Types of heating a country house: comparison of heating systems by type of fuel

Using electricity

The better heat a country housewhen there is no gas and electricity, we have already told. If the building is connected to electricity, you can use electricity for heating. The building will not be heated by electricity, but by hot water. And electricity will heat the water.

How to equip such a heating system? First of all, you should buy a boiler in which water will be heated. Electric boilers can be designed for different capacities, have one or more circuits. If the system is with one circuit, then the water is heated only to heat the house.When there is a second circuit, water can be heated for a bathroom or kitchen. Sometimes two boilers are installed in parallel. In the summer, one of them can be turned off. The second will heat water for domestic needs.

Types of boilers

For residential buildings, wall and floor electric boilers can be purchased. The latter have more weight and size. Therefore, they are installed only on a horizontal surface.

Water (sometimes antifreeze) enters the boiler. Here, electrical energy is converted into heat. The liquid heats up and expands. The water pressure increases, the liquid independently moves through the pipes to the heating radiators. Batteries warm up and heat the building. The water is cooled and returned to the boiler for heating again. The system has a closed cycle.

In some cases, you can install a boiler with a forced circulation system. This will require an additional pump and expansion tank.

If the water heating system is not installed, but the electricity in the building is connected, it is possible to provide for and other heating options. Now you can buy various types of heaters powered by electricity. Most often used oil coolers. They consume little electricity and are safe to use.

Infrared heaters are also used indoors. But they can only warm certain parts of the room. This type of heating will save electricity. Often this type of heating is used in summer cottages.

Infrared emitters a couple of years ago caused distrust. Now the situation is just the opposite. It turned out that this type of radiation does not pose a threat to health. Moreover, these rays help to cope with colds.

Recommendations when choosing a boiler

Today, the market offers a wide range of universal boilers, which differ in power, performance, design and configuration. But before you buy such a unit, you need to weigh the pros and cons, and it is also useful to listen to the recommendations of professionals in this matter.

When buying a boiler, consider the following:

• Power. It depends on the fuel that will be a priority.
• The volume of one bookmark of fuel and the size of the combustion chamber. The duration of burning firewood depends on this parameter.
• Firebox material. These parts are made of cast iron and steel. It is preferable to choose chambers made of cast iron, since they are not subject to deformation when heated, they retain heat longer, unlike a steel exchanger.

Accessories for combined boilers

• Grids. Two types are used: standard cast iron and the same, but coated with ceramics. The latter are used mainly for bulk materials, which consume more oxygen during combustion, respectively, and the temperature is created higher.
• Weight and size. Typically, the body of such boilers is made of cast iron, which makes them much heavier than their "brothers".

Gas for home heating

This type of heating is the leader both in popularity and in cost. Main gas is especially beneficial in this regard, but it is not always present in the locations of suburban settlements. If we consider such a case, then a good way out for gas heating of a country house is the use of gas holders. This option is not the cheapest, but still cheaper than electricity.

For the installation of a heating system, a project is needed, after the approval of which a boiler is selected.

This takes into account several factors:

1. Appointment. The boiler can be used purely for heating and then a single-circuit option is suitable. When it is necessary to ensure the supply of hot water, a double-circuit boiler is chosen.
2. Installation method. For a house with an area not exceeding 200 m², a wall-mounted version is suitable. For larger buildings, a floor boiler is needed.
3. Type of heat exchanger. It is made of steel, cast iron, copper. In wall-mounted boilers, copper is more often used, in outdoor boilers - cast iron, steel. The latter are more durable.
4. Smoke extraction. As a rule, it leaves through the chimney, which creates natural draft.

If the heating system is connected to cylinders filled with propane-butane, you can use the same main boilers after a little modernization. Here you just need to change the burner, often included in the kit.

The connection of cylinders to the boiler is carried out by means of a reducer, designed for consumption from 1.8 to 2 mᶾ of gas per hour. When using several cylinders, they are connected through a common gearbox or a separate one for each unit

To select gas from the cylinder to the maximum, it is necessary to purchase a boiler with a lower gas pressure indicator.

The best way out is to connect several cylinders. In this way, it is possible to change the sources of gas supply less frequently. The pressure in such a gas pipeline is always stable and this is a great advantage of autonomous gas supply.

Are you most attracted to the option of using gas as a fuel? In this case, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the detailed information on the autonomous gasification of a private house.

Heating with wood

Wood boilers and stoves

As an alternative to the method of heating a country house described above, there are various wood-burning devices - solid fuel boilers (with and without a water circuit) and various stoves. The difference between them is as follows:

Wood boiler scheme

• A wood-burning boiler heats the water in the tank due to the energy released during the combustion of firewood or pellets from pressed sawdust. Water flows through pipes to heating radiators and maintains the microclimate in the room.
• In the furnace, in the same way as in the boiler, firewood is burned. But in this case, it is not water that is heated, but air, which transfers heat.

Photo - wood stove

Today, solid fuel heating systems are quite popular, the reason for which is the obvious advantages during their operation.

Advantages and disadvantages of wood installations

The advantages of wood heating are as follows:

• In many regions of Russia, the cost of wood fuel is significantly lower than its other varieties, therefore it is quite profitable to heat a country house with firewood.
• This method of heating does not depend on the presence of gas in the pipelines, nor on the voltage in the network. In any situation, you can always load fuel into a stove or boiler, and provide the house with heat.
• The environmental friendliness of wood heating, although lower than that of electric heating, is much less harmful substances are released into the air when wood is burned than when natural gas or oil products are burned.

Fuel must be stored somewhere!

This system also has disadvantages:

The operation of a wood-burning boiler must be controlled by constantly adding fuel.

Country house gas heating system

Gas heating is the most popular option for country houses in Russia. Differs in comfort of use, the low price. Almost in every settlement it is possible to connect to the central gas pipeline. In its absence, the use of gas cylinders will be costly.

The main part of the heating system is a gas boiler. It heats the coolant, and from there the heat is carried through the pipes, heating the house.

Photo 1. Gas boiler for heating a private house. The device is connected to the water circuit.

The system consists of the following parts:

• from the burner (automatic in modern boilers);
• from fittings that supply and regulate gas;
• from a heat exchanger (most often copper, cast iron or steel);
• from the safety valve;
• from the circulation pump;
• from the expansion tank;
• from the electronic control system.

When switched on, the room temperature is automatically measured to determine the amount of heat required. Then the fittings are put into action: the required amount of gas is supplied to the system. At this point, a spark ignites in the combustion chamber and the gas ignites. In the heat exchanger, water (heat carrier) is heated to the desired temperature and is pumped through pipes to the radiators with the help of a pump, which ensures heating of the house.

Reference. This is the action of a gas boiler with one circuit. A double-circuit device is installed if it is necessary to heat water for hot water supply.

Advantages of gas heating:

1. Gas is the most accessible and inexpensive fuel.
2. A protection system is installed that reacts with a signal if the gas supply stops. Shut off the gas yourself.
3. A self-diagnosis unit that displays errors on the display in the form of codes.

Minuses:

If it is necessary to simultaneously heat two circuits, the operation of one of them will be weak or will stop. In practice, this does not cause inconvenience.

No. 5. Oil radiators for summer cottages

It is possible to consider an oil radiator as the only source of heat only when the cottage is small and you appear there infrequently, in other cases it is a backup and additional heating method. Such devices are not difficult to arrange: the heating element transfers energy to the oil (coolant), which circulates inside the device case. The oil heats the case, which, in turn, heats the air in the room. It is possible to heat a room to an acceptable temperature with such a heater without any problems. Among its advantages:

• the possibility of transportation from one room to another;
• high level of safety, the surface does not heat up above 60C;
• durability and reliability;
• noiselessness;
• low price;
• no unpleasant odors.

Such devices do not heat up the room very quickly, but they also cool down slowly, maintaining a comfortable temperature for a long time. Some models have a built-in fan for faster room heating. The power of devices is from 1 to 2.5 kW. The power calculation is approximately the same as with a convector.

Heating options

The maximum discomfort during the operation of the building is caused by the lack of gas and electricity. Therefore, the owner needs not only heating a private house without gas and electricity, but also the generation of 2-10 kW of electricity for domestic needs. There are not so many power supply options:

• generator - usually diesel with the maximum possible resource;
• thermoelectric generator - generates current from thermal energy, the leading manufacturer is Kryotherm.

Diesel generator

There are much more ways to implement building heating, from a classic wood-burning air heating stove to alternative sources (heat pump, solar panels). But for the high efficiency of alternative heating systems, for the operation of pumps and compressors in their composition, electricity is also needed.

solid fuel boiler

Heating a private house without gas and electricity can be organized by solid fuel boilers. The most comfortable operation is provided by modifications of long burning with natural draft:

• loading into them is carried out from below, the afterburner is located at the top;
• after heating the lower furnace to 200 degrees, the mechanical damper blocks the access of air to the combustion chamber;
• inside it begins pyrolysis (release of combustible gases) from smoldering coals;
• gas enters the upper chamber, burns to release energy;
• in shirts or pipes passing inside the boiler, the coolant is heated;
• passes through the registers, giving off heat, is fed to the next cycle.

The device of the boiler solid fuel DG

Fans are used in top-loading pyrolysis boilers, in bunker boilers it is necessary to rotate the worm gear to regularly feed pellets into the combustion chamber. Therefore, this equipment can only work with a generator.

Use of liquid fuel

Another way to implement heating is to heat a private house without gas and electricity with liquid fuel boilers.The cheapest energy source is diesel fuel, but diesel boilers have a significant drawback - the fuel must be stored in compliance with the fire safety of the home, when burned, a characteristic, non-weathering smell is formed.

diesel generator

Air heating is realized by furnaces or fireplaces. The classic ovens are:

• Russian - heating + cooking;
• "Dutch" - mounted in the opening, heats several adjacent rooms;
• universal - cooking on removable rings of the hob + space heating.

Air heating stoves

They are made of brick, steel, they are equipped with chimneys, ensuring the safety of passage nodes through ceilings and roofs. Cryotherm's devices for generating electricity from heat are easily integrated into the furnaces. In addition, the manufacturer produces bath stoves that allow you to illuminate the room until the walls of the heater cool down.

Biofireplace for room heating

passive house

Heating of a private house without gas and electricity can be organized by "passive house" systems. In this case, modern heat-insulating materials are used to reduce energy consumption by up to 7-10%.

Passive house system

In other words, such a dwelling should have enough thermal energy released by the family in the process of life. The building has a compact size, an external insulation contour, a layer of thermal insulation under the foundation and a blind area. It is mandatory to take into account:

• cardinal points - living rooms from the south, functional premises protect them from the north;
• wind rose - heat losses are extinguished by verandas, kitchens on the windward side of the site;
• layout - should provide high-quality air exchange by recuperators.

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In addition to these activities, alternative energy sources (thermal + electrical) are used:

solar water heater

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Geothermal pump

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There are "active home" systems that, in addition to reducing heat loss, are able to generate additional heat accumulated by the central home network. The main disadvantage is the high budget for the installation of such equipment and long payback periods.

How the heating system works and some of its features

If you set yourself the task of creating heating for a country house with your own hands, then you need to have a minimal idea of ​​\u200b\u200bwhat it is and how it works. Heating of the room occurs due to the movement of hot water or other coolant through pipes and through heating radiators.

About the types of circulation

There are systems in which circulation is forced or natural. In the latter case, it occurs due to the laws of nature, and in the former, an additional pump is required. Natural circulation is carried out extremely simply - heated water rises, cold falls. As a result of this, water moves through the radiators, cold leaves, hot comes, and after it cools down, it also leaves, giving off heat to heat the room.

Open heating system with natural circulation

If you are going, for example, to do the heating of the cottage with your own hands and use forced circulation for this purpose, then you will need to additionally turn on the circulation pump in the return pipe.It is at the end of the pipe through which water returns to the boiler - and nowhere else.

Natural circulation requires the obligatory fulfillment of certain requirements, namely:

• the location of the expansion tank above all other heating devices;
• placement of the lower return point below the heaters;
• providing a large difference between the lower and upper points of the system;
• the use of pipes of different sections for the direct and reverse water supply, the direct line must be of a larger section;
• installation of pipes with a slope, from the expansion tank to the batteries and from them to the boiler.

In addition, it will be cheaper due to the absence of the need to use more expensive equipment designed to withstand the increased pressure that exists with forced circulation, as well as the absence of safety valves.

Components of an open heating system

About system types

It should be noted that open and closed systems can be created. In an open one, there is direct contact of the coolant with the atmosphere, while in a closed one this is impossible. This was done to prevent oxygen from entering the coolant from the atmosphere, which should ensure a longer service life of pipes and radiators.

Here we must immediately make a clarification - an open system with natural circulation is the simplest and safest. And to create autonomous heating of private houses with your own hands, especially if this is done for the first time, this may be the best choice. In the future, it can turn into a closed system with forced circulation, for which it will be necessary to change the expansion tank and install an additional circulation pump.

Scheme of a closed heating system

About Mounting Types

Scheme of one-pipe and two-pipe heating systems

The next choice that will have to be made, considering, for example, the possibility of creating heating for a wooden house with your own hands, is which installation to use. You can use one-pipe and two-pipe installation scheme. In the first variant, water passes through each radiator in turn, giving off part of the heat along the way. In the second, water is supplied and discharged to each battery separately, independently of other radiators.

The single-pipe system is simpler and cheaper, both in terms of materials used and installation costs. But the two-pipe is considered more versatile, suitable for any conditions and characterized by high heating efficiency.

About choosing a heating boiler

This is one of the defining stages in the creation of autonomous heating. For him, the boiler must be designed for local, cheap fuels, or at least available ones. Otherwise, heating costs will be extremely high. When choosing a boiler, one must also take into account the size of the heated area, the height of the premises, the material from which the house is built, and its geographical location.

Water heating is used to heat any houses, for example, you can do the heating of a frame house with your own hands, the only question is that the elements of such a system must be designed for specific conditions, only then it will allow you to get the maximum heat output from it.

It will also be useful to study - autonomous heating of a private house

Infrared electric emitters (heaters)

These are powerful sources of scattered infrared radiation (radiant heating), which does not heat the whole room, but the place mainly under this heater. Household heaters of floor, wall and ceiling execution are issued.

The thermal element of such heaters is a safe heating element. Emitter power from 300 to 600 watts. With their help, you can heat a room from 3 to 6 meters.

These sources are used to create comfortable heating conditions, as well as to quickly warm up the room. However, they are practically not suitable for permanent heating due to the high cost of the devices themselves and the cost of electricity consumed.

Efficient boilers for space heating

For every type of fuel, there is equipment that works best.

Condensing gas

Cheap heating in the presence of a gas main can be performed using condensing-type boilers.

Fuel economy in such a boiler is 30-35%. This is due to the double heat extraction in the heat exchanger and condenser.

We produce boilers of the following types:

• wall-mounted - for small areas of apartments, houses and cottages;
• floor - heat apartment buildings, industrial facilities, large offices;
• single-circuit - only for heating;
• double-circuit - heating and hot water.

In addition to all the advantages, the installations also have disadvantages:

1. Higher price compared to equipment of outdated designs.
2. The boiler must be connected to a sewerage system to drain condensate.
3. The device is sensitive to air quality.
4. Energy dependence.

Pyrolysis

Pyrolysis heat generators operate on solid fuel. These are relatively economical boilers for a private house.

The principle of their operation is based on the process of pyrolysis - the release of gas from wood during its smoldering. The coolant is heated by the combustion of gas that enters the chamber from the loading compartment, and the subsequent afterburning of charcoal.

Pyrolysis-type systems are made with forced ventilation, powered by an electrical network, or natural, created by a high chimney.

Before starting such a boiler, it must be preheated to + 500 ... + 800 ° C. After that, fuel is loaded, the pyrolysis mode starts, and the smoke exhauster turns on.

Black coal burns the longest in the installation - 10 hours, after it brown coal - 8 hours, hard wood - 6, soft wood - 5 hours.

solid fuel

In addition to pyrolysis systems, which cost 2-3 times more than classic ones, do not operate on damp fuel, have ash-contaminated smoke to heat the house, and use automated versions of standard solid fuel boilers.

For the correct choice of equipment, you need to determine which type of fuel is most available in the region of residence.

If there are nightly electricity tariffs, then combined systems can be used, for example, wood and electricity, coal and electricity.

To obtain hot water, you will have to purchase a double-circuit boiler or use indirect heating of a boiler connected to single-circuit equipment.

Electric boiler

Economical heating of a private house without gas at the lowest cost can be done using electric boilers.

If the power of the device is up to 9 kW, then there is no need to coordinate with electricity suppliers.

Budget equipment, which uses heating elements as a heating element, occupies 90% of the market, but is less economical and easy to use.

Modern induction-type boilers do not have a number of disadvantages (the heating element does not come into contact with water), but at the same time they take up a lot of space and have a high price.

You can save on electricity if:

• monitor the condition of the coolant;
• periodically clean the heating elements;
• use night tariffs for the cost of electricity;
• install a boiler with multi-stage power control, which works depending on weather conditions.

The principle of operation of electric boilers

The principle of operation of electric boilers is quite simple. Heating of the thermal element (elements) of the boiler from the electric current passing through it leads to heating of the heat carrier of the heating system.

For the operation of the boiler, a connection to a power source is required, usually powerful enough. Therefore, before buying a boiler, you need to carefully consider connecting additional electrical power. Electric boilers with a power of up to 12 kW are connected to a 220 or 380 Volt power supply, more powerful boilers from 12 kW operate only from 380V.

According to the installation method, electric boilers are available for both wall and floor mounting. Wall-mounted boilers are especially popular because of their compactness.

The advantages of wall-mounted boilers include the presence of a built-in expansion tank for water and a built-in circulation pump. True, these advantages are not present in all models and not in all manufacturers. For example, a picture of an electric boiler device.