Would you switch from radiators to forced air if you could.

[Mellydramatic]

The house we're negotiating on has plenty of closet space for the runs for the central air system. Since we'll be able to do this easily, should we also replace the current boiler and radiators? We have enough wood to patch the floors, and it would free up space where the radiators are.

[phil]

you can free up space where the radiators are but will have to sacrifice a lot of space and open a lot of walls and things to make way for all the ducting you will need.

Forced air gives you quick heat which is important for somethign like a cabin where you need to heat it up when you are in. With forced air you can allow temps to dip when you are at work and then to warm up again just before you get home.

forced air is noisy, I guess it provides some filtration of the air.
your boiler could be anywhere, but with forced air it needs to be in a location that makes sense for all the ducting.

electric is another option , in floor heat maybe. If anything I would supplememt heat with electric then you have a dual system and best of both worlds but I wouldn't want to install all the ducting as it probably at least makes you loose headroom in the basement. with hot water you can pick your choice of fuel

I would keep the radiators myself. It is a superior system , the only reason why forced air is used more is because hot water heat is more expensive to install.

[DavidP]

For many years I have lived in a condo with forced air and, on weekends, an old house with radiators. I grew up with the latter also.

I have heard some forced air systems that are noisy, but they don't have to be; the one in my condo is reasonably quiet. There is indeed air filtration, as you can see if you look at a dirty furnace filter that has been in use for a while. Oil burners are not quiet, but when the burner isn't running you get a long period of silence (see next paragraph).

The biggest thing I notice that that the forced air system seems to run a lot. With the radiators, I get a period of several hours after things get heated up before the system comes on again (varies a little with the weather, of course). In the condo it seems like it just shut off then it comes back on. I don't think there's anything wrong with the forced air system, it's just the contrast with the radiators where you get a long gradual cooling off period.

I'm not a fan of adding ductwork into an older home; personally, I think that combined with removing the radiators changes the character of the house quite a lot. (That's assuming the radiators are original to the house. Slightly different if your house predates central heating and radiators were added later.) But you do get central AC. I think the AC piece is the reason forced air is used so much in new construction (yes, the plumbing is more expensive for hot water but I'm not sure that it's a huge deal in the overall cost of a new home). If you really need AC, it's a conundrum.

The high-velocity systems like Unico can provide forced air heat as well as AC, and the ducts are less conspicuous. More expensive than conventional systems, though.

[Mick_VT]

No,
i have forced air and would switch the other way in a heartbeat

[Jeepnstein]

We have central AC and radiators. Best of both worlds.

[arwenmark]

The old house I bought had the radiators removed and hot air system with AC installed, I prefer it this way trouble is it is a 3 story house and only the first two floors have the hot air and AC, the third floor has electric baseboard heaters and no AC.

[Wackyshack]

I grew up in a house with radiant heat. The house I have now has radiators. As said already
there is nothing better than feeling the warmth radiate through the house and you can toss your
wet hat and mittens on the one by the back door. They also throw steam from the valves. I have not had to deal with a humidifier once since I moved into my old house. The house with radiant heat, you couldn't survive without one and if you forgot to change the water often enough the smell would remind you.
Radiators!!!!

[matchbookhouse]

If my house had had radiators I would definitely have kept them and installed Mitsubishi systems for A/C. I grew up with radiators and they were just wonderful for (mostly) quiet heat - the occasional clanking or hissing was oddly comforting. My house now had an old electric furnace which had to be extremely inefficient, so the POs installed a heat pump instead; since the duct work is in place in the attic now I'm stuck with it. But radiant heat lasts a lot longer after you turn it off than forced air heat.

[DavidP]

you can toss your wet hat and mittens on the one by the back door. They also throw steam from the valves.

Yes indeed to the utility of radiators for drying things. But I lived for six years in a house with steam radiators and I remember steam coming out of the valves only rarely. Is it really supposed to be a frequent or continuous occurrence? I wouldn't think so.

[Wackyshack]

David P... the steam came out on occasion. SOmetimes the kids freak out at the hiss....
But since I have owned this house I don't get shocked in the winter as I did with my house that had radiant heat. We had to run the humidifier constantly.