It happens that the heating system stops working and forces the residents to freeze. The worst thing is when a problem with heating is detected during the winter cold season. The reasons for the refusal to supply heat are different, and their essence is most often incomprehensible to a common man in the street. But if you read our recommendations, it will be easy for you to recognize and fix problems in the heating system in order to protect your home from unpleasant surprises.
- Signs of poor heating
- Causes of malfunctions in heating
- Errors in the design of the heating system
- Inappropriate home heating equipment
- Heating system imbalance
- Poor installation of the heating system
- Air locks in heating
- Incorrectly installed heating radiators
- Reducing clearance in old heating pipes
- Heating pipe leak
Signs of poor heating
When rooms are not heated enough in winter, it is felt immediately. Problems with heating in the apartment make themselves felt by discomfort for the inhabitants, the appearance of dampness on the walls and incomprehensible noises spreading through metal pipelines throughout the house.
Problems with the heating system can be characterized by a number of symptoms:
- the system as a whole is poorly functioning;
- heat supply on different floors is not the same;
- batteries in one room are hot, in another they are barely warm;
- the "warm floor" system warms up unevenly;
- noise and bubbling are heard in the pipes;
- coolant leaks from pipes or radiators.
Causes of malfunctions in heating
Most residents of city apartments believe that they do not need to know the structure of engineering systems. Any problems of central heating that appear in their high-rise building are obliged to solve the employees of the management company. And it is right. It is better if only one responsible owner is involved in all the affairs. Indeed, in an apartment building, heating problems often arise precisely because of unauthorized interventions in the smooth functioning of the heating system.
But individual homeowners are forced to understand the heating problems in a private house and keep the situation under their control. The owner of the house should at least in general terms know about the causes of problems and be able to fix them.
The following reasons can lead to problems with the heating system:
- the system is incorrectly designed;
- the equipment does not meet the design requirements;
- the system is unbalanced due to unauthorized connections;
- the installation was of poor quality;
- air locks interfere with the circulation of the coolant;
- radiators are installed incorrectly;
- pipelines have fallen into disrepair;
- the tightness of the connections is broken.
Let's take a closer look at each of these reasons and ways to eliminate heating problems in an apartment and in a private house.
Errors in the design of the heating system
The development of a heating system project must be given due attention so that in the future the problems of heating a private house do not poison everyday life. Attempts to save money on competent design turn into troubles. For example, when starting a fully assembled system, problems with heating radiators are suddenly discovered, some of which do not heat up. This means that the system was originally designed incorrectly and will have to be redone.
Design can only be entrusted to specialists who will take many factors into account. Among them: the layout of the house, the volume of heated rooms, the degree of heat loss, etc. It is also important to plan the required slope of the horizontal pipe sections. Also, the main technical parameters of the required equipment can be determined only on the basis of heat engineering calculations.
For reliable heating of the house, the heating boiler must have a power of at least 1 kW for every 10 m² of the area of premises with a ceiling height of up to 3 m.
Inappropriate home heating equipment
With the current wide range of heating equipment, it is easy to make a mistake and buy the wrong one. To avoid problems in the heating system, it is necessary to focus on the compliance of all its elements with the approved project. You need to buy radiators only of the type and with the number of sections as planned. All pipeline fittings, control and shut-off valves must be mutually compatible.
Heating problems in a private house often arise due to poor circulation. Circulation pumps help to increase the speed of movement of the coolant in the pipes. But you need to select the right pump model correctly so that noise in the pipes does not appear during its operation.
When arranging modern housing, old iron pipes are increasingly being replaced by more practical metal-plastic and polypropylene pipes. The absence of problems in each specific heating system will depend on their compliance with the given project conditions. Although plastic pipes are easy and simple to assemble, it is better to entrust a specialist with the correct selection and subsequent installation of these products.
It is important to know that not all types of plastic pipes are suitable for heating systems. Some of them under the influence of hot water, some may deform or burst.
Heating system imbalance
Serious heating problems in an apartment building arise when tenants start renovating and redeveloping their apartments. Spontaneous, uncontrolled installation of new radiators and underfloor heating leads to an imbalance in the system. As a result, the circulation in the system is disrupted, on some floors the batteries are hot, and on others the residents are freezing. The specialists of the management company can balance the distribution of the coolant along the risers, but problems with heating in individual apartments still remain.
If the neighbors have changed their heating devices and removed the thermostats, then it is not surprising that water simply will not go through pipes to your apartment. And it will be possible to solve such a problem with heating only by removing the thermostat also at home.
Another opportunity to really increase the heat flow to your apartment is to follow the example of your neighbors and change the batteries. If you install aluminum or bimetallic instead of cast iron, their heat transfer will be much better.
It is forbidden to change radiators without permission, you need to get permission!
The heating system can also be unbalanced in a private house. Then the radiators located closer to the boiler heat up more than the distant ones. It will be necessary to restore the balance in this way: close the control taps and restrict the flow of coolant entering the near radiators so that more heat can be supplied to the distant ones.
Poor installation of the heating system
It happens that a new, recently installed radiator does not want to heat up.
Others, standing in the system before and after it, heat up normally, but this one does not. The reason is poor circulation of the coolant. The reason for the problem with the heating radiator could be an oversight of the installer.Probably, when welding a polypropylene pipe, he overheated it too much, and as a result of fusion, the inner diameter decreased. In such cases, the installer is obliged to redo his poor-quality work free of charge.
In order to avoid problems with the heating system, all pipes and fittings included in its composition must be of a securely assembled structure.
Air locks in heating
If the batteries are not heated in any of the rooms, it means that the air accumulated in the system prevents the free movement of the coolant. An airlock can form due to many reasons, among which are the following:
- air enters when the water is drained from the system and then filled;
- oxygen is released from water when heated;
- a faulty expansion tank creates a local low pressure zone;
- air is sucked into the system through connections with broken tightness;
- diffusion of air through the surfaces of the plastic pipes occurs.
Air bubbles can accumulate either at the highest point of the piping system, or only in one of the radiators. Then the bottom of the battery will be hot and the top will remain cold. The presence of air in the pipes also provokes the appearance of unpleasant gurgling sounds. Most often, heating devices on the top floor of the building stop heating.
The more complex the configuration of the heating system in your home, the slower it should be filled to avoid air congestion.
Due to air bubbles, not only the heat supply through the piping system stops, but also corrosion of the metal elements begins. The smooth operation of the circulation pump is also impaired.
The use of simple technical devices will help to get rid of the problem of clogging the heating system with air plugs.
The most effective way to remove air from a closed heating system can be considered the use of automatic air vents. If they are mounted in several problem areas at once, then air from each group of system elements will be released as it accumulates.
In addition to automatic, there are also manual air vents (Mayevsky's valve). Such a device is installed at the end of a radiator located on the highest of the floors. You can learn how to use it from the video presented here.
How to bleed air through the Mayevsky tap
Depending on how the heating system is arranged, sometimes it is necessary to release it from the air through the expansion tank in the attic. The circulation pump is also able to help expel air locks from the system.
Incorrectly installed heating radiators
The issue of proper installation of batteries is most relevant for private homeowners, since they themselves have to regulate the heating in their home. Replacing radiators on your own should be taken with responsibility, because their installation without preliminary calculations can add unnecessary problems to the heating system.
For example, the installation was done according to the instructions, and some of the radiators works half-heartedly. It turns out that it is skewed and the coolant cannot fill it entirely. And the reason is that the heavy multi-section radiator was hung on only two brackets, although it would be safer to use four. As a result, the metal structures were bent and the inner tubes were deformed.
The reliability of the radiator also depends on its location. The bottom edge of the battery should be raised 10 cm above the floor, there should be 2-3 cm of free space between the radiator and the wall.
Each radiator should hang on reliable brackets without sagging, backlash and distortions.
Reducing clearance in old heating pipes
In the old "Khrushchev" buildings, problems in the heating system are obvious and predictable. The service life of pipelines there has long expired, and therefore they cause not only a decrease in heat, but also accidents. For many decades, pipes have become so clogged with deposits that they are unable to provide normal circulation. The solution should be cardinal - to replace all pipes.
In addition, a decrease in pressure in the system is caused by the formation of scale on the heat exchanger of the heating boiler. The use of too hard water leads to such consequences. To prevent such a problem with heating devices, special reagents are added to the system to soften the water.
Heating pipe leak
The cause of interruptions in the heating network is often a leak, caused by corrosion or poor-quality pipe connections. If the place of the leak is in sight, then the problem with heating in the apartment can be solved faster. It is bad if the connection is hidden in the thickness of the wall or in the floor. Then you will have to cut off the entire leaking branch of the pipeline and mount a new one.
How to close up a leak when necessary? To do this, it is recommended to keep in stock simple plumbing devices for clamping pipes of the corresponding diameter. As a last resort, you can make a homemade clamp: wrap the leak with a piece of soft rubber, and then tighten it tightly with wire.
If a leak is found at the junction of the radiator sections, you will have to bandage this area with a strip of fabric, which is pre-soaked with moisture-resistant glue. It is permissible to use a special sealant, "cold welding" and other means.
The proposed methods of dealing with the problem of the heating system leak are only temporary, and subsequently major repairs will be required.
In advance, before the start of the heating season, inspect all pipelines and radiators in the apartment for leaks. Owners of an autonomous heating system should test its performance in the fall.
Finally, you can advise: for all problems with heating in an apartment or in your private house, contact a specialist. Only they know how to correctly design a system, install a boiler, lay out pipes and connect radiators.
Do not skimp on the quality of the purchased equipment, so as not to spend money on repeated repairs if a cheaply bought tap suddenly breaks down and floods the room.
Learn to correctly identify the causes of heating problems and begin to eliminate them competently. In other words: think seven times - repair once!
