WarmCair takes warm air heating to a new level

One of the first installations of Johnson & Starley’s WarmCair condensing Warm Air Heating system is already demonstrating its energy efficiency and home comfort benefits in a modern residential property in Northampton. For the owners, Mr & Mrs Inwood, the WarmCair represents their third investment in Johnson & Starley Warm Air Heating systems in different properties – testimony in itself to the confidence they have in the technology and the company.

Their current 3500 square feet detached property was built to their specifications in the late 1980’s. Having experienced Johnson & Starley Warm Air Heating technology in their previous property, John Inwood was keen to keep this form of heating. Integral to the new home’s design therefore was all the required ducting, room outlets, flue and cupboard space for the system. The model installed was a Johnson & Starley J90 that would continue to perform excellently for the best part of 25 years, requiring only regular scheduled maintenance and very few replacement parts.

When contractor, Bob Carter visited for routine maintenance in late 2012, he advised that Johnson & Starley were about to launch their latest generation of warm heating system – fully Building Regulations Part L compliant WarmCair condensing warm air heaters.

“We were advised that WarmCair would take Warm Air heating technology to a whole new level of energy efficient performance. It would also have reduced maintenance requirements and allay any concerns we might have over obtaining spares for our existing heater,”

says John Inwood. It was calculated that with the annual potential energy savings of a new WarmCair, it could pay for itself in a short period of time too.

Having made the decision to upgrade, the replacement of the J90 with the WarmCair C26D heat only downflow unit was completed in just one day. There was minimal disruption as the new unit fitted in exactly the same space as the old unit. A small modification to the pipework, an extension to the canopy on top of the unit to the ducting was all that was required together with the an alteration to the flue system. This would now exhaust to the side wall of the property, rather than through the roof.

All the wall registers and floor diffusers throughout the four bedroomed property have been retained, discretely and conveniently positioned. “One of the major advantages of warm air heating is the unobtrusive nature of the room outlets,” says Marlene Inwood. “They do not take up wall space like radiators, they go with any decor and they give us great flexibility in the positioning of our living room and bedroom furniture.” There are also registers in the hallway and on the landing. In this respect, nothing has changed, but in other respects much has changed with the 22.88kW output WarmCair unit when it comes to heating performance.

“The warm up times are so much quicker with WarmCair, and when running it is a much quieter system. On the occasions that we need to run it during the night, it does not disturb us at all,” says John Inwood. “We also don’t get the surge of heat any more – just a consistent level where and whenever we need it. When we turn the WarmCair off, it is instant and the house retains the heat for hours afterwards,” he continues. “With summer here, another advantage of WarmCair is its air recirculation feature for comfort cooling.”

The WarmCair’s performance has been carefully monitored by the Inwoods, who pay a great deal of attention to energy efficiency – as highlighted by the highly insulated, double glazed property. A daily usage comparison with the previous J90 Warm Air heating system shows an energy consumption drop of around 30% with WarmCair.

As a condensing heater, WarmCair uses less energy to produce the required heat output and also has lower carbon and NOx emissions. It uses more of the energy input compared to non-condensing technology, with this additional heat energy produced by passing the exhaust flue gases through a secondary heat exchanger where the heat is transferred into the air stream.

Latent heat, that would otherwise be lost to the atmosphere, is substantially recovered and used in the heat delivery process. Indeed, WarmCair claims up to 98% thermal efficiency and includes a fully modulating burner and sophisticated combustion controls, effectively providing exactly the required heat output. Electrical savings are also made through the inclusion of EC rather than AC fan technology.

The wall mounted control system located in the hall way gives the Inwoods complete control over the operation of their WarmCair system, including time settings, temperature and summer air circulation. The accuracy is much greater than with the previous mechanical controller.

In conclusion, the Inwoods would never have any other form of heating.

“Radiator systems can be a nuisance factor if there are leaks. Warm Air systems are much more convenient, offer highly energy efficient performance and, as proven in our home, are just as suitable to replace old systems as they are for new build. We would recommend WarmCair to anyone in our situation.” says John Inwood.

For more information, contact Johnson & Starley Ltd, Rhosili Road, Brackmills, Northampton, NN4 7LZ, Tel: +44 (0) 1604 762881, Fax: +44 (0) 1604 767408, Email: marketing@johnsonandstarley.co.uk or visit their website www.johnsonandstarley.co.uk