How and how best to close the heating battery: options for masking radiators

How to hide a battery of disguise ideas

A popular battery masking solution

The most common way to hide the battery is to sew up the wall with drywall. This method has its advantages (quick, easy and inexpensive) and disadvantages (reducing the area of ​​​​the room)

It is also necessary to pay attention to the fact that, without having practical knowledge and experience with drywall, masking batteries can be a real torment. It should be remembered that it is not recommended to completely cover the heating devices with drywall.To ensure proper air circulation, cuts are made in the material, which are subsequently closed with special decorative screens.

The use of such screens also helps maintain radiators.

To ensure proper air circulation, slots are made in the material, which are subsequently closed with special decorative screens. The use of such screens also helps maintain radiators.

The advantage of drywall can also include the ability to hide not only radiators, but also the pipes leading to it. Along with this, it is more expedient to sew up the entire wall with material during the repair of the entire room.

How to hide the battery - easy and simple!

An easier and less expensive way is to cover the batteries with a hinged screen. Today there are a huge number of different models:

• hinged screen with cover;
• box screens;
• metal screens;
• wooden screens;
• screens from MDF;
• glass screens.

Hinged screens will help to hide the batteries when the repair in the room is long overdue. Installation of such models does not require special knowledge and effort, they are installed by hanging on the battery. The hinged screen does not interfere with air circulation and heat exchange, performs a decorative function and greatly facilitates the maintenance of the heater. Such screens are produced with the expectation of two options for piping - one-sided and two-sided.

Box screens are most often used to mask batteries installed in halls and along blank walls. Such models perform not only a decorative function, but also serve as an excellent piece of furniture.They can be used as small shelves on which you can put cute trinkets, and if you have a cat in your house, believe me, the surface of such a box will become her favorite resting place during the cold weather. The boxes differ in size, so if you have fairly low radiators, use small-sized products that can easily be turned into cozy and comfortable benches. They can also be finished using various techniques, such as openwork carving, decorative overlays, and the possibility of applying any image to the front of the box, the main thing is that such a screen does not disturb your interior, but becomes a real addition to it.

Metal, wood, and MDF battery screens can also be boxed or flat, ideal for concealing batteries built into niches or hidden by drywall. The screens offered today have an original design - these are carvings, drawings and forged decorations, thanks to which you will not only hide the radiators, but also save the interior of the room.

How to hide the battery - an original approach

Don't feel like installing screens and fiddling with drywall? Show your creative qualities - visually dissolve the battery in the interior. Paint the radiator the same color as the walls, or vice versa - make the radiator the main highlight of your room. Today you can use the services of a printing company that will apply your chosen image on self-adhesive paper - later you can easily place it on a radiator and make your interior unique.You can paint the batteries yourself - someone draws colored pencils there, someone gives the batteries the color of their favorite animal, and someone prefers to capture their favorite flowers and patterns on it.

Needlewomen can experiment with different textures and shapes, giving the batteries an original look. Today you can easily find workshops on decorating heaters with various covers in the form of animals, you can also use the remaining yarn and wrap the battery around it (it is not at all necessary that the yarn be exclusively of one shade).

If you know how to work with beads and beads, prepare a frame to fit your battery and create an original bead curtain or braided bead curtain that you attach to the frame.

Everything is in your hands and completely depends on your capabilities!

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markup

How to fix the battery on drywall - marking stage

The markup of the future design is carried out using:

• measuring tool - tape measure, ruler, corner;
• descriptive tool - a simple pencil, marker;
• precision tool - building or laser level.

Carrying out this stage, it is desirable to adhere to the exact dimensions, limited to whole centimeters. Millimeters are used only in the case of a particularly precise design, for example, for an established interior project.

Before you sew up the battery with drywall and get rid of its unpleasant appearance, you need to decide which way to terminate the markup:

• box - a simpler and faster method of work (only the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe battery is closed and, literally, 12-20 cm beyond it);
• wall - a more time-consuming method (the wall with the radiator installed is completely sealed; if the heater is installed near the window, slopes must be made).

In terms of the amount of work, the termination of batteries according to the first method is simpler: a smaller amount of material is used and a small number of construction processes are carried out. In the second case, even fewer building processes are used, but more material is used.

box

Radiator box

When installing a box, the design takes up little space, covering a little more space than the radiator itself. The depth of such a box depends on the width of the heater (most radiators are narrower than radiators with metal plates).

Instructions for marking the box:

• Depending on the required position of the structure, a horizontal strip is drawn. If the box hangs, measure the distance from the floor and draw a marking line using the level. If the structure rests on the floor, there will be 3 lines (two along the edges - depth, one front - the edge of the structure).
• It is necessary to set a corner to the bottom face and draw vertical marks - we achieve a right angle. With the help of the level we bring the vertical lines to the required size.
• On the vertical lines, identical marks are marked, between which a connecting segment is drawn.

The result should be a square or a rectangle (in the case of resting on the floor - additionally marking the base).

Wall

How to close batteries with drywall - wall device method

Conducting room analysis and thinking about how close radiators and drywall pipes and do it right, the decision to install an alternative wall comes naturally.

The essence of the solution is that together with the radiator, the entire surface to which it is attached is closed. This method is wasteful, since you can get by with small volumes of material by arranging a dotted box. But the wall is the only way to completely hide the heater from the room with your own hands.

For the wall device, the frame is built to the entire height of the room:

• With the help of the level, several vertical lines are drawn on the base for the frame. Step - 60-100 cm. Mandatory lines for profiles in the corners of the room.
• From each vertical line it is necessary to extend to the floor. For this, a corner is used. The depth of the floor lines is equal to the width between the main wall and the alternate.
• Similar to the floor, lines are drawn on the ceiling - of equal depth and strictly parallel.
• The last marking lines are drawn above and below the heater, at a distance of 7-10 cm.

Marking is also carried out on the sides of the radiator - along the perimeter of the device, profiles are needed in which a removable screen will be installed. But to get rid of unnecessary work, you can make basic markings (which are the entire height of the room) directly on the sides of the radiator.

What should be remembered when decorating batteries?

So that bulky radiators, disappearing out of sight, are not taken with them and heat, you must adhere to the following rules. Do not hide the heating system in deep niches. The deeper, the colder. Blank screens are also not the best solution.Whatever heat-conducting material they are made of, without air circulation, a comfortable temperature in the room cannot be achieved, and thermal radiation will not pass beyond such a shield. To keep heat transfer at an acceptable level to protect the batteries, panels should be selected that include coarse gratings on the top and sides.

It is better if these grilles have directional slots that ensure the correct distribution of air flows, i.e. unobstructed rise of warm air and intake of cold air from below. You can not install the screen close to the wall, the larger the gap between it and the wall, the more heat will be given into the room. So, hiding batteries behind decorative elements is stylish and safer than just leaving them open. But this must be done correctly, otherwise the price for aesthetics will be cold housing.

Service and Troubleshooting

In centralized heating systems, ordinary industrial water acts as a heat carrier, the purity of which is far from ideal. Having passed through the heating main, to the elevator unit and risers, by the time the water is in the battery, it is enriched with various suspensions, which are deposited in the radiators.

Because of this, the instruments must be flushed every few years. This process requires access to the flush valve located in the lower corner of the radiator on the opposite side of the supply. Thus, if there is no free access to the device, you need to either remove the protective screen (and this is not always possible), or put up with poor heating efficiency.For this reason, when choosing how to close the battery in a room, you should give preference to such a product that will allow you to freely access the heater.

Also, we must not forget that sooner or later the radiator will fail. And since heating appliances are usually hidden due to the fact that they are too old and look unattractive, it is not long to wait for the moment when repairs are needed. The main types of faults:

• risers welded from an electric-welded gas pipe sometimes start to leak along the factory seam (read: “Fixing leaks in the heating system, sealing joints“);
• the steel pipes on the thread in front of the radiator are thinner than the straight sections of the riser, and leaks appear in them first of all;
• cast-iron batteries are characterized by frequent leaks from under the locknut;
• in spring and autumn, leaks often occur between radiator sections - paronite gaskets cease to provide tightness after a few years of operation of the heater (in more detail: “The heating battery is leaking, what to do, how to eliminate the leak in a short time“).

Box on the frame for the heating main

If you have already laid the heating system, and now you want to hide it, you can hide the pipes in a box. It is made of plastic, drywall or wooden materials that are attached to the frame. Before sewing the pipes into the box, make sure they are intact!

To install the box you will need:

• metallic profile;
• self-tapping screws with dowels;
• sheathing material;
• screwdriver;
• cutter;
• knife for cutting sheathing material;
• drill;
• profile cutting scissors;
• measuring tools.

The first step is to build a frame for the box.It is made of a metal profile or wooden bars, which are fixed with self-tapping screws. First, markup is carried out around the pipes, depending on their location on the floor, walls and ceiling. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the width of the profile or bars, the size of the finishing material and the distance from the pipes to the walls of the box.

Heating pipes should not be located close to the box. Between them leave a free space at least 3 cm wide.

In the case of closing risers located in the corner of the room, it happens that the walls are not even. It is more expedient in this variant to make the angles formed by the walls and the box 90 °, and equalize the protruding angle along them. After marking, proceed to the installation of rack profiles to the walls. Then fix the guides on the floor and ceiling. Between themselves, the profile is fastened with a cutter.

The height of the corner frame for vertical pipes is more than 1.5 m. Therefore, for its strength, it is necessary to fix horizontal jumpers. If the distance between the posts is more than 0.25 m, they must also be strengthened.

Further, depending on the design of the future box, one or two corner profiles are mounted. If the distance between the posts is more than 0.25 m, additional jumpers must be made parallel to them. If the racks are higher than one and a half meters, you need to install horizontal jumpers. After the construction of the frame, proceed to its lining. If drywall is used for this purpose, then before closing the heating pipes with it, it is necessary to remove the chamfers from the sheets. This process is skipped if the box is subsequently tiled.

After all the elements of the frame have been installed, they begin to cut the sheathing material. This should be done in such a way that there are fewer joints

Initially, the side elements are fixed, and then the central ones. After completion of the installation work, proceed to the final finishing of the box. A drywall construction can be wallpapered or painted to match the walls. Special corners are applied to the plastic elements so that the joints are not visible. Drywall is reinforced with a corner profile. The box looks very interesting, the front part of which is a stained-glass window. You can enhance the effect produced by building a backlight inside.

Some structural elements can be made removable or small doors can be hung for system maintenance.

In rooms where heating elements occupy a large wall area, it is possible to build a false wall. Make it by the same method as the box. First, the frame is mounted, and then sheathed with a suitable material. However, keep in mind that a false wall reduces the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe room. Also, a ready-made box is used to hide the heating pipes. On sale, you can choose the right option for any room design.

To mask the heating elements, you can purchase a ready-made box made of perforated metal. Small holes allow heat to enter the room

Installing a removable grille on a radiator

This option does not require any additional work compared to the above option (after all, you can simply buy a grate). In this case, we are not talking about a stationary grille, which is also mounted on a frame, while the batteries are painted to match the color of the wall or wallpaper, and thus “disguised”.

Here it is worth choosing a metal grate as an option with maximum heat transfer and convection (air movement).The screen that should cover the battery can also be made of wood, plastic and other materials.

Of the negative aspects of this solution, one can note a limited number of options for the style of the room in which the screen will be installed on this type of battery.

When to turn off radiators

There are several situations when you need to turn off the water in the battery:

• in the event of an emergency situation threatening flooding of one's own and neighboring dwellings with a hot coolant;
• if you decide to paint the radiator during the heating season;
• when it is necessary to change or flush the battery without blocking the riser;
• you need to limit the heat to the room where it is hot in winter.

Too hot radiators - the cause of heat and stuffiness in the apartment

Now the main thesis: you will never have problems with how to disconnect the radiator from the centralized system if it is connected according to the correct scheme using shut-off valves (ball valves). You can block the flow of the coolant at any time, if such a need arises, while not violating the thermal regime of adjacent apartments. The shutdown algorithm is simple:

1. Shut off the bottom and then the top valve on the battery.
2. If you plan to paint the heater, then the previous step is sufficient. Wait until the radiator is cold and paint.
3. When batteries need to be replaced in the middle of winter, before removing each heater, bleed pressure through the Mayevsky valve. Then unscrew the bottom plug and carefully drain the water, then unscrew the joints and dismantle the device.

Proper connection of the heater to the central heating risers

A separate question is how to turn on the heating battery correctly so that there is no air plug left in it that interferes with the maximum heating of the surface and air in the apartment. Here the algorithm is similar: you need to open the lower valve, then the upper one, and at the end release the remaining air using the Mayevsky tap.

The handle stands along the axis of the pipe - the valve is open, across - closed
The location of the Mayevsky crane on the heater

Battery near the wall: what to do with it?

Let's start with the important. It might even be news to some.

In general, the fact is that nowadays it is not customary to be ashamed of radiators. Many modern design projects feature batteries prominently. Often they are even emphasized. They are turned into a decorative object or a style-forming element.

So if this is unprincipled, if the battery is located in the corner and does not bother anyone, you can just buy a new beautiful radiator and not try to disguise it.

The second thing I would like to remind you. Do not tightly close the radiator. It should perform its main function - to heat. If you hide the battery in a blind cabinet behind solid doors, its heating efficiency will decrease significantly. It is necessary to leave at least the top and bottom of the structure or the entire facade free for air movement (making it perforated).

Well, now to other solutions.

metal screen

Do screen for radiator do-it-yourself can be from a metal base. The main material is perforated sheet or mesh. On sale there are ready-made nets that are treated with a special anti-corrosion agent and coated with enamel. It can be attached to a wooden structure that serves as a frame.

Metal has a huge advantage over wood. It has high thermal conductivity. Thanks to this, it is possible to install screens directly on the batteries. Heat transfer increases due to the increase in surface area.

Assembling the screen for the battery is quite simple:

1. You need to take two corners (preferably aluminum).
2. Along the line of the rib, make 2 cuts to meet at an angle of 45 °.
3. On the finished cuts, bend the corners at an angle of 90 degrees.
4. Prepare a perforated sheet or mesh.
5. The screen sheet or mesh is folded and attached to the corners.
6. Make 3 corners with a length equal to the width of the box - additional stiffeners are made from them.

Attach two dowel hooks to the wall. Make holes in the corners and hang them on hooks. This will achieve a stable position of the entire structure.

Shutdown of radiators without fittings

It is no secret that in most apartments to this day there are old cast-iron radiators or steel convectors without any cut-off fittings, which makes it impossible to block them during the heating season. Moreover, according to the old heating scheme, convectors in high-rise buildings are connected to risers without direct sections - bypasses. Therefore, in the event of an accident with a coolant leakage, it is necessary to act as follows:

1. Try to substitute some kind of container to collect hot water. If the jet hits to the side, wrap a thick cloth around the breakthrough so that the water flows down it into a bucket.
2. Call the dispatch service of your company - the supplier of thermal energy and report the accident.
3. While the service personnel are getting there, provide them with access to the basement, find the keys, open the door, and so on.
4. Try to block the riser yourself.

While your water flows to the floor, the stretch ceiling of the neighbors from below turns into a bubble

A few words about how to properly turn off the heating riser. Look in the basement for the heating point of your entrance and vertical pipes cut into a large diameter main or into a common collector. Track where they go to identify the emergency riser and shut it off with a faucet. Contact by cell phone with someone from the household who can confirm that the eruption of the geyser in the apartment has stopped. It was not possible to find your pipe - close all the valves one by one until you find the right one.

Attention! Don't force yourself on basement valves that are stuck with rust. When they cannot be closed manually, it is better to wait for a team of plumbers, they will find a way to stop the flow of coolant. And then a very awkward situation will come out when you also break the main fittings, leaving the apartment building without heat for the duration of the repair

And then a very awkward situation will come out when you also break the main fittings, leaving the apartment building without heat for the duration of the repair.

An example of an access heating point and a riser connection

It is also worth considering the question of how to shut off the battery if it is hot in the apartment due to non-compliance by the service provider with the temperature schedule of the boiler room. It would seem that in the presence of shut-off valves, the problem is solved by manually closing the taps. But after the temperature in the rooms drops, the valves will have to be opened again. So you get tired of turning the taps long before the end of the heating season, so you need to think about how you can adjust the heat transfer of the radiators. The options are:

• if possible, install a thermostatic valve on each battery, which limits the flow of the coolant and automatically maintains the set temperature in the room;
• it is beautiful to close the heater with a blank screen with small holes, if there are no shut-off valves on the connections.

Important. The ball valve is not a means of adjustment, it is intended only for completely cutting off or opening the passage to the coolant. In the "half closed" mode, it will not give the desired effect, but will fail much earlier

In the "half closed" mode, it will not give the desired effect, but will fail much earlier.

Worn-out piping makes district heating systems notorious for dirty water that quickly clogs small channels. Therefore, conventional valves with thermal heads will not last long here, you need to buy special valves with increased throughput, which are produced by well-known brands Danfoss and Herz. How to put them on the radiator connection is shown below in the diagram and described in this material.

Radiator thermostat installation diagram

When the apartment is hot in the middle of winter, and there are no control valves, the tenants have no choice but to close the battery in the room with a decorative screen. The principle is simple: the radiator heats up the air inside the duct, after which the intensity of heat transfer decreases sharply due to a small difference in temperatures between the air and the surface. That is, the coolant will give off less energy, and the amount of hot air coming out from under the screen will be limited by the size of the decorative openings.How to assemble and put a nice MDF box on the heater is shown in the video:

Factory options or the better to close heating radiators in an apartment or house

Modern industrial decorative grilles fit well into a residential interior, while masking unsightly heating appliances. The price of most copies is quite acceptable, it remains to make the right choice.

Hinged shields with top cover

Most often they are made of metal. Inexpensive products are made of painted iron, more expensive ones are made of stainless steel. The advantages of such panels include:

1. Ease of installation - knowing how to close the heating radiator with a decorative screen, you can do the main work yourself without the help of specialists.
2. No obstruction to heat transfer - almost all products are available with holes to improve convection. The shape of the holes - for every taste.
3. Manufacturability - hinged panels are designed for one- or two-sided piping.

flat panels

The most common category, which serves to decorate heaters located in niches. At the same time, such gratings perform a decorative role in the interior of residential premises. In stores you can find a wide range of screens with various patterns, carvings and forgings, some of them can be compared with works of art.

from wood

These false panels are ideal for any interior. If you have experience in assembling at least small gazebos for summer cottages, then there is no problem for you how to hide the battery with your own hands. Products can be made to order, in some carpentry workshop.
Wooden structures will help to withstand the elegant component of country style or all the severity of classicism. When thinking about the topic of how to close heating radiators in your own apartment, it is worth remembering the cost of manual individual work - it is several times higher than consumer goods.

And yet, the deformation of the tree during temperature changes and humidity fluctuations is not excluded. You can avoid such consequences only by purchasing a product made of high-quality wood.

metal

Such fences attract, first of all, with their affordability. The design component of such products is quite primitive, which is why they have a low price. However, despite this, they perform their function to the fullest.

The panel is made of a thin sheet of metal, which is painted in any color. More expensive specimens are made of stainless steel, their appearance is aesthetic and elegant.

Made of plastic

It is taking into account the affordability of plastic products, you should not count on their durability. Moreover, not all of them meet the standards, as a result of which, when heated, they are able to release a bouquet of harmful substances.

Box screens

You can find out how to hide the battery in a room from photos of similar interiors. However, even modern heating appliances do not always correspond to the design intent of the room. Then you have to completely isolate them "out of sight." Lattices in the form of a box are classified according to the type of material from which they are made.

Screens from MDF

One of the most common options for decorating heating appliances. Masters who know how to carefully close the heating radiator with a screen insist on this material.The MDF construction is not as capricious in maintenance as wood, and is easy to assemble with your own hands.

An important advantage of such products is that their cost is 50-70 percent less than wooden ones. And this is with characteristics that are not inferior to analogues from natural wood.

glass panels

The glass screen looks very aesthetically pleasing, it can easily complement the stylish design of any room up to a corporate building. Depending on the appearance of the glass panels are divided into:

• Matte.
• Transparent.
• Monochrome dyed.
• With a unique photo print.

Of course, the glass construction is fragile, so manufacturers produce samples with a thickness of at least 6 mm. For greater safety, you can buy tempered glass, it combines mechanical strength and heat resistance. Even if the panel can be broken, the fragments will be small and with blunt edges.

Radiator Grille Functions

The use of decorative products for batteries gives their owners a number of advantages:

• Batteries are effectively disguised, which transforms the room while maintaining a single and unique interior style.
• The radiators are protected from dust, which makes them easier to care for and increases their service life.
• Households are protected from the possibility of accidentally getting burned or hitting the protruding parts of the radiator.

If you design and create a shield for a radiator yourself, you can give it additional functions:

• Proper screen design will help the air flow to be more evenly distributed throughout the room.
• The top cover can be made in the form of a shelf for books, lamps, interior details.
• The screen can be equipped with a folding table, behind which it is pleasant to have a cup of tea or read a book.
• Having provided an overlay with hooks, the owner of the shield will receive a clothes dryer during the heating season.

Armed with all the variety of materials on the market, their colors and textures, rich imagination and a little experience, you can create an exclusive screen that fits perfectly into the interior and will perform all the functions assigned to it. Today, a radiator openwork model is quite popular.

How to Close Batteries Safely

Preservation of heat transfer is not the most important, although an important task. No less exciting is the question of the availability of the radiator itself and the pipes suitable for it.

Even the newest radiator can leak, not only because of old pipes or poor quality plumbing. Defective materials, water hammer, the human factor in the form of improper installation - all this can become a problem for residents, both in this apartment and in the room below.

Also, the quality of the water that fills the heating system at home leaves much to be desired, and it may happen that in order to increase heat transfer, the battery will have to be removed and washed, which will become impossible when access is closed.

Therefore, for decorating and closing batteries, it is more practical to use attached or removable structures, without rigid fastening.

Tip: if, as a decor, it is planned to sew the radiator into a plasterboard box with a perforated patch panel, an inspection hatch should be left at the junction of the pipes to the batteries (as in bathrooms) so that you can check for leaks at any time.