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Heat delivered to your home: how the central heating system works, general layout and features. What is the difference between central heating and centralized heating? What is a central heating system

To make it comfortable to live in various buildings in big cities, special enterprises are built that produce electricity and heat - thermal power plants, on the basis of which central heating is created. Thus, thanks to such stations, there is no need to build many boiler houses, which will only pollute the atmosphere - and this has a positive effect on human health and the surrounding nature of the region.

In addition, a large supply of good quality fuel is not required, so the country's fuel reserves are preserved. Control panels are easier to maintain, but they still have disadvantages. The main one is that pipelines interact with oxygen, resulting in pipe breaks and fistulas.

The centralized heating system is designed to provide heat and hot water to residents of residential buildings and owners of industrial premises.

For the system to be effective, it is installed near buildings, divided into levels, each of which is assigned specific functions. And the more levels there are, the less load there will be on the previous level.

Central heating allows you to reduce the cost of purchasing fuel of the highest quality, since a low grade is also suitable for normal operation. In addition, central heating improves sanitary standards for all residential areas and areas.

Central heating structure

The central heating system includes several elements:

Source of heat carrier. This is a thermal power plant that produces heat and electricity.
The source of heat transportation is heating networks.
Source of heat consumption. These are heating devices located in homes, offices, warehouses and other premises of various types.

If we compare the volume of heat loads, then heating systems can be seasonal in the type of heat transfer and constant in the type of hot water transferred to the end consumer. All this depends on what the end consumer’s needs for the heat carrier are, as well as on the economic component of the feasibility of supplying it to the supplier’s enterprise. The last parameter depends on how far the heating plant is from the end consumers.

Types of heat supply systems

The classification of heat supply systems will directly depend on what type of heat carrier enters the heating network - water, steam or air. Accordingly, when the system supplies water to consumers, it is water heating, steam is steam, and air is air.

Also, systems providing centralized heating are divided depending on the method of connecting the hot water source to the heating network. So, there are closed systems, when the heat carrier - water is taken from the water supply and heated in the central network heat exchanger, and open systems, where water is taken directly from the heating network. Also, depending on the method used to connect the system to the central heating system, there are dependent and independent heating systems.

Each type of system has different characteristics. Steam central heating in an apartment is a more economical option compared to others, as it requires less operating costs, and the steam lines are made from smaller pipes, so the final cost will be lower. Note that the steam system is perfect for those buildings in which people are not present all the time, but periodically, and the coolant is supplied according to a schedule, as a result of which freezing and rupture of pipes is prevented.

If you take an air system, then it is capable of not only heating the room, but also ventilating it. But the cost of equipment for such a system is quite high, so it is rarely used.

A water central heating system for an apartment building is the most common option. And this is not without reason, since such systems are characterized by excellent sanitary and hygienic qualities.

The water temperature in central heating reaches 60 degrees Celsius; when transporting to end consumers, less energy flow is spent than with steam, here the density is greater, and it can be used over long distances.

For 1 kilometer of travel, the temperature of the coolant decreases by 1 degree Celsius. Note that the temperature supplied by water central heating in an apartment building can be controlled at a centralized level, and the system is easy to operate, since there are no condensation pumps, condensate pumping pipes and drains.

Advantages and disadvantages of connecting to central heating

Of course, in modern times, consumers are provided with a huge selection of heating systems, which use not only the heat sources that are familiar to us, but also alternative, sometimes the most unexpected ones. However, central heating in a private house, and even in an apartment building, is still a common phenomenon today. Therefore, it is worth considering the advantages and disadvantages of connecting to a central heating line, especially if you are faced with choosing a heating system in your new home or are thinking about switching to an individual system in your apartment.

So, the central heating scheme for an apartment building provides the following advantages to those who choose it:

First of all, it is an opportunity to use cheap fuel. After all, even if a thermal power plant is not installed in your region, boiler houses usually use fairly cheap options and their analogues. In any case, gas is the cheapest heating.
The next factor is reliability. After all, the city authorities undertake to monitor the condition of the equipment and pipes for central heating, and to repair the heating system in a timely manner.
Boilers that use central heating are environmentally friendly in most cases.
Another important point is ease of operation. In this case, you do not have to monitor the equipment, since the radiators will always give you a stable temperature (provided there are no changes).

However, central heating also has a number of disadvantages:

The first and most important thing is to turn the heating on and off according to a schedule. If you are still cold or already hot, no one will care.
The heating in each room is the same and cannot be adjusted.
The pressure in the central heating system is not always ideal.
You will have to spend a lot of money on the purchase and installation of equipment.
During energy transport, large heat losses can occur.

Thus, even though in modern times there are many ways to heat your home individually, central heating is still popular. And the point here is not even the habit of citizens, but the fact that sometimes such a system is an excellent solution.

To understand what central heating is (the term “centralized” is more often used to define it), we need to understand how it all works in complex. The fact is that the method of supplying coolant to radiators can be very different from each other.

Therefore, in such cases, your approach to the installation or replacement of heating devices will also change. We will figure out how single-circuit systems differ from double-circuit systems, find out which radiators are better to use, and watch a video clip that reinforces the topic.

Centralized systems

Note. The main difference that defines central heating systems is their operation from a general boiler house or CHP, while autonomous heating is carried out using a home boiler house. For the average user, this, in fact, does not matter, but if it comes to routine or major repairs, then you have to pay attention to this.

Independent and dependent system

If the system is independent, then powerful central heating boilers supply coolant not directly to the circuits of residential or non-residential premises, but first to heating points, where redistribution occurs. That is, hot water from a thermal power plant or a powerful boiler house enters such transformer stations through large-diameter pipes, then, depending on the needs of a group of buildings, a house or an entrance, it is distributed according to the power of the coolant pressure. At such TPs, circulation pumps are installed, which, if necessary, can increase the flow power (for example, for a nine-story building).

In cases where the project is made according to a dependent scheme, the central heating system supplies hot water directly to the radiator circuits of each residential or non-residential premises, without prior distribution of flow power. It should be noted that the circulation pump, during its operation, does not in any way affect the temperature of the coolant - with its help, additional pressure is created, which is necessary for the upper floors of high-rise buildings.

Single-circuit system

This scheme is used quite often, but there are significant disadvantages of central heating (single-pipe) due to large heat losses during liquid transportation. Usually they are compensated for by increased pressure in the system, but, nevertheless, one can very often hear complaints from residents living in such houses.

The essence of the functioning of such a scheme is as follows: hot liquid is supplied through a pipe, to which radiators for central heating are connected using inlet and outlet pipes. That is, heated water, while circulating along the ribs of the device, cools down and again enters the central distribution pipe.

This means that the temperature of the liquid for the next battery will already be lower, and so on. Usually no more than three or four, maybe five devices can function without losses.

But in apartment buildings, problems arise even with so many radiators per supply pipe, and the reason most often lies in poor thermal insulation of the premises. Residents, instead of insulating windows and doors, and possibly walls, begin to increase the number of sections on radiators with their own hands - in some cases their number exceeds 20 pieces!

Now - simple arithmetic - if in the riser of a five-story building there used to be 5 batteries of 10 sections, for which the design capacity was calculated, now there are twice as many of them - here usually only the first two floors receive enough heat (upper or lower - depending on where the feed starts).

In order to reduce heat loss in such systems, bypasses are often installed in front of the radiators, as you can see in the photo above, but taps are usually not provided for them. It turns out that part of the hot flow can circulate with minimal heat loss if it does not completely enter the battery sections.

But a tap embedded there (into the bypass) in the closed position allows water to be redirected through the radiator, that is, with maximum temperature loss.

Double-circuit circuit

A double-circuit heating system of an open or closed type allows the supply of liquid in a continuous temperature regime for all floors, although the price of materials and installation here is slightly higher than that of a single-circuit one. The funds are spent on pipes for central heating.

In a double-circuit system, central heating radiators are independent of each other, since they return the cooled liquid to the return pipe and this coolant flows back to the heating point (CHP or boiler room), without affecting the temperature of other batteries. Hot water is also supplied through one pipe.

Note. Considering the fact that centralized systems have high pressure, the design provides for cast iron radiators. But if you want to improve your interior design, then the instructions allow you to replace them with steel or ones, which also hold pressure well.

Conclusion

So, in the direct (generally accepted) understanding, centralized or central heating is a system that operates from a thermal power plant or from a common boiler house. But it can also be considered as such if we consider it from each room, since they are all powered from a common point.

It’s hard to believe now, but once upon a time there was a time when people heated their apartments on their own. There was no central heating radiator, there were no self-government bodies that demanded money from us to pay the huge costs of heating the house. But, of course, the central heating that exists today is much better than what we arranged ourselves. In the distant times of the USSR, people were forced to achieve heat in their own homes with the help of stoves, heaters and other not very useful devices.

But do we really like today's central heating system? In apartments, residents of the upper floors are always unbearably hot, while residents of the lower floors are constantly cold. What is the reason? Why isn't the government fixing this? We will try to figure this out, and perhaps even find a way out of this situation. After all, few people want to overpay for extra temperature, which some don’t even reach.

Just keep in mind that if you try to do something with the existing heating on your own, you will encounter fierce resistance both from the heating pipe itself and from the authorities that protect it. If you try to regulate the heat supply to your apartment by changing anything in the system that has existed since the times of the USSR, you simply cannot do anything. Everything can only function as it is. Therefore, if you want to achieve a normal life, make your own heating system.

But first, let's figure out why the heating conditions in our homes are so terrible. Are we being deliberately tortured? No, of course, there is a system defined by law that binds everyone hand and foot and which neither utility workers nor anyone else can violate. It only seems complicated, but in reality everything is simple. During the time of our grandparents, a central heating system was built, which was quite acceptable for that time.

Today it is outdated, but switching from it to a new one is very problematic (although there are new and quite adequate heating systems in new buildings). Therefore, let's study the principle of operation of what we have, and then consider ways to solve the problem, be it installing your own pump or abandoning the centralized heating system.

Operating principle of central heating

Scheme of a closed single-pipe system in an apartment building.

The air temperature is measured in the CHP department. It is by this that utility workers determine the moment at which hot water supply is needed. Sometimes this is done on calendar dates (there are certain times of the year at which local governments are required to turn on central heating). But it also happens that cold weather comes much earlier than the deadlines established by law. Low temperatures are often ignored by local authorities, but if it gets too cold, the central heating is turned on ahead of schedule.

From this same thermal power plant, water flows into separate boiler houses attached to apartment buildings. There it is heated taking into account how low the temperature is in a given location. Of course, all apartments are heated from one boiler, which poses a problem. The liquid becomes extremely hot and only then goes down the pipes. This is done so that residents of the last houses can receive water that has not yet been completely cooled. Of course, thanks to this approach, the temperature is distributed in a strange way. Residents of those apartments through which water runs first have to endure unbearable heat. They cannot open the windows because it is minus outside, and quite low at that. But it is impossible to keep them closed, because the air becomes so dry that even plants die. It's a tough situation, isn't it?

I wonder why, if everyone is so hot, school and hospital staff constantly complain that their water temperature is always low? It is not known why, but in accordance with the procedure established by law, hospitals are supplied with a minimum water temperature from the central heating battery. This applies not only to these municipal institutions, but also to all public places that are maintained at the expense of the state. Simply put, the more budget the premises, the less is spent on its maintenance.

Of course, after reading everything said above, you may decide that there are no advantages to this method of heating our homes. Of course, this opinion will be wrong. After all, it still functions and is beneficial. Let's look at the most important advantages that central heating has.

The benefits of central heating

Home balancing system "Autobalance".

Let's say right away that there are not many positive aspects and some of them are very controversial. For example, cheap fuel. Indeed, when using central heating boilers, only energy resources are used, on which large amounts of money are not spent. Sounds funny, doesn't it? It seems like they heat us with coal, fuel oil and other cheap means, but they charge us money as if for gas, or even gasoline. But, whatever one may say, there is such a plus. Although it is beneficial, for the most part, not to us.

However, there are also points of interest for residents of apartment buildings. Well, for example, high reliability. Seriously, think for yourself, after all, having installed your own boiler, for example, in a private house, you will have to constantly monitor it. What if there is a gas leak or some kind of breakdown. Or maybe it’s central heating, which is under the supervision of housing and communal organizations. Although, of course, nowadays everything is possible. The bureaucratic apparatus has become so lazy that sometimes it takes money but does not carry out repairs. Therefore, if you think about it, this plus can also be called controversial.

And again it seems that centralized heating has no positive aspects. But there is still something. It's about sustainability! Well, think for yourself, can the above fuel sources be dangerous? Of course not! But what difference does it make whether the state boilers will use them or our own? After all, if we are talking about heating a cottage community in which centralized heating predominates, then you can independently install economical boilers that run on coal and heat the owner separately from the general system. And if we talk about apartment buildings, then. We will tell you below what can be done for apartment residents.

So, now it becomes clear that supporters of the idea of leaving general heating from the state have only one argument. It's simplicity that lasts. After all, all that is required of you is to pay large expenses. Everything else is supposedly done by the housing and communal services sectors. But it’s very, very unclear why such a lot of money is being taken.

Differences between one-pipe and two-pipe systems.

Where does the money paid for heating go?

We have to pay exorbitant amounts of money for heating that doesn’t turn on at all when it’s needed and doesn’t heat at all the way we want it. It would be interesting to know what they spend on. Well, of course, all this is explained quite clearly by the state itself. Housing and communal services waste our funds on repairs and salaries to these individuals:

Accountants who calculate all the further paths along which your money will run.
Engineers considering all possible ways to install new pipes and looking for breakdowns in old ones.
Ordinary repairmen.
Bureaucrats working in local governments.

Of course, it is expensive for you to maintain such a large bureaucratic apparatus. And therefore I would like to relieve myself of these responsibilities. But will it be possible to do this, because it is not at all profitable for the officials to let you go. By allowing you to disconnect from the general heating system, repairmen will be left without income coming from your pocket. But the amount of work for them will not decrease. After all, you will still have to monitor the condition of the central heating in your home, as well as your own pipes, since they are a common part of a large system. That is why, when you come to a local government organization to disconnect yourself from the general heating, they will tell you that this is impossible. But there will be no truth in this refusal. So, we are slowly approaching the main question: how to act correctly in order to go free swimming?

Single-pipe wiring diagram for an apartment building.

A legal way to disconnect from the “common boiler”

So, the local government organization refused to disconnect you from the centralized water heating. What to do now? It's simple, you need to act according to the law. Since you cannot confirm the fact that the housing and communal services did not explain anything to you about how to properly refuse central heating, there is no way to hold them accountable for this. But you can force everyone to fulfill their duties. To do this, you just need to find a way to resolve the issue according to the law. This is entirely possible, but there is a small catch.

Central heating can only be abandoned by a general meeting of residents. The fact is that if you are the only one who wants to log out of the system, no one will agree to let you go. Of course, the law provides for the possibility of independently heating just your apartment. However, this is a troublesome matter, unprofitable for you, and also requires permission and assistance from local governments, which they are unlikely to provide to you.

Therefore, try to explain to all other neighbors that it is not profitable for them to remain on state heating. And here it doesn’t matter whether you are a resident of a village or an apartment. The rules are the same everywhere, by which living is not very convenient and expensive.

So, let’s imagine that your neighbors have made the decision we need. In this case, it is necessary to collect signatures from residents confirming their decision to disconnect from the general heating of the village or apartment building. After collecting signatures, prepare a new plan for your own heating system. Then this protocol must be submitted to local government authorities, which will decide whether to refuse or allow your request in accordance with a number of rules.

And here it doesn’t matter at all whether housing and communal services workers like your idea or not. It is much more important that they cannot make a claim against you that your plan may damage the existing heating system. After all, it is a large chain that includes many links. If you remove one link from a chain, it may fall apart. Therefore, the links must be replaced correctly or not touched at all. It follows that you (or the organization you find to perform this task) will bear the burden of responsibility for the operation of all central heating pipes.

Independent heat supply.

Take care not to overload power supplies and gas lines. You will need to install an additional line to replace your pipes that have left the system. With a plan for how you intend to implement this, you need to visit heating networks and gas distribution organizations. There you will hardly encounter problems, since they only need to approve the protocol.

The local government organization will give you a list of municipalities that you must visit in order to obtain permits from them.

Having resolved all the bureaucratic red tape, you can get to work. As soon as everything is ready, a consolidated commission from heating networks, gas companies, as well as other responsible organizations will inspect the finished separate heating system.

Residents of the cottage community face a slightly different task. It will be a little easier for them.

What should country house owners do?

How to refuse central heating as a resident of a cottage village? Of course, the question is quite reasonable. After all, there are a huge number of private homeowners who live quite well without knowing what a general heating system is. And they, of course, can install any boilers they want, be they gas, fuel oil, coal or wood. So why are you worse than them? Is it really impossible to save money on this? The answer is yes! There are two ways to do this: either the above-described collection of residents who agree to abandon the common pipe, or independently disconnect from it.

Yes, you heard right. You can refuse centralized heating if you live in a private house. But this is not at all necessary, since the problem of lack of heat in some parts of the house can be solved differently. Inserting the pump into the heating pipes will help with this. The insertion is carried out by you independently and does not require any permission. It will help get rid of problems such as cold pipes in some rooms and slow set of the desired temperature.

Why is a pump better than a new heating system?

Inserting a pump into old pipes will allow you to significantly save on dismantling and installing new heating structures. Seriously, do you really want to spend money on new pipes? Of course not. We resorted to this only because we did not have the opportunity to adjust the old ones. Still, when it’s cold in one room and warm or even hot in another, whether you like it or not, you’ll spend money on a boiler. But this only applied to apartments, and in private houses it is easy to install a pump.

The pump will allow the temperature in the room to level out, reach a certain value, and remain constant throughout the house. This will happen due to the fact that it will drive the coolant through the pipes, pumping out all the air pockets that interfere with the movement of gas or water.

Moreover, the house will become much warmer. The pump can increase the effect of the heating circuit, which will significantly increase heat retention. So decide for yourself: change the old pipes or install new ones, but attach a pump to them.

Most people's knowledge about central heating is insufficient. Of course, everyone can talk about the fact that there is a thermal power plant somewhere, about the pipes laid and the basic principles of their operation. But in reality there are many subtleties, including at the final stage, that is, at the entrance to housing. This article will discuss in detail the types of heating systems and the features of their operation.

Peculiarities

Central heating is the main method of heating housing in Russia. People often complain about it, especially now, due to the aging of equipment and infrastructure. Many are unhappy that there is no way to independently regulate the operation of the system. But in fact, the centralized heating method has already proven its effectiveness over many decades. It represents a very complex and extensive collection of engineering communications.

The heated coolant is supplied through long lines to the heated rooms. It returns to the boiler room when it cools down, and this allows the formation of a closed heating circuit. Central heating is divided into water, steam and air; in most populated areas of the Russian Federation, water acts as a coolant. The advantage of this choice is ease of operation and the ability to supply coolant quite far without compromising its parameters. Air heating is much less common because its cost is very high.

Steam heating is used mainly in industrial facilities, where steam is simultaneously used for the needs of main production and heating premises in the cold season. Reduced hydrostatic pressure makes it possible to reduce the size of the pipes used. In any case, central heating requires the presence of expensive bulk infrastructure in the “center”, but it completely pays off. The shortcomings are not related to the flaw of the approach itself in principle, but to the crooked implementation of the idea in practice.

If the average daily air temperature does not rise to more than 8 degrees Celsius for 120 hours in a row, the boiler rooms are put into operation. Stopping their action is allowed when the air outside warms up above the same level for more than 120 hours without interruption. In most regions, the heating season lasts from mid-October to the first half of April, but the length of the winter season and the return of cold weather or early thaws make their own adjustments.

In the most important social facilities, heat supply starts earlier. Experimental launches are periodically carried out in the summer to assess the readiness of the system for operation and eliminate any emerging defects in advance.

Any central heating system has standards. Traditionally, it is assumed that comfortable living conditions are observed at air temperatures from +21 to +25 degrees. Clarification of these data, taking into account psychological research and surveys of a large number of people, showed that it is generally worth sticking to warming up from +18 to +24 degrees.

Actual conditions vary depending on:

climatic specifics;
capabilities of heating devices and lines;
features of the room itself.

Kinds

It’s worth saying right away that this alternative to central heating, such as individual heating devices, does not work very efficiently. On the other hand, the distance over which the coolant is pumped from a thermal power plant or boiler house is also of great importance. As already mentioned, the most common type of central heating systems inside buildings is the water format. Most people prefer complexes with natural circulation of water because they do not require complex equipment. Instead of pumps and other equipment, the difference in the density of cold and hot liquid works, providing independent mixing.

Such complexes operate even in the absence of power supply or systematic failures in it. Almost everyone can install a natural heating system, and the pressure does not pose a danger.

The disadvantages of such a device include the need to use relatively large pipes, which:

release heat more slowly;
have a limited range;
cause long start-up and slow stop if necessary.

Forced circulation, even taking into account the costs of additional equipment, turns out to be more profitable. Unfortunately, if the power goes out and there is no stand-alone generator, the system stops working. In addition, if the pumps have faults in their electronics, even the presence of mains current does not help in any way. Heating systems are also divided according to other criteria, primarily according to the material used for pipelines and radiators. For these structures, steel, copper, polypropylene, metal-plastic, aluminum can be used, but you need to think about the compatibility of materials.

Central heating units use different fuels, in 99% it is one of three types:

coal;
gas fuel;
fuel oil

How to choose?

Even a superficial acquaintance with these nuances allows us to confidently say that in the rooms of an apartment only the type of radiators and pipes connecting them can vary. Other aspects, such as the coolant, its heating, pressure and pressure, and the type of fuel used do not depend in any way on homeowners. Classic cast iron radiators not only have a long history, but also serve quite reliably for many decades. For a natural circulation circuit, it is quite reasonable to use cast iron heating elements. Moreover, they make minimal demands on the quality of coolants.

The powerful thermal inertia of cast iron is very poorly compatible with automatic control devices. This material is very heavy and fragile, easily susceptible to strong hydraulic shocks. It will have to be systematically painted. Therefore, in many cases, they try to heat an apartment in winter using steel panel radiators. But this choice is more suitable for a private home than for an apartment building, and even lightness does not help much.

The point is insufficient resistance to increased operating pressure (from 10 atm) and gradual corrosion of the internal surfaces of radiators.

A steel battery cannot be installed without locking fittings on the input and output circuits, and even under ideal conditions it will work for only 10 - 12 years. Tubular heating devices turn out to be much more practical; they can withstand increased pressure and even look more attractive in appearance. Quite often in practice, aluminum radiators are used, which are light and compact, look very good and can withstand significant pressure.

But they also have weaknesses - the temperature of the water in the aluminum case drops quickly, and the acid-base balance of the coolant is limited. Additionally, aluminum is not compatible with brass and copper plumbing infrastructure. If it comes into contact with such parts, it will quickly deteriorate.

The high heat transfer and resistance to significant pressure of bimetallic radiators is negated by the risk of contamination of the collectors. In addition, they suffer greatly from the increase in oxygen concentration in the water and are very expensive.

When choosing a specific solution, you should focus on those radiators that have a functional pressure higher than the working and test pressure in a given system. Be sure to calculate the power not only of the device as a whole, but also of each section, because it is irrational to install too many individually weak units. The selection of radiators for heating on a balcony or loggia has its own characteristics. The organization of heating in these premises is legally classified as the reconstruction of a residential apartment. Therefore, it should be carried out only with the permission of supervisory authorities and only in coordination with them.

Freezing of the batteries will lead to their destruction and flooding of the apartment itself, and sometimes the apartments below. Therefore, regulatory organizations carefully check the insulation projects for balconies and loggias, as well as the actual insulation work performed. It will also be necessary to document that weakening the pressure in the common house system and lowering the temperature of the coolant in it will not cause harm to anyone. It is also worth considering the fact that in a number of regions of the Russian Federation, no insulation or preparation gives the right to bring heating radiators onto the loggia. This is exactly the procedure that officially operates in Moscow, for example.

In many cases, the solution is:

electric heated floors;
gas convectors;
infrared mats;
fan heaters.

Installation

The connection diagram largely determines the quality of operation of the heating system. And here you don’t need to rely either on the words of sellers, or on your previous experience, or on the recommendations of your neighbors. Each such hint may turn out to be incorrect, and only a specialist will be able to assess whether it is correct or not. The general principles of connection for any wall-mounted heating devices are the same. The wall is carefully marked and equipped with brackets.

Then they check the accuracy of their placement and only after that connect the heating device to the supply pipe, then to the return pipe (in no case in a different order!). It is important to remember that the connection method affects the actual characteristics of the system no less than the rated thermal power and value. It is better to choose the type of radiator that ideally suits the apartment owners than to cover it from the outside with a screen. This will significantly reduce heating efficiency.

Other essential rules are:

placing all batteries in one room at the same level;
the location of the convector fins is strictly vertical;
coincidence of the centers of the radiators and the centers of the windows when located under the window sill (with a shift of no more than 20 mm to the side);
placing a heat-reflecting screen on the main wall behind the heater;
bringing the wall-mounted radiator closer to the window sill and floor by a maximum of 50 mm.

One-pipe and two-pipe systems should not be confused: their differences relate to whether water flows in and out through a single pipe or not. In both cases, it is permissible to connect radiators from the side, bottom or diagonally. It is also worth paying attention to the so-called collector (beam) options. In the “beam”, all radiators have separate connections, which requires pipes to be routed directly and installed in large quantities. But such circuits are excellent if, in addition to radiator heating, you also plan to use a warm floor.

You can install central heating not only in an apartment, but also in a private house. There its installation will have its own characteristics. It is recommended to use plate heat exchangers. Such a device works by delimiting and at the same time combining dissimilar heating and water supply systems. The centrally supplied coolant, passing through a certain channel, heats the plates and leaves.

From the opposite side, an autonomous coolant flows to the plates. As a result, it heats up without being saturated with harmful substances that are used to prepare water at thermal power plants. Therefore, such a liquid can be safely used not only for heating, but also for water supply. To make life in your home even more comfortable, you can, in addition to heating appliances, install a weather-compensating automation system. But in reality it's not that simple. Anticipating fluctuations in outside air temperature, in theory, allows you to have a stable microclimate in your home. But sometimes situations arise when this is rather inconvenient. Thus, in houses with increased heat capacity and excellent insulation, heat accumulation is entirely carried out by the walls.

Automatic systems do not yet have effective algorithms for adapting to such a situation. Therefore, even completely manual mode switching, if possible, is much more effective.

Central heating in a private home allows you to avoid radiators by using heated floors. But in an apartment building, abandoning the usual batteries, and even simply adding them with a water circuit under the floor, is unacceptable. This is prohibited not only by SNiP standards, but also by decisions of a number of local authorities. You may encounter difficulties with real estate transactions, orders to remove appliances or even the termination of social tenancy agreements. The reason is quite clear: a warm floor upsets the balance of heat supply to the house and increases the risk of flooding.

As a last resort, you can submit a very carefully worked out scheme to the regulatory authorities, which will prove the complete absence of excess risks. But it is much more correct to install an electric or infrared heated floor, because there are fewer documentary concerns with it. As for the heating circuits themselves, water with a temperature of no more than 35 degrees can be used for heating in cross-linked polyethylene pipes. Polypropylene solutions must be installed by experienced people. In most cases, it is recommended to use metal-plastic, which is second only to the more expensive copper and stainless steel.

, in which from a heat source (boiler house, thermal power plant) located in a heated building or outside it, the generated heat is transported to the premises of the building through pipelines (or air ducts). Coolant in central heating systems. Heated water, air or steam are used. See also: Water heating, Air heating, Steam heating, Radiant heating, Panel heating.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

See what “Central heating” is in other dictionaries:

A heating system in which the heat source (boiler room, thermal power plant) is located, as a rule, outside the heated premises; heat is transferred through pipes through heating devices (water, steam, radiant and panel heating) or comes from... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

central heating- - [Ya.N.Luginsky, M.S.Fezi Zhilinskaya, Yu.S.Kabirov. English-Russian dictionary of electrical engineering and power engineering, Moscow, 1999] Topics of electrical engineering, basic concepts EN central heatingdistrict heating ...

A heating system in which the heat source is served by several premises and can be located in a heated building or outside it. See also Water heating, Steam heating and Air heating... Big Encyclopedic Polytechnic Dictionary

Central heating- was invented by the Romans during the late Republic and technical. improved during the Empire. Furnaces were installed in the basements of buildings, and hot air was supplied through pipes to the living quarters. The most complex installations of C. o. were in the imperial... ... Ancient world. encyclopedic Dictionary

Solid fuel central heating- - [A.S. Goldberg. English-Russian energy dictionary. 2006] Topics: energy in general EN solid fuel central heating ... Technical Translator's Guide

central heating- Heating, in which one or more objects are served from one central heat source of a thermal power plant or boiler house with the supply of hot water or steam coolant to them through pipelines [Terminological dictionary for construction on ... ... Technical Translator's Guide