Heating rooms with underfloor heating is no longer a novelty. Now many people use this system, if not in the whole house, then at least in separate rooms, for example, in the bathroom or living room. Underfloor heating provides increased comfort and safety. However, these criteria can only be achieved if a competent calculation of the underfloor heating and its installation is made.
The warm floor is economical, it can automatically control the heating temperature, however, despite this, it needs thermoregulation. Actually, this is why a mixing unit is needed. A water heated floor is connected, as a rule, to a system that has a temperature of + 60-80 ° C, while the optimum temperature should not exceed + 35-40 ° C. Otherwise, overheating of the surface of warm floors will lead to drying out of the floor covering, furniture, and the room itself will be stuffy and uncomfortable.
If you have certain knowledge, skills and free time, the calculation of the warm floor, as well as its installation, can be done independently.
Collector for underfloor heating and how it works
Externally, the collector resembles a thick metal pipe, which has outlets equipped with valves. The coolant under pressure enters this same pipe and is distributed through the outlets, the throughput of which is regulated by valves. On the opposite side, a pressure gauge or safety valve is installed to relieve pressure.
In addition, there is another scheme of operation, in which the collector receives the coolant from the outlets and moves it through the pipe in the opposite direction. In this case, the mixing node should include two collectors - collecting and distributing.
Standard floor heating mixing unit includes the following elements:
- thermostatic valve connected to manifold;
- thermostatic head with remote sensor;
- regulating valve;
- temperature limiter;
- thermometer;
- check valve;
- filter;
- circulation pump.
Manifolds come in two types: two-way and three-way valves.
Mixing unit on two-way valves
Many experts make a choice in favor of this collector, considering it more correct. In such a device, the hot coolant is constantly diluted with cold water from the return pipe, which prevents the warm floors from overheating. The two-way valve is endowed with a low throughput, this fact provides a smooth and constant temperature control. This mixing unit for underfloor heating is the most common,however, installing it in rooms over 200 m22 is pointless.
Mixing unit on three-way valves
This design uses three-way mixing valves in its operation. The task of such a collector is to mix hot water from the boiler and cold water coming from the "return". Often these valves are equipped with servo drives that allow you to control both dependent weather controllers and thermostats.
This underfloor heating mixing unit is the most versatile, although it has some inherent disadvantages:
- It is possible that the thermostat signal will cause the valve to fully open, which will let hot coolant into the system, which can lead to rupture of pipes due to the high pressure established in them.
- In addition, three-way manifold valves have a large capacity, this can adversely affect underfloor heating. After all, even a slight shift in the valve adjustment can significantly affect the surface temperature.
However, despite these disadvantages, this type of mixing unit is indispensable in large-scale heating systems and weather-dependent structures.
Installation of a mixing unit for the "warm floor" system: instructions
The process of connecting the collector in a sequential breakdown is as follows:
- First of all, you need to determine the location of the manifold cabinet and prepare the installation point.
- After that, you should connect the collectors to the pressure pipe and the "return", supplying them with control valves, automated drives and fuses.
- Next, you need to connect the heating circuit outlets to the branch pipes of the tee pipe.
- And finally, set up the mixing unit by calibrating the control system, bleeding air and other commissioning.
Of course, each of the above stages has numerous nuances, so it is worth considering the indicated sequence in more detail.
Closet space
The location of the cabinet is already discussed when the "warm floor" system is being designed, since each circuit is made up of a single piece of a polymer pipe, the length of which does not exceed 120 meters. In this case, the difference in length between the chains cannot be more than 100-150 cm. Therefore, the location of the point at which the mixing unit for underfloor heating is installed is determined based on the installation scheme of spiral-like contours.
Connection of tee pipes
The mixing unit for underfloor heating is connected according to the following scheme:
- A shut-off valve is connected to the pressure pipe with a coolant heated to +40-55 ° С, a tee is mounted to it, the straight channel of which is equipped with an automatic temperature limiter or a ball valve with a socket for a thermometer.
- To the return line, through which the cooled coolant leaves, alsoshut-off valves, a tee and a ball valve with a socket for a thermometer are installed.
- The upper tee is connected to the lower tee by means of a bypass, into which a circulation pump is mounted, supplying water upwards, directly to the pressure line.
- A tee pipe with flow meters above the outlets is connected to the upper ball valve. Its end is plugged with a valve to release air.
- The bottom valve is connected to a tee pipe with thermostats above the outlets. Its end is closed with air bleed fittings.
Connecting contours
The heating circuit pipe is connected in series to the outlets of the pressure and return pipes, starting from the first from the edge, etc. Installation is carried out using press fittings, which provide reliable tightness even with linear deformations. Collet elements cannot give such a guarantee, however, this method allows the pipe to be dismantled in the future.
Setting the mixing unit
This stage is responsible for setting up an automated control system, which is based on the synchronous operation of servos and data read from temperature sensors. In addition, thermostats, flow meters, ball valves and a pressure relief valve are checked.
At the very end, the "warm floor" system is checked for tightness of the connections in the mixing unit. Although this work can be done in the beginning. Because the tightness of the connections determines how accurate the calibration of the entire control system is.
Costwarm water floors
One of the common questions that worries many customers is: "What is the price of a warm water floor?" The cost depends not only on the brand you like. The material from which the pipe is made also affects the prices. Installation of the system also affects the cost.
The decisive criteria on which the price of a warm water floor depends are the number of rooms in which the work will be carried out, the number of storeys of the object and, of course, the heating scheme. In Moscow, the cost of 1 m2 water heated floors starts from 1100 rubles (cross-linked polyethylene pipe).
Advantages of underfloor heating with mixing unit
The "warm water floor" system has a number of undeniable advantages in comparison with other types of heating:
- Comfort. Due to the fact that thermal energy is transferred by radiation, not convection. At the same time, the room heats up evenly, there are no cold corners and hot radiators.
- He althy atmosphere due to lack of dust circulation. The floor surface is dry, there is no mold on it, the nutrient medium is eliminated, which contributes to the reproduction of microbes and mites. The rooms maintain fresh air and an optimal level of humidity.
- Hygiene. Due to the fact that warm floors are easy to clean and disinfect, they can heat rooms that have special requirements for cleanliness.
- Security. First of all, this applies to children: warm floors exclude the appearance of burns and scratches, i.e. Totalwhat can happen when it comes into contact with a convector or a radiator.
- Convenience. The "warm floor" system allows you to freely plan the arrangement of furniture in the room due to the absence of heating devices.
- Economy. Underfloor heating saves up to 30% of energy in residential buildings, up to 50% in buildings with high ceilings.
- Modernity. This system is perfectly combined with the latest heating equipment, the production of which uses advanced energy-saving technologies.
