How can I increase the heating area of an apartment or house? In some cases, the expansion of living space in addition to the usual problems entails the need to increase the capacity of the system. To do this, it is not necessary to change the boiler, especially since it is selected with a small margin of power. Most often, additional heating systems are installed with the installation of pumps and radiators.
Installation of an additional heating system
In what cases do I need additional heating at home? If before that the system was designed correctly, including its components, the installation of new circuits is due to the expansion of living space. And at this stage, the owner is faced with several problems at once.
Firstly, this leads to an increase in the load on the main components of the circuit - the boiler and pump. The latter is not able to ensure proper circulation of the coolant, as a result of which the thermal mode of operation is violated. Also, additional heating of the apartment with the modernization of the pumping system may be necessary in case of initially incorrect calculation of its power. This is true for gas boilers, which include a circulation group.
In what cases will an additional circulation pump in the heating system be needed?
- Installation of an additional circuit. This entails not only an increase in the coolant volume, but also an increase in the hydraulic resistance of the system;
- Use of antifreeze. Its density is higher than that of water. Therefore, for normal operation, you will need to choose a high-power pump, or put another one;
- Change of thermal operation to low temperature. In this case, it is necessary to increase the speed of water circulation in the pipeline, for which you need to connect an additional pump to the heating system.
The methodology for installing additional equipment is no different from the standard. The problem may be in matching the additional pump with the rest of the heating elements.
In the central heating system, you can not independently connect an additional radiator. Before this, permits are made out, agreed with the management company.
Difficulties installing an additional pump in the heating system
Having found out whether it is possible to install an additional pump for heating, it is necessary to choose its location correctly. The difficulty lies not in calculating the optimal power, which is also important, but in the coordination of the device with the main pump.
There are several options that require the installation of additional elements. A special place among them is the installation of additional heating at home. In practice, it can be implemented in two ways:
- Carrying out a separate highway with radiators and all the necessary strapping. To do this, you need an additional boiler;
- Modernization of the existing system - arrangement of a new heating circuit connected to the main one. Then you will definitely need to install an additional heating radiator or several.
The second option is most practical, since you do not need to buy growing equipment and accessories. But then an additional problem arises - the asynchronous operation of the impellers of the pumps. Even with the same number of revolutions, this will lead to uneven movement of water in the pipes, which is the first cause of water hammer.
When designing an additional circuit, try to avoid turning angles in it. This will reduce the hydraulic resistance in the system.
Installing a water gun
The way out of this situation is a fundamentally new scheme for installing an additional pump in the heating system. Her innovation lies in the installation of a hydraulic arrow.
This device compensates for pressure differences in a certain section of the system, thereby normalizing the operation of heating.
This device normalizes the pressure in the main and return pipes. In the additional heating of the apartment, its installation is not necessary, since the increase in the contour may be insignificant. But if the volume of water in the system increases by more than 20%, means should be provided for normalizing circulation and pressure. To install an additional circulation pump in the heating system, along with a hydraulic compensator, you should be guided by the following rules:
- Location - as close as possible to the entrance of the return pipe into the boiler;
- Installation of shutoff valves for each pump circuit;
- Installation of strainers.
If it is impossible to correctly install the hydro-arrow - you can make it the simplest analogue. To do this, after connecting the additional pump to the heating system, a bridging jumper is made. Its optimal length should be 300-400 mm. This circulation ring can partially balance possible hydraulic shocks.
The hydraulic compensator must be pre-calculated for a specific heating system. This applies to its main "body" and inlet pipes.
Double circulation pump
Is it possible to install an additional pump for heating if it is physically impossible to change the configuration of the pipes? There is a more expensive, but effective way to improve circulation - the installation of twin pumps.
This is the best option if you have a gas boiler with an integrated circulation system. The total power of the new pumps should compensate for the forced shutdown of the main one. This way you can avoid malfunctions in the heating system.
The advantages of this modification are as follows:
- No need to change the standard installation scheme of the additional pump in the heating system;
- A common connection pipe guarantees the absence of uneven movement of water in the pipes;
- Ability to connect to the heating control unit - the programmer.
Despite all the advantages of installing dual pumps for additional heating of a country house, they have one significant drawback - the high cost. The average price of a Wilo Top-SD, RSD model with a nominal pressure of 7 m is about 40 thousand rubles.
You can make a home-made module, consisting of 2 twin pumps. It is important that they have the same parameters and are installed on a single connection pipe to the system.
Possible problems of arrangement
What additional difficulties can you encounter when designing additional heating in an apartment? The main problem may be the coordination of the centralized and autonomous system. In practice, it is impossible to combine several separate circuits with different heat sources. Most often, the need for installing an additional circulation pump occurs in an autonomous heating system.
The most common case is the arrangement of a thermal water floor. If it will be connected to an existing circuit - it is necessary to provide an additional device for water circulation.
The pump in gas boilers (the most popular for heating in apartments) is designed for a certain amount of coolant in the system. It should be noted that the total length of the contours of the warm floor can reach 150 m.Therefore, it is mandatory to connect an additional pump to the old heating circuit. It is best to use a proven collector design for this. A circulation pump is included as standard.
In this case, the connection diagram of the additional pump to the heating system is standard and has the following advantages:
- The pump does not affect the parameters of the main system. The manifold compensates for pressure differences;
- Simple installation - just connect to existing pipes in any convenient place.
This is a better option than installing an additional radiator in heating. Thus, it is possible to minimize the cost of upgrading the existing circuit. It is important to remember that any additional heating system with the installation of pumps and radiators directly affects the operation of all other equipment. Therefore, you should first calculate the consistency of their joint functioning.
The video footage details the work and features of installing the pump in the heating system:
