In message , Andrew
writes
On 26/10/2020 10:51, Vir Campestris wrote:
It used to be we had open fires. But then hot water radiators came in
- much cleaner, and easier to manage.
Nowadays we seem to be moving towards underfloor heating - where
effectively the entire floor is a radiator. Efficient, but slow to
respond.
But there was a time when hot air systems were popular, and I think
still are in the USA.
Does anyone know why they went out of fashion? It can't just be
because they made a great place for spiders to hide!
Andy

Wummin prefer radiators. Or brainwashed into thinking they 'need'
radiators by various house-flipping tv programs.

Warm air systems had one major defect, you still needed to use
electricity to heat the hot tank, even if you had a gas-powered
system.

Also, I'm not sure how you would meet modern fire regs if you had
ducting in the void between ground floor and upper floor with its
potential to assist the spread of fire and smoke.

Mother in law had it in a mid 60's flat. Central storage bank, asbestos
insulation! off peak electric. Immersion for hot water.
Not noticeably noisy and the ducting tucked away in the ceiling void.
Downsides, cost cf gas, inlet and exhaust well away from windows leading
to cold exterior walls/condensation and black mould:-(

Leasehold property so insulating cavity not really doable.

Gas boiler plus double glazing a big improvement but subsequent tenants
failed to ventilate to save gas plus airing washing indoors continued
the mould problem.

I used the ducting to feed room air to a heat recovery/vent system which
helped but the flat was sold on so I don't know the current situation.

--
Tim Lamb