No matter how technologically advanced modern houses are, in order to maintain a comfortable temperature in the home in winter, a person must artificially compensate for the inevitable heat losses. That is why heating is needed in the apartment. In most countries of the post-Soviet space, the situation with the energy efficiency of the housing stock is still not very good, where, among other things, heavily worn-out systems are operated. When making "European-style repairs" in old buildings, the owners necessarily face the problem of a complete replacement or modernization of heating, almost always it has to be redone by the owners of apartments in new buildings. All activities related to heating are expensive, energy-intensive, and technically complex. Therefore, the customer of the work, who is to replace the heating system in the apartment, should understand the main points.

It is advisable to change the risers in old houses. It is better to agree with the neighbors and do this by passing the overlap

How apartment heating works

Electric, air, and even stove systems are used to heat an apartment, but in apartment buildings, water systems are the most practical and reliable, where water acts as a coolant. It is due to the circulation of the liquid carrier that thermal energy is transferred from the heat source to the heating devices.

This is how a gas boiler is tied in an autonomous heating system

It is important to know. In order for the heating system in the apartment to be effective, it is necessary to ensure not only sufficient water temperature, but also the proper speed of its transportation. To overcome the “hydraulic resistance”, you need to use pipes of a suitable diameter and from a smooth material, as well as correctly calculate the configuration (the fewer bends, the shorter the system, the better). In the most difficult cases, circulation pumps are used.

What elements make up heating systems in apartments

The design of apartment heating is more complicated than it seems at first glance. The main difference of a well-configured system is its balance, in which the best indicators of efficiency and economy are achieved. Each component is an option, its characteristics must be selected.

Heat source

The source of heat, as a rule, is a centralized heating point. In cases where an autonomous system is implemented, the following apply:

  • heating boilers for the apartment (electric, gas, fuel);
  • heat exchange units (water is heated by steam or other hotter liquid);
  • solid fuel stoves.

The right heat generator must provide both the right temperature and the right pressure. Power is a key indicator of a heat source.

Pipes for heating in the apartment

Pipes provide transportation of heated water, they do not participate in heat transfer, therefore they are insulated. The most important technical indicators of these elements are:

  • throughput / cross section,
  • resistance to high temperatures,
  • pressure resistance.

Now inexpensive polymer products are most often used. They are easy to work with and are resistant to corrosion. There are also fans of copper piping, and steel is slowly becoming a thing of the past.

It is important to know. For the installation of heating, it is necessary to choose plastic pipes with special reinforcement designed to stabilize the thermal expansion of the material.

Shut-off and control valves

These are taps, split couplings, thermal heads, relief valves, filters, etc. These devices allow you to control the operation of the system and maintain it:

  • stop the entire system;
  • turn off individual branches and remove devices (radiators, circulation pump);
  • locally limit / increase circulation (read: increase or decrease heat transfer in certain rooms);
  • clean the coolant.

The thermal head will allow you to lower the temperature in the room at any time and adjust the system as a whole

Heating appliances

They are the main emitters of convective-radiation heat. These are, as a rule, radiators (sectional, panel, tubular). According to the material can be distinguished:

  • cast iron,
  • aluminum,
  • steel,
  • bimetallic.

The choice of radiators is carried out, first of all, by power, as well as by working pressure. Additional factors should be considered: thermal inertia, ensuring a given circulation rate, the ability to work with low-quality water.

It is important to know. In centralized systems, the level of electromechanical and electrochemical corrosion is very high, therefore steel radiators under such conditions is not the best option.

To obtain stable convection, radiators are placed under windows. They can not be covered with window sills and heavy curtains.

coolant

The heat carrier in centralized heating systems is water. For local heating, antifreeze is often used, which is difficult to freeze in pipes, and which does not form scale, which excludes corrosion.

To understand how heating in an apartment is calculated, you need to know the golden formula: the calorific value of the system must fully compensate for the heat loss of the building in winter (1 kW per 10 m 2 is almost always enough). This will be both the power of the boiler and the total power of the radiators.

How to choose a heating configuration in an apartment building

In most cases, there is no choice. If a single-pipe stand-alone system is used in a typical house, then installing heating in an apartment during repairs will consist in replacing pipes and selecting new radiators of the required capacity. But autonomous, as well as apartment systems (when pipes are connected not to common risers, but to individual outlets on each floor), often allow for a more flexible approach to design.

It is important to know. Apartment heating has its pros and cons. The advantages include: variability of the system (type of components, wiring diagram), the ability to turn off apartments from heating separately (for example, for repairs), ease of temperature control and heat accounting. There are very few drawbacks, the main one is that it is possible to cool the walls if the heating is not turned on in the neighboring uninhabited apartment. Autonomous systems have a similar set of positive characteristics, only sometimes homeowners are faced with a difficult to resolve question - how to turn off the heating in the apartment.

Optimal piping layouts are considered in each case individually, they are classified according to several key criteria.

  1. Depending on the method of connecting the radiators, the heating of the apartment will be:
    • one-pipe,
    • two-pipe.
  2. According to the location of the pipelines, the wiring happens:
    • top,
    • lower,
    • horizontal,
    • vertical.
  3. According to the nature of the movement of the coolant, the heating schemes of an apartment building are divided into:
    • passing,
    • dead ends.

A variant of the autonomous heating scheme. Pay attention to the gradation of the pipe section

It is important to know. In many cases, various combinations of schemes perform best.

Replacing heating is a very difficult task and it is most difficult for those who decide to make heating in an apartment with their own hands. Even if you entrust the design to professionals, it still remains great amount purely practical "trifles" for installation, which are known only to specialists. Cold batteries in the back room are not the worst thing that can happen. The main thing is not to arrange a man-made disaster in a single entrance.

Video: do-it-yourself heating in an apartment

It is very difficult to do without household gas in the modern world, because it is used not only for cooking, but also for heating your home.

However, it should be noted that not all apartments have a gas boiler installed, and many citizens are forced to pay for centralized heating.

Let's see if it is worth installing such equipment in your home and how you can do it.

Individual gas heating in an apartment has a number of advantages, because the primary task of any gas installation for heating residential premises is the possibility of saving. So, when using such heating equipment, there are no heat losses (passing from the place of production to the consumer, part of the transferred heat enters the external environment), which are typical for centralized heating, energy efficiency increases, and, as a result, gas is saved.

In addition, by ensuring the desired air temperature in each individual room, it creates elevated level comfort and ensures independence from the general schedule for turning on the heating. With a gas boiler, you have a real opportunity to reduce heat consumption during the heating period by 10-20% through manual or automatic control of heat flows. You will no longer have to overpay, and everything you use will be displayed on the gas meter.

The heating system of an apartment using a gas boiler is beneficial not only for homeowners, but also for developers, since in new houses it becomes possible to perform construction, repair and other types of work (for example, replacing pipes, valves and heating appliances) without disconnecting other residents from the system apartment building. Also, if necessary, you can safely carry out Maintenance boilers with special technical services, because one object is often installed from 100 to 200 of the same type, relatively simple installations. The installation and maintenance costs of the boilers are quite low and included in the bill of the apartment owners.

Basic requirements for installing gas heating

Despite your desire to have your own heating, this is not enough, because only the gas service can allow the connection of a gas boiler to the mains. Specialists take into account all the features of your apartment and only after that they give permission for the installation of a gas boiler. To avoid unnecessary problems and not delay obtaining the appropriate permit, it is better to familiarize yourself with the requirements in advance, which include the following:

  • The size of the room where the boiler will be placed must be at least 4 m² with a ceiling height of not more than 2.5 m.
  • The width of the door to enter the room must be at least 80 cm.
  • According to the standards, the lighting of the boiler must be natural (through a window opening), that is, for every 10 m² of the room, at least 0.3 m² of a window is required.
  • Good ventilation is also a prerequisite, since gas combustion in the boiler is ensured by an influx of oxygen (the opening area for this inflow should be 8 cm² per 1 kW of equipment power). Each boiler must be supplemented with a gas meter and ventilation in the upper part of the room.
  • All gas pipeline pipes must be made of metal, and flexible sleeves are allowed to be used only for connecting consumers.
  • The power supply system of the gas boiler must be provided special machine with adjusted current and thermal protection.
  • In the room where the boiler is planned to be installed, a gas analyzer should also be installed, which can warn of a gas leak, and a special electric valve that stops the gas supply if necessary.
  • Gas equipment can be placed in the basement only if we are talking about heating a single-family house, but if we are talking about high-rise buildings, then installation in the basement is strictly prohibited.

If in the case of a house you have more options for choosing a place to install an individual gas boiler, then in an apartment it can only be placed in the kitchen, and it must be wall-mounted (preferably with a closed combustion chamber and a coaxial chimney). If the volume of the kitchen in the apartment is more than 7.5 m³, then two heating elements cannot be installed.

Important! The requirements for installing gas boilers in a private house and in an apartment are almost the same, only in the first case it will be necessary to organize a separate boiler room, and in the second - to combine it with one of the rooms.

Choosing a boiler for an apartment

So, the answer to the question "Is it possible to make gas heating in the apartment?" positive, and now it remains only to purchase the appropriate boiler and receive desired resolution from the gas service. However, it is still necessary to find out which type of equipment to give preference to, because on the modern market you can find many suitable models.

Types of boilers: by the method of placement, by the number of circuits, by the type of gas burner, by the type of removal of combustion products

There are two main types of domestic gas boilers - single-loop And double-circuit, although they can also be divided according to the method of placement in space, the type of gas burner and the type of removal of combustion products.

Single-circuit equipment can provide only one function, for example, heating. The dual-circuit device already has more opportunities, because, in addition to heating the room, it is also capable of heating water, which is enough to meet basic domestic needs. The device automatically switches to water heating as soon as you open the tap in the bathroom. When the taps are closed, the water in the system cools down.

Important! The rate of water heating depends on the distance between the boiler and the water intake point, as well as on the diameter of the pipe connecting them: the larger it is, the longer the cold water will drain, which means that the flow rate will be greater.

Based on the possibility of placement in space, gas boilers in an apartment (as an option instead of central heating) can only be placed on a wall or floor. Wall models have appeared relatively recently, but have already managed to gain general popularity. Such a device can be called a kind of mini-boiler room, since not only a heat exchanger, a burner and a device responsible for the operation of the boiler are located in a small building, but also circulation pumps, an expansion tank, a protection system, a pressure gauge and many others. useful elements. The compactness of the device allows you to organically fit the gas boiler into the interior of the kitchen, which is another advantage of this option.

A more traditional version of such equipment, the design of which has not changed for many years. Floor gas boilers can be equipped with pressurized (replaceable) fans and atmospheric burners. In the first case, the efficiency of the device, as well as its cost, will be higher. The second option is somewhat cheaper and quieter.

Did you know? The atmospheric burner is an integral part of the boiler, which means it is included in its price, but the pressurized one will have to be purchased separately. The power of boilers with replaceable forced draft burners exceeds the power of atmospheric options by dozens of times, which allows each apartment owner to choose the most suitable heating option for themselves.

Taking into account the way in which exhaust gases are removed by boilers, such installations can be divided into systems with forced and natural draft. In the first case, the decomposition products are removed from the system using a built-in fan, and in the second case, thanks to the chimney draft. If natural draft gas boilers are familiar to many, then the forced gas exhaust option is a novelty on the modern market, since it appeared relatively recently. It must be said that the latter option is more suitable for apartments, since a coaxial chimney with a hole made in the wall is sufficient for mining. Forced draft gas boilers do not need fresh air for combustion, they do not burn oxygen in the room and make it possible to save on installation.

In turn, all wall boilers are divided into subspecies depending on the type of ignition (electric and piezo ignition) and the type of burner. Electric models are more economical, since there is no igniter with a constantly burning flame, which saves large quantity gas. In addition, the electric type of ignition automatically resumes the operation of the boiler in the event of a power failure. Based on the type of burner installed, all boilers can be divided into conventional and equipped with a modulating burner (provides an economical mode of operation of the boiler, since the heating power changes depending on the temperature in the room).

Important! The modulating burner provides very comfortable conditions in the mode of hot water supply, as it maintains the temperature of the water at the set level.

Most often, wall-mounted boilers are equipped with additional devices that ensure their complete safety during operation. For example, a fire presence sensor, when a flame hits, cuts off the fuel supply, and a blocking thermostat turns off the boiler when the temperature rises sharply. Also in the design of wall-mounted boilers, a special device is provided that blocks the gas installation in the event of a power failure.

How to correctly calculate the power of the boiler

Most often, gas boilers with a capacity of 24 kW are installed in apartments, although this value is quite large for standard apartments. The boiler installed in a multi-storey building does not operate continuously, and the calculated load for heating an average-sized apartment (for example, two-room apartment) is at least 10 kW per 1 m², but the hot water supply load must be at least 24 kW, in particular, for apartments with a smaller area. It turns out that the specifics of the heat source for each individual apartment determines the requirements for the selection of its power based on the peak load. Most manufacturers provide for a power adjustment range of wall-mounted boilers at the level of 40-100%, which causes the operation of the thermoblock in the “on / off” mode and at a minimum power (about 10 kW).

Did you know? Today it is not entirely correct to talk about the generally accepted norm of 10 kW of boiler power per 1 m² of living space, since these standards were compiled back in Soviet times and do not take into account the features of modern building technologies.

It would be more correct to independently calculate the required power of gas equipment for heating an apartment.

So, for example, if the height of the ceilings in a room does not exceed three meters, then to obtain the required value, you can use the following formula: calculated in m², and UMK - the specific power of the boiler, which ideally should fall on 10 m²). As for the last indicator, the required value is determined depending on climate zone and may be:

  • from 0.7 to 0.9 kW for the southern regions;
  • from 1.0 to 1.2 kW - in middle lane;
  • from 1.2 to 1.5 kW - for the Moscow region;
  • 2.0 - for the northern territories.

This video describes in detail the calculation formula for determining the power of the boiler.

Based on this formula, it turns out that an apartment or house with an area of ​​100 m², located in the middle lane, will require 11 kW for heating (100x1.1 / 10 \u003d 11 kW). However, this formula allows you to obtain information about the power of a gas boiler that will be used only for heating living space, but if it is planned to install a two-circuit system that should heat water for domestic needs, then the equipment power indicator should be increased by 25%.

Important! The average UMK indicator is based on many years of experience in operating various systems of heating equipment in a particular region. Multiplying this value by the area of ​​​​the room, we get the average boiler power figure, which should be adjusted taking into account the above specific features.

Having performed the appropriate calculations, it becomes unclear why an apartment with an area of ​​​​50-100 m² needs a boiler, which can easily heat much larger areas. The thing is that the power of the gas boiler used in apartment heating is determined not only on the basis of the size of the heated area, but also taking into account the requirements for comfortable hot water supply, and for normal hot water supply, less than 24 kW of power is needed. It is impossible not to take into account the possibility of organizing a warm floor. In this case, it is better to purchase a gas boiler with a capacity of 28 kW.

Installation of autonomous gas heating in the apartment

If you decide to turn off central heating, then you should know how to put individual heating in the apartment, and what elements are needed for this. It would be better to entrust this procedure to professionals.

Scheme of autonomous heating installation

The installation of a gas boiler is carried out in compliance with certain requirements for its placement. So, it should not be closer than 20 cm from other household appliances or flammable materials (this distance can be more (30-50 cm), depending on the model of the boiler). Also, the heating device should not be placed between walls or near a window, although the power supply, on the contrary, should be as close as possible.

Important! As soon as you choose a suitable place, be sure to check the purchased gas boiler for the presence of all fasteners and additional elements: mounting templates, fixtures and brackets, because if they are absent, it will be problematic to make autonomous heating in the apartment using the same gas boiler.

In addition, be sure to compare the manufacturer's specifications(indicated on the packaging), with the values ​​indicated on the identification plate located on the inside front cover of the boiler.

Before proceeding with the installation of the equipment, be sure to flush all the pipes of the boiler and the system as a whole, which will help remove foreign particles that often get inside the system during factory assembly.

Planks for fixing the boiler (included in the kit and fixed on the wall with anchors) are placed at a distance of 1.0-1.6 m from the floor. The wall must be level and strong enough, otherwise it will not be able to support the weight of the boiler and all related appliances.

To prevent clogging of the heat exchanger, it is better to install an angle-type strainer at the water outlet. Ball valves are placed on both sides of it, which will further facilitate the maintenance and repair of the boiler. After that, you also need to check the evenness of the equipment, because skew in any direction can cause extremely undesirable consequences.

At the next stage, as soon as the boiler takes its place on the wall, it is necessary to connect the pipelines of the heating and water supply systems to it (before connecting the boiler to the water pipes, it is imperative to remove all the plugs installed on the nozzles). The connection of the boiler and the pipeline is carried out using polypropylene couplings, at one end of which there is a thread with union nuts, and the second part is soldered to the pipe.

Wall-mounted gas boilers of a double-circuit type have 5 outlets:

  • 1 - processing, used to return the cooled coolant from the heating system back to the boiler;
  • 2 - brings cold water from the water supply;
  • 3 - gas tube;
  • 4 - is responsible for the output of hot water for the plumbing;
  • 5 - supply pipe through which the hot coolant is sent to the heating system.
Important! For different models of boilers, these tubes may have a different location, therefore, in order not to be mistaken, always study the technical documentation that comes with the boiler.

Single-circuit boilers have only 3 outputs: gas, supply and processing.

Ball valves are installed on all pipes of the boiler, and they are even where at first glance it seems that they are not.

The process of installing a wall-mounted boiler is described in great detail in its passport, so you can find answers to almost all questions that you will have during the installation process in this manual.

But do not forget that only a specialist from the gas service can connect the boiler to the gas pipe. A gas cock or ball valve (certified only), a gas meter, a thermal shut-off valve and a gas alarm are installed in front of the boiler. It is necessary to provide constant open access to the gas valve.

Remember! Self-connection is a very dangerous occupation.

The gas heating project in the apartment is the first step on the way to installing a boiler. In this matter, it is worth considering a number of recommendations from experts. For example, it is very important to fix the mounting bracket clearly parallel to the floor so that the boiler is positioned without distortion (you can use a level or plumb line to check the evenness). Although there are no serious requirements for wall-mounted boilers, when placing them, it is worth maintaining a minimum distance from the boiler to the nearest walls or cabinets: on the side - 25 mm, on the top - 20 cm, on the bottom - 25 cm, on the front side - 100 mm (if you plan to hide the equipment behind a door).
If the gas boiler is fastened to a partition of combustible materials, then a protective sheet of metal (at least 3 mm thick) should play the role of a kind of gasket, and the boiler itself will be fixed at a distance of 5 cm from the wall. Also, one should not forget about the bearing capacity of the partition itself - it must withstand the weight of the unit and additional equipment.

Gas boiler and safety

As soon as you decide to transfer your apartment to autonomous heating, you need to carefully study all the nuances of this possibility, strictly adhering to safety rules. Remember: water and hot gases must pass counterflow in the boiler heat exchanger, otherwise, with any automation, the device may explode. Therefore, during installation it is so important not to confuse cold and hot pipes.

After hydrobinding the system, carefully inspect it again. If antifreeze was poured into the heating system, be sure to drain it and rinse the pipes twice with clean water. The admixture of antifreeze in water is also very explosive.

Install filters for coarse purification of passing water, which are placed at the lowest points of the system. Otherwise, there is a danger of accumulation of mud deposits between the fins of the heat exchanger, not to mention a large gas flow.

The sludge is drained through the mud collectors at the beginning and at the end of the heating season, simultaneously checking the condition of the entire system.

If your boiler has a built-in expansion tank and an air deaeration system, then the old expansion tank must be removed by tightly shutting off the air cock. Before performing the procedure, be sure to check its condition: air leakage can also create a dangerous situation.

Autonomous gas heating in the apartment: advantages and disadvantages

Individual heating in your apartment will have a number of advantages, although possible disadvantages should also not be ruled out. The main advantage of such a system is its independence. To the benefits of autonomy also include:

  • opportunity self installation and adjusting the heat supply mode (you can extend or shorten the heating season, as well as set a comfortable temperature in your apartment);
  • profitability - heating your home will cost you much less, even considering how much autonomous heating costs in an apartment, the benefit will be more than noticeable;
  • the possibility of organizing a permanent hot water supply when installing a double-circuit gas boiler.

As for the disadvantages of organizing autonomous gas heating in an apartment, they are all related to the relative complexity of its installation and the need for further self-maintenance. Before installation, you need to purchase all the necessary elements and install them in place (on your own or with the help of a specialist). It is also worth considering the fact that the installation of a gas boiler and other parts is often associated with partial destruction of walls, floors, etc., which means that after completing the procedure, at least minimal repairs will have to be made.

This video describes the pros and cons of installing autonomous gas heating in an apartment.

Service maintenance of the gas boiler is carried out only by specialists service centers on various conditions, but payment for such services is always the problem of the owner of the apartment.

The disadvantages of installing autonomous gas heating include the need for an appropriate permit. This requirement cannot be ignored, since independent intervention is dangerous not only for you, but also for your neighbors.

As you can see, you can safely turn off your home from central heating, but whether it will be easy to make gas heating in an apartment depends on many factors: layout, area size, pipe structure, etc. Therefore, to make it easier to resolve any issues that arise, it is better immediately contact the relevant specialists.

Instead of a preface

September was always the worst month for me, the nights were already getting cold, it was starting to rain, the temperature in the apartment fluctuated around 20 degrees, or even less, but the heating was always turned on in early October. Until they had to hold out. How?

I took out my faithful home “fur coat” from the closet - a bathrobe, put on woolen socks and bought packs of green tea. All this arsenal helped to somehow warm up until October. Especially this article will be appreciated by hypotensive patients, and in general by people with problematic vessels, who even in the heat have cold feet and hands.

A few years ago I decided to improve my living conditions and bought an apartment in a new building. But I became the owner of not a simple apartment, but with individual heating, or in a simple way - with a boiler.

Today there are more and more such projects. Not only townhouses are equipped with boilers, but also ordinary low- and mid-rise apartment buildings. In my house, by the way, 9 floors. In Moscow, all new buildings with central heating, but in New Moscow and, especially in the Moscow region, there are projects with individual heating: LCD "May", LCD "Pavlovsky Quarter" (OPIN), LCD "ZaMitino", LCD "Novogorsk Park", etc. .

So, if you live in an apartment with central heating, but are looking for an apartment (or townhouse) with a boiler, you need to know a few things about it. I will say right away that in this text there will be no praises for the boiler, because this type of heating is not suitable for everyone. But, if it does, then it will be impossible to get away from the boiler.

Advantages of an apartment with a boiler

I have a German Buderus boiler installed in my apartment. There are other common brands: Viessmann, Baxi, Bosch, Vaillant, Navien. There are also domestic brands - Rostovgazapparat, Lemax, ATON. As the owner of an apartment with a boiler, I now “sit” on several specialized forums where we all share useful information, pluses and minuses.

First, about the good, about the benefits. I have only 3 meters in my apartment: for cold water, for gas and for electricity. All. I don't pay for central heating or hot water. That is why I am not afraid of planned and emergency shutdowns of hot water. Operation "basin" is a thing of the past.

I am no longer afraid of September, when the apartment becomes uncomfortable, cold and I have to walk in three pants, socks and a bathrobe to stop chattering my teeth. I can set the thermostat to the temperature I want, whenever I want, and heat the apartment. When the thermostat fixes the set temperature, the boiler turns off by itself. And it turns on again when the thermostat "understands" that the apartment has cooled down.

But the main advantage of the boiler is, of course, savings. In the very first month after the move, I could not believe my eyes when I calculated how much gas I spent - I had to pay 400 rubles for April. This, along with heating water and taking into account cooking (and I often use an oven, which is also gas). IN old apartment(an ordinary panel house) in winter I had to pay 2500-2800 only for central heating. Yes, the batteries were hot, and the apartment was always around 27-28 degrees (the guests said “well, you have Africa!”), But isn’t it preferable to make 25 degrees and pay less?

Isn't it great that the batteries can be turned off when it's a warm day? In a word, in new apartment 70 sq. meters, I pay 350-400 rubles for gas per month in the spring, while in the former apartment of 50 square meters. meters almost 3 thousand rubles. Of course, even a cold spring is not a winter with 30-degree frosts, so I “tortured” the craftsmen who did the repairs for me - did they freeze in this harsh winter? Was the boiler working well? According to reviews, it was normal, they worked in T-shirts, no one died.

A big plus of apartments with boilers is that according to the project, the owner of the apartment can make himself not an electric, but a water floor. The heat-insulated floor is as batteries only horizontal. My friends who live in the townhouse did just that. According to them, the air in the premises warms up so quickly that a warm floor can easily replace batteries. I can only dream about it, because. i got an apartment with a screed, in which pipes were already laid (beam wiring), but, for example, the central part of the hallway turned out to be with this very warm floor, because. there are pipes to the radiators in the nursery and to the heated towel rail in the bathroom.

Consumption cold water, of course, it turns out more, but not by much. If in my previous apartment it took me 3-4 cubic meters of cold water and 2-3 hot ones (for two), then in this apartment I get 8-9 cubic meters of cold water per month.

Speaking of cold water. Recently a cold water pipe burst a block away. And that's all - there was no water in the taps, and the repair of the pipe took almost 6 hours (well, the day turned out to be warm). But this problem is also true for houses with central heating, where, when repairing pipes in the yards, absolutely everything is blocked: both water in taps and batteries.

A big plus: heating in an apartment with a boiler does not depend on accidents - the water in the system (in batteries) is hermetic (watch the pressure in the system - it should ideally be 1.5 bar), so even if a pipe breaks in the yard - you have apartment, the water will spin in the batteries, passing through the boiler and heating up there, i.e. the apartment will be warm whenever you want.

But, yes, here I smoothly move on to the minuses of individual heating. Minus the second - if you live in an old area, there is a high probability that communications are outdated, which means that electricity can “jump”, unfortunately, boilers are dependent on power surges. Therefore, you will have to buy and additionally install a voltage stabilizer (in Leroy Merlin from 5 thousand rubles).

As for the fears that the boilers “eat” a lot of electricity, then you should not be afraid, on average, the boiler consumes 120 watts, i.e. like one light bulb (“washer” or slow cooker eat much more). But as for hard water, then you should be wary. Advertising pro washing machines, where the heating element, which can become scaled and fail, is also relevant for boilers.

Craftsmen write on the forums amazing stories about how to clean the heating element of the boiler with citric acid and other sentimental posts on how to get rid of scale. I do not advise you to engage in "self-treatment", I have concluded an agreement with a service company (accredited at Gazprom), whose employees come and service the boiler once a year. It includes descaling, dust removal and diagnostics of "electronics". The issue price is 2-2.5 thousand rubles. There are many companies that service gas equipment, you can find it cheaper.

You can also just install a filter and change it after a while - depending on how hard the water is in your area. Our developer did it easier - he installed a water treatment plant for all 200 apartments under the house. As soon as the house was 60-70% occupied, it was launched. But, as you understand, maintenance once a year does not cancel this. Dust, which accumulates a lot during repairs in the boiler, is just as harmful to it as scale on the heating element (tubular electric heater).

Some brands of boilers can work quite noisily - this is another minus. For example, my Buderus works quietly, but my acquaintances have a Baxi boiler, and although they have already got used to it for 3 years of living with it, they do not deny that the boiler makes noise from time to time (when you have to heat both water and batteries, i.e. to work in full force). When I asked them - how noisy is the boiler? They answered that it was a little stronger than a refrigerator. So a small 1-room apartment with a boiler for an elderly person, especially if he is sensitive to noise, may not be the most good option for living.

Well, the last disadvantage of boilers is that it is difficult to “hide” it when buying a kitchen. This, in my opinion, is both fair and wrong. In the process of selecting a kitchen set, I turned to 4 companies. Two of them drew beautiful kitchens for me, but the functionality of the boiler was ignored. I mean that when a specialist from a service company or just a gasman comes to you with a routine check - he should easily gain access to the boiler. Therefore, various doors and cabinets must be opened or quickly removed so that a person does not have to diagnose the boiler in a half-bent form.

Keep in mind that gas workers can also be fined if you "brick up" the boiler, because "but it's so beautiful." Unfortunately, aesthetics take a backseat here. In addition, if due to a beautiful, but incorrect design, the boiler fails in winter, I'm afraid that beauty in a 20-degree frost will not warm you.

However, today the market for kitchen design is diverse, and hiding the boiler so that it is always accessible is easy enough. The cheapest and most minimalistic way, in my opinion, is an ordinary roller blind (pull the string, the boiler will open), however, there is a nuance: it is advisable not to install anything butt-to-butt to the boiler, and also not to attach at the top.

So, let's sum up.

Boiler advantages:

Hot water outages are not terrible;

You can turn on the batteries and heat the apartment at any time;

You can heat your home by setting an individual (convenient) temperature;

The ability to make a warm water floor;

Savings, significant monetary savings;

Now the cons:

Dependence of the boiler on power surges, due to which the electronics may fail and repairs will be required;

Water hardness can damage the heating element, and it will have to be changed;

Some brands of boilers are quite noisy;

- you need to “hide” the boiler in the kitchen set so that it has easy access on demand.

Now a few numbers - we have a text about personal experience. Now, in the spring, I spend no more than 10 cubic meters of gas per day (take at least the recently ended April), because. I heat the apartment before going to bed and in the morning, after I air it out. On warm days, when heating is not required at all, 1-2 cubic meters of gas per day are consumed. The price of one cubic meter of gas is 4.7 rubles - consider for yourself (in September 2018, a cubic meter of gas costs already 5.3 rubles - approx. Novostroy-M).

A cube of cold water costs a little more than 20 rubles, if it takes 8-10 cubic meters per month, then we get 200 rubles with kopecks. Boiler maintenance is carried out once a year and costs, as I wrote above, 2-2.5 thousand rubles, that is, as much as I paid per month for central heating.

Of course, in modern new buildings, there are heat meters at the entrance to the apartment. However, here it’s like with ODN for electricity - no matter how much electricity is “burned”, the rest of the common house will be scattered over all the apartments, and you will have to pay. With the boiler, everything is strict - how much gas they used up, they paid for that much.

This text should not be taken as propaganda “buy apartments with individual heating!” Even I couldn't live in a small apartment with a noisy boiler. But the very fact that the modern market of new buildings offers an alternative to central heating is very pleasing. Tomorrow, here again they promise no higher than +4 degrees, I'll go hug my boiler.

Publication date May 10, 2017

During the Soviet Union, the heating of apartments and even many houses in the private sector was carried out centrally. Heat was produced in boiler houses common to a group of buildings, or it was “removed” from thermal power plants and numerous industrial enterprises located nearby. Then they warmed well, and cheap "state" heat was considered the norm. Few were dissatisfied. But a lot has changed since then. Now individual heating in apartment building It doesn't seem so exotic anymore. Why do people resort to this method of heating their homes? Can it be implemented at all?

What is apartment heating according to an individual scheme

First of all, do not confuse it with the apartment, which is now very popular in new buildings. Since in this case the systems are isolated from each other by means of distribution nodes, but heat is generated at a common heat point. Although it is usually not connected to public networks - it serves one or more buildings. Heating is considered individual when the apartment system is looped and supplied with thermal energy exclusively from a separate heat generator.

The question still remains, can it be called autonomous? Perhaps, with a big stretch, although they sometimes say so. After all, we need an energy carrier (gas or electricity), we need an outlet for the operation of the circulation pump and other devices, in the end, we will feed the system from a water pipe.

Scheme of individual heating of an apartment using underfloor heating

How does it work

Heat generator

According to statistics, our compatriots prefer water systems. This is a radiator heating or underfloor heating system. In most cases, double-circuit gas boilers are used for individual heating of an apartment. The choice of gas as the most profitable and convenient fuel is obvious. And an additional circuit for hot water supply is an excellent solution when there are also problems with hot water supply from public networks. Typically, high-tech wall-mounted models from leading world manufacturers are used, since there are few heat losses (due to the small quadrature, small area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe external enclosing structures), and large-capacity boilers are not needed.

A wall-mounted double-circuit boiler is installed in the kitchen and is hidden by an MDF structure, its coaxial pipe is led outside through the wall

Important! It is desirable that the heating device be equipped with a closed-type combustion chamber. Then it will be possible to do without a special “smoke” channel, and to remove combustion products (and supply air to the burner), use a coaxial chimney that can be led outside through the outer wall.

Another option is to use electricity. In apartments, heating elements, induction or electrode boilers are installed. Convectors and heaters are often used, which heat the air directly in their heat exchangers. Recently, electric underfloor heating (film infrared elements, cable, rod) is gaining popularity as the main or additional source of heat.

Wiring

The scheme of individual heating of the apartment is extremely simple. The boiler is installed in the kitchen, from it along the floor (in the screed or in the voids of the frame of wooden floors) pipes are laid along the outer walls, where batteries are mounted under the windows. In most cases, two-pipe horizontal wiring is used. But given the small length of the main ring, single-pipe circuits are also in use, they are practically devoid of their main flaw here - insufficiently hot "extreme" radiators as a result of problems with balancing such systems. For technical and aesthetic reasons, the circulation of the coolant in the heating circuit is carried out using pumping equipment. Pipes use polypropylene with aluminum / fiberglass reinforcement, sometimes made of cross-linked polyethylene, metal-plastic or copper. Steel, including stainless steel, is rapidly losing ground.

Beam wiring diagram with two collectors

Important! Among apartment owners, the beam scheme is becoming popular. Unlike the tee wiring method, each heater has its own independent supply and return pipes. As a result, the consumer gets the opportunity to regulate the heat transfer of each battery separately, up to complete shutdown(for example, to service the appliance).

Other devices to create a functional and safe system

As with the implementation of individual heating in a private house, the system will have to be provided with a standard set of auxiliary elements:

  • expansion tank,
  • circulation pump,
  • safety group (emergency valve, air vent),
  • feeding node,
  • thermal accumulators for individual heating,
  • control taps/valves,
  • collectors,
  • filters,
  • automation (with the possibility of programming modes), etc.

Note! Modern wall-mounted boilers are sold with all the necessary accessories, so buy more Additional materials won't have to. Accordingly, it becomes much easier to make individual heating in an apartment with your own hands.

Consumer features of individual heating for an apartment

Homeowners are looking to save money. The user is given the opportunity to choose temperature regime, even stop the system if it gets warmer outside. The subscriber pays only for the actually used energy carriers, he is not interested in the level of heat losses on worn-out lines or exorbitant appetites of generating companies. Many consumers report significant reductions in their bills by 30 percent or more. True, this applies only to those who use main gas, and electric boilers for individual heating, unfortunately, do not give such bright prospects.

The owner of the apartment is free to set the temperature regime, which he considers comfortable for himself and his household, and it may differ for each room. Windows and blankets on radiators open in winter, as well as oil heaters in cold bedrooms, are a thing of the past.

Losing dependence on the heating plant, we become the owners of our own "economy". It’s good that we won’t have to sit without heat when the public utilities eliminate another gust on the highway, but we will have to monitor the performance of our heating system, carry out maintenance and repair of equipment. And also to respond in case of an emergency, for example, when the circuit is depressurized and the neighbors are flooded from below (there are no options here).

And let's also not forget that you need to invest in equipment and improved wiring. Getting approval to switch to individual heating is extremely difficult both from a legal and technical point of view.

With the help of control valves installed on the radiators, the required temperature is set in any room.

Why is it sometimes impossible to make individual heating in an apartment

If you wish to disconnect from district heating, be prepared to face a range of challenges. Firstly, you need to coordinate your decision with local governments, since such changes are considered “reconstruction of residential premises” ( housing code RF article 25). To prove that the building will not suffer, including deterioration appearance facade (a coaxial pipe often becomes a stumbling block) - you have to try. It is unlikely that it will be possible to do without a project, permission for reconstruction, acceptance and receipt of an act for commissioning, as well as the consent of the owners of other apartments. Often city governments have ready lists houses in which it is allowed to disconnect apartments from public networks, and where this is prohibited. the federal law“On Heat Supply” No. 190, individual heating in an apartment building can be used only in cases where it is determined by the “heat supply scheme”.

The following technical points may be the basis for refusing to transfer a separate apartment in an operated building to an individual heating scheme:

  • Violation / misalignment of the scheme of the centralized heating system of the building with all the ensuing consequences.
  • The appearance of an excess power reserve of the boiler house and its inefficient operation.
  • Small volume of the room (up to 15 cubic meters) for the installation of a gas heat generator.
  • Small flow capacity of the gas line.
  • Insufficient allocated power for the operation of electric heat generators.

The situation is much simpler in new buildings or when all the apartments of the old house are transferred to individual heating. But even in this case, the possible damage to municipal heating networks is taken into account.

Video: the pros and cons of individual heating

The rejection of a centralized system and the transition to your own heating in an apartment is now quite common, as a more profitable, that is, an effective and cheap option. We will not consider the legal side of the issue, this is a completely separate issue. Here we will pay attention to the methods of distributing radiators from a gas convection boiler.

Heating system

For autonomy, the heating system in an apartment can be very different, but if we are talking about water circuits, then three main options can be considered here - "warm floor", two-pipe and one-pipe heating systems. A combined version is also possible, which also brings very good results. But we will focus on radiators, so familiar and familiar to every post-Soviet person.

Two-pipe and one-pipe systems

  • Perhaps the most reliable is, because with such a wiring there is a minimum of heat loss. Here, the coolant, in this case water, enters the radiator from the supply pipe, but returns from it to the return pipe or “return”. The pipes can be arranged in different ways - they can pass two together, under the batteries, near the floor, or the supply is mounted on top of heating appliances.

  • The situation is somewhat different with, because in this case, the water, flowing from the pipe to the radiator, again returns to the same pipe, but already slightly cooled. It turns out that the farther the heating device is from the beginning, the colder it will be, because the coolant, reaching it, cools down in other batteries. This design is good for two or three medium-sized batteries, in any case, up to five can be allowed, but this will already be too much.

Apartment heating scheme: number 1 indicates the bypass, and number 2 indicates the radiator

  • One-pipe apartment heating schemes can be with a bypass, as shown in the upper figure, and may be without it, as seen in the lower image. The difference lies in the fact that the jumper allows you to dismantle the radiator without stopping the circulation of the coolant - for this you just need to turn off the taps to the battery. But if there is no bypass, then by removing the heater, you break the circuit, and therefore interrupt the circulation (according to this scheme, the water supply to heated towel rails in apartment buildings is often collected).

Advice. If the rooms in the apartment are located in the same line, then it makes no sense to install a single-pipe heating circuit, because the pipe still needs to be turned back to the boiler. The material consumption will be the same, so it is better to use a two-pipe connection.

Installation of the heating circuit

  1. Pipe made of metal-plastic or propylene;
  2. Ball valves;
  3. Direct-flow radiator crane;
  4. Tank expansion membrane on 18 l;
  5. Circulation pump included;
  6. Check Valve;
  7. Security group;
  8. heating radiators;
  9. thermostatic valve;
  10. Radiator taps, angled or straight (as required);
  11. Plug or futorka;
  12. Mayevsky valves;
  13. Ball valve for draining water;
  14. Plug or futorka;
  15. Thermostatic heads.

Tips: the diameter of the pipes is indicated in the diagram, but using polypropylene (ecoplastic), the supply and return can be done with the thirty-second pipe (outer d-32 mm), and the outlets to the radiators can be done with the twentieth. It is also better to use taps made of polypropylene, because they practically do not boil and their service life is higher than that of metal ones.

Radiators for autonomous heating

  • Until recently, as required by the instructions, you probably had cast-iron batteries that were connected to a centralized heating system. But for autonomy, such heaters are not beneficial, at least for two reasons - firstly, they have too much capacity and you need to heat a lot of water, and secondly, cast iron is not a very good conductor of heat (too thick) and therefore warms up for a long time. As a result, you will get an excessive consumption of gas and unreasonable costs of money.
  • The most suitable heating radiators for an apartment are made of aluminum, steel and bimetal. Any of them are suitable for low pressure, which is a small water circuit and they all withstand high temperatures. If desired, you can also combine radiators and a water-heated floor system in one circuit.

Advice. The most efficient (the price is also the highest), but also the most capricious of all the above heating devices are aluminum radiators and great content alkalis in water, neutralizers must be added to the system. Also, the presence of copper in the circuit should not be allowed, since the interaction of these two non-ferrous metals leads to their oxidation and destruction.

Calculation of radiators

  • To calculate the number of sections in the radiator required for a room with ceilings no higher than 3 meters, you can use the formula S * 100 / P. Here S denotes the area of ​​the room, and P is the rated power of the section, which usually ranges from 180 to 200W. The number 100 displays the required amount of W / m 2, and with the letter K we denote the initial result.
  • We take, for example, a standard room 3.5 × 6.5m = 22.75m 2, batteries with a power of one section of 185W and substitute the values ​​into the formula. We get K \u003d S * 100 / P \u003d 22.75 * 100 / 185 \u003d 12.29, but there cannot be a fractional number of sections, so we round the number up (in reserve) and get a heater consisting of 13 sections.

  • But what if you purchased panel heating radiators for an apartment, because they are not disassembled into sections, but simply vary in power and size. In this situation, the formula is also used, but, of course, another one - P = V * 41. The letter P here will correspond to the initial power, V - the volume of the room, 41 - the amount of W / m 3. For calculations, we use a small bedroom with a height of 250 cm and an area of ​​​​225 * 450 = 10.125m 2, which means V = 2.5 * 10.125 = 25.3125m 3.
  • Now we calculate the power of the radiator, which we will have to install with our own hands in this very bedroom. So P=V*41=25.3125*41=1037.81.25W. Of course, there are no heating devices with such power, therefore, depending on the climate of our region, we choose a battery of either 1 kW or 1.5 kW.

Polypropylene welding

  • The most effective heating of apartments is obtained from, moreover, this implies not only the heat transfer of radiators, but also the price of the circuit and the speed of its installation. For wiring, as mentioned above, a pipe reinforced with aluminum foil with a diameter of 32 mm and 20 mm is used.

  • Heating of polypropylene occurs at a temperature of 280⁰C-300⁰C, holding the pipe and fitting on the hot nozzle for 5-6 seconds. Then the parts are removed and connected to each other by inserting into each other, as in the photo above. After fixing, they are still held for 5-6 seconds.

Conclusion

You probably had to watch videos or watch firsthand the installation of the heating system. But when you do it yourself, then try to follow the instructions that you will find on this page and in the instructions for the gas boiler.