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