Balancing the heating system in a private, multi-storey building

What is the essence of balancing

Hydraulic heating systems are rightfully considered the most complex. Their effective work is possible only with a deep understanding of physical processes hidden from visual observation. The joint operation of all devices must ensure that the heat carrier absorbs the maximum amount of heat and distributes it evenly over all heating devices of each circuit.

The operating mode of each hydraulic system is based on the relationship of two inversely proportional quantities: hydraulic resistance and throughput. It is they who determine the flow rate of the coolant in each node and part of the system, and therefore the amount of thermal energy supplied to the radiators. In the general case, the calculation of the flow rate for each individual radiator reflects a high degree of unevenness: the farther the heating device is from the heating unit, the higher the influence of the hydrodynamic resistance of pipes and branches, respectively, the coolant circulates at a lower speed.

The task of balancing the heating system is to ensure that the flow in each part of the system will have approximately the same intensity even with temporary changes in operating modes. Careful balancing makes it possible to achieve a state where individual adjustment of the thermostatic heads does not significantly affect other elements of the system. At the same time, the very possibility of balancing should be provided even at the design and installation stage, because to configure the system, both special fittings and technical data for the boiler room equipment are required. In particular, it is mandatory to install shut-off valves on each radiator, in the common people called chokes.

How the calculations are made

The functionality of any hydraulic system is based on the interaction of inversely proportional values of the working medium - throughput and pressure. The level of hydraulic resistance in the pipeline is created by pumping groups, and the passage of the working medium is controlled by pipeline control valves.

The essence of the adjustment is to increase or decrease the hydrodynamic resistance in the pipes: for heating devices remote from the heating unit, it must be increased, and for nearby ones, it must be lowered. The calculations take into account the many pipe branches, due to which the speed of fluid circulation is reduced.

The task of a specialist is to balance the system so that in each individual circuit the intensity of movement of the coolant reaches certain values, depending on the purpose of the premises. That is, so that the set temperature is maintained in them. The setting values are calculated during project planning. In accordance with them, the following is selected:

pump equipment;
boilers;
radiators;
heat exchangers;
measuring sensors;
bypass valves, gates, gate valves.

If the heat source is a boiler house, then its technical data will be required for calculations in the balancing process.

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Symptoms of problems

It should be said right away that it is not necessary to climb to the valves just out of love for art. Many technical specialists have a favorite phrase: "It works - don't touch it." Here it is also quite possible to apply it. If you do not notice any negative signs in the operation of the heating system, then let it operate in the current mode.If you turn the taps at random, you can, on the contrary, unbalance everything, and then you will have to fix it.

Let's look at the phenomena that are clear signs of a lack of balancing:

temperature difference in rooms. As mentioned above, with poor-quality balancing or its complete absence, some rooms will be much colder than others. The rooms closest to the boiler will torment you with a suffocating heat, and in the farthest rooms you will freeze;
one of the radiators is constantly gurgling. Such noise indicates a malfunction in the coolant flow;
a warm floor, poured with a concrete screed, unevenly heats the surface.

If you have just installed a new heating system, then a priori it needs balancing, regardless of the presence of any signs.

It should be noted that not every problem in the operation of a heating system is related to its balancing. On the contrary, there are times when it is absolutely pointless to carry out this operation:

airiness of the system;
leakage;
blockage formation;
malfunction of the expansion tank.

All these factors can lead to uneven heating of the premises. Balancing won't help here. It is necessary to eliminate the reason why the system is malfunctioning. For example, to deal with airiness, use Mayevsky taps, which are usually installed on radiators. With their help, you can easily and quickly expel air from the place where it is not supposed to be. As soon as you cope with the airlock, the coolant current will immediately recover. You can learn more about how to use the Mayevsky crane from the articles on our website.

As for other reasons, everything is obvious. The leak must be repaired (or the damaged element must be replaced with a new one), the blockage must be eliminated, the expansion tank must be repaired (as a rule, the problem is a diaphragm rupture). Only after that, if problems with the distribution of the coolant still persist, balancing can be carried out.

If you live in an apartment building, then the question of how to balance the system is not worth it. On the contrary, you cannot climb there with your own hands, since any wrong actions will negatively affect not only your apartment, but also the neighbors. If you notice problems with heating in such a dwelling, then contact the management company - the solution of such situations is exclusively in their competence.

As for a private house with an autonomous heating system, some owners believe that it is possible to simply regulate the flow of coolant in radiators using conventional shut-off ball valves. In fact, this is not the case.

That is, if you open such a tap only by half, then the volume of the incoming liquid, of course, will decrease, thereby changing the temperature in the room. But with the locking equipment, problems will soon arise. The ball valve is not designed for such manipulations, its life principles are simple: it needs to be either completely open or completely closed. Any half-measures worsen its performance, and then completely disable it.

Therefore, balancing must be carried out, as they say, wisely. And now we will tell you in detail how to do this.

Work with radial distribution and underfloor heating

As mentioned above, a slightly different procedure is used for manifold wiring. It is suitable for both radiators and underfloor heating - in general, for balancing an entire system connected to one node.

The setting can be done in two different ways. For the first of these, rotameters must be on the manifold. These elements are transparent flasks and are flow meters. To balance, you need to do some calculations.In doing so, the following formula is used:

The letter G in this case denotes the mass flow rate of the heated coolant that flows along the circuit. The unit of measurement is kg / h. The letter Q denotes the amount of heat energy that must be emitted by the heating circuit, it is measured in watts. As for Δt, this is the difference in temperatures obtained at the entrance to the loop of the loop and at the exit from it. The calculated value for this parameter is 10 degrees.

Thus, you can calculate how many liters of heated coolant must pass through a certain section of the circuit per minute. The required amount of heat generated can be calculated using standard values. According to them, 100 watts are needed for every square meter of area.

Let's give an example of calculation. Let's say your room area is 20 m 2. This means that it needs 2 kW of thermal energy to heat it. Substituting the resulting value into the formula above, and we get the following result:

On flow meters, the values are indicated in l / min, so it is necessary to convert the value by dividing the result by 60. It turns out about 2.87 l / min.

After making calculations, the balancing procedure is carried out as follows.

Fill and pressurize the heating circuit. The heating boiler does not need to be switched on. But the circulation pump must be started.
Close the thermostatic valves on the second part of the collector; this is done manually using special caps.
Now open the first valve. Adjust the rotameter that corresponds to it using the lower ring - it needs to be rotated. Thus, set a certain level of flow rate of the heating medium.
After you deal with the first group of valve + flow meter, close this valve and go to the second pair.
Thus, adjust each flowmeter in turn. Finally, open all of them and check if each device correctly shows the flow rate of the coolant.

If there are no rotameters, then the process is carried out according to the results of measuring the temperature in the loop loops. The procedure in this case will be rather dreary and long.

If you need to balance not a warm floor, but radiators connected using radial wiring, then everything is done in the same way. For greater confidence, you can focus on both manifold rotameters and temperature measurements. We are sure that after reading today's article, you will not have any problems with balancing. Good luck!

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Balancing algorithm using ALPHA3 and ALPHA Reader

So about the balancing algorithm itself using the Alpha 3 tool, Alpha Reeder and Grundfos GO Balance

For example, we have such a two-pipe radiator heating system, it has a boiler, a pump, and a certain number of radiators.

Everything is as simple as ONE, TWO, THREE, literally. Just 4 steps.

First step. We are preparing to balance the heating system: download, if not installed, Grundfos GO Balance, this is a free application.

We go into the application, and then step by step repeat what it offers us. Namely - install the Alpha reader on the pump, turn on the pump to the 3rd speed. Close all thermostatic valves on all radiators completely. I will explain why this is needed a little later.

Second step. The application prompts you to enter data about those rooms that are heated.That is, if there are three rooms in the house, then we start from the first of any room, then go to the second, and so on.

First room. We indicate all the data that the application requests, namely: the size of the room, let it be 12 m2, the heat loss in this room, for example 70W / m2, the temperature of the coolant, for example 80 degrees, the number of radiators in this room, let it be 3. We enter the data that we know. Next, we approach the first radiator, literally with legs. We enter data about the radiator: either we enter the maximum power of the radiator, or, if we do not know it, we describe its size and type so that the application can independently calculate the power of the radiator (that is, the maximum heat transfer of this radiator). We open the thermostatic valve on this radiator and the application automatically reads the flow through this radiator. How does it calculate? Remember, I said at first that initially we close absolutely all thermal heads on all radiators, and so, in this case, the pump works with a closed valve. When we open a thermostat on one radiator, the flow actually goes through it. And the pump remotely measures the flow, transmitting the values through the bluetooth to the mobile device.

And so, we measured the flow rate on this radiator, close the thermal head on it, and move on to the next radiator. Here we repeat everything the same. They entered data about it, measured the flow rate on it. This way, step by step, all the necessary data is entered to calculate the required costs for each radiator. Having finished with one room, we move on to the second. And so on.

We remind you that on each radiator there is either a balancing valve, just like a tap that can be pulled in or opened completely, or a presetting on the thermostatic head. The thermal head is removed, the preset is set, and then put back on.

So the third step. Directly the very process of regulating the balancing valves, which are on each radiator. After we have all the data about the radiators, the program calculates the required values for each radiator. We take turns approaching each radiator, in the same order as we entered data about them. On a mobile device in the application, we see 2 numbers: the required consumption on this particular radiator, and the current consumption. With the help of balancing valves, or by presetting on the thermal head, we adjust the flow rate we need, and then move on to the next radiator.

After we have aligned the flow rates on each radiator to the required - EVERYTHING, the balancing process is over.

The fourth and final step. If necessary, you can get a report on the results.

Why do they carry out hydraulic adjustment of CO

The main goal of balancing the heating system is the correct distribution of the amount of coolant to the radiators (batteries) per unit of time, directing the required amount of heat to places where it is in short supply.

For a more complete understanding of the picture, let's imagine that at a certain section of the CO, it is divided into two circuits, each of which leads to different rooms. Since the volume of the premises is different, the length of the contour may also differ. A circuit with a longer length (or more heaters) has a higher flow resistance. As you know, water (coolant) always follows the path of least resistance. In other words, according to physical laws, more heat will enter a circuit with a shorter length than distant radiators. The figure clearly shows the distribution of heat energy in two identical systems.

It should not be forgotten that in a non-tuned CO, the heat generator works at maximum, which negatively affects all structural elements.

Summarizing the above, CO balancing is carried out for:

Uniform heating of batteries, regardless of their location in the heating system.
Economical operation of the boiler plant.

Advice! Balancing a two-pipe heating system (made with preliminary hydraulic calculations), short length (no more than 4 heaters) - optional

.
In all other cases, hydraulic adjustment is necessary for efficient and economical CO operation!

Pros and cons of a two-pipe heating system

A two-pipe heating system for a multi-storey building, such as a horizontal one, is the most convenient and has a huge number of advantages. Firstly, it is of low vulnerability, which is very important, it is also able to save heat in the room itself. The most important thing is that the device of the heating system of an apartment building can be with any number of floors in the building. But there is one drawback - this is the cost. It is high, but the quality of the system is excellent.

Balancing the heating system in a private house

After finishing the installation, it is necessary to adjust the heating system or balance it. This allows you to identify, fix, eliminate discrepancies in the operation of the boiler unit and other devices, ensuring high efficiency of work and heat transfer.

Contrary to popular belief, the heating system of not only a large multi-storey building, but also a small private house, up to a small-sized country house, needs balancing. An imbalance is the cause of improper heat distribution, when it is very hot in some rooms and not warm enough in others.

Therefore, it is recommended to carry out balancing before the beginning of each heating season.

What is heating system balancing?

Hydraulic balancing of the system is a way to improve the performance of the heating system complex. The purpose of hydraulic balancing is to ensure a uniform flow of heat energy to each of the consumers (batteries, underfloor heating systems, heated towel rails, and so on). Thanks to more efficient heat distribution, a significant reduction in the volume of the working fluid that circulates in the heating system of the house is achieved. Correctly performed hydraulic balancing will reduce the cost of heating the house by up to 20%.

Balancing tools

These include a balancing valve and a special measuring device.

The balancing valve is a type of shut-off valves for adjusting the hydraulic resistance in heating systems. The device solves the problem by changing the diameter of the pipe section.

Modern Y-type models are presettable, which limits the flow marked on the scale knob. The design provides for the presence of two nipples for measuring pressure, temperature, differential flow rate of the coolant. The name is due to the shape of the body, where the cones are placed at an optimal angle to each other. This minimizes the influence of the coolant flow on the measurements, increases the accuracy of the adjustment.

When to install

The maximum load on the system does not provide a comfortable temperature.
Under constant load, significant temperature differences are observed in the room.
Normal heating power cannot be achieved.

The advantages of installing this device are as follows

Reduced fuel consumption and heating costs.
Increasing the efficiency of using the heating system and increasing comfort due to the ability to regulate the air temperature in each individual room.
Simplifies startup.

Modern balancing crane
Balancing valve installation involves the use of special fittings and adapters

It is important to pay attention to the presence of an arrow stamped on the body of the device and its direction. Some devices are mounted strictly in a certain direction of water circulation. Violating this manufacturer's recommendation, you will provoke valve breakage and failure in the system.

Upon completion of installation, measurements should be taken to determine the level of adjustment.

Violating this manufacturer's recommendation, you will provoke valve breakage and system failure. Upon completion of the installation, measurements should be taken to determine the level of adjustment.

It is possible to measure the differential pressure and temperature, as well as the flow rate of the coolant at the balancing valve, using a special device.

The multifunctional computer device is equipped with accurate sensors, and in addition to the measurement function, it is capable of eliminating detected errors and balancing. This device greatly simplifies and speeds up the process of fine tuning the heating system.

Manufacturers of modern devices provide the ability to connect them to a computer. Installing a special program allows you to transfer data to a PC for further work with them.

It is important not only to buy modern equipment, but also to know how to use it. Otherwise, the setup process will be ineffective, which will lead to improper operation of heating, lack of a comfortable microclimate, excessive consumption of thermal and electrical energy.

By means of partner valves, the hydraulic system is divided into modules.
Further, all parts are balanced, from risers and collectors to heating points. This way it is possible to achieve the design costs of all modules and valves with minimal pressure losses on the devices themselves.
After balancing, the pump switches to the power that provides the calculated water circulation rate in the system. This will allow the flow to be adjusted on the main module located at the pump.

The result of adjusting the balancing valves is the obtained data about what values are required and achieved. This information allows you to check the quality of the work performed and is its guarantee.

Regulator with temperature control sensor for balancing heating

As a result of a correctly performed balancing, the injection equipment begins to consume a minimum of electricity, and the consumption of thermal energy is carried out rationally.

Another problem that one has to face in the absence of special devices is the inability to determine the quality of the heat supply when it is in operation. Y-type balancing valves with measuring nipples have a system self-diagnosis function, which is as follows

Determination of a malfunction while the heating system continues to work.
Checking the technical condition and operating parameters of the equipment.
Making decisions when troubleshooting.

Thus, errors are searched for and their quick elimination.

Simple hydraulic balancing

The Alpha3 & Alpha-Reader tool kit allows you to quickly and easily balance most heating systems (two-pipe, radial, underfloor heating)

At the same time, the consumer receives a properly working heating system: savings in electricity and fuel costs up to 7-20%, a comfortable temperature in all rooms, and silence in the thermostatic heads.

And installers using this tool will be able to balance the heating system in just 1 hour for a house of 200 m2, this, of course, is an average figure, everything will depend on the complexity of the system. In this case, no special flow meters are required, since the pump itself is in this case a flow meter.And also, importantly, installers will be able to carry out balancing without leaving the radiators, since all the data about the system will be in his hand in a mobile device (phone, tablet, whatever).

In addition, such a way of balancing heating systems can become an excellent additional type of service for installation organizations - a package for professional balancing of heating systems. Every installer will be able to do this without any additional training - simply and quickly.

What a homeowner needs to know about balancing heating systems

At first glance, it seems that there is nothing complicated in setting up. The temperature in the rooms can be adjusted without special measuring instruments, independently, guided by subjective sensations: somewhere to make it warmer, and somewhere cooler. But often the result does not live up to expectations, since the ordinary user does not take into account the laws of hydraulics: an increase in the flow area of the balancing valve of one radiator will lead to a decrease in the flow rate on the other radiator

And here it is important to catch the same balance

“In an unbalanced heating system, to warm up all the rooms in the house, the circulation pump has to work with an increased load, which accelerates its wear and sometimes causes noise in the pipes. In such cases, you will have to forget about thermal comfort, as well as about savings, - says Maxim Nemkov, head of the installation department, which provides services for the design, installation and maintenance of engineering networks. - As practice shows, it is undesirable to arrange the heating system on your own - the probability of errors is too high. These include, for example, the selection of boilers and pumps with an unreasonable margin due to the unaccounted heat capacity of the rooms. Professionals do not allow such inaccuracies in their work. "

To minimize risks, the homeowner must have the right information and constantly monitor the work of the installers. So, if the master assures that it is enough to design the heating system and configure the equipment in accordance with the calculations of the engineer, then it is better to contact another company. Real conditions always differ from theoretical ones: for example, the methods for calculating heat losses do not take into account the specific features of the building, which leads to deviations of the required coolant temperature from the design values. This is a common situation, but if left unattended, the system will not work correctly.

The balancing itself can be done in two ways. "Classic" implies the presence of a heating system project, according to which, by turning the balancing valves, the required design flow through each radiator is adjusted. But the presence of a project made without mistakes is not a frequent phenomenon now. And the real system may differ from the calculated one. If there is no project documentation, they resort to an "emergency" method. In such cases, an electronic thermometer is used to measure the temperature on any surface. With its help, the same outlet temperature of all heaters is set by means of balancing valves. “The general disadvantages of existing methods include the lack of a universal approach and large time costs. On average, balancing takes about one working day, it is carried out by at least two people ", - Anatoly Korsun, a professional installer, shares his experience. It is clear that such time expenditures are not profitable for a team of specialists, therefore, in an effort to work out as many objects as possible, they make ridiculous mistakes. As a result, the accuracy of balancing suffers, which negates the savings for which, in fact, everything was started.

Required tools

If you ask a plumbing professional what device is needed for balancing, you will most likely hear about a thermal imager. It is used to determine the level of heating of all elements of the heating system. But the cost of such a "machine" is quite high. It makes no sense to buy a device for the sake of one operation. In principle, you can try to rent it if you find it. But let's still try to get by with simpler and more affordable means.

For example, the following things will be enough for you:

electronic contact thermometer. Needed to measure the heating temperature of heating equipment;
screwdriver;
a hex key, with which the balancing valve stem is rotated;
paper and marker or pencil.

Ideally, you would need to stock up on the wiring diagram according to which the heating system was assembled. But often the project documentation is simply absent, because the assembly was carried out according to temporary sketches and practically "on the knee".

In this case, you will have to fill in the missing. You need to make at least a rough sketch of how all the elements of the heating system are located on paper. On this plan, it is necessary to indicate in what sequence the radiators are connected to the circuit and how far they are from the boiler room.

The second stage of preparation is flushing the sump located at the entrance to the heating boiler. Then preheat the heater to maximum power. As a rule, the temperature of the coolant should be approximately 80 degrees. This process does not depend on the weather outside - you still need to warm it up.

Tying simple heating systems

A heating system can be called simple if it contains one straight circuit. A direct circuit means a line into which the coolant is supplied from the boiler without changing the initial temperature. Some radiator heating systems are simple. They can be one-pipe, two-pipe and mixed. The most practical type of simple radiator heating is a two-pipe system based on a supply and return line.

And if its balancing is done correctly, such a system will ensure uniform heating of radiators along the entire perimeter of the heating.

Let's consider the main elements of the system and their functions.

Expansion tank

Closed expansion tank - a tank equipped with a rubber membrane that divides the device into two parts (in the lower half there is a coolant, and in the upper half there is an inert gas). When the temperature in the heating system rises, part of the coolant enters it, thereby smoothing the pressure difference in the supply and return lines.

The tank can be installed in the immediate vicinity of the heating boiler. Additional shut-off valves (ball valve) installed in front of the tank inlet will make it easy to disconnect the tank from the system if it needs to be repaired or replaced.