Air Vents Vs Heating

[thisisreallyfunny]

Moving into a new house which has a hot air vent heating system, does anyone still have this and can advise on what it's like (pros/cons). I understand it heats ho quickly but equally cools down quickly too. Are we best to get shot of it and get radiators put in? Thanks

Heats *up quickly

does it work?

If so, why would you want to spend thousands replacing it?

Assuming you are in UK, where these are fairly uncommon, you need to find an experienced local specialist. Quite likely half the houses down you road were built with the same system so ask around.

You did not say if it is gas or electric.

It probably needs dust hoovering out of the ducts, and new (modern) air filters fitted.

The fans are moving parts and might be worn. Don't throw away the old ones until you are sure you have good replacements. If necessary, old fans can be cleaned and lubricated, or have new bearings.

This system is very popular in North America so there are probably grilles and registers available, and more modern controls, but you'd need someone with a special interest to know what to buy, and where from.

The old system installed by the Electricity Boards about 50 years ago was called Electricaire and there are still people maintaining them.

Rented a house once with this . Never been so cold in the winter at night. House was also damp. They were put in house in the 70s. If they are so good why are there not hundreds of houses with it and being put in now. I would get rid asap.

Piglet I don't know if it works yet, not due to move for a few weeks. I believe it is gas. Looking at costs of replacing it with GCH and have been quoted about £5k.

Thing is we'll be doing work on the house next year (kitchen extension) - might be better to wait and get everything done together.

We had this system but in the US, and not a cold climate. It work fine there, but I didn't like the blast of cold air on me at night when it kicked on, then it went warm very quickly.
On the rare freezing days we had it couldn't keep up. We had a woodstove and got that really hot, then put the fan only on the heater it would pull hot air right through the house.

We had this in a cold climate in the US. Grew up in houses with it. Used to sit by the air vent (in the floor) and tuck our long nightgowns over the edge and get told off by our mother for blocking off the vents (and sitting cozy in a warmed up nightgown).

It seemed to do the job- but then, I grew up with it,so was used to that system.

I'm about to move into my grandmas house and she has heating vents there - her house is always very warm so I assume they work fine and I don't have the money to put in radiators instead so I'd hope so.

My main concern with them is spiders to be honest and DS invariably dropping things down them!!

Cake If it helps, I don't remember spiders being an issue at all in ours, but yes, dropping things down them was an occasional thing. Perhaps a wire mesh inserted in the vent cover that allows air to flow through but doesn't allow much to fall into the vent would be of use?

I have just moved into a house with a warm air system which I think dates back to the 1960s (Johnson Starley). Utterly hated it at first as I spent the first few months sneezing due to all the dust being circulated, but I seem to have got used to it. It needs replacing and I have been quoted roughly the same for warm air or GCH radiators. From my limited experience, I would say:
Advantages - heats up quickly - my timer doesn’t work, so I just switch it on when I come in and even at this time of year it’s warm in about 10 minutes. No radiators to take up wall space, which is handy as it’s quite a small house.
Disadvantages - noisy due to the fan. I have been told modern ones are quieter. As I said I think you get used to the dry air, but it still leaves a fine layer of dust (given that I don’t want to be wiping every surface every single day). You can now get much more efficient filters so the air should theoretically be cleaner than in a normal house - the mesh on my filter is huge so no chance of stopping fine dust. You also still get a draught of cold air being pulled through to provide the warm air, which isn’t pleasant if you’re standing in the wrong spot.

namethecat I’m not sure why it would make the house damp - quite the opposite in my case, it took me a while to get used to the dryness of the air.

The main problem I have is that a couple of rooms don’t have it (we were tough in the 1960s!) and because it needs ducting you can’t really retrofit it. The guy who quoted me for a new system (who wasn’t in the same town, but not too far away) suggested that I put radiators in those rooms but I don’t really want the complexity of running 2 different systems so I’ll probably replace it with a gas CH system.
I thought it was weird when I moved in but have since realised that I have come across it numerous times in North America in extremely cold areas, so it must be efficient.

Ginger well that is a relief re the spiders!! Thank you for setting my mind at rest. The mesh is a fab idea, I hadn't thought of that! Thank you very much

Cake also in some houses the vents were along the floor, some were along the wall,above the doorways. You can buy plastic adjustable covers that are magnetic and can direct the flow better into the room, which is sometimes helpful - depending on your room and furniture layout.

We've had warm air both here and in one of the colder parts of the US. We had no problems with it other than getting used to dryer air, although it helps if the vents are in sensible places (floor level is good, in the ceiling is pointless). Furnaces and fans can be noisy, but the ability to heat the house quickly without having bloody radiators getting in the way overrides that issue for me. We currently have a standard wet GCH system and I loathe it, I really miss our warm air.

We were lucky that we had a fantastic experienced heating engineer when we had warm air here. He kept our 40+ year old furnace going well, although we knew it wasn't the most efficient. Furnaces are pricy to replace (as it's not a common system) and systems are difficult to extend. On the plus side, there are really good filters available (including HEPA filters) to keep down the dust.

Anyone who says that the house cools rapidly after the heating switches off really needs to look at their insulation, rather than blaming the heating system!

I grew up in a house with this system, in the uk and my parents still live in the house. Downstairs was always nice and warm, but upstairs, and in particular my bedroom which was at the end of the system and was quite large would get very cold - ice on the inside of the windows until we got double glazing (after I’d gone to uni ).

I can’t say I remember dust being a particular issue, and it’s great for drying clothes in front of.

My parents house was built in the 50s and I don’t think they’ve ever had any major work on the heating (it gets an annual service) so it’s possible that newer systems might not have the end of the pipe problem.

Old family home had this and it was awful. My bedroom was above the fan so noisy and hot, whilst the rest of the house was cold. I think we lasted a year before my parents had radiators put in, and it was a new build house. | didn't like the draughts!

Friends have one and it is always very warm but don't like to think what their electric bill is.

I'd test it for this winter (no radiators taking up space is a bonus) and if you don't like it can plan on replacements with your other work.

Thank you for all your comments!