Maltoo

I have notice that most houses I am looking at in the UK still have the radiators, which I hate, as they take up precious room. Ductless systems are readily available here in the states now and I have noticed them in other parts of Europe. Are they available in the UK and what is the price like?

They start at about $350 in the US per unit

Tr1boy

Interesting post. We live in a 4 yrd old apartment in Surrey that has computer (zone) controlled underfloor heating. It's very cosy, space efficient and very very cost efficient to use.

Yesterday while in Somerset (Street to be precise) we looked at a new development which has some very nice houses on it. If we stay in the UK we will buy a house down that way (no mortgage needed thank gawd!). When we looked at the show homes I was quite shocked to see that they had conventional radiators, albeit small 'efficient' ones, no smart wiring, bog std phone ports (2 downstairs and two upstairs) and normal showers in the bathrooms, rather than thermo controlled ones we have in our apartment.

The houses were not particularly cheap and looked lovely built in sandstone, but I couldn't help thinking the builders missed a massive trick in going 'cheap' on this stuff.

Obviously this technology is available as we currently live in a place that has it. Then again the Somerset is the land that time forgot

Maltoo

Under floor heating sounds interesting also, although we are looking for a period property, I do not know if we will find one in our price range that is all original (which is what we want) so replacing flooring may be in our future if someone has put in something not of the period of the house. We are totally up for a big renovation as long as the house has not been butchered by past renovations and price of purchase allows for such.

also tell me about this themo controlled shower please

Tr1boy

yeah you really need to be ripping up and laying new floors anyway, or building new as it's not worth the cost otherwise.

Just on the houses we saw yesterday, even if they had to use radiators, I was still surprised that they weren't the better looking slim vertical ones.

I never really noticed how fugly radiators are until we lived in a place without them.

Maltoo

does no one have these ductless systems? I really want to use them when we remodel especially in the bedrooms

mayhemuk

Not sure what you mean by ductless? Do you mean the forced air?

Google 'Warm Air Heating UK' and it throws up a couple of companies.

It is not clear (to me) from the sites how the heat is distributed from the heat source. Especiallly with a retro fit.

When you go for 'uncommon' solution like these near in mind you will face potential issues when it comes to servicing maintenace and install.

Similar with fancy plumbing appliances that look great but when it comes to sourcing a washer or valve replacement turns into a nightmare.

Personally I did not like the US forced air heat. I found it noisy and inefficient but that's bound up in the style of buildings where we were with poor insulation and perhaps the vintage of the central furnace.
But they are common and easy to maintain.

If you're retro fitting something like this cavities for running ducting might not be sufficient for the size of duct required to work properly.

Good luck and I hope you find something suitable but keep in mind thelong term maintenance and who is going to be able to do it.

roaringmouse

After a quick search, I think the OP might be referring to split system air conditioners, which can both cool and heat a room.

Maltoo

Yes, I should have said split system or ductless since they are interchangeable. These systems are mostly European but have become widely available here in the states but I am not seeing many, if any, in the houses I am looking at in the UK. Which lead me to my questioning if they were easily available.

I am not interested in adding ductwork to a UK home as that would defeat the purpose of getting rid of radiators.

mayhemuk

LIke these?
http://www.airconditioner.me.uk/Spli...ditioning.html

Maltoo

Yes Thanks for finding them. I was hoping with all the expats here someone had installed these in their home. Since they are installed towards the ceiling and on the wall they do not take up valuable floor space for furniture and storage we are hoping to be able to use them when we remodel our new home if they are cost effective.

mayhemuk

I have only really seen them in commercial settings such as office or hotel rooms.
No reason why they should not work in a residential application.
They do seem to use an external heat exchanger so presumably there is a central unit to cost in aswell as the room devices but the pipe work is probably no problem for a retrofit.

Again it'll depend where you are and whether the expertise locally is available. The room units are active in they have moving parts, fans etc (as far as I can tell) whereas a radiator only has a couple of valves.

Also for resale I personally would be put off slightly by these these units in home settings. Just my reaction though.

Maybe this is an alternative?
http://www.thermaskirt.com/

Maltoo

Why would you be put off?

They are energy efficient, they are not as unsightly as radiators and they provide heat and air ( important to me as I am an Southern Woman and when the temps go over 80 I want my air) and individual units are easily replaced if they fail.
They are an easy install, our next door neighbor installed his own in one afternoon, not sure what "pipework" you mean?

Not being familiar with pricing in the UK, the ones posted were a little expensive if compared to US prices, I would think better priced options are available since Europe is where these units originated.

How does the price of one unit compare to the price of one radiator?

one split unit £350 although as stated by Mayhemuk you do need the exchanger which is 2-3 units and the exchanger usually cost about $1500-2000 so I am thinking they would probably be the same in pounds.

Thanks for posting the other link Mayhemuk but having made a quick look at that product I do not think that would be an option. I do not like the idea of water pipes running throughout the house and they only heat not cool.

rebs

I don't think many domestic homes in the UK have a requirement for cooling, it just doesn't really get hot enough for long enough.

I've never seen those kind of units in domestic homes in the UK. I just skimmed over the link posted, but if they are the kinds of things that you see in the US with a unit on the exterior of a window, I think they are very ugly and would prefer to have a radiator.

It's a reasonable point about pipes with water - people I know with second homes that are empty for a portion of time don't want wet systems, but in my experience they have gone for electric storage heaters.

Other options would be underfloor heating or the kickboard heaters.

I think anything that is outside of the 'norm' will put a certain amount of people off when it comes to resale. It probably would for me.

Maltoo

they are not window units this is a window unit and yes they are ugly and not very efficient. I would never even consider them.


you do not see the units outside it is usually placed somewhere not so noticeable.




this is a rather large outdoor unit. I would pick an area not so noticeable

Some pics of the indoor units





not sure why but this home has both split units and rads

Sherlock Holmes

Just a few notes about terminology.

The air conditioning you refer to is known as split system as the compressor is outdoors (usually) and remote from the cooling/heating head. There is pipework (albeit narrow) between the two.

Reverse cycle split systems provide both heat and cold.

The picture you posted with radiators and a split system means that the main heating system is re-circulated hot water and the thing on the wall is probably for cooling only. Although it may be for heating as well, it is probably only sufficient in Spring and Autumn.

Re-circulated hot water central heating by radiators is simply the most energy efficient way of heating.

You may find that split systems on their own wont be warm enough in winter unless you have a few of them. Expensive to buy in the UK and very expensive to run as compared with gas central heating. IMHO anyway

Heating from above is inefficient as well.

Take this from someone who knows all about the short-comings of these devices for heating as they insist on trying to rely on them in Australia which has fairly mild winters.

I had central heating radiators installed in my Aussie home.

Most homes in Oz have an aircon unit for cooling. It is only an accident of design that these things will also heat. They are cheap here. Probably expensive in the UK.