Ron wrote:

Hi I live in a 1991 built semi with 3 bedrooms and the heating system is gas
fired warm air by Johnson and Starley. It is again starting to get noisy, I
must by a can of WD40. I already had the fan replaced a few years ago.

After discussing(arguing?) it with my wife she has said that she never liked
the heating anyway and wants to replace it with radiators. I was wondering
if there was any sites that compare the merits and costs of running the 2
systems and also if anyone knows if radiators would be cheaper to run than
the present warm air system? I spend about £360 a year at present on gas for
the heating and hot water and cooking and wonder if the running costs of
radiators would be significantly cheaper or dearer. I was wondering if there
would also be a saving on my electricity as I assume running a central
heating pump would consume less electricity than a dirty great big fan.

Also because of the constant hot water( there is no automatic on off switch
for the hot water other than manually turning the thermostat down) I have a
power shower. Would I still be able to use this if I got a new more
efficient hot water system or would I need a new shower. I used to have
radiators in another house and when they first came on they used all the hot
water until it heated up again as I found out when I started to run a bath
just as the timer switched the radiators on, but that was a coal fired
system.

Another cost saving would be that I would no longer need a maintenance
contract with Scottish gas as there is less to go wrong with a radiator
system than a warm air system.

I have a garage attached to the side of the house so I would hope that the
boiler could be situated there.
So I am looking for some advice and suggestions from people who have changed
from hot air to radiators or anyone who wants to chip in.

Thanks Ronald


In principle I find that use of warm air eliminates cold spots a bit
better than rads and therefore should be a little cheaper..

The devil is in the detail though.