 19:35

Rubbish! I ripped ours out, goes cold as soon as they are off and cost a fortune

MrsFezziwig · 26/10/2017 22:33

Thanks PigletJohn
I'm hoping the system will last another few months without needing any parts, then I can update it. I'm waiting for the quote for replacement which may sway me one way or the other.
I presume once it is switched off the air immediately starts to cool, whereas with radiators heat is retained over a slightly longer period. Have just realised as well how widespread warm air heating is in North America, so it must have something going for it! I suppose good insulation is a factor as well in retaining warmth.

johnd2 · 26/10/2017 23:26

if the room goes cold as soon as it's off, then either the room has a strong draught/air brick to outside, or the insulation is really bad. However it's not the common system in the uk, and air holds a lot less heat than water, so the noise and size of the "pipes" for the air will be much bigger.
It's a lot better for circulating the air in your house though, so you won't get dead spots where the damp collects in the corner of rooms.

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