Despite the fact that you can find a wide range of radiators on sale, there are craftsmen who make such devices on their own. Pipe radiators today are widely used in garages, cottages and small country houses.
Is it worth making your own battery
If you work hard on the finish, then a self-made designer device can decorate even a civilized home. But first, it is important to figure out how to weld a tubular battery and whether it is worth it at all.
The truth without embellishment
If we consider a modern radiator, it can be noted that this is a technically complex device that operates on the principle of convection and radiation. Manufacturers in the manufacturing process of such devices take into account several factors, using new technologies, trying to increase the efficiency of the heating system, reduce the temperature and volume of the coolant. The factory device will work muchmore effective than homemade, and will also surpass it in design and compactness.
Therefore, it is advisable to make a home-made heating radiator if you have inexpensive or free pipes, an appropriate tool for cutting metal, a welding machine and appropriate skills in working with equipment. You will need an angle grinder for cutting.
Expert advice
If you make even a small mistake, it can lead to emergencies and leaks. Such a device is not recommended for installation in an apartment; it is best suited for outbuildings and spacious rooms.
Types of homemade radiators
If you want to make a homemade heating radiator, you should consider that it is better and easier to do this by creating a device from one or more pipes that are connected into a single structure. The principle of operation will remain the same as that of cast iron batteries. The coolant will circulate inside, heating the metal, which will give off heat to the air.
Registers can be used in single or double pipe systems and can be floor or wall mounted. The simplest solutions of this group are radiators, which today can be found in the bathrooms of old houses. There they served as towel warmers.
Before you make a homemade heating radiator, you must understand its varieties. It can be a coil or a sectional device. The latter isconstruction of pipes of different diameters. Elements of larger diameter are arranged in parallel and have end caps. They are interconnected by tubes with a smaller diameter. Branch pipes should preferably be located closer to the edges.
In order to ensure the strength of the structure, additional jumpers are used. They increase heat transfer and increase the heating area. In such a home-made heating radiator, the movement of the coolant begins with a container located above the others. After the water passes through the pipe and is in the bottom row. It flows along the length and enters the next element.
It is necessary to ensure the strength of the welds, because they will have to endure a pressure of 13 atmospheres. As for the coil, it has an S-shape and is assembled from elements placed in series. This design is efficient, because the entire surface of the pipe will be involved in the heat exchanger. There are no intermediate constrictions in such a radiator, so the hydraulic resistance will be less than in a sectional radiator.
Making a radiator with your own hands
If you want to make a homemade heating radiator from a profile pipe, then you will need skills in working with a welding machine. You will also need a grinder. It is important to determine the size of the heat source. For this, power is calculated. It will depend on the surface area of the device and the thermal conductivity of the steel.
In order to calculate the power, you should useformula. However, experts advise taking power with a margin. Exact values will not be needed if heating of an outbuilding is planned. A cast-iron battery can be taken as a basis here. If the power of one section of such a radiator is 160 W, and the volume is 1.45 liters, then to replace the standard cast-iron 10-section device, you will need a pipe radiator that will hold 14.5 liters of liquid. For each square meter of the room, 1 kW of device power is required. This value should be increased when calculating the system parameters in houses with poor thermal insulation.
Preparation of materials
Before you make a heating radiator out of a pipe, you must take care of the availability of some materials. To make a device with the above characteristics you will need:
- water pipe;
- rebar;
- 2 rounds;
- threaded connections;
- steel sheet.
The pipe should be made of carbon steel, and its length should be about 2 m. The wall thickness is 3.5 mm, and the diameter varies from 10 to 12 cm. The steel sheet should be 3.5 mm thick. This material will be needed for end caps. For passage channels, a water pipe should be prepared.
The diameter of the spurs is 2.5 cm. Reinforcement is needed to increase rigidity. In order to embed the battery into the system, you will need threaded connections. It is cheaper to purchase material from scrap metal collection points, but for permanent housing, the choice should be made in favor of new smooth steel pipes. If you don't wantincrease the load on the boiler, increase the volume of coolant and current heating costs, then you should not take 12-cm pipes for registers.
Production technology
If you want to make a homemade heating battery, then a two-meter steel pipe should be cut into three equal parts. In each, two holes are made for throughput tubes. They should be removed from the ends by 5 cm, placed at different ends at an angle of 180 ˚ relative to each other.
Next, round blanks for the ends should be cut out of the steel sheets. The diameter of the covers must be equal to the size of the pipe holes. These elements are welded to the ends. Pipes for water supply are welded to the holes. This will give you an outline for the movement of water.
In order for the structure to be more durable, the pipes should be interconnected with fittings. In large registers, safety jumpers should be provided. The distance between the sections should be 0.5 cm larger than the size of the main pipe.
Choosing a pipe for a heating system
If you are interested in the question of which pipes for home heating are better to choose, you should consider several options. Pipes made of metal, for example, were used before. This decision had no alternative. Such products serve for a long time and flawlessly, but the material is subject to corrosion, rust gradually clogs the duct.
Among the main advantages of such products should be highlighted:
- highstrength;
- sufficient thermal conductivity;
- hardness of metal;
- high temperature resistance;
- ease of operation;
- ability to undergo mechanical stress.
But this material has its drawbacks. First, it's heavy. Secondly, it requires a longer laying process. Thirdly, pipes will often have to be painted. You can also consider products made of polypropylene. This option is affordable, has a smooth-walled internal clearance and a low specific gravity. Such pipes can be laid in a wall using a closed system. At low temperatures, the pipes do not deform and are ready to serve up to 20 years.
When choosing pipes for water heating, the disadvantages of polypropylene should be taken into account. It requires a special type of connection, is difficult to wash and repair in finished form, and also has low heat resistance. High pressure and high temperature resistant XLPE pipes. They have high density and durability, low specific weight and ease of installation. The inner lumen is smooth to prevent calcium deposits.
Metal-plastic pipes today are one of the most popular when installing heating in a private house with their own hands. Such products are easy to install, affordable and combine the advantages of polymers, because they consist of several layers. Inside is smooth plastic, and the pipes themselves are reinforcedmetal foil.
Heating system device
In a private house, the heating system can be one- or two-pipe. In the first case, all radiators are connected to one collector. It performs the role of supply and return. As a result, it is possible to obtain a circuit in the form of a closed ring.
When laying heating pipes in a private house, you can mount them in a two-pipe scheme. It provides for the supply of coolant to the radiators through one pipe. The return is carried out in a different way. More reliable and progressive is a two-pipe system. But there is an erroneous opinion that less material is spent on the installation of a single-pipe system. However, such a system is more complex and expensive. This is due to the fact that when laying heating in a private house with your own hands using a single-pipe system, you create a scheme in which the water from the radiators will cool down more the farther it goes. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the power of heating devices by adding sections. In addition, the distribution manifold must have a larger diameter compared to the two-pipe distribution line.
