BBC Focus Magazine

[Liam Sheppard]

I am looking at renting a new build house that has a hot air heating system. I assume that it is brand new technology? as the old air heaters from years ago were very costly.

anyone know anything about them and their cost?

[Shadowwolf]

Well if it is a new build house there should be info on likely energy costs and I'd reckon there must be an energy rating label for the place. Ireland has the BER classification and I'm sure that Britain has a similar set up that allows you to tell at a glance how efficient the house is at heating and retaining that heat.

Don't know much about forced air but running and costs would be related to its power source, is it gas, wood pellet etc?

[M Paul Lloyd]

We have a very old warm air heating system in our house (1970's) but it has been regularly maintained and the manufacturers assure me that spares will be available for as long as there is a demand for them. It therefore runs as if it were new and to be honest, apart from the extortionate price of gas, it suits us quite nicley. The whole house heats up quickly but stops as soon as the system is shut down, so when the weather warms up you are not left with hot radiators and all the windows open, which is my experience of radiators.

My gas fitter, who seems to be on some sort of sales commision incentive scheme, is forever pushing the cost benefits of radiators over warm air and wants me to pay out a large amount of money based on a very small 'theoretical' saving over the warm air system. I have worked it out that any saving would repay the cost of the installation of the new radiator type system in about ten years, by which time it would, apparently, need to be replaced? No contest in my opinion.

[Liam Sheppard]

hmmm.. coolio!

I can't see which eco rating the house comes under! but cheers! I'm sure it will be ok...

I received 3 'revised' statements for gas and elec taking into account increases. Gas went up from 600 to a forecast £730

[M Paul Lloyd]

The price of the gas is becoming my main concern and I am seriously looking into having some electric backup when it comes to heating water and cooking.

[Shadowwolf]

I can't see which eco rating the house comes under!

The landlord should know, in fact I'd be fairly certain that he is required to and to supply that info to prospective tenants or purchasers should the property be sold.

[Liam Sheppard]

I will ask the letting agent (grrr)

I have an electric fan heater, and electric (oil) radiator. I use them in the lounge when its cold, they are both very good. I would say that the radiator is as cheap as gas if not better! I had it on all the time
last winter and the electricity it used was not out of the ordinary!

[M Paul Lloyd]

Yes I think an electric fan heater is a shrewd move Liam. I have similar plans for this coming winter myself.

[stevebest]

Hi folks,

I'm also interested in finding a running cost comparison for Warm Air Heating vs conventional boiler with radiators. I've lived in a few places with both radiators and electric wall-mouted heaters and neither seem to perform well. Radiators are often located near windows & attached to walls so much of their heat just escapes. Surely Warm Air Heating is likely to be more efficient as the air is pushed around, rather than well, radiated

Found this article on Warm Air Heating Myths which is quite interesting. I've actually emailed these guys for more info to see if they can provide any running cost comparisons. I suppose as M Paul Lloyd said, you have to make sure you're backing the right horse - if nobody can service/maintenance your system, who cares how good or cheap it is...when it stops working, you're stuffed!

Will post any info I receive to help others.

[scott fairbrass]

theres a big advertisment in the wholesalers i use about them called C.E.F. might be worth going in and haveing a look. Cant remember ne thing about the spec of them sorry!

[Doonhamer]

A guy I work with had air heating and it was expensive to run, but he recently installed an air source heat pump and he says it has reduced his heading bills considerably.

[Fleck]

I have got a floor mounted air conditioner in place of one of my living room radiators. I only ever use it in heating mode of course. It produces 3.5kw of heating but only uses about 1.2kw of electrical power (I know this because I've got one of those energy monitor things). It warms the whole room up quickly, my gas bill is now much reduced and I haven't really noticed the electric bill go up.
The down side is it only heats one room and you need a box outside.

A/C is becoming quite fashionable at the moment with the greens. They don't call it A/C though, the trendy new name is 'air to air heat pump'

[M Paul Lloyd]

I'm surprised to learn that air con, or whatever they call it, is popular with the 'greens' after all it accounts for a massive rise in power usage and associated CO2 emissions over the last few decades.

Anything that uses energy is going to contribute to CO2 emissions somewhere down the line, and on that score I'm quite amazed by the idea that a 1.2 kw unit can produce more than twice its own output in heat energy, if only because it defies the laws of thermodynamics, so I would really like some more details about your system Fleck, if thats ok?

[Fleck]

http://www.mitsubishi-aircon.co.uk/

Can't get the full link to paste so Click on:
Products, m series, floor mounted, 3.5kw

MFZ-KA35VA outdoor unit is rated 1.1kw electrical.

The wallmounts are quite a bit cheaper and are just as efficient.


Good arn't they? I fit them for a living, last year Ashfield District Council had 50 odd off us for flats so they must be PC

[Fleck]

Sorry the outdoor unit is the SUZ-KA35VA

[M Paul Lloyd]

It bears a striking resemblance to the air con' units that became available in the US way back in the 70's, just a bit updated and as I recall they were basically a heat exchanger. It seems like a good idea and although I'm yet to be convinced of their overall efficiency anything has to be worth a try given the escalating costs of energy.

[Fleck]

Yes they will be very similar. The modern ones use different refrigerant (R410a) and have microprocessor speed controllers on the compressors so they don't just suddenly switch on and off, they speed up and slow down smoothly avoiding the high starting currents.

[Fleck]

The earlier ones didn't have a four way valve on them either so could only be used for cooling indoors. They're all reversible now but only since about 10 years ago. I suppose this is why a lot of people don't know they can be used as heaters.

[M Paul Lloyd]

Thanks Fleck, I can see how modern tech could help seriously upgrade an old idea and I will be looking into this idea further.
I especially like the idea of the heating option.