In the process of installing the components of the heating system in your home, you need to pay attention to such points as fastening the radiators to the wall. The reliability of fastening the heating pipes and the expansion tank is also of no less importance.
In this article, you can find useful recommendations for self-installation and fastening of heating devices.
Why the mount needs to be reliable
The calmness and well-being of not only the inhabitants of this dwelling, but, often, the neighbors, will depend on how correctly the fastening technology for heating batteries is applied and the installation is made.
Causes of problems with insufficiently reliable fastening:
- distortions of radiators when filling the system with water;
- accidental mechanical damage during operation;
- natural shrinkage of house structures (especially wood);
- impact of natural factors (earthquakes, landslides).
As a result, if the heating radiators, pipes and other elements of the heating system are not properly secured, their deformation, depressurization of the joints may occur, and then leaks will appear.
Let's consider in more detail how to make wall and floor mounting of heating radiators, as well as fastening heating pipes to the wall.
How to mount radiators
The most suitable mounting method for heating batteries (radiators) is chosen according to their size and weight, as well as the place where they are supposed to be installed. Most often, the radiator is attached to the wall under the window, but sometimes it becomes necessary to fasten it to the floor. Depending on this, the required type of fastener is used - for wall or floor installation.
Immediately before installing the radiator, it is advisable to completely prepare it: if necessary, paint it, install a Mayevsky tap, a thermostat and a plug.
Fastening the radiator to the wall
Mounting radiators to the wall directly below the window is considered more practical. This ensures the creation of a thermal curtain, which prevents the direct passage of cold air into the room.
To carry out work on installing the battery you will need:
- several brackets (their number depends on the length of the battery), and the same number of dowels for them;
- a hammer drill with a drill corresponding to the wall material;
- spirit level, tape measure, meter ruler.
Brackets for heating radiators must correspond to the type of metal from which the heating equipment is made - cast iron, steel or aluminum.
Cast iron batteries are the heaviest among all types of heating devices. Therefore, when installing them, they use fasteners for cast iron heating radiators, which are strong enough to withstand such a large weight. In addition, brackets for cast iron radiators allow you to adjust the distance to the wall.
Fasteners for bimetallic radiators must be no less strong than for cast iron.While this type of battery is not very heavy on its own, with a large number of sections, it can put a serious strain on the wall.
Aluminum batteries are much easier to install as they are lighter. For their installation, brackets are used for attaching aluminum heating radiators, which have a fixed length.
Recommended parameters for radiator installation and fastening:
- height above the floor - 100-120 mm;
- height under the edge of the window sill - 80-100 mm;
- distance from the wall - 20-50 mm.
In addition, if the piping scheme involves the supply of the coolant from above, then a slight slope of the radiator must be ensured so that air bubbles do not accumulate in it.
The number of support points is determined depending on the type of battery and its size. For example, for a cast iron radiator, the number of sections of which does not exceed six, it is enough to install two mounts in the wall for cast iron radiators from above and one more bracket from below. For larger batteries, you will have to increase the number of brackets - one for every three sections.
The number of brackets for fixing aluminum radiators should also correspond to the number of sections: 3 brackets if the number of sections is less than eight and 4–5 brackets with more sections.
When attaching heating radiators to the wall, it is also necessary to take into account the properties of the material from which the walls are made.
Procedure for installing and securing the radiator battery:
- The wall is pre-plastered and, if necessary, pasted over with wallpaper;
- Mark places on the wall for the brackets so that their hooks correspond to the gaps between the radiator sections;
- In the marked places, holes are drilled, dowels are inserted into them, and then the brackets are screwed in;
- Check that all bracket hooks are in line;
- Hang the radiator on the brackets and lightly press on it to check if it has sat down correctly and if there is no backlash;
- Check the horizontal level, and in the event of a skew, raise one side of the radiator by placing gaskets of appropriate thickness in the places of its contact with the brackets;
- After the final alignment of the radiator, pipes are connected to it and the joints are sealed.
Floor mounting of radiators
Fastening the heating radiator to the floor may be due to the design features of the room: too large windows are forced to put heating batteries on legs or on a special floor pedestal. When installing radiators on the floor, preference is given to aluminum products as the lightest and most aesthetically pleasing.
The process of attaching heating radiators to the floor is not very different from the wall version. This requires:
- purchase appropriate brackets for attaching aluminum radiators to the floor surface;
- mark a place on the floor for each bracket;
- drill holes and mount fasteners for the heating battery;
- install a radiator and connect pipes to it.
When building a new house, it is advisable to install embedded elements for fastening radiator heating batteries in the process of making the floor screed. This is especially true when self-leveling floors are arranged in the premises.
How to fix pipelines
The methods of fastening heating pipes to the wall may differ, if we take into account what material they are made of. For example, fastening a metal heating pipe requires less special fasteners, since such a pipe itself has sufficient rigidity.
Compared to metal pipes, plastic pipes are more flexible. This is especially true under the influence of a hot coolant, and in horizontal sections, the plastic heating pipe can sag.Minor changes in the geometry of the pipelines do not greatly affect the stability of the circulation of the coolant, however, they can cause air locks in the system.
Special clamps (clips) are used to fasten plastic heating pipes to the wall. Such a clamp is first fixed in the wall, and then a pipe is inserted into it. Supports for fasteners should be evenly spaced at all pipe joints and on long bends, while the length of the gaps between the supports should not exceed 10 pipe diameters. If, according to the installation scheme, it is necessary to indent from the wall, then the same fasteners are used as for heating batteries - brackets of appropriate length.
When the mounts are installed on the wall, you can start attaching the pipes to their base. Depending on the design of the clamps, the pipe is either snapped in or screwed in with studs. It is useful if the clamps are equipped with rubber gaskets in order to compensate for thermal expansion and reduce vibrations.
Sometimes a design project involves laying heating pipelines in grooves - hollowed out recesses in the wall. With a hidden gasket, you need to wrap the pipe with a soft insulating material, or put a plastic corrugation on it. This is necessary in order to reduce heat loss, as well as to leave free space for thermal expansion. Subsequently, the wall can be plastered by sealing the gaps with insulating materials.
In places where the heating pipe passes through walls and ceilings, it is necessary to install passages in them in the form of a sleeve with a diameter several millimeters larger than the pipe section.
How to attach the expansion tank
The place of installation and the way of fixing the expansion tank depends on the type of heating system, which can be open or closed. Although at the present time, open-type heating systems have ceased to be used almost everywhere, they still remain in old buildings in some places.
In outdated systems, an open heating expansion tank was mounted in the attic. From the highest point of the pipeline system, a branch pipe was taken out through the ceiling and connected to the bottom of the tank. The expansion tank was installed vertically and attached to the ceiling in any way possible.
In a closed heating system, the membrane expansion vessel is mounted differently. The main rule here is that during installation, you need to orient the tank so that the coolant flows into it from above. But in practice, depending on the volume of the tank and its design features, the mounting methods can be different: vertically or horizontally, directly on the heating pipe, on the wall or on the floor.
It is most advisable to install an expansion tank in front of the circulation pump, in a straight section of the pipeline from the side of the coolant return to the boiler.
Features of fastening heating in a wooden house
If the house is built of wood, it must be borne in mind that all its structures in the first years of operation will inevitably shrink. Therefore, the fastening of heating pipes to a wooden wall should be more free than in other houses. It is unacceptable that dynamic stresses arise on any of the pipeline sections. When laying pipes, gaps of 15–20 mm are left in wooden walls and ceilings to compensate for shrinkage. Clamps are installed to fix the pipes to the wall. The fastening of expansion tanks for heating is also done in the same way.
In a wooden house, the fastening of aluminum radiators to the wall is carried out using a technology that is not too different from the usual one.The aluminum radiator is light enough that a wooden wall can support its weight. Unlike an aluminum one, a cast-iron radiator needs to be fixed on a wooden wall more carefully, and for reliability it is worth increasing the number of mounting brackets.
When a massive cast iron radiator is attached to a wooden wall, it should be placed on floor stands that will bear the bulk of the unit's weight.
If, according to the construction project, it is planned to fix the heating radiators to a wooden floor, the installation process will be even simpler than in the case of a concrete floor. But when there is a suspicion that a heavy radiator installed on the floor will exert an excessively large load on the logs, you need to try to partially redistribute its weight to the wall brackets.
Video instructions will help you understand how to fix heating radiators:
In order for the heating system not to cause problems during its operation, due attention should be paid to the issue of fastening pipes and radiators. Then you can gain complete confidence that the heating equipment will not let you down at a crucial moment.
