In the Russian Federation, for the most part, the heating systems of multi-storey buildings are centralized, that is, they operate from a combined heat and power plant or a central boiler house. But the water circuits themselves are mounted differently, that is, they can be made either single-pipe or double-pipe.
For passive users, this does not matter, but in the case of a major renovation of the apartment with your own hands, you will have to learn to understand these nuances.
Two-pipe and one-pipe radiator connection system
Methods for balancing a heating system
A well-equipped heating system means not only the installation of all heating equipment (boiler, pump, radiators).
The key to successful operation and efficiency of the system is proper adjustment and configuration. To do this, a procedure such as balancing is performed, the purpose of which is to distribute heat transfer between rooms in the way that the owner of the house needs. Today, you can balance your heating system yourself or with the help of professionals. Some users believe that such a setting is required only for large buildings, while for private houses and small buildings such a procedure is not a prerequisite.
Of course, this opinion is wrong. Balancing is a mandatory process for any type of premises that have a heating system. If this is not done, then heat will be distributed in excess in some areas, while in others it will not be sufficient. Balancing will avoid these unpleasant moments.
We separate the heated floor pipes and connect them to the collector
The radiators are placed on top of them and you can unwind the heated floor pipe.
The installation of water heated floors in a private house is described in detail in this article. Everything is there: from what step, base, what kind of screed and temperature carrier they need.
Here I will only clarify at what stage they should be done when performing work and how to properly carry out heating in a private house.
Warm floors are a pipe everywhere and the less you walk on it, the better.
Features of working with different types of wiring
Single-pipe heating systems lend themselves to balancing adjustment most easily. This is all thanks to the fact that the total flow through the radiator and the connecting bypass is always the same and does not depend on the throughput of the installed fittings. Therefore, in systems like “Leningradka” the work is carried out not so much on balancing the flow, but on the equation of the amount of heat released by the coolant in the radiators. Simply put, the main goal of balancing in this case is to ensure that water flows to the most distant radiator at a sufficiently high temperature.
In two-pipe dead-end systems, a slightly different principle applies. Each radiator of the system is a kind of shunt, the hydraulic resistance of which is lower than that of the rest of the group located further along the flow direction. Because of this, a significant part of the coolant flows through the shunt back to the thermal unit, while the circulation further through the system has a much lower intensity. In such heating systems, it is necessary to work on equalizing the flow in each radiator by changing the throughput of the fittings.
Two-pipe associated heating systems do not require balancing at all, but at the same time they have a relatively high material consumption. This is the beauty of the Tichelman loop: the path that the coolant takes in the circuit of each radiator is approximately the same, due to which the equivalence of the flow at each point of the system is automatically maintained. The situation is similar with radiant heating systems and water heated floors: the flow alignment is carried out on a common manifold using float flow meters.
↑ Connecting radiators and choosing power characteristics
The number of sections directly depends on the amount of heat required for the room. The batteries are located in the place of the room where heat loss is greatest. Usually these are window openings and external walls. Connection can occur in three different ways.
Lateral connection is typical for central heating. Diagonal fits perfectly into the scheme of highways laid horizontally. In both the first and second cases, the battery warms up as evenly as possible.
When installing a single-pipe type system, a versatile connection is used. So the heat transfer of the device becomes significantly less. The radiator is much warmer on top.
Some radiator models are designed in such a way that the pipes are connected to them from the bottom. The wiring in these devices is internal.
Setting by temperature
Very often the homeowner does not have any design documentation, but the system was invented and assembled by the talented welder Uncle Vanya. Then all that remains is to regulate each battery by temperature.
To balance the heating system with your own hands, you need to install a special valve at the outlet of each radiator, such as shown in the photo. Additionally, you will need an electronic thermometer that measures the temperature on any surface.
The process begins with the valve on the farthest and most powerful heating device fully opening. The rest open at a certain number of revolutions. For example, if there are 6 batteries on one branch, and the valve is unscrewed by 5 turns, then on the first radiator we make 1 turn, on the second - two, and so on, opening the last one all the way. Approximate balancing of a two-pipe heating system for a private house is to ensure that the temperature at the outlets of all heaters is the same.
To do this, you need to measure the temperature of the metal valve body. When it is high, cover it a little, if low, open it. The next measurement should be taken after 10 minutes so that the temperature has time to stabilize after the change.
Preparation for the procedure
Before you start balancing, prepare everything you need for it. To get started, you will need the following:
- A special contact thermometer with which you can accurately determine the degree of heating at various points.
- In order to adjust the balancing valve, you will need a hex wrench.
- If it has been preserved, it is advisable to take a heating wiring diagram. It may not exist if the equipment was installed a long time ago or was done without a diagram prepared in advance.
- You will need paper, pencil and marker.
Instead of a contact thermometer, you can use other models. Professional specialists often use a specialized thermal imager for this purpose. You can also use a remote pyrometer.
If there is no wiring diagram, then you need to sketch out a plan for the location of its elements yourself. First of all, the sequence of connecting the radiators and their distance from the boiler room are noted. Balancing a two-pipe heating system is similar to what is done for a single-pipe one.
When heating balancing begins, the mud trap at the inlet of the heating boiler is cleaned. Then it is necessary to warm up the heating boiler. This must be done up to maximum operating temperature. It doesn’t matter whether the weather outside is cool or hot.
Electronic balancing of the system
Temperature balancing is a long and painstaking process. It is very difficult to accurately regulate complex heating systems in this way. It is much easier to use a smartphone with a special mobile application, additional electronics and a circulation pump with a balancing function.
- a circulation pump with a corresponding function (in some cases, a removable pump head is installed on the existing pump, designed to balance the system);
- smartphone and special software;
- wireless communication module installed on the pump head.
Electronic balancing of the system is carried out in four stages:
Preparatory – installing a special application on a mobile device and connecting the communication module to the pump. Entering data about the system (area of heated premises, number of heating devices, coolant temperature, etc.), measuring pressure and flow in each radiator or floor heating circuit (performed using a mobile application). Balancing the system according to the data of the mobile application is done using balancing valves (valves). Dismantling the communication module and saving the balancing report generated by the mobile application.
Instead of a conclusion: correct balancing allows you to fine-tune the operating parameters of the heating.
This significantly reduces the cost of operating the system and ensures the most comfortable temperature in all rooms.
Security group
The security group consists of three elements connected in series or to one housing:
An emergency safety valve that allows you to discharge excess coolant when the pressure in the system increases. The discharge can be placed in a transparent container (for example, a plastic bottle). This will make the device safer and will notify you that an emergency has occurred (even if no one was home). Automatic air vent - removes air from the coolant, which, if present in the heating system, can render it inoperative. Pressure gauge - allows you to visually monitor the coolant pressure in the supply line.
The safety group crashes into the supply line immediately at the outlet of the heating boiler. This is done in order to primarily protect the boiler, which has the highest temperature.
The safety group is installed strictly vertically, and it must be located above the level of the heating boiler.
An additional automatic air release valve should be installed at the highest point of the system. Air will definitely enter the system during its refueling (refueling), and this device will help stabilize the operation of the system, avoid stagnation of the coolant due to air accumulation and extend the life of the circulation pump.
Expansion tank
A closed expansion tank is a tank equipped with a rubber membrane that divides the device into two parts (the lower half contains the coolant, and the upper half contains inert gas). When the temperature in the heating system increases, part of the coolant enters it, thereby smoothing out the pressure difference in the supply and return lines.
The expansion tank is built into the return line in front of the circulation pump (if the pump is placed in front of the tank, it will constantly pump coolant into the expansion chamber).
The tank can be installed in close proximity to the heating boiler. Additional shut-off valves (ball valve) installed in front of the tank entrance will make it easy to disconnect the tank from the system if there is a need to repair or replace it.
Automatic debugging
There is a kind of golden mean between the two methods described above. Special equipment for automatic balancing of hydraulic heating systems allows adjustments to be made with very high accuracy and in a fairly short time. Currently, the main technical solution for such purposes is the Grundfos ALPHA 3 “smart” pump, equipped with a removable transmitter, as well as a proprietary application for mobile devices. The average price of a set of equipment is about $300.
What is the essence of the idea? The pump has a built-in flow meter and can exchange data with a smartphone or tablet, where all information is processed. The application works as a guide: it guides the user step by step and indicates what manipulations need to be carried out on different parts of the heating system. At the same time, individual rooms with a specified number of heating devices are saved in the application database; it is possible to select different types of radiators, indicate their power, required heating standards and other data.
The process is extremely simple and fully demonstrates the algorithm of the program. After pairing with the transmitter and preparing for operation, all radiators are disconnected from the system; this is necessary to measure zero flow. After this, the shut-off valves on each radiator are opened completely in turn. In this case, the flow meter in the pump notes changes in the flow and determines the maximum throughput of each heating device. After all radiators are entered into the program database, they are individually adjusted.
The shut-off valve on radiators is adjusted in real time. The application has a sound indication for the ability to work in hard-to-reach places. Balancing requires fine adjustment of the shut-off rod to a position at which the current flow rate in the system is equal to the value recommended by the program. Upon completion of work with each radiator, the application generates a report that includes all heating devices in the system and the coolant consumption in them. After balancing, the ALPHA 3 pump can be removed and replaced with another with similar performance parameters. published econet.ru
If you have any questions on this topic, ask them to the experts and readers of our project here.
Why do balancing?
Any heating system, regardless of its type, must ensure that the calculated volume of coolant is delivered to the radiators so that they, in turn, can properly heat the room. Moreover, each radiator should receive exactly as much hot water as needed. In no case less and, preferably, no more. However, everyone knows that more water will always follow the path of least resistance.
That is, if the hydraulic balancing of the heating system is not done, then most of the heat will go to the batteries closest to the boiler, and the furthest ones will receive practically nothing. Some rooms are hot, others are cold. At the same time, the boiler does not operate in an economical and gentle mode, but at the maximum. The figure below clearly shows the picture of heat distribution throughout the system in two versions: unbalanced and configured as expected:
So, hydraulic balancing is necessary for:
- uniform heating of all heating devices;
- boiler operation in normal mode and energy saving;
- to avoid the noise of large volumes of water flowing through nearby batteries at high speed.
