Our 1972 Wimpey house (so presumably centrally specified) had flow and return vents (The *big* return vent) in the through lounge, but all the rooms upstairs had a couple of inches removed from the lights over the upstairs doors to create an unimpeded path back to the big vent in the lounge. It had no adverse aspects.
Derek G
Since it is struggling to reach even 40% efficient when it gets to you, that would be difficult. That's partly why it's more expensive than gas.
I rented a house with a J&S warm air system many years ago, and I quite liked it. Very quick warm up from a standing start. However, it would be a disaster if anyone smokes, and it caused dryness which one of the other occupiers claimed caused problems with contact lenses.
I believe they do drop-in modern replacements for older systems, if you do consider keeping the infrastructure.
Hint: Electric storage heaters & panel heaters work fine for flats - once you have 50mm Celotex on the walls.
I would fix the insulation first.
Oil really is likely to be 300$/barrel by 2020 which basically means the average heating bill will be =A32800-3700.
Cheers everyone that answered. Have offered on a different flat for a number of unrelated reasons, however grateful for the advice all the same. And sorry for releasing the resident looney :)
Some warm air heating systems, especially but not only pre 1980s system I believe, may contain asbestos in the ducting.
I would recommend for £100 to £200 asking for an asbestos survey of the system before you touch the ducting.
Other than that I wouldn't let the warm air system put you off and I wouldn't necessarily replace it in terms of efficiency unless you really don't like it. It's also possible to replace older boilers with more efficient and modern warm air boilers.
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