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Original poster

WARM AIR HEATING???

24 replies

Bluebell66 · 16/09/2019 06:58

Hi everyone,

We are in the process of looking at moving house. A lovely one has come on the market and we've had a viewing, however, it has warm air heating as opposed to conventional gas central heating. I would love to know if anyone has any experience of warm air heating please - good or bad. My daughter and I suffer with dry eyes which concerns me as well and my daughter has severe allergies.

Many thanks in advance.

OP posts:

ishouldntsaybut · 16/09/2019 07:46

I had it in the house I grew up in and in the one we bought almost 20 years ago. We love it for the instant heat and no obtrusive radiators. My son is asthmatic and I don't think that it had any impact on him. On the down side we do find the place a bit dusty, however I think that warm air moves dust inside your house around your house so to speak. It is also becoming more difficult to get parts for the system.

We are finally looking to change to a combi boiler and radiators as we are planning a big extension and the existing system won't work in there. Saying that my father has just ordered a new system which runs with a combi boiler and the ability to add a couple of radiators if required.

I wouldn't think twice about buying a house with it but I would ensure the system had been serviced every year.

Original poster

Bluebell66 · 16/09/2019 08:29

Thank you so much for your reply, it's really interesting and very helpful. To be honest in the research we've done so far, way more people are in favour of it than not. Getting new parts does concern me though.

OP posts:

Pigeonwings · 16/09/2019 08:29

We currently have a hot air heating system (purchased house with it). It is fine - heats up quickly but is a bit noisy. British Gas have a specialist hot air team who service etc (they have to hoover the ducts etc). Ours is from the 1970s so there is a chance that there is asbestos lining the ducts in the loft. We are about to undergo a complete renovation and will be ripping it out for underfloor heating but I wouldn’t be put off buying a house with it. It’s just difficult to get parts and isn’t very popular if you are to resell with it.

Neron · 16/09/2019 15:34

Our best friends have this in their house. It's warm, heats quickly and bonus of no radiators. They only have the wall vents up near the ceiling as they had the floor vents covered as it made their house too hot. They have been finding it increasingly hard to have it repaired now though, as the parts are no longer made. They have it serviced yearly, but it's getting to the point they will have no choice but to put in a combi boiler system. They would rather the HAS as it's worked really well for them and they like it, but it's unfortunate it's an obsolete system. Also doesn't help putting in the combi is going to be very costly and messy, every room will likely need to be redecorated

Appletreehouse · 16/09/2019 15:58

Our friends bought a house last year from the late 1960's with this. It's so toasty warm in their house and I didn't notice the noise when we visited and stayed overnight. They are looking to replace however as it's so expensive. Their electricity bills were nearly £150 a month over the really cold winter months.

Like other pp it's hard to find parts and specialists who maintain it. Replacing is going to be very expensive (the estimates they've had so far are £10k but it's a huge 3 bedroom house) so something to be aware of if you intend to modernise and renovate in future.

Original poster

Bluebell66 · 16/09/2019 16:23

Thanks so much Apple, i am concerned about the potential running costs - the estate agent has said he will ask the current owners for fuel bills, but everyone uses their heating differently don't they so I'm not really sure how useful this would be. It's so frustrating as I love the house but this is really putting me off 😐

OP posts:

ShmooBooMoo · 16/09/2019 16:26

Severe dry eyes and dry, reactive skin (face) here and warm air heating is extremely irritating for me.

Jaxhog · 16/09/2019 16:29

We have it in our current house, where we've lived for 30 years. We really like it. We don't find it noisy at all, and have never had a problem with keeping it well maintained. Can't comment on how expensive it is to run, as it very much depends on how good your insulation is etc.

ShmooBooMoo · 16/09/2019 16:31

Also, with warm air heating, I'd think dust would build up inside and be distributed in the warm air blowing around. It's not the norm but as it's so important to you and your daughter could you ask the prospective sellers if you'd be able to visit whilst the system is on? I know within minutes (by my eyes and skin's reaction) if it's this type of heating in use.

Jaxhog · 16/09/2019 16:34

I should add that we have floor vents downstairs, dating from the house build in 1964. Upstairs has wall ducts which were put in 20+ years later. We've only replaced the boiler once in 30 years. Everything else has worked fine with no major maintenance, just basic hoovering and a boiler check once a year. I wouldn't go back to wall radiators.

laughingnow · 16/09/2019 16:40

I have warm air heating - 8 year old boiler. I have it serviced annually and I love it. It’s very clean as it filters the air and it is almost instant heating from floor vents. I like not having radiators wasting a lot of wall space. It has a summer airflow facility too.

FromEden · 16/09/2019 20:09

This is common here in the US as systems that provide cool air in summer with air conditioning units, heat in winter using a gas furnace. I haven't had any issues with it. We regularly change the filters to minimize dust and it's all good. Warms the place up very quickly.

Original poster

Bluebell66 · 17/09/2019 05:33

FromEden Thank you so much for your reply, good to hear that you get on so well with it. I had read something about needing to clean/change filters regularly. Have you noticed it dries your eyes out at all?

OP posts:

Purpleartichoke · 17/09/2019 05:40

This is standard where we live. Cheap and efficient to heat the house. Vastly preferable to the older homes I had with radiators or in floor heaters. You can add a humidifier to the system to humidify the air coming out of the vents if it is too dry. But it sounds like you are talking about an older system so maybe that isn’t an option.

Purpleartichoke · 17/09/2019 05:41

We change the filter once a month. You literally just pull out the filter and insert the new one. Takes seconds.

LoreleiRock · 17/09/2019 05:47

It was very popular in the 70s and everyone spent the 80s putting in radiators, for very good reason. It is expensive and a bit shit. Are you in the UK?

Original poster

Bluebell66 · 17/09/2019 06:28

Thanks Lore - yes, in England.

OP posts:

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 17/09/2019 08:24

The house we bought decades ago had it, and we still have it and are happy with it. One advantage is that you don't have radiators taking up a lot of wall space, and it heats up from cold more quickly.

The previous warm air heating unit we put in, to replace the original. lasted 30 years! (Given annual service and check.). Of course the new one is a lot more efficient re gas consumption.

I can't say I've ever noticed dry air at all, but having said that, any washing that I dry indoors does dry very quickly. We do often have plenty of windows open, which I dare say helps to minimise dry air.

Original poster

Bluebell66 · 17/09/2019 11:08

Thanks so much to everyone for all your very interesting and helpful replies - definitely given me food for thought.

OP posts:

FromEden · 17/09/2019 17:15

Well we live in the desert so the air is very dry as it is! I dont think the heating or air con contributes anymore to this. I use humidifiers at night in our bedrooms if I feel we need it.

TiddlesUpATree · 17/09/2019 17:27

My PILs have this. It heats the house up quickly but it's quite noisy/creaky as it warms/cools. Also, as they don't have radiators towels stay damp longer and go smelly.

Oblomov19 · 17/09/2019 17:31

We had it in our house, this house, when Dh first moved in. All the houses round here had it replaced with central heating. Which was a big task in itself.

Troels · 17/09/2019 17:42

We had it in our last house. I liked it. We had a large air intake thing on the wall by the hall If you opened it you could change the filter and Dh used to change it every month or so. We didn't have problems with allergies (call me Mrs Sneezy allergies are my game) Or dry eyes. Our vents put the hot aiir out from the ceiling, my friends were all in the floor. Both seemed to work well.
It heated up very quickly, which was nice on a cold morning. We also had a woodburner.

Ba19427 · 04/11/2023 20:39

Hello - I know this was a while ago but we are in the same situation and wondering how difficult/ expensive it was to remove the system? Thanks :)

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