Is it possible to heat the apartment? How to install heating in an apartment with your own hands? What is apartment heating according to an individual scheme?
Tired of huge utility bills, untimely shutdowns of heat and sudden temperature changes, many are wondering: how to install individual heating in an apartment? It is quite possible to install a personal heating and hot water supply system. You just need to know some subtleties and aspects, without which nothing will work.
The real installation of individual heating in an apartment building begins not with calling specialists, but with collecting all the necessary permits. Many services do not want to sign papers of their own free will. You can understand them, because they are losing money. But the law is on the side of apartment owners. If it is technically possible to disconnect from the general heating, and the location of the pipes in the house provides for such a possibility, each time you visit the office, you can refer to the Federal Law “On Heat Supply” No. 190, as well as to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 307 of April 16, 2012, which talks about the procedure for installing and connecting heat supply systems.
The legislator does not prohibit the use of modern boilers and systems that meet the requirements and standards. You can read more about a variety of modern heating systems. Today there are many examples where the owners of living space won the courts and installed the desired engineering systems for themselves, which save money on utility bills by 3-5 times.
The documents with which the installation of individual heating in an apartment begins are usually an impressively sized folder, for the registration of which you will have to go through many authorities. But it's worth it. After all, comfort, economy and convenience are the decisive factors in this matter.
List of required documents:
All of the above only partially answers the question of how to install individual heating in an apartment building; the success of the planned enterprise also depends on the choice of equipment.
Choosing a boiler for individual heating
Traditionally, boilers for individual apartment heating are chosen based on their power and reliability. For those residents of apartment complexes where gas is installed in the premises, the choice of boilers leans towards gas equipment. Although owners of apartments with electrical equipment can also install a gas boiler.
A gas boiler
To establish a comfortable temperature regime in the apartment, the required boiler power is calculated. Competent calculations can only be made by specialists who can assess the climatic conditions of the region, correctly measure the heated area, and select the equipment of the apartment according to all the necessary aspects.
When installing the system, you will have to choose not only boilers, radiators and the pipes themselves. It will be necessary to determine in advance whether single-pipe or two-pipe wiring is best done in this particular area. Single-pipe wiring is suitable for one-room apartments and a small number of radiators. But large areas require an increase in the number of pipes.
Modern individual gas heating in an apartment building is carried out with the participation of the main element of the system - a gas boiler.
On the market you can find products of both foreign and domestic production. Only those who live in Russia should pay attention to the fact that spare parts for repairing European versions are more difficult to find, and not every master will understand the structure of an imported unit. And domestic boilers are repaired without any problems.
Gas is one of the cheapest types of fuel. A gas-fired boiler will cost less to operate than its electric “brother.”
The advantages of a gas boiler include the following aspects:
With all the advantages, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the boiler will need a chimney to operate, and constant monitoring of the tightness of the equipment. According to norms and standards, a gas boiler is placed in an individual residential building in the kitchen or bathroom. To install it, the room must have wide doors, a window on the window, and a tap from which water can be turned on at any time.
Electric boiler
Today, individual heating electric boilers are considered the easiest to use devices for autonomous heating in an apartment. They are divided into floor and wall devices. They are much easier to install than all other systems, and their maintenance does not take much time.
Also, electric boilers for individual heating, the price of which is slightly higher than gas boilers, are considered safer and quieter devices. When heating with electricity, you can set different modes for each room. Among heating boilers there are devices that operate on different types of fuel. They belong to the combined type of boilers, and can operate in different modes as efficiently as boilers operating on a single fuel option.
System installation: selection of batteries and components
When the documents are completed and the choice of equipment is made, the next question arises: how to properly install heating in an apartment, the answer to which only a qualified technician can give in full. But at the initial stage, the home owner begins to develop a heating project, so we will consider heating batteries for the apartment and all the components for them.
The most suitable option for heating an apartment is considered to be batteries consisting of sections. The power of the radiator and the amount of heat that it can give off for heating depend on the number of sections. The material from which the section is made may have different thermal conductivity.
Let's take a closer look at the thermal conductivity of one section depending on the material:
Thus, thin heating radiators will give off more heat than, for example, cast iron ones, but not all radiators meet quality standards. The number of sections can be calculated by taking into account the following operating conditions:
In many apartments, the loggia plays the role of a separate living space. How to install heating on a loggia? To do this, it must be insulated by installing windows there and laying insulation on the walls, floor and ceiling. Then pipes are stretched from the nearest radiator to the loggia, to which the battery sections are connected.
The standard connection of bimetallic heating radiators includes the installation of an installation complex with brackets and two taps to completely shut off the water. With a small number of sections, bimetallic batteries are connected according to the proven “supply and return” circuit. For radiators with a large number of sections, the wiring is done “diagonally”.
Starting the heating system
If all the previous conditions are met, how to turn on the heating in the apartment and at the same time avoid serious mistakes? The most common method is a test water supply. Of course, if a leak occurs somewhere, you will have to change some parts of the system. But overall, the method is worth the risks.
To successfully test a set of equipment, you need to know how a heating battery works and on what principle heat exchange is carried out. The water heated by the boiler moves through the pipes, entering the battery, giving off heat to the radiator. The radiator material, heated by hot water, radiates heat into the surrounding space.
So how to turn on the heating battery in an apartment?
It is necessary to open all the taps in stages, making sure in practice that there are no leaks anywhere and the entire complex is homogeneous. It is convenient to divide the system with several limiters, by turning which you can let water flow into the radiators of a separate room, or completely disconnect the selected room from the rest of the complex.
Also, specialized stores sell fluid for heating batteries, the price of which varies depending on the brand. This antifreeze is used to protect the system from corrosion and to ensure good pump operation. More details about coolants can be found in our article. When using the liquid in a room that is periodically cooled to low temperatures, draining the antifreeze is not required. If a leak occurs, the liquid vapor can be harmful to the human body. However, it is not flammable and is quite safe when used correctly.
Having examined individual heating in an apartment from all sides, we can come to the conclusion that it has a huge number of advantages. It’s quite nice to wake up in the fall and spring in a warm room, and not put your feet out of bed on an icy floor, as happens when using central heating. You don’t have to depend on your neighbors for repairs when they change pipes and turn off all residents for the whole day. When a person uses his own boilers and components, the cost of servicing an apartment is greatly reduced, and the equipment itself pays for itself in several years.
Do you think that heat bills are too high and the quality of service is unsatisfactory? Don't want to depend on planned and unscheduled outages? Tired of sudden temperature changes in batteries that do not correspond to weather changes? You have a completely legitimate opportunity to solve all these problems at once by installing your own heating boiler and disconnecting from the central heating network. But before you go to a plumbing store, you need to get as much information as possible about how to do everything correctly and in accordance with building codes. Do you want to properly arrange autonomous heating in your apartment? Then get some basic information about this case here.
Pros and cons of autonomous heating in an apartment
How advisable is it to refuse centralized heating in an apartment building? Let's start with an overview of the benefits that an autonomous heating system in an apartment can bring to you.
Important! When changing the power of the heating boiler, follow the known limits. Do not reduce the room temperature to values that are less than the figures prescribed in building codes. Otherwise, you will “freeze out” neighboring apartments, which can lead to unwanted conflicts with neighbors.
Diagram showing the autonomous heating system in an apartment. The boiler receives fuel from a gas supply line equipped with shut-off valves and a meter. It is also connected to a cold water supply - a double-circuit boiler, and, in addition to heating the apartment, supplies residents with hot water. In the diagram you can see that the cold water line going to the heater is equipped with a filter - its presence significantly extends the service life of the equipment. Of course, the “supply” and “return” of the heating system also depart from the boiler, through which water flows to the radiators and the “warm floor” system
It should be understood that independent heating of an apartment has its own disadvantages and problems. If you are going to install autonomous heating at home, be sure to familiarize yourself with them so that they do not become an unpleasant surprise for you in the future. Which should be d, you can find out in our article.
Now, having familiarized ourselves with the positive and negative sides of autonomous heating, we will tell you how to make it. The entire process can be represented as several steps performed sequentially.
- Work with documents - obtaining permission to disconnect from the centralized heat supply and install your own, autonomous system.
- Selecting the power of the heating system for your apartment.
- Choosing a boiler for autonomous heating
- Installation work - installation of meters and boiler, laying pipes, etc.
Competent work with documents is half the success
In the following sections of this article we will look at all these steps, but in more detail. So let's get started.
Preparation of documents for the installation of autonomous heating
The first 50% of success in arranging autonomous heating in an apartment consists of paperwork and going through many bureaucratic delays. To make your task easier, we have compiled approximate step-by-step instructions on how to prepare the necessary papers and coordinate all the work.
Step 1. Collect a package of documents that you will need to obtain permission to disconnect from the centralized heating supply and install autonomous heating:
- technical passport for the apartment:
- documents confirming the ownership of housing or their notarized copies;
- consent to the redevelopment of all those living in the apartment;
- application for disconnection from centralized heating;
- application for redevelopment of an apartment.
Step 2. Find out who owns the heating system. If it is communal, then to disconnect from it and connect autonomous heating you will need to obtain the written consent of all residents of the house.
Step 3. With an application for disconnection from centralized heating and other documents, contact the management company (or HOA).
Step 4. Within ten days, you must obtain permission to disconnect from the general heating network and technical specifications (abbreviated as TU) for the heating boiler and autonomous heating system.
Important! If the management company refuses you permission, find out the reason. If it is unfounded, challenge this decision in court. Remember, you have the right to autonomous heating in your own apartment.
Step 5. With technical specifications and other documents, contact a specialized organization that will draw up a project for an autonomous heating system. They must also determine whether you have the technical ability to install such a system and whether this will not harm the other residents, the building itself and its utilities.
Step 6. Submit the application for redevelopment along with the project, technical calculations and other documents to the local government authorities. Within 45 days they must issue you permission to install autonomous heating.
Step 7 If you intend to install a gas boiler, coordinate this event with the gas service in your city.
Step 8 If necessary, confirm with the fire department that your redevelopment project meets all codes.
Some bureaucratic aspects of paperwork and permission for autonomous heating in an apartment may differ in different regions. Please check these points with your local administration in advance.
Important! Remember that any unauthorized work that is not agreed upon with the gas service and management company is unacceptable. First, such conditions create a risk for you, your family and neighbors. Secondly, this threatens problems with the law, courts, fines and an official requirement to dismantle autonomous heating in the apartment.
Selection of boiler power for autonomous heating
During the preparation of the project and permission to install autonomous heating, it is necessary to determine what power boiler will be sufficient to heat your apartment. To do this, perform a simple calculation using the following formula:
Q=S*P*K1*K2*K3*K4*K5*K6*K7*R
The result of the calculations is Q - power sufficient to heat the apartment; watts are used as units of measurement. For variable S, select the total area of the apartment. P is the average amount of power sufficient to heat one square meter of a living room. In this case it is equal to 100 W/m2. Variables K1-K7 hide multipliers, whose value depends on certain factors that can affect the efficiency of the heating system. You can see their values in the table. What is p , You can read in our article.
Table. Correction factors for calculating the power of a heating boiler.
| Coefficient | What does it mean | Values of this coefficient |
|---|---|---|
| K1 | Type of windows in the apartment | For a single glass unit – 1.27, for a double-glazed unit – 1, for a three-chamber unit – 0.85 |
| K2 | Type of external walls in an apartment facing the street | For concrete - 1.5, for brickwork - 1.1, for the same, but with thermal insulation - 0.85 |
| K3 | Ratio of glazing area to apartment area | For 10% - 0.8, for 20% - 1.0, for 30% - 1.2, for 40% - 1.4 |
| K4 | Regional coefficient, selected based on the average minimum temperature in January | Up to -10°С – 0.7, -10°С – 0.8, -20°С – 1.0, -25°С – 1.1, -30°С – 1.2, less than -30°С – 1.5 |
| K5 | The number of walls in the apartment facing the street | One wall – 1, for a corner apartment – 1.2 |
| K6 | Type of room located above the apartment | For a residential floor - 0.82, for an insulated attic - 0.91, for a cold one - 1. |
| K7 | Ceiling height in the apartment | For 2.5 m – 1.3 m – 1.05, 3.5 m – 1.1 |
Having multiplied the area of the apartment, the value of the average power and the correction factors, it remains to include the last variable in the formula - R. It denotes the reservation of heating boiler power and has a value from 1.15 to 1.25.
A separate issue is the choice of the type of boiler that will heat the apartment. It can be either gas or electric. In this section we will consider the first option.
Today, gas heating boilers are the most popular among equipment of this class. They perform well both in private houses and cottages, and in an autonomous heating system in a city apartment. The advantages of gas boilers over other devices include the following.
- Cheap fuel. It is most profitable to heat an apartment, private house or country cottage with gas - the price of fuel is relatively low. Consequently, by abandoning centralized heating and switching to a similar heating boiler, you get the opportunity to save a lot of money and quickly recoup all redevelopment costs.
- Silence– a modern boiler will not interfere with your sleep, relaxation or household chores.
- Compactness– a medium-power heating boiler running on gas does not take up too much space. Its dimensions are comparable to one section of a kitchen cabinet.
- Functionality– modern automation allows you to have greater freedom of action in setting up the operation of a gas boiler.
But such a device also has one drawback. It is connected with fuel - a gas boiler is a fire hazardous equipment. Therefore, it is better to entrust the connection to the energy supply to an experienced specialist who has the appropriate permits and approvals and has all the necessary tools and skills to work with it. You can see what it is and how to install it on our page.
Gas boilers, in turn, are divided into two main types - single- and double-circuit. In the first case, fuel is burned to heat only the coolant of the heating system and for nothing else. It also supplies you with hot water, the centralized supply of which you will also be able to refuse in the future.
Consider the structure of the boiler shown in the image above. This is a double-circuit heating device with separated heat exchangers - the upper one is used to heat the heating fluid, and the lower one is used for hot water used by the apartment residents. The pump creates the required level of pressure in the line. allows you to compensate for the increase in the volume of liquid in the heating system as the temperature rises. Combustion products formed during boiler operation are discharged into a coaxial chimney. Through it, the fan also draws in air from the street, which is necessary for the functioning of the combustion chamber.
It is very difficult to live without household gas in the modern world, because it is used not only for cooking, but also for heating your home.
However, it should be noted that not all apartments have a gas boiler installed, and many citizens are forced to pay for centralized heating.
Let's figure out whether it is worth installing such equipment in your home and how it can be done.
Individual gas heating in an apartment has a number of advantages, because the primary task of any gas installation for heating residential premises is the possibility of saving. Thus, when using such heating equipment, there are no heat losses (passing from the point of generation to the consumer, part of the transferred heat enters the external environment), which are typical for centralized heating, energy efficiency increases, and, as a result, gas is saved.
In addition, by ensuring the desired air temperature in each individual room, an increased level of comfort is created and independence from the general heating schedule is ensured. With a gas boiler, you have a real opportunity to reduce heat consumption during the heating period by 10-20% through manual or automatic control of heat flows. You will no longer have to overpay, and everything you use will be displayed on the gas meter.
An apartment heating system using a gas boiler is beneficial not only to home owners, but also to developers, since in new houses it becomes possible to carry out construction, repair and other types of work (for example, replacing pipes, valves and heating devices) without disconnecting other residents from the system apartment building. Also, if necessary, you can safely carry out boiler maintenance by special technical services, because at one facility often from 100 to 200 similar, relatively simple installations are installed. The installation and maintenance costs of boilers are quite low and are included in the bills of apartment owners.
Basic requirements for installing gas heating
Despite your desire to have your own heating, this is not enough, because only a gas service can authorize the connection of a gas boiler to the mains. Specialists take into account all the features of your apartment and only after that give permission to install a gas boiler. To avoid unnecessary problems and not delay in obtaining the appropriate permit, it is better to familiarize yourself with the requirements in advance, which include the following:
- The size of the room where the boiler will be placed must be at least 4 m² with a ceiling height of no more than 2.5 m.
- The width of the door to enter the room must be at least 80 cm.
- According to the standards, lighting of the boiler must be natural (performed through a window opening), that is, for every 10 m² of room a minimum of 0.3 m² of window is required.
- Good ventilation is also a prerequisite, since gas combustion in the boiler is ensured by an influx of oxygen (the opening area for this influx should be 8 cm² per 1 kW of equipment power). Each boiler must be equipped with a gas meter and ventilation in the upper part of the room.
- All gas pipeline pipes must be made of metal, and flexible hoses are allowed to be used only for connecting consumers.
- The power supply system of a gas boiler must have a special automatic circuit breaker with adjusted current and thermal protection.
- In the room where the boiler is planned to be installed, a gas analyzer must also be installed, which can warn of a gas leak, and a special electric valve that stops the gas supply if necessary.
- Gas equipment can be placed in the basement only if we are talking about heating a single-apartment house, but if we are talking about multi-storey buildings, then installation in the basement is strictly prohibited.
If in the case of a house you have more options for choosing a place to install an individual gas boiler, then in an apartment it can only be placed in the kitchen, and it must be wall-mounted (preferably with a closed combustion chamber and a coaxial chimney). If the volume of the kitchen in the apartment is more than 7.5 m³, then two heating elements cannot be installed.
Important! The requirements for installing gas boilers in a private house and in an apartment are almost the same, only in the first case you will have to organize a separate boiler room, and in the second you will have to combine it with one of the rooms.Choosing a boiler for an apartment
So, the answer to the question “Is it possible to have gas heating in an apartment?” positive, and now all that remains is to purchase the appropriate boiler and obtain the necessary permission from the gas service. However, it is still necessary to find out which type of equipment to give preference to, because on the modern market you can find many suitable models.
Types of boilers: by placement method, by number of circuits, by type of gas burner, by type of combustion products removal
There are two main types of domestic gas boilers - single-circuit And double-circuit, although they can also be divided by the method of placement in space, by the type of gas burner and by the type of removal of combustion products.
Single-circuit equipment can provide only one function, for example heating. A dual-circuit device already has more possibilities, because, in addition to heating the room, it is also capable of heating water, which is enough to meet basic household needs. The device automatically switches to heating water as soon as you open the tap in the bathroom. When the taps are closed, the water in the system cools down.
Based on the possibility of placement in space, gas boilers in an apartment (as an option instead of central heating) can only be placed on the wall or on the floor. Wall-mounted models appeared relatively recently, but have already gained universal popularity. Such a device can be called a kind of mini-boiler room, since the small housing houses not only a heat exchanger, a burner and a device responsible for the operation of the boiler, but also circulation pumps, an expansion tank, a protection system, a pressure gauge and many other useful elements. The compactness of the device allows you to seamlessly fit the gas boiler into the interior of the kitchen, which is another advantage of this option.
A more traditional version of such equipment, the design of which has not changed for many years. Floor-standing gas boilers can be equipped with forced-air (replaceable) fans and atmospheric burners. In the first case, the efficiency of the device, as well as its cost, will be higher. The second option is somewhat cheaper and works quieter.
Taking into account the method of removing exhaust gases from boilers, such installations can be divided into systems with forced and natural draft. In the first case, decomposition products are removed from the system using a built-in fan, and in the second, thanks to the draft of the chimney. While gas boilers with natural draft are familiar to many, the forced exhaust option is a new product on the modern market, as it appeared relatively recently. It must be said that the latter option is more suitable for apartments, since a coaxial chimney with a hole made in the wall is sufficient to remove the waste. Gas boilers with forced draft do not require a supply of fresh air for combustion, they do not burn oxygen in the room and make it possible to save on installation.
In turn, all wall-mounted boilers are divided into subtypes depending on the type of ignition (electric and with piezo ignition) and the type of burner. Electric models are more economical because there is no igniter with a constantly burning flame, which saves more gas. In addition, the electric ignition type automatically restarts the boiler in case of power failures. Based on the type of burner installed, all boilers can be divided into conventional ones and those equipped with a modulating burner (provides an economical mode of operation of the boiler, since the heating power changes depending on the temperature in the room).
Important! The modulating burner provides very comfortable conditions in hot water supply mode, as it maintains the water temperature at the set level.Most often, wall-mounted boilers are equipped with additional devices that ensure their complete safety during operation. For example, a fire presence sensor excludes the supply of fuel when a flame hits, and a blocking thermostat turns off the boiler if the temperature rises sharply. Also, the design of wall-mounted boilers includes a special device that blocks the gas installation in the event of a power failure.
How to correctly calculate boiler power
Most often, gas boilers with a capacity of 24 kW are installed in apartments, although for standard apartments this value is quite large. A boiler installed in a multi-storey building does not operate continuously, and the design load for heating an average-sized apartment (for example, a two-room apartment) is at least 10 kW per 1 m², but the hot water supply load must be at least 24 kW, in particular for apartments with a smaller area. It turns out that the specific operation of the heat source for each individual apartment determines the requirements for selecting its power based on the peak load. Most manufacturers provide a power adjustment range for wall-mounted boilers at 40-100%, which determines the operation of the thermoblock in the “on/off” mode and at minimum power (about 10 kW).
It would be more correct to independently calculate the required power of gas equipment for heating the apartment.
So, for example, if the height of the ceilings in the room does not exceed three meters, then to obtain the required value you can use the following formula: MK = S*UMK/10 (MK is the estimated power of the gas boiler, which is calculated in kW, S is the total area of the room, calculated in m², and UMC is the specific power of the boiler, which ideally should be per 10 m²). As for the last indicator, the required value is determined depending on the climate zone and can be:
- from 0.7 to 0.9 kW for southern regions;
- from 1.0 to 1.2 kW - in the middle zone;
- from 1.2 to 1.5 kW - for the Moscow region;
- 2.0 - for northern territories.
This video describes in detail the calculation formula for determining the power of the boiler.
Based on this formula, it turns out that an apartment or house with an area of 100 m², located in the middle zone, will require 11 kW for heating (100x1.1/10 = 11 kW). However, this formula allows you to obtain information about the power of a gas boiler, which will be used only for heating the living space, but if it is planned to install a double-circuit system that should heat water for domestic needs, then the power indicator of the equipment should be increased by 25%.
Important! The average UMC indicator is based on many years of experience in operating various heating equipment systems in a particular region. By multiplying this value by the area of the room, we get an average figure for the boiler power, which should be adjusted taking into account the above specific features.Having performed the appropriate calculations, it becomes unclear why an apartment with an area of 50-100 m² needs a boiler, which can easily heat much larger areas. The thing is that the power of a gas boiler used in apartment heating is determined not only based on the size of the heated area, but also taking into account the requirements for comfortable hot water supply, and for normal hot water supply less than 24 kW of power is required. One cannot ignore the possibility of organizing a heated floor. In this case, it is better to purchase a gas boiler with a capacity of 28 kW.
Installation of autonomous gas heating in an apartment
If you decide to turn off the central heating, then you should know how to install individual heating in the apartment, and what elements are needed for this. It would be better to entrust this procedure to professionals.
Autonomous heating installation diagram
The installation of a gas boiler is carried out in compliance with certain requirements for its placement. So, it should not be closer than 20 cm from other household appliances or flammable materials (this distance can be greater (30-50 cm), which depends on the boiler model). Also, you should not place the heating device between walls or near a window, although the power source, on the contrary, should be as close as possible.
Important! As soon as you select a suitable location, be sure to check the purchased gas boiler for the presence of all fastening and additional elements: mounting templates, fixtures and brackets, because if they are absent, it will be problematic to make autonomous heating in the apartment using the same gas boiler.In addition, be sure to compare the technical characteristics declared by the manufacturer (indicated on the packaging) with the values indicated on the identification plate located on the inside of the front cover of the boiler.
Before you proceed to installing the equipment, be sure to flush all the boiler pipes and the system as a whole, which will help remove foreign particles that often get inside the system during factory assembly.
The strips for mounting the boiler (included in the kit and fixed to the wall with anchors) are placed at a distance of 1.0-1.6 m from the floor. The wall must be level and strong enough, otherwise it will not be able to support the weight of the boiler and all related devices.
To prevent clogging of the heat exchanger, it is better to install an angle-type mesh filter at the water outlet. Ball valves are located on both sides of it, which will facilitate the maintenance and repair of the boiler in the future. After this, you also need to check the evenness of the equipment, because skew in any direction can cause extremely undesirable consequences.
At the next stage, as soon as the boiler takes its place on the wall, it is necessary to connect the heating and water supply system pipelines to it (before connecting the boiler to the water pipes, be sure to remove all plugs installed on the pipes). The connection between the boiler and the pipeline is made using polypropylene couplings, at one end of which there is a thread with union nuts, and the second part is soldered to the pipe.
Wall-mounted double-circuit gas boilers have 5 outputs:
- 1 – treatment, used to return cooled coolant from the heating system back to the boiler;
- 2 – supplies cold water from the water supply;
- 3 – gas tube;
- 4 – is responsible for the output of hot water for the water supply system;
- 5 – supply tube through which the hot coolant is directed into the heating system.
Single-circuit boilers have only 3 outputs: gas, supply and treatment.
Ball valves are installed on all boiler pipes, and they are present even where at first glance it seems that there are none.
The process of installing a wall-mounted boiler is described in great detail in its passport, so you can find answers to almost all the questions that you will have during the installation process in this manual.
But do not forget that only a specialist from the gas service can connect the boiler to the gas pipe. A gas tap or ball valve (certified only), a gas meter, a thermal shut-off valve and a gas alarm are installed in front of the boiler. It is necessary to ensure constant open access to the gas tap.
Remember! Connecting on your own is a very dangerous activity.
A gas heating project in an apartment is the first step towards installing a boiler. In this matter, it is worth considering a number of recommendations from experts. For example, it is very important to fix the mounting bracket clearly parallel to the floor so that the boiler is positioned without distortions (you can use a level or plumb line to check the evenness). Although there are no serious requirements for wall-mounted boilers, when placing them it is worth maintaining a minimum distance from the boiler to the nearest walls or cabinets: on the side - 25 mm, on top - 20 cm, on the bottom - 25 cm, on the front side - 100 mm (if you plan to hide the equipment behind the door). 
If the gas boiler is attached to a partition made of flammable materials, then a protective sheet of metal (at least 3 mm thick) should act as a kind of gasket, and the boiler itself will be fixed at a distance of 5 cm from the wall. We also must not forget about the load-bearing capacity of the partition itself - it must support the weight of the unit and additional equipment.
Gas boiler and safety
As soon as you decide to switch your apartment to autonomous heating, you need to carefully study all the nuances of this possibility, strictly adhering to safety rules. Remember: water and hot gases must pass countercurrently in the boiler heat exchanger, otherwise the device may explode with any automation. Therefore, during installation it is so important not to confuse cold and hot pipes.
After hydropiping the system, carefully inspect it again. If antifreeze was poured into the heating system, be sure to drain it and rinse the pipes twice with clean water. Antifreeze in water is also very explosive.
Install filters for rough purification of passing water, which are placed at the lowest points of the system. Otherwise, there is a danger of dirt deposits accumulating between the fins of the heat exchanger, not to mention high gas consumption.
Sludge is drained through mud traps at the beginning and end of the heating season, simultaneously checking the condition of the entire system.
If your boiler has a built-in expansion tank and a deaeration system, then the previous expansion tank must be removed by tightly closing the air valve. Before performing the procedure, be sure to check its condition: air leaks can also create a dangerous situation.
Autonomous gas heating in an apartment: advantages and disadvantages
Individual heating in your apartment will have a number of advantages, although possible disadvantages should not be excluded either. The main advantage of such a system is its independence. To the benefits of autonomy also include:
- the ability to independently install and adjust the heat supply mode (you can extend or shorten the heating season, as well as set a comfortable temperature in your apartment);
- efficiency - heating your home will cost you much less, even taking into account how much autonomous heating in an apartment costs, the benefits will be more than noticeable;
- the possibility of organizing a constant hot water supply when installing a double-circuit gas boiler.
As for the disadvantages of organizing autonomous gas heating in an apartment, they are all associated with the relative complexity of its installation and the need for further independent maintenance. Before installation, you need to purchase all the necessary elements and install them in place (by yourself or with the help of a specialist). It is also worth considering the fact that the installation of a gas boiler and other parts is often associated with partial destruction of walls, floors, etc., which means that after completing the procedure you will have to make at least minimal repairs.
This video describes the pros and cons of installing autonomous gas heating in an apartment.
Gas boiler servicing is performed only by specialists from service centers under various conditions, but payment for such services is always the problem of the apartment owner himself.
The disadvantages of installing autonomous gas heating include the need for an appropriate permit. This requirement cannot be ignored, since independent intervention is dangerous not only for you, but also for your neighbors.
As you can see, you can safely disconnect your home from centralized heating, but whether it will be easy to install gas heating in an apartment depends on many factors: layout, area size, pipe structure, etc. Therefore, to make it easier to resolve any issues that arise, it is better immediately contact the appropriate specialists.
Settlements or cities at the location of the residential premises, the corresponding list of documents for the reconstruction or redevelopment of residential premises (). It includes: an application, the form of which was approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 25, 2005 No. 266; certificate of state registration of property rights, gift agreement, agreement for the transfer of ownership of an apartment, certificate of inheritance rights (photocopy, notarized). In the case where the apartment is registered as shared ownership for several people, provide certified copies for all owners, as well as a statement that must be signed by all owners of this apartment.
Provide a photocopy of the technical passport of the premises. In the case where the apartment being converted is municipal, the consent in writing of all members of the tenant's family and the consent of all residents living in this house is required, i.e. minutes of the general meeting of owners of residential premises.
Take and attach the conclusion of the body that is responsible for monuments of architecture, cultural and historical value, if the house or premises in which the housing is located is a monument of history, architecture or. Provide a correctly completed project for reconstruction or redevelopment when installing individual gas heating. It includes two parts: the first is gasification, the second is the reconstruction of the central system. If a decision is made to install an electric boiler with a power of up to 3 kW, you must attach a copy of the boiler’s passport, technical conditions or energy supply agreement, where a maximum power greater than the boiler’s power is allowed.
Collect permits and technical conditions for the possibility of installing individual heating in your home. These include: technical conditions for disconnecting the indoor heating distribution from the central heating system; technical ventilation conditions in this room; technical conditions for connecting gas networks in your apartment for an individual heating system; if the owner wants to install an individual heating system on the loggia, then a project for reconstructing the loggia should be prepared.
Apply for permission to install autonomous heating with the above package of documents to the interdepartmental commission, which is responsible for the use of the housing stock. It is located in the administration of the corresponding settlement. The answer will be given within 45 days. Based on a positive decision, the relevant services will carry out work on the reconstruction of utility networks for the home owner. After this, contact the settlement administration again to issue an acceptance certificate. Then take it to the real estate registration organization.
Instead of a preface
The most terrible month for me used to always be September, the nights were already getting cold, it was starting to rain, the temperature in the apartment fluctuated around 20 degrees, or even less, but the heating was always turned on in early October. It was necessary to hold out until they arrived. How?
I took my trusty home “fur coat” out of the closet - a bathrobe, put on woolen socks and bought packs of green tea. This entire arsenal helped to at least somehow warm up until October. This article will be especially appreciated by hypotensive people, and in general by people with problem blood vessels, who have cold legs and arms even in the heat.
A few years ago I decided to improve my living conditions and bought an apartment in a new building. But I became the owner of not a simple apartment, but one with individual heating or, more simply, a boiler.
Today there are more and more such projects. Not only townhouses are equipped with boilers, but also ordinary low- and mid-rise apartment buildings. By the way, my house has 9 floors. In Moscow, all new buildings have central heating, but in New Moscow and, especially in the Moscow region, there are projects with individual heating: residential complex "May", residential complex "Pavlovsky Quarter" (OPIN), residential complex "ZaMitino", residential complex "Novogorsk Park", etc. .
So, if you live in an apartment with central heating, but are looking at an apartment (or townhouse) with a boiler, there are a few things you need to know about it. I’ll say right away that this text will not contain praises for the boiler, because this type of heating is not suitable for everyone. But, if it does, then it will be impossible to get away from the boiler.
Pros of an apartment with a boiler
I have a German Buderus boiler installed in my apartment. There are other common brands: Viessmann, Baxi, Bosch, Vaillant, Navien. There are also domestic brands - Rostovgazapparat, Lemax, ATON. As the owner of an apartment with a boiler, I now “sit” on several specialized forums, where we all share useful information, pros and cons.
First, about the good, about the advantages. I have only 3 meters in my apartment: for cold water, for gas and for electricity. All. I don't pay for central heating or hot water. That is why I am not afraid of planned and emergency shutdowns of hot water. Operation “basin” is a thing of the past.
I am no longer afraid of September, when the apartment becomes uncomfortable, cold and I have to walk around in three pants, socks and a robe to stop my teeth chattering. I can set the thermostat to the temperature I want, whenever I want, and heat the apartment. When the thermostat fixes the set temperature, the boiler turns off itself. And it turns on again when the thermostat “realizes” that the apartment has cooled down.
But the main advantage of the boiler is, of course, savings. In the first month after moving, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I counted how much gas I used - I had to pay 400 rubles for April. This is together with heating the water and taking into account cooking (and I often use the oven, which is also gas). In the old apartment (an ordinary panel house), in winter I had to pay 2500-2800 just for central heating. Yes, the radiators were hot, and it was always around 27-28 degrees in the apartment (the guests said “well, you have Africa!”), but isn’t it preferable to set it to 25 degrees and pay less?
Isn't it great that you can turn off the batteries when it's a warm day? In a word, in a new apartment with a footage of 70 square meters. meters, I pay 350-400 rubles for gas per month in the spring, whereas in my previous apartment of 50 square meters. meters almost 3 thousand rubles. Of course, even a cold spring is not a winter with frosts of 30 degrees, so I “tortured” the craftsmen who did my repairs - were they frozen in this harsh winter? Did the boiler work well? According to reviews, it was normal, they worked in T-shirts, no one died.
A big plus of apartments with boilers is that according to the project, the owner of the apartment can make himself not an electric, but a water floor. Warm floors are like radiators only horizontal. My friends who live in a townhouse did just that. According to them, the air in the rooms warms up so quickly that a warm floor can easily replace radiators. I can only dream about it, because... I received an apartment with a screed in which pipes were already laid (radial wiring), but, for example, the central part of the hallway I got with this very warm floor, because... there are pipes to the radiators in the nursery and to the heated towel rail in the bathroom.
The consumption of cold water, of course, turns out to be more, but not by much. If in my previous apartment I used 3-4 cubic meters of cold water and 2-3 hot water (for two), then in this apartment I get 8-9 cubic meters of cold water per month.
Speaking of cold water. Recently, a cold water pipe burst a block away from us. And that’s it - there was no water in the taps, and fixing the pipe took almost 6 hours (okay, the day turned out to be warm). But this problem is also true for houses with central heating; there, too, when repairing pipes in the courtyards, absolutely everything is turned off: both the water in the taps and in the radiators.
A big plus: heating in an apartment with a boiler does not depend on accidents - the water in the system (in the batteries) is sealed (watch the pressure in the system - it should ideally be 1.5 bar), so even if a pipe breaks in the yard - you have apartment, the water will spin in the radiators, passing through the boiler and heating up there, i.e. the apartment will be warm whenever you want.
But, yes, here I smoothly move on to the disadvantages of individual heating. The second disadvantage is that if you live in an old area, there is a high probability that communications are outdated, which means that electricity can “jump”; unfortunately, boilers are dependent on power surges. Therefore, you will have to buy and additionally install a voltage stabilizer (in Leroy Merlin from 5 thousand rubles).
As for concerns that boilers “eat” a lot of electricity, there is no need to be afraid; on average, a boiler consumes 120 watts, i.e. like one light bulb (a washing machine or a multicooker eats much more). But when it comes to hard water, this is where you should be wary. Advertising about washing machines, where the heating element can become covered with scale and fail, is also relevant for boilers.
Craftsmen write amazing stories on forums about how to clean the heating element of a boiler with citric acid and other heart-warming posts about how to get rid of scale. I do not recommend self-medication; I entered into an agreement with a service company (accredited by Gazprom), whose employees come once a year and service the boiler. It includes removing scale, dust and diagnosing electronics. The issue price is 2-2.5 thousand rubles. There are many companies that service gas appliances, and you can find them cheaper.
You can also simply install a filter and change it after some time - depending on how hard the water is in your area. Our developer did it simpler - he installed a water treatment plant under the house for all 200 apartments. As soon as the house was 60-70% occupied, it was launched. But, as you understand, this does not cancel servicing once a year. Dust, which accumulates a lot during repairs in the boiler, is just as harmful to it as scale on the heating element (tubular electric heater).
Some brands of boilers can be quite noisy - this is another disadvantage. For example, my Buderus works quietly, but my friends have a Baxi boiler, and although after 3 years of living with it they have already gotten used to it, they do not deny that the boiler makes noise from time to time (when you have to heat both water and radiators, i.e. work at full capacity). When I asked them how noisy is the boiler? They replied that it was a little stronger than a refrigerator. So a small 1-room apartment with a boiler for an elderly person, especially if he is sensitive to noise, may not be the best option for living.
Well, the last disadvantage of boilers is that it is difficult to “hide” when buying a kitchen. This, in my opinion, is both fair and not. In the process of selecting a kitchen set, I contacted 4 companies. Two of them drew me beautiful kitchens, but ignored the functionality of the boiler. I mean that when a specialist from a service company or just a gas technician comes to you with a routine check, he should have easy access to the boiler. Therefore, various doors and cabinets must be opened or quickly removed so that a person does not have to perform diagnostics of the boiler in a half-bent position.
Please note that gas workers may fine you if you “brick up” the boiler, because “but it’s so beautiful.” Unfortunately, aesthetics take a back seat here. In addition, if, due to a beautiful, but incorrect design, the boiler fails in winter, I’m afraid that beauty will not warm you in 20-degree frost.
However, today the kitchen design market is diverse, and it is quite easy to hide the boiler so that it is always accessible. The cheapest and most minimalistic way, in my opinion, is a regular roller blind (you pull the string, the boiler opens), however, there is a nuance: it is advisable not to install anything butt to the boiler, and also not to attach it at the top.
So, let's summarize.
Boiler advantages:
Hot water outages are not a problem;
You can turn on the batteries and heat the apartment at any time;
You can heat your home by setting an individual (comfortable) temperature;
Possibility of making a warm water floor;
Savings, significant monetary savings;
Now the cons:
The boiler’s dependence on power surges, which can cause the electronics to fail and require repairs;
Water hardness can damage the heating element and it will have to be replaced;
Some brands of boilers are quite noisy;
- you need to “hide” the boiler in the kitchen unit so that it can be easily accessed on demand.
Now some numbers - we have a text about personal experience. Now, in the spring, I consume no more than 10 cubic meters of gas per day (take, for example, the recently ended April), because... I heat the apartment before going to bed and in the morning, after I have ventilated it. On warm days, when heating is not required at all, 1-2 cubic meters of gas are consumed per day. The price of one cubic meter of gas is 4.7 rubles - do the math yourself (in September 2018, a cubic meter of gas already costs 5.3 rubles - approx. Novostroy-M).
A cube of cold water costs a little more than 20 rubles, if 8-10 cubes are used per month, then we get 200 rubles and kopecks. Boiler maintenance is carried out once a year and costs, as I wrote above, 2-2.5 thousand rubles, that is, as much as I paid per month for central heating.
Of course, in modern new buildings there are heat meters at the entrance to the apartment. However, it’s like with one electricity supply - no matter how much electricity is “burned”, the common house balance will be scattered across all apartments, and you will have to pay. With the boiler, everything is strict - how much gas they used, that’s what they paid for.
This text should not be taken as propaganda “buy apartments with individual heating!” Even I couldn’t live in a small apartment with a noisy boiler. But the very fact that the modern market of new buildings offers an alternative to central heating is very encouraging. Tomorrow, they again promise no higher than +4 degrees, I’ll go and hug my boiler.
Publication date May 10, 2017