Ducted air central heating.

[havasack]

Saturday mornings, mam gone to work, dad in bed, sister in bed and off I go downstairs and open the heating cupboard. Plug in, flick the switch on the heating and hear the pilot light flare up. Into sitting room, turn the thermostat on the wall up to full, turn the tele on. Sit up against the heating vent, listening to the various clicks and clangs fron the central heating system.........then after about 5minutes the soft whoosh as the warm air comes out the vent against me and I can sit there getting warm.

The warmest, most secure feeling ever, shame they've all gone now to be replaced by combi's and radiators.

[ClaudineJones]

Re: Ducted air central heating.

Not a good thing to leave a stack of records in front of

[Trickyvee]

Re: Ducted air central heating.

I've never come across ducted air central heating. Was it very popular?

We had central heating with radiators but it wasn't very good. They used to bang like crazy when they were heating up. The one in my bedroom was useless and hardly heated up at all. Dad was forever bleeding it but it never made any difference.

Having old single glazing didn't help. I think most of the heat went straight out the windows! In winter there'd be ice crystals in fan patterns on the inside of the windows and big pools of water along the window sill. I also had a colony of black mold growing on the wall behind my wardrobe! My room was always cold and damp.

[Richard1978]

Re: Ducted air central heating.

My aunt & uncle used to hot air duct heating, but had it taken out because it used to cost a lot to have it serviced (my uncle felt the gas board were ripping them off as something always seem to need replacing!) & one of my cousins suffered with all the dust blown out the vents.

On of the houses my sister lived in as a student had a similar system, which would heat up fast but cool down quickly, meaning it would have to be left on a low (& cost a lot, not good when you're a student) or be cold at night.

[sf1378]

Re: Ducted air central heating.

I've never come across ducted air central heating. Was it very popular?

We had central heating with radiators but it wasn't very good. They used to bang like crazy when they were heating up. The one in my bedroom was useless and hardly heated up at all. Dad was forever bleeding it but it never made any difference.

Having old single glazing didn't help. I think most of the heat went straight out the windows! In winter there'd be ice crystals in fan patterns on the inside of the windows and big pools of water along the window sill. I also had a colony of black mold growing on the wall behind my wardrobe! My room was always cold and damp.

The reason the radiator didn't work is because over time black gunge fills the heater as radiators rust internally producing iron oxide 'sludge' which moves around the whole heating system causing blockages to the pipes, cold spots and the boiler, heat exchanger or diverter valves...Nowadays you can get British Gas and the like or hire one of those Power Flush units which literally cleans the entire system out...I had one done when I had a new combi boiler put in, it is expensive sadly though (thats how I know about the problem, I'm not a plumber).

[PC66]

Re: Ducted air central heating.

I've never come across ducted air central heating. Was it very popular?

It was installed fairly extensively in some new British houses during the 1960's/early 1970's, but generally wasn't a system for adding to existing homes due to the amount of work which would be involved in getting the ducting everywhere and patching up. Some systems were oil or gas-fired, others were electric, operating like a single, gigantic storage heater.

Ducted air systems were, and still are, very much more common in the U.S.A., not least because with the addition of a central air-conditioning unit the same network of ducts can serve the dual purpose of heating in winter and cooling in summer.

[stuckinthe80's]

Re: Ducted air central heating.

I lived in a house in the 80's that was built in the 70's and it had duct air heating. I hated it. So did my parents. We moved out after only 18 months!

[havasack]

Re: Ducted air central heating.

So, relived my opening post for my youngest daughter. Borrowed my Father in laws small fan heater. Made sure the radiators were off, came downstairs with her, put the tele on and made her sit on the floor in the corner, even made her wait 5mins before turning the heater on. She absolutely loved it "Ooooohhhhhhhh this is lovely". Taught her how to melt ice cream with it and the joy of melting the chocolate off a chocolate digestive with your finger.

Going to buy a heater myself now as she's made me promise to do it again on Saturday.