We make an electric boiler with our own hands. Making a homemade electric boiler for heating a house How to make a homemade electric boiler for heating

Heating using electricity is not very profitable, but it provides a lot of advantages: comfortable operation, relatively low price of equipment, safety. This article is devoted to the installation and connection of an electric boiler in a private house. After studying our detailed guide, any skilled homeowner can easily install an electric boiler with their own hands.

If you have not yet chosen an electric boiler

The choice of a heater operating in conjunction with a water heating system is made based on power and operating principle (the cost of the equipment depends on the latter). Electric boilers have no problems with functionality - any model is equipped with an automation unit. If desired, various peripheral devices can be connected to it - weather sensors, room or overhead thermostats and GSM modules for control from a mobile phone or via the Internet.

Important note. Some manufacturers, for example, Galan, Protherm or Evan, require in the operating instructions that the installation and connection of the electric boiler to the network be carried out by specially trained personnel. Self-connection will result in a waiver of warranty obligations.

After completing the work, the craftsmen make a note in the technical data sheet of the product.

Before choosing and purchasing a heating device, check how much electrical power is allocated to your home by the management company. It may happen that it is not enough for individual electric heating. Point two: a single-phase 220-volt network is capable of powering boilers that consume up to 12 kW/h inclusive. More powerful water heaters are connected to a three-phase 380 V power supply.

Determination of thermal power

This indicator is calculated using the standard formula: calculate the heated area of ​​a country house or cottage, then multiply the quadrature by 0.1 kW. Obtain the thermal energy demand that the electric boiler must cover.

Consider a number of nuances:


Example. A small house of 100 m² on average requires 100 x 0.1 = 10 kW of heat. The power of the electric heating installation is 10 x 1.2 (20%) = 12 kW. We need to heat water for household needs - multiply by a factor of 1.5 and get 15 kW.

To obtain more accurate results, we suggest studying the methodology

Which type of heater is better

  1. Traditional, equipped with tubular electric heaters (TEHs).
  2. Electrode, where the salted coolant is heated by passing current through the water.
  3. Induction devices heat the liquid using Foucault eddy currents that arise in the metal core of a multi-turn coil.

Electric mini-boiler room with tubular heaters (TEN), fully equipped

Valuable advice. Do not listen to the tales of salesmen praising the efficiency of certain electric boilers. They like to use the expressions “energy-saving”, “eternal”, “economical” and so on. Remember: all types of heaters equally effectively convert electrical energy into heat with an efficiency of 98-99%.

The first place in the user rating is occupied by heating element heaters. The only weak point - the heating element itself - has long been protected with ceramics, and in addition it is easy to replace. Modern models of heat generators are wall-mounted mini-boiler rooms with a built-in expansion tank and circulation pump. There are simpler versions that include only heaters and an automation unit.

The cheapest and most reliable option is an electrode boiler with a control cabinet, shown in the photo. Its disadvantages:

  • loud switching sounds from the operation of a contactor or magnetic starter;
  • gradual degeneration of salts in the coolant, which reduces heating efficiency, which is why the water in the heating system will have to be added with salt 1-2 times a month;
  • The electric device works stably with radiators, but is poorly compatible with heated floors, where it is necessary to maintain a low coolant temperature of 35-50 °C.

Induction electric boilers for heating a private home are quite expensive, and there are questions about the reliability of the devices. There are known cases of phase burnout inside the coil, the power of the heat generator dropped by a third. Fixing the breakdown is very problematic.


An induction heater heats water with a metal core located in the vortex field of the coil

Heater installation instructions

Electric water heating boilers of all types are designed for wall mounting and are equipped with mounting brackets or clamps. There is no point in explaining the marking and driving of dowels - every homeowner knows how this is done.

For reference. In a floor-standing version, universal electric wood-burning and coal-fired boilers are sold, described in.

Another question is how to choose the right room and specific location for installing the electric boiler. On the one hand, regulatory documents do not prohibit installing a heat generator in any room. On the other hand, there are rules for the use of electrical installations (PUE), which impose restrictions on the placement of high-power thermal power devices.


The wall version can be hung even in the corridor, but all communications will have to be pulled there
  1. Considering the high current in the circuit of operating electric heaters, it is better to install the devices in a separate technical room, for example, a furnace room or garage. The goal is to limit access to power electrical equipment and protect devices from moisture.
  2. New heating elements can be placed in the kitchen or hallway. But keep in mind an important nuance: you will have to pull the main line of the heating system and a powerful power cable there. It is unlikely that these communications will fit harmoniously into the interior, unless the pipes are sealed into the wall.
  3. When installing the heat generator on a wooden wall or other combustible partition, comply with the requirements for wall-hung gas boilers. Place a sheet of roofing steel or basalt cardboard under the back of the body adjacent to the wood, as shown in the photo.
  4. Provide approach and access to the heater for ease of connection and maintenance. Install induction and electrode boilers in such a way that an expansion tank and pump are placed nearby. Place the control cabinet at a height of 1.5-1.8 m from the floor.

    Recommended clearances to the Proterm Skat boiler unit specified in the instructions

  5. Lay the cables above heating and sewer pipelines so that they are not flooded with water in the event of a breakthrough.
  6. Heating pipes should not load the connecting fittings of the unit with their weight.

Important! Be sure to connect the body of the electric boiler to the grounding bus. If there is none, make a grounding loop outside and lay it in the boiler room. Find detailed instructions below.

As a rule, an electric heat generator acts as a backup device for the main solid fuel or gas boiler. This means that heat generators and auxiliary equipment need to be configured correctly to ensure a minimum of pipeline crossings. Think and draw a diagram in advance.

Connecting an electric boiler to a heating system

Wall-mounted mini-boiler rooms with a built-in expansion tank, pump and safety group are operated in closed heating systems with forced circulation, operating under pressure. The connection is extremely simple and does not require display in the form of a diagram: the supply and return pipelines are connected to the corresponding pipes of the electric boiler.

Note. The automation of such heat generators monitors the pressure in the heating network using a sensor. If the coolant pressure is below the set threshold (usually 1 Bar), the device will not turn on.

  • when you need to install a unit that is not equipped with its own pump and expansion tank;
  • parallel operation in tandem with a solid fuel or gas boiler;
  • strapping with;
  • connecting the dual-circuit version of the unit to the heating and hot water mains;
  • connection to an indirect heating boiler.

The safety group protects the system from overpressure and releases excess air

The first diagram illustrates the connection of an electrode or induction boiler to a closed-type heating network with. A shut-off ball valve is installed on the direct outlet section of the supply pipe, followed by a shut-off ball valve. The pump and filter - mud collector are installed with equal success on the supply or return.

Note. This and subsequent diagrams do not conventionally show the make-up pipeline. It should be inserted into the heating return line.

The heating element version of the electric boiler, which is not equipped with an expansion tank, safety group and pump, is connected in a similar way. If it is necessary to organize a connection to an open-type gravity (gravity) heating system, then the pipelines are laid with a slope of 3 mm per linear meter, and the circulation pump is mounted on.


The ability to work by gravity does not give the circuit a big advantage - without electricity, the boiler will still turn off

An open expansion tank is located at the top point of the network. To ensure stable gravity flow, the manufacturer of electrode boilers “Galan” recommends maintaining the height of the vertical section between the heater and the tank at 2 meters. Accordingly, the tank is placed in the attic of a private house.

Comment. Installing a wall-mounted electric boiler, whose pipes face downwards, will not allow the coolant to circulate naturally due to convection. An example is units of the Evan or Proterm brand. Heaters with side and top fittings - “Galan”, “VIN” and the like - are suitable for gravity systems.

Connection with other boilers and heat storage tank

To connect an electric heat generator together with a solid fuel boiler, use a circuit with two check valves, a surface-mounted thermostat and a room temperature controller. This connection option provides automatic “pickup” of the cooling system by the electric boiler after the firewood load burns out.


Check valves prevent the coolant from flowing into the adjacent circuit and moving in the opposite direction

The algorithm of the circuit looks like this:

  1. The TT boiler acts as the main one, the electrical apparatus is in standby mode.
  2. When a portion of firewood or coal burns, the air temperature in the building begins to decrease. When cooling reaches a user-set threshold, the room thermostat turns on the electric heater.
  3. An overhead thermostat detects a drop in temperature in the return of a solid fuel boiler and turns off its pump.
  4. After loading firewood into the firebox, heating is resumed and the thermostat starts forced circulation. Using its own sensor, the electric boiler “sees” the heated coolant and does not start working until the next command from the thermostat. The expert explains the operating principle in more detail in the following video:

Note. The piping method is also suitable for other types of boilers - gas, diesel, and so on. Please note one nuance: the electric heater is used here as a backup heat source.

Connecting to a buffer tank, shown in the next diagram, also allows you to combine several heat sources and accumulate a sufficient amount of energy in the tank. The heat accumulator is very useful in a situation where the electric heater operates at night, taking advantage of a cheap tariff. During the day, the device is inactive, and the building is heated with heat from a buffer tank.


In this scheme, you can organize the operation of the electric heater according to a schedule using a timer

The task of the mixing unit c is to supply the radiators with water at the required temperature, because the heat accumulator is “charged” to 80-90 °C. If the rooms have underfloor heating water circuits, a second mixing unit is made for them, preparing the coolant at a temperature of 35-45 °C (maximum - 50 °C).

Schemes with hot water supply

There are two ways to get hot water from an electric boiler for household needs:

  • purchase and install a double-circuit heating unit;
  • connect an indirect heating boiler to a single-circuit boiler.

In the first case, the device is connected according to the standard diagram shown in the picture. There are a minimum of difficulties here; the main thing is to correctly install the shut-off valves.


For ease of cleaning, the mud pans should be in a horizontal position.

The connection with the indirect heating boiler is carried out through a three-way switching type solenoid valve. At the command of the thermostat built into the storage tank, the element switches the coolant flow to heat water for hot water supply or heating radiators. Loading the boiler is a priority: until the tank warms up to the set temperature, the radiator network will not receive heat.


In the case of an induction or electrode unit, the immersion thermostat is connected to the contacts of the thermal relay

Important point. For this reason, the selection of heat generator power plays an important role. If it is not enough, the heating of the tank will take a long time, and the room air will have time to cool down. For more information about how the system works, watch the training video.

Although the plot talks about connecting a storage water heater to a wall-mounted gas boiler, the essence does not change - the electric heater is connected in the same way.

Electrical connection

The power supply circuits are the same for all electric boilers, the only difference is the number of phases. Devices with a power of up to 12 kW are connected to a single-phase 220 V network, more than 12 kW - to a three-phase (380 V). What you will need for installation:

  • power cable with copper conductors;
  • differential circuit breaker or combination of RCD + conventional circuit breaker;
  • ground loop.

A VVG cable of any type is used as a power line; the number of cores depends on the number of phases - 3 or 5. Select the cross-section of the current-carrying part according to the power of the heat generator, usually this parameter is indicated in the product’s operating instructions. To simplify the task, we present the data for different boilers in the form of a table.

The rating of the differential circuit breaker also depends on the power consumption of the heater; the operating current is 30 mA. For example, to protect the power line of a 3 kW (220 volt) unit, you will need a device rated at 16 A; for a power of 16 kW (380 V), you need a 32 A difavtomat. The exact ratings are indicated in the product data sheet.

To independently connect a wall-mounted electric mini-boiler room, you need to remove the front panel, run the power cable inside and connect the wires of the corresponding colors to the terminal block contacts. As a rule, the neutral wire is indicated in blue, grounding in yellow-green. The control box of the induction and electrode boiler is connected in the same way.

Electrical connections between the control cabinet and the heating block of an electrode or induction boiler are made according to the individual diagram presented in the instructions. As an example, we give a connection diagram for the popular Galan electric boiler.

Automation diagram for single-phase 220 V network

The temperature of the coolant here is monitored by overhead sensors installed on the metal sections of the supply and return pipelines. The devices are connected in series with the contacts of the thermal relay that controls the magnetic starter. When the upper temperature threshold is reached, the circuit breaks and the starter turns off the heating. How to make grounding

Laying a grounding loop near a private house is a simple matter and very useful from the point of view of electrical safety. For installation, find 3 steel rods Ø16 mm 2 m long and a strip with a cross-section of 40 x 5 mm.

Stepping 3 m away from the wall of the building, arrange grounding according to the step-by-step instructions:


Upon completion, treat the welding seams and the above-ground section of the strip with bitumen and bury the hole. For more information about the grounding device for an electric boiler and home appliances, watch the video:

Conclusion

In order to avoid making stupid mistakes during the installation and wiring process, before installing an electric boiler, you should talk to a specialist in this field. The operation is not as simple as it might seem. Pay special attention to the electrical part, since high voltage is a source of increased danger.

A boiler with a heating element is an excellent alternative to any heating boiler. At the same time, most of the boiler elements can be made independently.

A homemade heating element boiler is a pipe with a diameter that is not much larger than the diameter of the heating element.

In addition to the pipe and heating element, the boiler has several more pipes, a safety group and automation.

Materials

An electric boiler with heating elements is made from:

  1. Pipes with a diameter of 12 cm.
  2. Pipes with a diameter of 1.25 and 3 cm.
  3. Sheets of steel. Thickness – 2-3 mm.
  4. heating elements. You can take it 2-3 single-phase heating elements or 1 three-phase. It is necessary to select elements with the greatest length. Very short ones are not suitable. The power of all heating elements must correspond to the amount of heat that needs to be created to heat the house.
  5. Air release valve.
  6. Valves for draining water.
  7. Pressure gauge.
  8. Overheat sensor.
  9. Sheet metal with a thickness of 1-2 mm.
  10. Wires with a cross section of 2.5-4 sq. mm.
  11. Thermal insulation. She may be.


The main part and body will be made from these materials. Electrical devices for automatic operation are also needed.

Tools

  1. Bulgarian.
  2. Grinding device.
  3. Welding machine.
  4. Multimeter.
  5. Screwdriver.
  6. Pliers.

Manufacturing of the main part

The electric boiler is made in the following sequence:

  1. Cooking nozzles for flow tank. To do this, cut 4 pieces 4-5 cm long from a pipe with a diameter of 1.25 cm. Two pieces with the same length are cut from a pipe with a diameter of 3 cm.
  2. At one end of each pipe cut out 2 small spherical recesses. They must follow the contours of the flow-through container. A thread is cut at the second end of the pipes.
  3. Take a pipe with a large diameter (12 cm) and a length of about 65 cm. In it cut five holes. Two with a diameter of 3 cm are made near the top and bottom of the pipe. They are made from opposite sides. The other two holes are cut by welding near the holes made. The first is for draining water. The second is for connecting the expansion tank.
  4. Since the edges of the holes have beads, they polished with a grinder.
  5. Weld the pipes to the holes made.
  6. Take sheet metal and cut out two circles. The diameter of the circles should correspond to the diameter of the largest pipe.
  7. Weld these circles to the pipe. You can immediately weld two squares and then cut them.
  8. At one end of the pipe cut a hole or several holes and weld a nut/nuts to them for screwing in heating elements. The nut can have the same diameter as the flow tank pipe. Then you can not weld the metal sheet, but immediately start welding the nut. This situation may arise if you want to use 1 three-phase powerful heating element. The heating element can be placed at the top or bottom. The first option is suitable for systems with a circulation pump, the second - for systems with natural circulation.
  9. Top of the tank make a small hole for the temperature sensor. A fitting with internal thread is welded onto the hole. Thanks to this, you can fix the temperature sensor.
  10. Weld a grounding contact to the outer wall of the housing.
  11. Screwed in heating element, overheat sensor and connect the structure to the compressor. Under a pressure of 3 bar, the tightness of the boiler for heating the house is checked.
  12. They disconnect from the water supply, drain the water, sand, prime and paint the structure.
  13. After drying, the paint is wrapped with thermal insulation. It can be glued or secured with threads. Instead, you can use plastic flexible tapes.

Read also: Double-circuit electric boiler

Such a boiler will operate without pauses or automatic shutdowns.

Case manufacturing

Since electrical wires will be connected to the main part of the boiler for heating a private house, and their contacts will be open, it is necessary to make a housing inside which all internal elements will be hidden.

Its production is carried out as follows:

  1. Determined by size. For this measure the height of the heating container and add 15-20 cm. The width should be twice the width of the main part. The depth can be made 5 cm greater than the same characteristics of the tank.
  2. Drawing diagram with specific dimensions.
  3. According to the scheme cut rectangles from sheet metal, which will be the walls of the housing.
  4. Weld the bottom, back and one side wall(for a boiler with heating elements at the top) or top, rear and side walls (for a device with heating elements at the bottom)
  5. Towards the inside weld the corners. There should be two corners at the top. One side of them should be a small part of the top of the body. There should also be two corners at the bottom. They should be located along those edges of the bottom, near which there is not yet one side and front wall.
  6. Four holes are drilled in the corner: 2 in the lower, 2 in the upper. It is advisable to cut threads in the holes or weld nuts to them. The nuts must be on the inside.
  7. On the back wall Weld fasteners for wall mounting. The fastening can be a U-shaped profile with edges bent to the sides. You need to use 4 such profiles.
  8. Welding the second part of the body. It should be a separate part that will be fixed with bolts and removed if necessary.
  9. In this part drill four holes so that they coincide with the holes made in the other half of the case.
  10. In the bottom and one side wall make holes for pipes, which come from the boiler for heating a private house. They also make 2 more holes: the first for the cable entry, the second for the pipe to which the expansion tank will be connected. A hole is cut out in the front for the control panel.

Read also: How to calculate the power of an economical electric boiler

Automation

The autonomous operation of boiler heating elements for heating a private house should be ensured by the following elements:

  1. Thermal sensor.
  2. Control board.
  3. Magnetic switch.
  4. Circuit breaker.

The temperature sensor and control board are often sold together. The temperature sensor will need to be placed in the room, and when the set temperature is reached, it will give a signal to turn off the boiler.

The best is this electronic control board, which allows you to program (adjust) various boiler operating modes. Thanks to it, it will be possible to set the optimal temperature for the home for specific periods of time. The circuit breaker must consist of several sections, to each of which a separate heating element or a separate phase can be connected.

All these elements are placed and fixed on the parts of the body that have not yet been twisted.

Connecting automation

  1. Connecting the input cable to the circuit breaker. If the boiler is three-phase, then a phase wire is connected to each of the switch contacts. The neutral wire will be connected directly to the heating elements. If this is a single-phase device, then only 1 wire is connected to the switch.
  2. Connecting the control panel. It is connected to one wire coming from the switch.
  3. Connecting the temperature sensor and overheating sensor to the control panel.
  4. Connection between control panel and starter one wire. Through it she will control the starter.
  5. Connecting the starter to the circuit breaker. 3 contacts of the starter are connected to 3 contacts of the switch. This is the case if there are 3 heating elements or 1 three-phase heating element. If the boiler has 2 heating elements, then connect 2 contacts. The control panel is already connected to one of these wires.
  6. Connecting phase wires to heating elements. The heating elements are connected using the star system. That is, each phase contact is connected to one phase wire. All neutral contacts are connected with one jumper and the neutral wire is connected to it.
  7. To the terminal on the heating tank connect the ground wire.
  8. To the return fitting install pressure release valve(for it you need to make another hole in the bottom of the housing) and a circulation pump. It is connected to the starter. Thanks to this, it will turn on/off simultaneously with the heating elements. Place a plug on the pipe to which the open expansion tank should be connected. This tank must be used if there is no pump.

To create an efficient heating system, you need a modern heating boiler. This can be a device that runs on electricity, solid fuel, or gas. Today there are also a large number of combined models. However, having a sufficient level of knowledge, the necessary materials and a diagram, you can easily create a homemade electric boiler for heating.

In essence, the boiler is a metal reservoir in which a thermal electric heating element (TEH) is located. The most common are models with a power of 6 kW - this is quite enough to heat a small, well-insulated house or apartment. However, it is most rational to use such a boiler as an auxiliary one in the presence of a main boiler operating on solid or liquid fuel. If the system does not provide for a boiler of a different type, you can use two or more electric boilers - this will increase the heated area.

A modern homemade electric heating boiler, even one created with your own hands, can perfectly maintain the set temperature level in the room automatically.

To do this, you need to equip it with several sensors and a simple automatic unit. Using automation is an excellent way to reduce energy costs, since the boiler will be able to maintain the temperature in the room at a programmatic level - thus, the coolant will not be heated excessively.

Air heating control in manual and automatic modes

Manual operating mode. Toggle switch T must be turned off. Next, click Start. The system checks the room temperature. If it is below the adjustable value (closed TP contacts), the magnetic switch is automatically triggered. It blocks (temporarily) the Start button and starts the heating element. The coolant gradually heats up, resulting in an increase in the temperature in the room. As soon as the sensor shows that the temperature is within the established limits, the contacts of the TP and the magnetic switch of the heating element are opened. The heating element is switched off and the Start button is unlocked.

Auto mode.Toggle switch T should be turned on. This will allow you to maintain a constant temperature in the room, limited by the activation zone of the TP contacts. If the air temperature drops below the specified limit, the boiler automatically turns on. Thus, the coolant heats up, which increases the temperature in the room. When the set temperature is reached, the circuit breaks, and the electric heating boiler comes into inactivity with its own hands. If necessary, the activation is repeated.

Features of connecting homemade electric boilers

Even if the electric boiler for heating with your own hands is auxiliary, it must still be located next to the main boiler. In this case, the combination of boilers is carried out using bends.

The electrical control board must be installed on a special panel insulated from the coolant. At the same time, by creating the boiler yourself, you also determine the components selected for the board.

To comply with all installation rules, which, in turn, ensures the continued safety of the equipment in use, it is advisable to invite an electrician.

It is especially important to do this, given that even individual “kulibins” cannot always properly ground an electrical appliance. In addition, it is important to regularly check the safety of the system - invite a specialist who can take the necessary measurements and issue an appropriate report on the condition of the operating heating element.

It should be taken into account that individual sensors, in particular the room air temperature sensor (TR-OMb-OZ), must be installed in a heated room. If there are several such rooms, then the sensor is installed in the one that, in your opinion, has an average level of heating. It should be noted that the proposed heating boiler circuit is designed specifically for a sensor of this type - and if you replace it, some of the elements of the electronic control system must also be replaced.

Homemade electric heating boilers of this type will easily serve you for more than 10 years. However, it is important to understand that in order to achieve such a service life, it is necessary to follow certain installation rules, and, of course, operating rules. Here are the most important:

  • In no case should shut-off valves be installed either before or after the boiler.
  • both the electrical panel and the electric heating boiler itself must have reliably grounded housings;
  • for safety reasons, dielectric mats must be placed in front of the electric boiler and in front of the control panel;
  • before starting operation, it is necessary to obtain permission to use this type of equipment from the relevant State Energy Supervision inspector;
  • Installation and subsequent repairs of the boiler can only be carried out by a qualified electrician.

Do-it-yourself electric heating boilers - drawings:

Electrical appliances are often used to heat the coolant in water heating systems. There are ready-made electric boilers on sale, but if necessary, you can make a homemade electric boiler. Such units are distinguished by their reliability and operating efficiency. The efficiency of an electric heating boiler is quite high. An additional advantage of a homemade unit is that it takes up little space and you do not need to allocate a separate room for its installation.

What will be needed to assemble the boiler?

Since such a device does not have mechanical components, it is easy to make it yourself. Also thanks to this, it rarely fails and is easy to use.

If you decide to make an electric heating boiler with your own hands, you will need the following parts and tools:

  • angle grinder (you can use a grinder instead);
  • multimeter;
  • to weld pipes you will need a welding machine (the best option is an inverter type unit);
  • regular grinder;
  • steel sheet with a minimum thickness of 0.2 cm;
  • to connect the boiler to the heating system, you will need adapters;
  • heating elements – 2 pieces (regular heating elements are needed);
  • a piece of steel pipe with a diameter of 159 mm and a length of 60 cm.

It is worth mentioning separately that you can make floor-mounted and wall-mounted heating equipment with your own hands. Such boilers can be single-circuit or double-circuit. According to the principle of operation, they are induction, heating element and electrode.

How to make a heating element boiler

If you are interested in how to make a 220V electric heating boiler with your own hands, then the following assembly instructions will help you figure it out:

  1. In order to properly connect a homemade device to the heating system of a private home, you need to make special pipes. For this, three steel pipes are prepared. You should end up with two 1.25" pieces and one 3" piece.
  2. After this, we make a container for the tank. To do this you will need a large diameter pipe. The coolant will be heated in this tank. For this purpose, two holes are cut on the side in a pre-prepared section of pipe. Their edges are well cleaned from burrs and nicks. Two previously prepared pipes are welded to these holes. Then two circles are cut from a piece of sheet steel. Their diameter should be 2-3 mm larger than the diameter of the pipe for the tank. These round blanks are welded to the ends of the heating container. Welding areas are well cleaned and polished.
  3. A hole with a diameter of 1.25 inches is cut in one of the circles welded to the end. A pipe with the same cross-section is welded to this hole. Two more holes are cut in the bottom of this cylindrical structure. Their edges are also carefully cleaned and polished. The first heating element is inserted into these two holes. An additional heating element will be installed in the previously welded pipe from the other end.
  4. Then the manufactured boiler must be connected to the heating system of the building. To connect, we use two pipes in the side, which were welded in the first step.
  5. Now we install the second heating element in the pipe on the top of the tank. Its power should be slightly less than that of the main heating element. However, an additional heating element must have a thermostat to regulate the temperature of the coolant.
  6. After checking that all parts are connected correctly, the homemade heating element boiler is ready.

Advice! To connect a homemade structure to the power supply, it is better to use the help of a specialist, since without experience it will not be possible to carry out the work correctly and, most importantly, safely.

After connecting the electric boiler to the power supply networks, check its performance and the correct operation of the entire heating system. To estimate the temperature of the coolant, you should use a multimeter. The temperature of the water in the pipes after leaving the boiler should be within 70 degrees.

Assembly and connection of equipment

If you nevertheless decide to independently connect a homemade electric boiler to the power supply, then this should be done in compliance with the following recommendations. Since powerful heaters are installed in the tank, you will need to install a three-phase input.

For this purpose, the following devices are installed in the electrical panel:

  • toggle switch;
  • machine;
  • fuse;
  • temperature sensor;
  • relay;
  • control Panel;
  • protective devices;
  • magnetic starters.

A grounding circuit must be installed. To make it, you need to weld a bolt to a piece of reinforcing bar. After this, the rod is driven into the ground in the underground of a residential building. A wire coming from the electrical panel is attached to the bolt.

Types and principle of operation

Having decided to make an electric boiler for heating your home with your own hands, you need to understand the types of such devices. It is possible to produce electrode and induction types of boilers. There are other varieties, but they are only modifications of these basic types. The second name for an electrode boiler is an ion unit. It is called that because the device converts electrical energy into thermal energy.

Electrode boiler

A homemade electrode heater has compact dimensions, so it can be easily mounted on a pipe and does not require a separate place for installation on the floor or hanging on the wall. For greater strength and safety, it is secured with two self-tapping screws, but you can omit them if you wish.

Externally, the entire structure looks like a 400 mm long pipe section. On one side the pipe is tightly welded, and on the other there is a steel rod sticking out of it. A pipe is installed on the side or at one of the ends for circulating coolant through the pipes.

A self-made heating element boiler, the manufacturing process of which we described above, must have two pipes on the side for connecting the return and supply pipelines with circulating coolant.

There are several options for the location of these pipes:

  1. One piece of pipe can be installed at the end of the device, and the other can be welded to the hole in the side. Thus, it is installed perpendicular to the axis of the first pipe.
  2. The second mounting option involves installing two pipes on the side of the unit. It turns out that both pipe outlets are installed parallel to each other, but perpendicular to the main tank of the heater.

A homemade heater has the following operating principle:

  • Positively and negatively charged particles (called anodes and cathodes) constantly circulate within the coolant;
  • when voltage is applied, the ions rush to the electrodes with the opposite charge;
  • since the polarity of the electrodes constantly changes with a frequency of 50 times per second, the ions move in one direction or the other;
  • Such chaotic movement of ions causes friction of the particles and their heating (because of this, the temperature of the coolant increases).

Having made an electric heating boiler with your own hands, you should not forget that it has its drawbacks. The disadvantages are associated with the fact that the coolant is constantly under voltage, so before supplying it to the heating circuit, it is thoroughly cleaned of salts and other impurities that can settle on the walls of the pipelines and the heating element.

Attention! In systems with electric boilers, it is prohibited to use antifreeze as a coolant. For these purposes, purified water is used.

Induction unit

The operating principle of induction-type electrical units is based on heating the coolant through a magnetic field, which is formed by an electric current.


These devices contain the following components:

  • coil;
  • heater body;
  • core (here the coolant is heated);
  • insulation.

In induction-type boilers, the coolant is not energized, as in units of the electrode variety. This is ensured by complete isolation of the liquid medium from elements that conduct electricity.

The copper coil winding is connected to the network through an automation system. After this, a magnetic field is formed in the coil, which heats the pipe, which acts as a core. Since the coolant circulates inside it, heat is immediately transferred to the liquid. During operation, the device body does not heat up. For this purpose, a layer of special insulation is provided in the housing design.

The core itself has a curved configuration to ensure longer passage of the coolant through this area in order to heat it sufficiently. The service life of an induction boiler reaches 25 years. There is simply nothing to break in this unit, so it will last until the core pipe is damaged by corrosion.

Starting the boiler

Before a test run of the heating unit, check how tight all components and connections are, as well as the correct assembly of the electrical network. After this, coolant is poured into the system. Be sure to make sure that there are no crushed or broken wires in the network, because a three-phase network has a high current strength. All wire connections must be well insulated.

Before starting the unit, it is thoroughly cleaned of contaminants. For proper and uninterrupted operation of such a heater, you need to be protected from power surges. For this purpose, an RCD is installed in the network.

A test run of the boiler is performed in the following sequence:

  1. Purified coolant is poured into the system.
  2. It is important that air does not accumulate in the circuit, so it is released using Mayevsky taps. Such fittings should be installed on the upper radiators in the system.
  3. We turn on the electric boiler and wait for the coolant to heat up.

In order for systems with electric boilers to operate efficiently and have high efficiency, pumping equipment is installed in them to circulate the coolant. Thanks to good circulation, the coolant will warm up evenly. It is recommended to install the circulation pump on the bypass so that you can switch to natural circulation of water in the system.

When installing circuits with a gravitational carrier current, the return pipeline is laid with a slope towards the heating boiler. Thanks to this, the cooled liquid will quickly flow into the boiler.

Despite the fact that electricity is an expensive energy source, using it to heat a home in many regions is the only possible alternative to stove heating. If an electric boiler is installed in the house, then there is no need to constantly monitor the heating process, or to collect firewood and prepare it for use.

Making an electric boiler with your own hands is quite difficult, but if you have previously worked with tools and repaired electrical wiring, then making such a device will not be an impossible task.

Options for electric boilers that you can make yourself can be divided into the following categories:

  1. A device in which the liquid is heated by.
  2. A device in which a water tank is heated by induction electromagnetic fields.

The first option is much easier to manufacture; induction heating devices are very difficult to manufacture, but you can make a boiler using an induction cooker.

Important Rules

The main rule in the manufacture and operation of an electric boiler is safety. Careless handling of electrical appliances, both home-made and factory-made, may result in electric shock, as well as fire if a short circuit occurs.

In order to minimize the likelihood of electric shock, the boiler must be properly grounded. An electric boiler is a high-power device, therefore, for its safe operation, the device should be powered through a separately dedicated electrical wiring circuit, which is equipped with fuses.

Before you start making a boiler with your own hands, you need to correctly calculate the power of the heating element. It won't be difficult to make the calculations.

For one square meter of heated area, at least 100 W of energy spent on heating is required. If the building is well insulated, then for a house with a total area of ​​40 m2, you will need to purchase a heating element with a power of 4 kW.

Making a boiler

From a piece of pipe and heating element, you can make a device that can handle heating one room.

To make a more advanced device that will completely heat the house and be placed in a separate room, you need to prepare the following tools and materials:

  1. Bulgarian.
  2. Welding machine.
  3. Electrodes.
  4. Multimeter.
  5. Sheet steel with a thickness of at least 2 mm.
  6. Steel pipe with a diameter of 219 mm.
  7. Heating element of the required power.
  8. Autogen
  9. Metal corner 50*50 mm.
  10. Electric drill.
  11. Electric circulation pump.

The manufacture of the device is carried out in the following sequence:


Making an electric heating boiler with your own hands
  1. Holes are made in the main pipe at the connection points of the pipes. The hole can be made with an acetylene cutter. There should be 2 pipes. One for connecting the input circuit of the heating system, the other for the outlet of the heated liquid. To connect the heating system, pipes with a diameter of 1 inch are usually used.
  2. From sheet steel it is necessary to cut 2 circles slightly larger in size external diameter of the boiler main pipe.
  3. Then the bottom plug is welded to the main 219 mm pipe. If the external dimensions of the plug turn out to be larger than the diameter of the pipe, then the excess metal can be trimmed using a grinder.
  4. A pipe is welded into the upper part of the boiler, through which the coolant will be discharged.
  5. It is necessary to make 2 holes in the welded bottom of the boiler. The size of these holes must be equal to the diameter of the threaded fastening of the heating element.
  6. It is necessary to install heating elements in the holes and tighten the threaded connections.
  7. Then a second plug is welded, which also has excess metal cleaned with a grinder.
  8. The inlet pipe is welded at the bottom of the boiler heating systems.
  9. Two pieces of angle are welded to the side of the boiler, in which holes must then be made. Using fasteners, the boiler is screwed to the wall with anchor bolts.
  10. The phase wire and “0” are connected to the heating element, to the body of the electric boiler grounding must be connected.

After the electric boiler is connected to the heating system, it is necessary to install it to ensure coolant circulation. The pump performance depends on the boiler power.

When all work on installing the electric boiler is completed, the equipment should be tested. Using a multimeter and an indicator screwdriver, make sure that the connection is correct and that there are no leaks of electric current into the body of the device.

The reliability of such a device depends on the quality of the heating element used. Heating elements do not last forever and so that when the heating element fails there is no need to disassemble the boiler, you should install two heating elements, but connect them in series, thus reducing the load on each heating element, and if one burns out you can connect the second element in the standard way without loss of power .

Making a boiler from an induction cooker is even easier and you will need the following materials and tools:

  1. Double burner induction hob.
  2. Container with a flat bottom, volume 50 liters.
  3. Metal corner 50*50 mm.
  4. Sheet steel 5 mm.
  5. Bulgarian.
  6. Welding machine.
  7. Electric drill.
  8. Steel pipe 1 inch.

Before you begin manufacturing an induction electric boiler, you should take care to minimize costs and increase the efficiency of the heating device.

The most expensive component of an induction electric boiler is the source of electromagnetic waves, which will heat the coolant container. You can purchase a new two-burner induction hob from a store. The cost of such a stove is several thousand rubles.

To make an induction boiler, the appearance of the device is not important, so to save money, you can purchase a stove in working condition second-hand. To increase the efficiency of using the heating element, the bottom of the tank should be slightly larger than the size of the electric stove, and the thickness of the bottom should not be less than 5 mm.

The tank can be made of either magnetic steel or stainless steel, this will not affect the heating efficiency in any way. If the thickness of the bottom of the container is less than 5 mm, then sheet material should be added to the bottom.

You can make a tank for the boiler yourself; for this, 6 rectangles are cut out of sheet steel: 4 pcs. size 30 * 50 cm and 2 pcs. 50 * 50 mm.

Using electric welding, these sheets are welded. You will get a rectangular container with a volume of 75 liters.

Two corners 60 cm long are welded to the container on both sides. In each corner, using a drill, two holes are drilled to mount the boiler to the wall. At the bottom of the boiler, two corners are also welded, which are located parallel to each other at a distance of 10 cm from the bottom plane of the tank.

Thus, in the lower part there will be a mount for installing an electric induction cooker. Between the two welded corners, a material should be installed of such thickness that when an induction hob is installed on it, the gap between its surface and the bottom of the tank is minimal.

2 pipes are made from a pipe with a diameter of 1 inch. One at the bottom of the tank for cold water, the other at the top for heated liquid to enter the heating system.

When the pipes are welded, the boiler is installed on the wall at a height of 1 meter from the floor level. For the convenience of adjusting the modes of the induction cooker, you can display the button panel in a separate housing, which will be located in such a way that control of the electric boiler is convenient; the operating mode indicator should also be displayed in a place convenient for viewing its indicators.

It is not recommended to connect the induction cooker to a standard outlet. This electrical appliance will operate at full power most of the time, which can lead to burnt contacts and failure of the socket and plug of the device.

The correct option for connecting such a device would be via a dedicated electrical wiring circuit equipped with an automatic fuse. The grounding conductor, which is connected to the body of the induction cooker, should be connected to a reliable ground. There is no need to ground the tank body, due to the lack of contact of this part of the boiler with electricity.

Installation and connection

In order for the heating system to work reliably, it is necessary to correctly install the device and connect it to the electrical network and heating circuit.

The induction boiler is installed on the wall using anchor bolts. To do this, holes are made in the wall into which the bolt is placed. The electric boiler is installed with holes that were pre-drilled in the corner, onto anchor bolts and securely fixed with nuts.

Considering the fact that when connecting a boiler in which a heating element is used as a heating element, it is connected at the bottom of the boiler, so this model is also attached to the wall at a height of 80 - 100 cm from the floor level.

After installing the boiler, the heating system pipes are welded to its pipes. To carry out welding work, it is necessary to drain the coolant from the system. After completing the welding work, the boiler is connected to electricity via a separate cable.

Before connecting the electric boiler, you must turn off the electricity. To do this, you need to unscrew the plugs or turn off the input circuit breakers. Electric current should also be supplied to the circulation pump and the device should be connected according to the operating instructions.

After all installation work has been completed, the device must be turned on at full power and left to operate in this mode for 24 hours. If no emergency situations arise, then you can hope for stable operation of the device throughout the heating season.


Electric boiler connection diagram
  1. Before you start making a boiler with your own hands, properly assess your capabilities. Electricity should be handled very carefully.
  2. For uninterrupted operation of the electric boiler, you must purchase a diesel or gasoline generator, from which electrical equipment will operate when there is no electric current in the network due to an emergency on the power line.
  3. The easiest way to make a mini-electric boiler is to purchase a set of electrical equipment that is installed in the heating battery. Such a system is easy to install, and the heating temperature is controlled using an automatic microprocessor system.