Boiler for heating a private house: how to choose

When choosing a boiler for heating a private house, many factors must be taken into account. To do this, it is necessary to have information about the main features of each type of boilers, their advantages and disadvantages. 

How to choose a boiler for your home

When choosing a heating boiler, several factors must be taken into account at once. The first is which of the types of fuel in your area is the most affordable. This refers not only to the price, but also the availability of this type of fuel in warehouses or the possibility of its production / purchase without any problems.

The second thing you need to pay attention to is the possibility of autonomous work. If someone is constantly in the house, this item can be omitted. But if everyone is at work or school during the working week, then it is better if the boiler for heating a private house can work for a long time without human intervention.

The third factor is ease of use and the need for maintenance. Not everyone and not always wants to regularly visit the heating boiler. In this case, it is better to take the most automated version. Yes, they are more expensive, but maintenance is minimal. As for maintenance – some types of fuel require regular cleaning – combustion chambers or burners. If this aspect does not please you, you should choose a boiler that needs minimal maintenance. By the way, these are units that run on gas and electricity.

If there is gas

If a gas main passes near the house, it makes sense to consider buying a gas boiler. At the moment, in most regions, gas heating is the cheapest. At the same time, gas heating boilers are autonomous – you can not approach them for weeks, they practically do not require maintenance work. The only drawback of such a solution is the considerable amount that the connection to the highway costs.

Types of gas boilers

According to the type of location, gas heating boilers are wall-mounted and floor-mounted. The maximum power of wall-mounted options is 60 kW, there are floor-standing units of 100 kW or more. In addition, some models can work in a cascade. What are the advantages of wall-mounted gas boilers? The fact that they can be mounted in the kitchen, especially since the design is suitable for kitchen design.

A separate room is required for installation of a gas floor-standing boiler with a power of more than 60 kW. This can be a room allocated in the house or an extension with a separate entrance – a boiler room. Read about the requirements for such premises for installing a gas boiler here.

You can install a gas boiler even if there is no main, but it is possible to buy liquefied gas. In this option, they put a floor-standing gas boiler with a burner that can work with liquefied gas (usually a reconfiguration is required). As for the efficiency of such heating, it is difficult to say right away: you need to consider how much 1 kW of heat costs when using available fuel options. Draw conclusions based on the results of the calculations.

Types of burners

Two types of burners can be installed in wall-mounted gas boilers – atmospheric (open) and turbocharged (closed). Atmospheric burners require a chimney with good draft, turbocharged burners are connected to a coaxial chimney, which can be led directly through the wall near the boiler.

These combustion chambers also differ in the way in which combustion air is taken. In open burners, air is taken from the room, therefore, in such rooms, supply ventilation of sufficient power must be equipped. In closed combustion chambers, oxygen is supplied through one of the pipes of the coaxial chimney. Therefore, there are no special requirements for ventilation. But turbocharged boilers have their drawbacks: a chimney led into the wall can become overgrown with frost, snow, etc. In this case, the boiler does not turn on.

When choosing a gas boiler, you should also pay attention to the number of positions in which the gas burner can operate. There are three modifications:

• Single stage. There are only two modes of operation – at full power and off. The cheapest burners, but the gas consumption is the largest, that is, such boilers are uneconomical in operation.
• Two-stage. There are two modes of operation – at 100% power and at 50%. The third position is off. These burners are already more economical, it is easier to maintain the set temperature with them.
• Modulated. The most expensive, but also the most economical burners. Depending on the need, they can be switched on both at full power and at 10%, and the adjustment is smooth.

It is clear that in the long run, a boiler for heating a private house with a modulating burner is better. They are more expensive when purchased, but more economical during operation.

Condensing gas boilers

Above, we talked about traditional gas boilers for heating a private house. They are also called high-temperature ones, since at the exit they give out a coolant with a temperature of 45-50 ° C and above. Such units are ideal for working with radiator heating.

Condensing boilers are distinguished by the fact that they are efficient when operating in low-temperature mode – with a temperature in the return pipe no higher than +40°C. In this case, the gas is used most economically – due to the condensation of the vapors contained in the flue gases, a greater amount of heat is transferred, which leads to a significant reduction in gas consumption.

This feature of condensing boilers makes them ideal for home heating with warm water floors. This boiler for heating a private house can produce a coolant of + 35 ° C at the outlet, then the return temperature will be about + 30 ° C. Due to this, heating will be economical.

But, as usual, it was not without flaws. First, the resulting condensate is very caustic. Therefore, the chimney should only be made of stainless steel, and of high quality. The second drawback is that the price of condensing boilers is higher than traditional ones of the same capacity. This is due to a more complex scheme and also to the fact that materials resistant to condensate are used.

On electricity

If there is a technical possibility (a significant amount of kilowatts has been allocated), an electric boiler can be installed to heat a private house. In terms of ease of operation, these are better units. If there is electricity, they work in a given mode, are almost silent, do not require maintenance. Their main disadvantage is the large sums that have to be paid for heating.

Types of electric boilers

Today, there are three types of electric boilers for heating a private house:

• On the heating elements. The most common and familiar type of electric boilers. More economical in operation are units that can operate in several power modes (multi-stage). Disadvantages – rather low efficiency – due to heating losses of the heating elements themselves. Advantage – simple repair and relatively inexpensive consumables (heating elements).
  

  

• Induction. These boilers use the release of heat when electromagnetic induction occurs. In such electric boilers, water is heated when passing through an inductive coil. Sellers (and owners of such boilers) say that such installations are more economical than heating elements – there are no losses for heating heating elements, there is practically no inertia. The advantages of such boilers include their small size. They are a small piece of pipe – from 35 cm long to a meter or something (depending on power). The disadvantage of such equipment is that in the absence of a coolant flow, the induction boiler overheats and burns out very quickly.
  

  

• Electrode. This type of boiler for heating a private house is the least popular, although it is also positioned as more economical. The thing is that the electrolyte must circulate in the pipes – water with certain electrical characteristics. This is necessary because the coolant is heated due to the release of heat when current passes between the two electrodes. The device is simple, but requires monitoring of the state of the coolant and electrodes. The fact that the heating system is actually energized does not add to the popularity.

In general, if you are thinking of installing an electric boiler for heating a private house, choose between a traditional heating element or an induction one.

How to make heating cheaper

If there are multi-zone tariffs in the region and an installed two-tariff electric meter, the use of an electric boiler for heating a house can be made not so expensive. To do this, a high-capacity heat accumulator is installed in the system. The water in it is heated during the night, lower tariff. During the day, during the expensive tariff, the boiler is turned off and the temperature is maintained by transferring the heat stored in the heat accumulator.

Solid fuel boilers

Despite all the shortcomings, solid fuel boilers for heating a private house are used in most cases. Probably, this is largely due to habit and traditions, but the fact remains that there are more solid fuel boilers in our country than all others.

Basically, two types of solid fuels are used for heating – wood and coal. What is easier to get and cheaper to buy, so they basically drown. And boilers – for coal and firewood, you need to use different ones: in wood-burning solid fuel boilers, the loading chamber is made larger – so that more firewood can be laid. In TT coal boilers, the furnace is made smaller in size, but with thicker walls: the combustion temperature is very high.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of these units include:

• Inexpensive (relatively) heating.
• Simple and reliable design of boilers.
• There are non-volatile models that work without electricity.

Serious disadvantages:

• Cyclic operation. The house is either hot or cold. To level this shortcoming, a heat accumulator is installed in the system – a large container with water. It stores heat during the active combustion phase, and then, when the fuel load burns out, the stored heat is spent to maintain a normal temperature.
• The need for regular maintenance. Firewood and coal must be laid, kindled, then the intensity of combustion must be regulated. After burning out, the firebox must be cleaned and the process restarted. Very troublesome.
  

  

• Inability to leave the house for a long time. Due to the cyclical operation, the presence of a person is necessary: ​​fuel must be thrown up, otherwise the system may freeze during prolonged downtime.
• The process of loading fuel and cleaning the boiler is a rather dirty task. When choosing an installation site, this should be taken into account: the boiler should be placed as close as possible to the front door so as not to carry dirt through the entire room.

Generally speaking, the use of a solid fuel boiler for heating a private house is an inconvenient solution. Although the purchase of fuel, as a rule, is relatively inexpensive, but if you calculate the time spent, it is not so cheap.

Long burning boilers

Long-burning boilers were developed to increase the interval between fuel fillings. They use two technologies:

• Pyrolysis. Pyrolysis solid fuel boilers have two or three combustion chambers. The fuel filling in them burns with a lack of oxygen. In this mode, a large amount of flue gases are formed, most of which are combustible. Moreover, during combustion, they emit much more heat than firewood or the same coal. These gases enter the second chamber, where air is supplied through special openings. Mixing with it, combustible gases ignite, releasing an additional portion of heat.
  

  

• Top burning mode. In traditional solid fuel boilers, fire spreads from bottom to top. Because of this, most of the bookmark burns, the fuel burns out quickly. During active combustion, the system and the house often overheat, which is very uncomfortable. When using top burning, the fire is kindled only in the upper part of the bookmark. At the same time, only a small part of the firewood burns, which evens out the thermal regime and increases the burning time of the bookmark.
  

  

How effective are these technologies? Pretty effective. Depending on the design, one bookmark of firewood can burn from 6-8 to 24 hours, and coal – from 10-12 hours to several days. But to obtain such a result, it is necessary to use high quality fuel. Both firewood and coal must be dry. This is the main requirement. When using wet fuel, the boiler may not even enter the smoldering mode, that is, it will not start heating. If you have a woodcutter with a two to three year supply of firewood or a large shed that stores coal, a long-burning boiler for heating a private house is a good choice. Better than normal.

Liquid fuel

The least common are heating boilers for a private house on liquid fuel. Too many disadvantages of this type of heating:

• Fuel is expensive.
• It must be stored somewhere, and this is a large container that must be installed somewhere not very far from home so that fuel can be supplied to the boiler.
• For normal operation of the heating, it is necessary to heat the storage tank, as at low temperatures the heating oil thickens and clogs the burner.
• During operation, the burner makes noise and smells, so such equipment requires either a separate boiler room or an extension, but with good sound insulation and ventilation.
  

  

In general, it makes sense to install a liquid fuel boiler for heating a private house if you have a free (or almost) source of fuel. In all other cases, it is better to use other heating equipment.

Pellet boilers

Boilers working on pellets are difficult to attribute to any class, because they are usually discussed separately. The fuel for this type of boiler is small pellets made from compressed sawdust. A bunker is made for storing pellets near the boiler. Its size determines the battery life of the equipment. With enough space, the bunker can be made for several tons of fuel. The minimum size is for a couple of buckets, which is enough for a day of work.

The pellet heating boiler is equipped with a special burner. Pellets from the bunker are automatically fed into the combustion zone, where they burn almost without residue. Granules of normal quality give only 3-5% of ash. Therefore, cleaning is rarely required – once a week or even once every few weeks. The equipment is fully automated, with a sufficient supply of fuel, you can not visit for weeks.

But even here it was not without drawbacks. The first is the high price of equipment. The second is the exactingness to the quality of the pellets. They should have a low ash content, good calorific value, should not break and crumble. Otherwise, a pellet boiler for heating a private house is a good choice. Its plus is that waste from the woodworking industry is used.

Combined boilers

There is also such a modification of heating boilers as combined heaters. The most popular option is a solid fuel boiler with several electric heating elements. Such units while burning wood or coal work as TT equipment, when the fire goes out, the boiler cools down slightly, the electrical part turns on. In this case, heating elements are not able to fully heat the house, but they manage to support the system. That is, in the morning it will not be cold in the house. Yes, and in the event of a long absence of heating elements, they will not allow to freeze the system.

Another popular option is combined TT boilers with liquid fuel burners. In such units there are two separate combustion chambers. One for solid fuel, the second – for a burner with liquid fuel.

The advantages of such boilers are obvious: several types of fuel can be used. The disadvantage is the high price and average efficiency – the efficiency of each of the parts is not too high. So a combined boiler for heating a private house is a controversial decision.

How to choose a boiler for heating a private house

To make it easier to navigate when choosing, let’s systematize the information. Consider the most typical requirements that affect the choice of boiler type:

• The most economical heating. The cheapest way to heat is wood / coal and gas. Next come pellets, liquid fuels and electricity. In general, this is true, but the situation strongly depends on the region. Somewhere electricity will be cheaper, somewhere liquid fuel. In general, you have to count.
• degree of autonomy. The most automated are gas, electric and pellet units. They can be left at work unattended. A little attention is required for liquid fuel. The least automated are solid propellant.
  

  

• Difficulty connecting. The most difficult thing is with the design and connection of gas. There may be problems with the allocation of power for electric heating – not all substations have a reserve. With the rest, everything is simple: the main thing is to follow the recommendations for a safe installation.

Given the availability and availability of fuel, making your choice is not difficult.