Heating systems that use liquid as a heat carrier are equipped with devices to increase or decrease the supply of water in pipes and heating elements. The regulating devices here are various taps and a valve for a heating radiator. With their help, a smooth change in temperature in a heated room is achieved.
Valve functions for heating battery
The need to use valves is due to two reasons:
- Achieving a comfortable room temperature is impossible without controlling the heating of the radiators.
- Systems without any regulation are energy intensive.
In the first case, due to the built-in thermostat, it is possible to turn on and off the heating elements in automatic mode. Savings are achieved due to the fact that the boiler does not heat up the entire volume of the coolant, but only that part of it that is currently circulating.
Varieties of valves
The heating system, regardless of the type of boiler, involves equipping its highways with several types of valves for heating batteries. This is due to the fact that such products are not universal. Therefore, the desire to save money and install a cheaper ball valve instead of a special control valve leads to ineffective equipment operation and unnecessary labor costs for its maintenance.
You need to know four principles of constructing a heating circuit in order to understand the meaning of using a certain element in each of its links:
- The lines must be balanced with each other - have approximately the same resistance to the coolant.
- The individual heating elements must be equipped with an adjustment mechanism.
- In the event of emergencies or maintenance of the batteries, it must be ensured that they can be removed quickly.
- It must be possible to remove air from the circuit.
Semi-turn ball valves
The products are the simplest in design, which consist of a spherical locking mechanism with a through duct. The control is carried out using a handle acting on the ball through the rod. Semi-turn devices are called, since to completely shut off the water flow, it is enough to turn the knob 90 degrees. The valves can be made of nickel-plated steel or bronze and its alloys.
Semi-turn ball valves have one significant drawback - when the flow is quickly shut off in equipment with a high internal pressure, a water hammer occurs, which can lead to the destruction of the line. In order to avoid accidents, hydroaccumulators must be constructively provided for shock damping.
Manual control valves for air release of heaters
The Mayevsky crane is a mechanical device designed to remove air from batteries. To solve the problem, a valve is installed at the top of the battery opposite the supply pipe.
The product consists of the following parts:
- brass body;
- a needle-type valve with a slot for a screwdriver and a hex head for a wrench;
- plastic casing with a hole for air outlet.
Air removal is carried out by unscrewing the needle valve until water seeps through the holes.
Balancing valves
Control elements of this type are designed to create a uniform flow capacity in the lines of a complex heating system. Multi-storey buildings can be cited as an example. Without balancing taps, the coolant will circulate according to the law of least resistance and heat mainly the batteries on the lower floors. According to the rules, such shut-off valves are installed at the inlet of the supply pipe and at the outlet of the return.
Thermostatic valves for radiators
Devices of this type in the design have two main modules - a thermostatic head and a mechanical valve. Products can be made of bronze and its alloys, as well as stainless steel. The following processes take place inside the device:
- The temperature in the room affects the working environment in which the sensitive component is present.
- The latter tends to change its linear dimensions.
- When the element expands, it presses on the stem and closes the channel for the movement of the coolant.
- The opposite process occurs during compression.
The valves are available in one-pipe and two-pipe designs. Also, by the type of control, they are distinguished:
- conical thermo valves for a manual heating radiator, in which the coolant flow is blocked and released with a regulator handle;
- semi-automatic devices of direct action - in them the operator sets the response temperature on a mechanical scale, and the mechanism is controlled by a thermal head;
- automatic devices with a built-in electronic thermostat, where you can set a specific work program.
Any valves can be used as drain valves - ball valves, butterfly valves and dampers. To remove water from the heating element, it is permissible to drain it through the valve of the lower radiator connection.
Rules for the use and installation of thermal valves for heating
When choosing the type of control valve for the heating system and the method of its installation, proceed from the following conditions:
- For conventional systems, where two pipes and circulation pumps are used, simple two-pipe thermostatic radiator valves are used.
- For gravity circuits with one pipe - one-pipe devices with an increased flow channel.
- The direction of flow of the coolant is taken into account - from the top or from the lower channel.
- The shut-off valve for the radiator is mounted at a distance of 60-40 cm from the bottom point of the room.
- The direction of connection of the shut-off valves is selected in accordance with the marking of the flow movement on the body.
To ensure the tightness of the threaded connection in hard-to-reach places where it is difficult to use FUM tape, you can use special thermostable pipe silicones.
Among the products known on the market for regulating heaters are: Italian products RBM and ICMA, devices of the German company PROFACTOR, Chinese thermo valves UNO New.
