Questions for our UK friends.

[toggleswitch2]

I have seen typical floor vents to the central heating and cooling system exist in bathrooms, kithcens and the laundry room. (Yes in PA a relative has one on the main floor in her newly built house).

When the washer flooded (someone was aiming for a water level BETWEEN THE 4 or 5 fixed ones) the machine never stopped filling. DUH! Anyhoo..... the water went right into the ductwork of the heating systen. Seems to me those vents should have been installed on the side-wall and floor drains put in their place.

 

[panthera]

Or, of course,

A 'gate' installed at an elbow in the vent to permit inflowing water to, er outflow.

Robert Heinlein, I think it was, commented that most people don't want a truly modern house, they just want their cave re-decorated. Not in the UK sense, but in the US sense of just hanging new curtains and moving the furniture around.

I think he was probably right.