How to adjust heating batteries in the apartment

Balancing of the heating system. Align the temperature in the rooms

Winter to Russia, as usual, comes unexpectedly, exposing all problems with heating. The most common problem in my practice is the uneven heating of the premises.

Where does the problem come from?

The lion’s share of heating systems is calculated “according to the old fashioned way”, according to the principle of “100 watts for m2 of heated area”. Confirm the general error and boilers manufacturers. So, for example, in the description of a boiler with a capacity of 20 kW it says that the boiler is able to heed up to 200 m2, although this, to put it mildly, is not true. With the same success, both 10 m2 and 400 m2 can be indicated.

With this method of choosing the power of heating devices, the real heat loss of each room is not taken into account, and they are very far from the average values. And the average values, with modern insulation requirements, range from 16 to 40 watts per m2, 100 watts per square meter (approximately), old Soviet buildings were lost, most of which are already insulated. But this is the “average temperature in the hospital”, and in reality, the corner rooms with comparable area lose more heat through two street walls, rooms with panoramic glazing are the same, require more heat per unit area than rooms with conventional windows.

As a result, in 8 out of 10 houses we have a problem with uneven heials. This is often aggravated by the fact that radiators are hung on one long circuit, and the temperature of the distant radiators is much lower than that of the near. The result. The difference in temperature in different rooms can be very noticeable. You have to either put up with an uncomfortable temperature in some rooms, or drown with a margin, opening the windows where it is hot, releasing a warm money to the wind.

What to do?

In most cases, the balancing of the heating system helps. I will immediately make a reservation that there is a technical term “balancing of the heating system”, which means hydraulic balancing of the system, that is, aligning the coolant pumping according to the circuit according to the project. I will deliberately use this particular term, interpreting it somewhat wider.

General recommendation for setting up and balancing. Do not wait for the result immediately and do not regulate the result, guided by the principle of vn/off. Heating is a very inert system; sharp actions and lack of patience launch this system into autocoling, catching a middle ground with this approach is impossible. Adjust in small steps and patiently wait for the required room to react to changes in adjustment, it usually takes from half to two days. Your patience will be rewarded with thermal comfort.

Radiators with a lower connection, as a rule, are built.In a crane, combining both adjusting and balancing. On it, you can reduce the coefficient of the internal resistance of the radiator (KVS) and additionally wind up a thermostatic head (thermal cutter) on the adjusting valve. At the hottest radiators, we reduce the KVS, turning the balancing valve, setting the resistance higher (the smaller the number, the lower the KVS), the less hot radiators, thereby redirecting hot coolant to less heated.

On properly connected sectional radiators on the supply, they usually put an adjusting valve under the thermogol, and on the back line a balancing valve, which can also be “resigned” by radiators in more warm rooms. On such cranes, as a rule, there is no scale and it is convenient to adjust them, unscrewing at so much revolutions from the twisted state. How many “some” it is determined experimentally, start with 3-4, then either unscrew or twist one to two turns.

Naturally, a simple installation of a thermogram on the adjusting valve begs, but this is more correct to do after balancing. Firstly, the thermal head will close the crane in a warmer room only after the room warms up to the set temperature, and the heat will not go to the less warm room immediately, but much later. Secondly, when the thermal head closes the crane through which the coolant flows with too high speed, an unpleasant crack or knock is heard, and this occurs periodically. In addition to knocking, at high speeds of the coolant, radiators are continuously noisy. It is not very comfortable to sleep next to the knocking and noisy battery. The recommended speed of the coolant in a radiator eyeliner is 0.3 m/s, the taps with thermal heads are designed to work in this stream. The task of balancing is to provide this particular flow rate for all radiators.

We twist what is

If there is no way to install the thermogram (the appropriate valve is not mounted), then twist what is. The market presents adjusting taps of different types and types and if the crane is installed, it is a sin not to use it for its intended purpose.

There is one but! Ball valve, as a rule, is not considered adjusting and should not be used for adjustment: only for full closure or opening without intermediate provisions. The long stay of the ball crane in an intermediate position contributes to its jamming and the appearance of defects on the mirror of the ball, which subsequently lift up and disable the seal.

If there is nothing to twist

If when installing the heating system, radiators were used without regulatory reinforcement, then you should not despair. Instead of limiting the flow of coolant to radiators in excessively warm rooms, you can easily limit the heat transfer of the radiator. The easiest way is to cover it completely or partially. It is not for nothing that the radiators are called “convectors”: this means that the heating device gives most of the heat through convection. Due to the flow of warm air. The air, heated, expands and rushes upward, then moving in a large circle, gradually cools, becomes heavier and drops down against the opposite wall, then returns to the radiator from below, thus creating a closed convection stream. The share of convection in the total heat transfer of most radiators presented on the market is very large. At least 60%. These are almost limitless opportunities for regulation. You can reduce the heat transfer of any radiator by simply covering it partially or entirely, and thus align the temperature in all the rooms of the house.

What is a thermostat for

Correctly selected and installed thermostatic valves allow not only to save energy, but also greatly simplify the life of the homeowner in terms of temperature adjustment in the premises. After all, with the help of heating boilers, you can change the heating of all rooms at the same time, increasing or decreasing the temperature of the coolant. But the regulators of heating batteries make it possible to heat the premises in different ways, depending on their purpose, which brings considerable energy savings.

For reference. Most modern boilers can be connected by a remote heating thermostat to control heating in automatic mode. But this does not solve the issue, since the coolant with a certain temperature will still go to all rooms at once.

The task of the thermostatic valve is to adjust the amount of the coolant entering into the radiator depending on the air temperature in the room, automatically supporting it at the level that the user has established. The main thing is that a sufficient amount of heated water is received from the heat generator, because the thermostat for the radiator can only reduce its consumption, but not increase.

The appointment of radiator thermal valves is available in the following

The need to arrange heating

The need to warm your own house has always existed, but the ways to achieve this goal were very different. Classic Russian stoves were used for more than one hundred years, and firewood appeared a little later. Traditional heating structures were replaced by modern devices and heat supply systems, which exceed their predecessors in quality and efficiency.

Currently, the heating system is a design that, as a rule, consists of the following main elements:

Inside the heating system is the coolant. In most cases, water is used to heat private households, since in the case of leakage it from an environmental point of view is not a danger to people and the environment. Of all types of liquid coolants, it is water that accumulates heat best and, cooling, gives it.

In addition, it flows well and almost instantly moves inside the elements of the system. Water is always available in water pipes and it can be added to the heating structure at any time.

The functioning of the system consists in moving hot coolant through it using a circulation pump. The water first heats up in the boiler, and then distributed through the pipes from which it enters the radiators.

Adjustment of the radiator network

The balancing method practiced by our expert is equally suitable for closed single.Pipe and two.Pipe heating systems of country cottages. Collector wiring and warm floors are regulated in another way, which we will talk about in the next section.

The essence of the methodology is to measure the surface temperature of all radiators and eliminate the difference by limiting the flow rate of the coolant with balancing taps. How to adjust the heating batteries using the thermometer:

Warm the coolant to 70-80 ° C, completely open all adjusting valves. If the boiler does not show the real temperature of the water on the supply, determine it yourself by applying the meter to the metal output pipe.

An important point. Do not get carried away with excessive twisting cranes, you will not get saving in this way. Compare the temperature at the inlet and output of the heater. If the difference exceeds 10 ° C, the valve must be released. Due to the too low flow rate of the coolant in the room will become cold.

Approximate adjustment of the batteries of a closed two.Pipe system is shown on the example of a heating scheme of a two.Story house. Why is approximately: the number of closed batteries and the number of speeds of the crane is purely individually for each wiring, it is necessary to understand the place. If you doubt the correctness of your actions, crush the coolant gradually, making half the 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd and repeat the measurements.

As a rule, a single.Pipe “Leningradka” of 3-4 batteries does not need balancing, it is enough to slightly “press” the first radiator. In a passing wiring (loop of the Tichelman), you need to limit the first and last device. The expert will show more apparently the adjustment procedure for

Binding options for heating radiators

The installation of heating radiators involves their connection to pipelines. There are three main methods of connection:

If the radiators are placed and the lower connection, you have no choice. Each manufacturer tightly binds the feed and return and its recommendations must be strictly observed, since otherwise you simply will not receive heat. There are more options with a lateral connection (more about them is written here).

Binding with one.Sided connection

One.Way connection is most often used in apartments. Can be two.Pipe or one.Pipe (the most common option). Metal pipes are still used in the apartments, so we consider the option of strapping the radiator with steel pipes on the drives. In addition to the pipes of suitable diameter, two ball valves, two tees and two drives are needed. Parts with external threads at both ends.

Baypas side connection (one.Pipe system)

All this is connected as shown in the photo. With a single.Pipe system, bypass is required. It allows you to turn off the radiator without stopping and without lowering the system. You can’t put the crane on the bypass. You will block the movement of the coolant on the riser, which is unlikely to delight your neighbors and, most likely, will fall under the fine.

All threaded joints are compacted by a fum tape or linen winding, on top of which a packaging pasta is applied. When screwing the crane into the radiator collector, a lot of winding is not required. Too much its number can lead to the appearance of microcracks and subsequent destruction. This is relevant for almost all types of heating devices, except for cast.Iron. When installing everyone else, please without fanaticism.

If there are skills/ability to use welding, you can welcome the bypass. This is how the strapping of radiators in apartments usually looks like this.

With a two.Pipe system, a bypass is not needed. The feed is connected to the upper input, the return, the taps, of course, are needed.

One.Sided strapping with a two.Pipe system

With lower wiring (pipes are laid on the floor), this type of connection is made very rarely. It turns out uncomfortable and ugly, it is much better to use a diagonal connection in this case.

Diagonal connection

Installation of heating radiators with a diagonal connection is the best option from the point of view of heat transfer. She is the highest in this case. In case of lower wiring, this type of connection is not difficult (example in the photo). Feed from this side at the top, the return from the other below.

A single-pipe system with vertical risers (in apartments) does not look so good, but people lay down due to higher efficiency.

Pay attention, with a single.Pipe system, the presence of bypas is again necessary.

Cinema with a saddle connection

With a lower wiring or hidden supply of pipes, installing heating radiators in this way is the most convenient and the most inconspicuous.

With a saddle connection and a lower one.Pipe wiring, there are two options. With a bypass and without it. The taps are still placed without a bypas, if necessary, you can remove the radiator, and install a temporary jumper between the taps. A drive (a piece of the pipe of the desired length with a thread at the ends).

Sedel connection with a one.Pipe system

With vertical wiring (risers in high-rise buildings), this type of connection can be seen infrequently-too ​​much loss in heat (12-15%).

Why should adjust

Setting the optimum temperature of the heating batteries allows you to create the most comfortable conditions of stay inside the room. In addition, adjustment allows:

• Remove the effect of felining in batteries, give the coolant to move freely through the heating system, effectively giving its heat to the internal space of the room.
• Reduce heat consumption costs to 25%.
• Do not keep the windows constantly open, with excessive overheating of air indoors.

Tuning heating and adjusting batteries, it is advisable to do before starting the heating season. This is necessary in order not to experience discomfort in the apartment later and not set up the temperature of the heating of the batteries in emergency mode. Before setting up and adjusting radiators, initially in the summer it is necessary to thermal insulation of all windows. In addition, you need to take into account the features of the location of the apartment:

Having analyzed the situation, it is advisable to use energy.Saving technologies to maximize heat maintenance inside the apartment:

Without these works, it will be useless to regulate the temperature of the radiators, since the lion’s share of heat will heat the street.

Ball Valves

Valves belong to cheap, but at the same time ineffective regulatory devices. At the entrance to the radiator, ball valves are often installed, with which the flow of water is regulated.

But this equipment has other functionality. Locking reinforcement. Valves are used to complete disconnecting the flow of coolant in the system. For example, in the case of leakage of the heating device, ball valves located at the input and exit from the radiator allow repairs without stopping heat supply and draining the liquid.

Ball valves adjustment of heating batteries in the apartment is not carried out. They have only two provisions. Completely closed and open. The intermediate location brings only the harm.

The fact is that inside such a crane there is a ball with a hole, which does not threaten anything in a regular position, but in all other situations, solid particles present in the coolant, they grow and pieces are abandoned from it. As a result, the crane will not be sealed and in the “closed” position, the water will continue to enter the battery, which is fraught with great troubles in the event of a leakage of the device.

If one of the owners of real estate has decided to make control of heating batteries using ball valves, it must be remembered that they should be installed correctly.

This method is usually used in apartment buildings. If the wiring is a single.Pipe vertical, then the pipe with hot water enters the room through the ceiling and connect the radiator to it (read: “Proper adjustment of the heating batteries in the apartment. Comfort in the house and saving funds”). The pipeline departs from the second entrance to the device and through the floor goes to the lower room.

In this case, it is necessary to correctly mount the taps, since the installation of bypas is mandatory. A bypass pipe is needed so that when closing the fluid flow to the radiator, in the common house system continues to circulate the coolant.

In some situations, the crane is placed on the bypass to change the amount of water passing through it and thereby adjust the heat transfer of the battery. To ensure greater reliability of the heating system, at least three cranes are installed: two will be cut off on the radiator and function as usual, and the third will become a regulatory.

But here you need to not forget what position the devices are in. Otherwise, you can completely block the riser and cannot be avoided as the cold in the apartment, as well as unpleasant showdowns with neighbors and representatives of the management company.

Therefore, making a decision on how to regulate heat in batteries, experts do not recommend using ball valves. There are other products on sale that are specially intended to change the amount of water circulating through the radiator.

Heating batteries adjustment in the apartment

During the professional design of the heating system, it is necessary to take into account three main factors: the nominal power, the installation scheme of the devices and their adjustment. To solve the last problem, it is necessary to use special reinforcement, as well as devices for changing the temperature regime in a particular section of the scheme. How correctly the adjustment of the heating system of houses and apartments is carried out: taps, radiators, batteries?

Heating system with adjusting reinforcement

There are several ways to change the characteristics of heat supply. Timely hydraulic adjustment of the heating system is necessary to stabilize pressure in certain areas and the entire scheme as a whole. The temperature adjustment serves as an instrument for changing the degree of air heating in a particular room. Most often, a crane is used to adjust the heating temperature for this.

All of the above characteristics largely depend on the work of the boiler. However, to normalize the parameters of the system, it is necessary to install additional components. Depending on the function, they are divided into the following types:

• Temperature. Serve for partial or complete overlap of the flow of the coolant in radiators or in a separate circuit. With the help of cranes, thermostat or mixing nodes, heating batteries are adjusted in the apartment;
• Pressure. The temperature difference between the feeding and the reverse line can cause pressure surges. This will lead to the unbalance of the system, which will worsen its work. To eliminate this problem, hydraulic shootings are mounted, as the collector wiring of the pipes is done.

In practice, timely adjustment of cranes on heating radiators reduces energy costs. Also, using adjusting reinforcement, you can change the degree of air heating in the room.

The actual indicators of the heating system should coincide with the calculation. Thus, the number of adjusting elements can be reduced.

Heating adjustment in an apartment building or private cottage is performed using special devices. They are installed in certain areas of the system and can work in automatic or manual mode. Their installation is performed on radiators, mixing nodes and collectors.

Before choosing a certain model, it is necessary to find out the optimal way to change the temperature regime for pressure in the system. Depending on the internal device, the adjustment of heating radiators in the apartment can be carried out by two methods:

• Partial overlap of the volume of the coolant into the battery. To do this, install taps and thermostats;
• Mixing of hot and cooled water flows for the formation of the coolant from the desired temperature. This is done using mixing nodes, in which two and three.Way valves are mounted.

A full.Fledged adjustment of the heating system of a private house can only be carried out after a thorough study of the devices of these components.

The easiest way to change the temperature regime of batteries is the installation of locking reinforcement. With its help, heating cranes are adjusted in an apartment or house. Depending on the design, they can perform two functions. An operational overlap of the flow of coolant during repair work or adjusting hot water to the battery.

Ball valves are not designed to change the flow of the volume of the coolant. Therefore, adjusting the temperature of the heating battery with their help is impossible. To do this, use another crane model. Conical valve. In it, using the rod, the passage diameter changes in the line of the line.

Installation of a conical valve is a cheap mechanism for changes in the temperature in the heating battery. However, along with this, its operation has several disadvantages:

• Manual mode of operation. When changing the degree of water heating in the pipes to reduce or increase the flow of heat for the radiator, it is necessary to independently adjust the position of the rod;
• It is recommended to set a thermometer to remove temperature in the radiator;
• Over time, the rubber gasket is thinner, which leads to a breakdown.

Currently, the temperature control of the heating radiator using cranes is not practiced. To do this, use other mechanisms with a significantly larger set of functions.

The so.Called servo drive can be mounted on an already installed conical valve. It will change the position of the rod in automatic mode depending on the temperature in the room or in the heating system.

It is best if the temperature control of the heating radiator occurs in automatic and semi.Automatic mode. This function is performed by thermal controllers. Devices for changing the volume of water flow into the battery.

Most often, direct.Acting temperature controllers are used to strain the radiator. Structurally, they are similar to the above cranes with one exception. The position of the rod changes automatically depending on the temperature of hot water.

This heating temperature control system consists of a mechanical part and a sensitive element. The functions of the latter can perform paraffin or any liquid with a high degree of temperature expansion. With an increase in temperature, the sensitive block presses onto the valve saddle, thereby initiating to lower the rod. Adjustment of the operation temperature occurs using a spring connected to a thermostatic element.

The advantage of such heating batteries in the apartment is the automatic mode of operation of the device. It is enough for the user to set the required level of heating of the radiator on the thermostat. But besides this, you need to know the specifics of adjusting the radiators of the apartment heating:

How to adjust (reconfigure)

All thermostats are held at the factory setting. But their installations are standard and may not coincide with your desired parameters. If something does not suit you in your work, you want to be warmer/colder, you can reconfigure a thermostat for a heating radiator. This must be done when working heating. You will need a thermometer. You hang it at the point where you will control the state of the atmosphere.

• Close the doors, put the thermostat head in the extreme left position. Completely open. The temperature in the room will begin to increase. When it becomes 5-6 degrees higher than what you desired, turn the regulator to the right to the right.
• The radiator begins to cool. When the temperature drops to the value that you consider comfortable, you begin to slowly turn the regulator to the right and listen. When you hear that the coolant was rustled, and the radiator began to warm up, stop. Remember what digit is on the handle. It will have to be set to achieve the required temperature.

Adjusting the temperature regulator for the heating battery is completely easy. And you can repeat this action several times, changing the settings.