How to increase the efficiency of heat transfer from heating radiators. Increasing the heat transfer of cast iron radiators - working methods and tips Get additional heat from a heating radiator
From the author: hello dear readers! The issue of energy efficiency has recently been of interest to an increasing number of responsible homeowners. Many of them want to make their home as comfortable and warm as possible and not waste money. Numerous articles on the Internet are devoted to the question of how to increase the heat transfer of heating batteries. In this material, we will analyze the most available methods that allow you to increase the heat transfer of a central heating system in an apartment.
Experts say that the indoor temperature does not always depend on the quality of the batteries. Before you start calculating the heat transfer of a radiator, we advise you to check the thermal insulation of windows and doors. If everything is normal with these positions, then you can proceed with the modernization of the heating system.
Instructions for enhancing heat transfer
The main factors that can positively affect the quality of the heating system are as follows:
- the color of the batteries and the cleanliness of their surface;
- correct heat reflection;
- increase in the size of the radiators;
- circulation of air from a heat source.
Each of these theses should be taken into account by a prudent owner if his goal is to live in a warm place without paying astronomical bills for additional heating of the home.
To improve the efficiency of the heating system in an apartment or a private house, home craftsmen will first have to recall the school physics course. As you know, the heat transfer of dark objects is much higher than that of light surfaces.
The conclusion suggests itself: if you need to increase the efficiency of heating the room, it is enough to start repainting the radiators in a dark color. It has been experimentally proven that a battery painted in bronze or brown gives 20-25% more heat than a similar white radiator.
However, before painting the entire heating system or part of it, it is recommended to do ... wet cleaning! The fact is that the dust layer significantly reduces the heat transfer of the entire heating system, acting as thermal insulation. Thus, keeping a battery clean is not just a matter of hygiene and aesthetics of the home, but also a simple method to improve battery performance.
Dust is not the only "enemy" of warm batteries during the heating season. The multiple layers of paint on the radiators also act as thermal insulation. If you are planning a redecoration of the heating system without replacing its components, then the masters advise you to remove the old layers of paint and only then re-paint the pipes and radiators.
Tip: for painting batteries, it is better to choose special enamels with minimal thermal insulation.
Diy heat-reflecting screen
The battery has one negative property - it heats the air equally in all directions. Thus, some of the heat is lost to the outer wall. This situation can be improved on your own. To do this, you need to fix a reflective screen on the wall behind the battery. Its role can be played by ordinary foil, which is glued directly to the wall or to a layer of insulation.
It is fixed with liquid nails. Some homeowners who do not want to spend too much time on this process simply place a piece of foil of the appropriate size behind the radiator, without anything fixing it.
Instead of foil, you can use a black metal surface with corrugated vertical ribs. It absorbs heat, acting as an additional convector.
More sections - stronger effect
Let's say you are in the process of editing in your home or apartment. Before proceeding with the process of installing radiators, it is very important to make detailed calculations of their power required for a particular room. In order to find out how many sections are needed, the following data are used: the volume of the room and the rated power of the heater. The videos below provide step-by-step instructions for calculating these parameters.
If the repair has already been completed, and a mistake was made in calculating the power of the heating system, the master can always eliminate this mistake by conducting a local reconstruction. Sectional type batteries are "reinforced" by adding sections, and for panel structures there is a different method - replacing panels with more powerful ones. Of course, all work of this kind is carried out only in the summer, when the central heating batteries are disconnected.
You will not have to pay more for heating if the apartment does not have heating agent flow meters. Regardless of the number of radiators or their size, during the heating season you will pay fixed bills, but the air temperature in the room will rise significantly.
Advice: it is better to install multi-section batteries in spacious rooms, because with an increase in the radiator area, its efficiency also increases.
It should be noted that if the capacity of the entire system was initially calculated incorrectly, then increasing the number of heat sources in the network is not the best way to increase its heat transfer. By using this method, you can greatly increase the load on the network.
There are several simpler and more affordable ways to increase the radiator area without purchasing additional sections. It is an aluminum screen or a steel cell protector that heats directly from the battery, increasing its surface area and efficiency.
Additional devices
A fan heater can be used to solve heating problems. With its help, the efficiency of even a small radiator will be significantly increased. For this, the appliance is directed directly to the battery. A fan heater or even a simple computer cooler may well become a temporary measure to increase the heat transfer of batteries, especially for bimetallic and aluminum radiators. This measure allows you to increase the air temperature in the room by an average of 4-5 degrees.
Using a more efficient model
In some situations, efficiency can be improved by an extremely radical method, replacing them with new ones. Note that even high-quality heating systems, after two decades of operation, need to be updated due to the fact that their resource is being depleted. Technology does not stand still, which means that less efficient and energy-intensive materials are used in old-style radiators.
Another important argument in favor of replacing old batteries with new ones is the improved design of the latter. In modern models, the heat transfer area is much larger, in addition, manufacturers have developed innovative radiator parts to increase their performance. These are convection windows at the top of the appliance and vertical ribs.
Summing up, we note that the advice of experienced craftsmen, given in this material, will help increase the temperature in the apartment by 2-4 degrees. If you cannot cope with the problem of heating with your own hands, then you will have to resort to the services of professionals. We will tell you how to calculate the power of the heating system and organize its installation in one of the following articles. Stay tuned for site updates and see you soon!
Ecology of consumption. Manor: Sometimes it is found that the batteries do not heat as they should. Of course, you can change them, but changing batteries in cold weather is a dubious pleasure, and such problems arise mainly with the beginning of the heating season.
Sometimes it is found that the batteries do not heat as they should. Of course, you can change them, but changing batteries in cold weather is a dubious pleasure, and such problems arise mainly with the beginning of the heating season.
It remains to either endure until summer and freeze, or try, if not solve the problem, then at least reduce it. And this is even more than real, and the solution can be either purely technical or just a "trick".
What to do if the batteries do not heat up
Number of sections
The first thing to do is to count whether there are enough radiator sections for your room. If they are not enough, then there is only one way out - to select the necessary heating radiators and add several sections to the battery.
The standard method for calculating the number of heating radiators:
16sq.m. x 100W / 200W = 8
where 16 is the area of the room,
100W - standard thermal power per 1m²,
200W - the approximate power of one section of the radiator (you can see it according to the passport),
8 - the required number of heating radiator sections
Regulator check
If your battery is equipped with a power regulator, then it is worth checking at what temperature it is turned on. In the spring, there is no need to heat up the room very much and, perhaps, the regulator is at an insufficient temperature now.
Airlock
Check the surface temperature of the battery itself, if it is very hot in one place, and in another it is barely warm, then, most likely, an air lock interferes with good heating.
Another symptom of an airlock is an incomprehensible noise, gurgling. Modern batteries have a special valve for venting air (Mayevsky valve), it is located at the top of the battery and opens with a flat screwdriver. It is enough just to unscrew the tap a little, until the sound of air comes out, wait until all the air has come out and water flows, and then turn on the tap.
Don't forget to put something to collect the water. If you yourself do not risk it or have not found a similar valve on your battery, then call a plumber.
Cleaning the radiator
Good performance of the battery is very much hampered by dust and dirt. You can clean it from the outside yourself. It is better to remove the old layer of paint, if there are several of these layers, then the procedure is mandatory, and paint it with a special heat-resistant paint, preferably dark (black). Only a plumber can clean the inside of the battery using special equipment.
Decorative cover
A decorative screen (casing) will regulate and increase heat transfer. Moreover, at the moment the choice of screens is wide, they are not easy to fit, but they will decorate any interior. But you need to carefully consider the material from which it is made. A screen made of wood or plastic will not give the desired effect and, conversely, will not let some of the heat into the room. In order for the room to warm up, the screen must be chosen from aluminum, it will perfectly conduct heat.
Little tricks to increase the return temperature of radiators
The battery needs free access to air, remove everything that obstructs it, including the curtains, you can simply raise them to the windowsill. An ordinary fan can help the air flow. Position it so that the flow is past the battery. Thus, warm air will quickly get into the interior of the room, and cold air closer to the battery.
Some of the heat is absorbed by the wall behind the battery, to avoid this, you need to insulate this area. Corrugated cardboard and aluminum foil can be used as insulation. Attach this structure with cardboard to the wall, and with foil to the battery. Heat reflection will be just fine.
It is not necessary to use improvised means, there are better, more convenient solutions for thermal insulation. Modern materials, such as polyrex, penofol or izolon, are excellent insulators, and on the one hand they have a self-adhesive surface, which, of course, will facilitate their installation.
Note. After gluing the insulation, the distance between the battery and the wall should not be less than two centimeters, otherwise the air will not circulate and will not get warmer. If the distance is insufficient, you can simply stick on the foil, it is better to keep the distance and not risk it by sticking a thick layer of insulation.
Batteries may not heat well if they are installed so that the gap between them and the wall is initially less than two centimeters, in which case it is worth thinking about their reconstruction, since half of the heat will go into the wall and will not be able to get into the room in any way.
The use of technical solutions can in principle eliminate the need to install new batteries. Thanks to these little tricks, you can simply raise the temperature a few degrees, if this is not enough for you, then of course you should think about replacing the batteries and about external thermal insulation. published
Heat / Heating batteries
Has the real cold started and the temperature has dropped in the apartment? A very common problem. The most popular way to deal with the cold in an apartment is to buy additional electric heaters. However, there are also cheaper options.
It's cold in the apartment: what does the legislation say about this?
The regulated air temperature in living quarters in winter is actually not high: 18 degrees in ordinary rooms, 20 in corner rooms and 25 in a bathroom. The norm cannot be exceeded by more than 4 or lower by more than 3 degrees. Changes are allowed only at night: temperature fluctuations during the day threaten public utilities with an administrative penalty. The maximum allowable heating interruption is 24 hours per month.
At the same time, a one-time pause cannot be more than 16 hours; for each additional cold hour, the heating fee for residents should be reduced. Failure to comply with established norms is a reason for a complaint to DEZ, HOA or a management company. However, in this case, no penalty will be imposed on the perpetrators. The easiest and most effective way: to leave a complaint at the city department of the State Housing Inspection through the hotline or online form.
It's cold in the apartment: how should radiators and risers work?
If the normative 18 degrees seems insufficient, the problem will have to be solved on your own. First, it is worth finding out how optimally the radiators work: the entire surface should be heated evenly, the total temperature of the battery and the riser should not differ much.
There may be several reasons for the malfunction: general wear and tear of the heating system at home, malfunction of a specific radiator, or hard limiters on the thermostat. However, in any case, it will be possible to replace the batteries or carry out their major repairs only in the summer, when the heating in the house is basically turned off. The standard temperature maximum for radiators is usually set at 35 degrees, but in some cases, the maximum comfort temperature is 17-19. The device can usually be simply reconfigured.
Cold in the apartment: make the batteries work more efficiently
You can easily increase the temperature in the room by 3-5 degrees by installing a fan that will direct the air flow along the battery. Experts note that the operation of the fan in this case will be equivalent to the use of an additional 1 kW heater. You can win a few more degrees if you stick a piece of reflective foil or a special heat-reflective material with a shiny surface - penofol on the wall, behind the surface of the radiator. The design will allow for more efficient distribution of heated air, reflecting it from the wall. After installing the reflector, the gap between the wall and the battery should not be less than two centimeters, otherwise the impaired air circulation will provide the opposite effect.
To keep it not so cold, check the cracks in the windows and doors.
About 30% of the heat is emitted through various cracks in windows and doors. In this case, it makes sense to glue the frames only to owners of ordinary glasses, modern plastic bags are a priori protected from blowing. You can close the cracks in doorways and on the balcony using polyurethane foam or a woolen cord sealed with special tape. The shelf life of temporary insulation is very short - only one season.
It's cold in the apartment because of the cracks in the corners and in the walls
Simple gaps in corners and walls are more difficult to deal with. The best option is to order a thermal imaging study, a snapshot of the apartment from a special device, which will reflect the warmest and coldest areas of the dwelling. Problematic places can be eliminated according to the results of the study. The average cost of a service in Moscow varies from 4 to 6 thousand rubles, in the regions a tempogram can be ordered for 3 thousand rubles.
Such an operation can warn against more serious expenses - for example, the widespread laying of a warm floor or pasting all walls with insulating material, because the overall temperature in the room can be reduced only because of one corner.
It is sometimes difficult to find the optimal model. In most cases, several factors are taken into account - the complexity of installation, service life and heat transfer. The last indicator is the most important, since the efficiency of the device will depend on it.
With the advent of new materials for the manufacture of radiators (aluminum, bimetallic) cast iron receded into the background. But their unique performance characteristics once again made buyers take notice. First of all, these are good performance properties. Unlike aluminum and metal, cast iron can accumulate heat and when the water temperature drops, the radiators will be warm for some time.
But back to the issue of heat transfer. A detailed calculation methodology can be found, which describes in detail the calculation methodology and indicates ways to increase this indicator.
Almost all manufacturers indicate the nominal value of thermal conductivity at ideal temperature conditions - 90 ° C. However, in fact, achieving this from heat suppliers in apartment buildings is problematic.
As a result, the heating indicators of the room differ significantly from the calculated ones. In this case, you can use a few small "tricks" that can increase the temperature in the room at the current performance of the heating system.
To prevent heat energy from being absorbed by the wall, a reflective foil screen can be installed on it.
In this case, the effective heat transfer of the radiator will increase by 5-10%. But at the same time it is worth remembering that if the wall is external, then without proper heating it can cause heat losses in the room.
Fan installation
Heating of the room from cast-iron radiators occurs with the help of natural convection. To increase the passage of air masses through the sections of the device, you can install a small fan on the wall behind the radiator. This will slightly increase the temperature in the room, but at the same time it will cause the coolant to cool. A similar method can be applied to a central heating system.
Installation of steel decorative covers
They will artificially increase the area of the radiator and will contribute to better heat transfer. At the same time, the heating time will increase, which will affect the inertia of heating the room from the autonomous heating system.
These are just a few methods of artificially increasing the heat transfer of cast iron radiators. But the most effective will be the observance of the temperature of the coolant. To do this, it is necessary either to improve the quality of the services provided by the management company with a central heating system, or to make it autonomous.
