How can you increase the heating area of an apartment or house? In some cases, the expansion of living space, in addition to the usual problems, entails the need to increase the capacity of the system. For this, it is not necessary to change the boiler, especially since it is selected with a small power reserve. Most often, additional heating systems are installed with the installation of pumps and radiators.
Installation of an additional heating system
When do you need additional heating at home? If the system was calculated correctly before, including its components, the installation of new circuits is due to the expansion of the living space. And at this stage, the owner is faced with several problems at once.
Firstly, this leads to an increase in the load on the main components of the circuit - the boiler and the pump. The latter is not able to ensure proper circulation of the coolant, as a result of which the thermal mode of operation is disrupted. Also, additional heating of the apartment with the modernization of the pumping system may be needed if its capacity was initially incorrectly calculated. This is true for gas boilers, which include a circulation group.
When do you need an additional circulation pump in the heating system?
- Installation of an additional circuit... This entails not only an increase in the volume of the coolant, but also an increase in the hydraulic resistance of the system;
- Using antifreeze... Its density is higher than that of water. Therefore, for normal operation, you will need to choose a pump with increased power, or put another one;
- Changing the thermal mode of operation to low temperature... In this case, it is necessary to increase the speed of water circulation in the pipeline, for which it is necessary to connect an additional pump to the heating system.
The method of installing additional equipment is no different from the standard one. The problem may lie in the coordination of the additional pump with the rest of the heating elements.
In the central heating system, you cannot independently connect an additional radiator. Before this, permits are drawn up, agreed with the management company.
Difficulties in installing an additional pump in the heating system
Having found out whether it is possible to put an additional pump on heating, it is necessary to choose its location correctly. The difficulty lies not in calculating the optimal power, which is also important, but in the consistency of the device with the main pump.
There are several options in which the installation of additional elements is required. A special place among them is occupied by the installation of additional heating at home. In practice, it can be implemented in two ways:
- Conducting a separate line with radiators and all the necessary piping. This will require an additional boiler;
- Modernization of the existing system - arrangement of a new heating circuit connected to the main one. Then you will definitely need to install an additional heating radiator or several.
The second option is the most practical, since you do not need to buy additional equipment and accessories. But then an additional problem arises - the asynchronous operation of the pump impellers.Even at the same number of revolutions, this will lead to uneven movement of water in the pipes, which is the first cause of water hammer.
When designing an additional contour, you should try to avoid turning corners in it. This will reduce the hydraulic resistance in the system.
Installation of a hydraulic arrow
The way out of this situation is a fundamentally new scheme for installing an additional pump in the heating system. Her innovation lies in the installation of a hydraulic arrow.
This device compensates for pressure differences in a certain section of the system, thereby normalizing the operation of heating.
This device normalizes the pressure in the main and return pipes. In the additional heating of an apartment, its installation is not necessary, since the increase in the circuit may be insignificant. But if the volume of water in the system increases by more than 20%, means of normalizing circulation and pressure should be provided. To install an additional circulation pump in the heating system together with a hydraulic compensator, the following rules should be followed:
- Location - as close as possible to the inlet of the return pipe to the boiler;
- Installation of shut-off valves for each pump circuit;
- Installation of mesh filters.
If it is impossible to correctly install the hydraulic arrow, you can make its simplest analogue. For this, after the connection point of the additional pump to the heating system, a jumper is made. Its optimal length should be 300-400 mm. This circulating ring can partially counterbalance possible water hammer.
The hydraulic expansion joint must be pre-dimensioned for the specific heating system. This applies to its main "body" and supply pipes.
Double circulation pump
Is it possible to install an additional pump for heating if it is physically impossible to change the pipe configuration? There is a more expensive but effective way to improve circulation - installing twin pumps.
This is the best option if you have a gas boiler with a built-in circulation system. The total capacity of the new pumps must compensate for the forced stop of the main one. In this way, malfunctions in the heating system can be avoided.
The advantages of this modification are as follows:
- There is no need to change the standard scheme for installing an additional pump in the heating system;
- The common branch pipe for connection guarantees the absence of uneven movement of water in the pipes;
- Possibility of connection to the heating control unit - programmer.
Despite all the advantages of installing double pumps for additional heating of a country house, they have one significant drawback - their high cost. The average price of the Wilo Top-SD, RSD model with a nominal head of 7 m is about 40 thousand rubles.
You can make a homemade module consisting of 2 twin pumps. It is important that they have the same parameters and be installed on a single connection pipe to the system.
Possible problems of arrangement
What additional difficulties can you face when designing additional heating in an apartment? The main problem may be the coordination of the work of a centralized and autonomous system. In practice, it is impossible to combine several separate circuits with different heat sources. Most often, the need to install an additional circulation pump arises in an autonomous heating system.
The most common case is the arrangement of a thermal water floor. If it will be connected to an existing circuit, it is necessary to provide an additional device for water circulation.
The pump in gas boilers (the most popular for heating in apartments) is designed for a certain volume of coolant in the system.It should be borne in mind that the total length of the underfloor heating contours can reach 150 m. Therefore, it is imperative that an additional pump be connected to the old heating circuit. It is best to use a proven manifold design for this. It comes standard with a circulation pump.
In this case, the connection diagram of the additional pump to the heating system is standard and has the following advantages:
- The pump does not affect the parameters of the main system. The manifold compensates for pressure drops;
- Simple installation - just connect to the existing pipes at any convenient place.
This is a better option than installing an additional radiator for heating. Thus, you can minimize the cost of upgrading the existing circuit. It is important to remember that any additional heating system with the installation of pumps and radiators directly affects the operation of all other equipment. Therefore, one should first calculate the consistency of their joint functioning.
The video describes in detail the work and features of installing the pump in the heating system:
