Mr Evans, tenant comments: 'The new Economaire system is a great improvement with the summer ventilation option being very useful. The installation was also very quick with very little disturbance.' Mrs Campbell, tenant 'The new system is a lot better and distributes the heat to the bedroom and bathroom in the winter where the old one didn't. The job was also completed in a day.' During a thorough consultation process all of the tenants were contacted and invited along to an open day at which they were able to compare various replacement heating systems, including ones offering individual radiators.
A total of 180 flats, which were built for the Prestwich and North Western housing association in the Seventies, are now been upgraded using the Johnson and Starley Economaire heaters.
The Maintenance Manager for Prestwich and North Western HA, Mr Dion Woods, recounts: 'These are all one and two bedroom, architect designed flats built for us between 1969 and 1972, which were fitted at the time with warm air heaters.
'At the open day we displayed four alternative systems: warm air, gas wet system, electric storage and a hybrid system of radiators, each with their own heater.
We had a very high turn out of residents and more than 80 per cent declared themselves to want the Johnson and Starley Economiare.
'This seemed to be based on a number of factors.
They apparently already found the warm air heating quite affordable and the Economaire units will reduce the running costs still further.
They also give the tenants good comfort levels.' Berrys Plumbing and Heating Limited, based in Manchester, has been dealing with warm air heating for 40 years and was the contractor chosen to carry out the installations on the first two phases.
The Managing Director of Berrys, Mr Paul Flanagan recounts: 'We are basically replacing like for like which makes the work very easy.
The only real problem we had was not being able to go up through the new roof.
This meant we had to go horizontally through the bedrooms or occasionally the lounge, and the versatility of the flueing on the units made this extremely straightforward.
'It was recommended to us that we use a Pendock prefinished duct and this enabled our own joiner to complete a very neat and professional installation.' The combination of a fully modulating burner and electronic control ensure the temperature set is maintained to within +/- 0.1o C.
Then the Economaire's fanned flue in fact offers the installer a good deal of flexibility over siting while the units themselves can be compartment, slot fixed or free standing.
The complete range offers six models with outputs from 5.5 to 26.4 Kw.
All models have the option of electronic filtration and most have the option of domestic hot water.
Johnson and Starley were established in 1922 and for over 80 years have provided innovation to the UK heating industry.
As a manufacturer of 'Home Comfort Solutions' the company offers an extensive range of warm air heaters and ventilation products in addition to high efficiency boilers.
They offer the complete heating and ventilating range to heating installers and specifiers.
Johnson and Starley has built up a reputation as a manufacturer of high quality, reliable, long lasting, fuel efficient products which offer cost effective solutions
