Do-it-yourself heating in a private house

A private home has significant advantages over living in an apartment building, as it becomes possible to completely design a home to your liking. This also applies to the creation of heat with the help of modern autonomous heating systems.

Before making your choice, it is necessary to analyze each of the options according to the following criteria: financial costs, system life, availability of power sources, degree of automation, operating mode, the need for a special room for the boiler.

What heating options are used in private homes

The most popular are water, gas, electric, stove and steam heating. Most autonomous heating systems for a private house use a boiler in which the coolant is heated to the desired temperature. Solid or liquid fuels, electricity, gas can be used as fuel. You will also need pipes stretched to convectors, radiators and underfloor heating, through which the heated coolant will flow.

water

“Water” heating does not imply the use of water only. Both water and antifreeze or antifreeze can flow through the pipeline at a temperature of 40 to 90 degrees. Giving off heat, the liquid flows back into the boiler using a circulation pump. There are two main types of water heating: gravity (with natural circulation of the fluid) and forced circulation (when the fluid flows under pressure created by the pump).

Advantages and disadvantages of water heating 

Gas

A private house can also be heated with gas, which is heated in gas boilers and transported through pipes to residential premises. There are two types of gas heating: main (gas enters a private house through main pipes) and liquefied (liquefied gas cylinders are used, or gas tanks – gas holders).

Advantages and disadvantages of gas heating

Electrical

With electric heating, the following heating devices are used: electric heaters, electric fireplaces, convectors, “warm floors”. 

Advantages and disadvantages of electric heating

Oven

This type of heating as the main one is most often used in summer cottages; in year-round cottages, such heating is used as additional heating. Fireplaces and stoves are fired with coal, firewood, pressed wood pellets. Stove heating can be understood as two types: when the stove (brick or otherwise) is in the room, or the stove can be connected to a water heating system. This happens, but rarely, because it is very expensive. But, for example, this method used to be very common in country showers, there are no obstacles to using it today. 

Advantages and disadvantages of furnace heating

Steam

The principle of operation of steam heating is similar to water heating, only in this case, instead of water, heated steam moves through the pipes, which is formed in the boiler as a result of heating the water. As soon as it reaches the radiators, condensation occurs, and the water is pumped back to the boiler for heating. 

Advantages and disadvantages of steam heating

Expert Council

Roman Gladkikh, technical director of FRISQUET

In an individual house, the heating option with its own gas boiler will be the most preferable. I would divide the heating in my house into several zones with their own temperatures, this will help increase the comfort of being in the house and really reduce heating costs, since with this approach, the room will certainly not overheat. Today, heating can be implemented both on warm floors and on heating radiators.

The issue of hot water supply is also very simply solved using, for example, a double-circuit boiler with a DHW half-accumulation mode. This option will also be preferable, since with such a boiler it is possible to recirculate hot water without problems, which will make the consumption of hot water in an individual house comparable to a city apartment, that is, without delays and drains of cold water after opening a hot water tap.

How to choose the best type of heating for your home 

For a wooden house

Even in the recent past, heat in a wooden house was provided by a brick stove. Currently, there are many more options to make your home warm. However, the vast majority of owners of wooden houses prefer gas heating. Its advantages are: cheap fuel, the ability to create a completely autonomous heating system, high efficiency, ease of operation and durability (a high-quality gas boiler will last at least 15 years). The main disadvantage is the need to obtain permission to install it. If the house is small, then electric heating with convectors is also suitable. In the event that the house is more than 100 sq m, the best option is gas-fired water heating. 

For a brick house

For heating a brick house, water and gas equipment is most often used. It is the most common for all types of houses, but mostly brick house owners love it. This is due to the optimal ratio of price and quality. In addition to these types of heating, others can be used, for example, electric heating. “Warm floor” will create a comfortable environment for walking without shoes.

For a frame house

The main problem of heating frame houses is a large heat loss associated with the presence of cavities in the walls and racks made of timber with a section. A lot of heat also escapes through the ceiling, which requires special work to insulate the house. After the house is well insulated, combined heating systems can be used, i.e. a combination of, for example, water and electric heating. Specialists here also give priority to water and gas heating, however, in addition to them, you can use “warm floor” and convectors. Stove heating is not recommended, as it greatly pollutes the room. This is a common disadvantage of this heating, characteristic of all types of houses, which is associated with the use of coal and firewood. In addition, the air around the house is smoky, and the chimney must be cleaned regularly.

Expert Council

Vasily Tyutin, lawyer, inventorautonomous power supply system for a houseboat».

I have lived in a private house for over 15 years. He independently designed the heating system (diesel + electricity), then reworked it after connecting it to the main gas pipeline.

All heating systems, except for electric ones, in fact assume centralization and delivery of heat to the premises using a heat carrier. In a small old house with a stove, air acts as a coolant; in modern conditions, water is usually used as a coolant (with permanent residence) or various types of “non-freezing” (in summer cottage mode). A boiler is used as a central device, which heats the coolant.

Heating on electricity allows you to create a decentralized system in which each heated room will have its own heating device with thermoregulation, which turns on when needed. The electric heating system allows for maximum comfort and control, while it is also the most expensive option, many times more expensive than other heating systems.

Heating systems can be divided into high temperature и low temperature. The former imply a coolant temperature of more than 60 degrees (normally 75-80) and a relatively small size of heating devices, the latter imply a coolant temperature of up to 55 degrees and relatively large sizes of heating devices, in particular a warm floor with a large heat transfer area.

Many people mistakenly design gas heating systems according to the principles of high-temperature systems. Although modern gas boilers are condensing, they can be effectively built as low-temperature ones, providing a coolant supply range of 35-55 degrees. The low temperature heating system is more comfortable and economical.

The choice of a heating system is actually not a choice, but the use of available opportunities. If you have main gas, you definitely need to make a heating system based on a gas boiler, and when it comes to new construction, it makes sense to immediately design it as a low-temperature system, with a condensing boiler, heated floors and relatively large batteries.

How to install heating in a private house with your own hands

Water heating installation

For the installation of water heating in a private house, you will need the following equipment: a stove or boiler running on gas or electricity, heating radiators, pipes of various diameters, valves, an expansion tank that compensates for excess pressure in the system, a circulation pump if a forced circulation heating system is used .

When heating a private house, an electric boiler is often used, in which the liquid heat carrier is heated. Electric boilers can be heating elements, induction or electrode (ionic). Before installing the boiler, it is necessary to choose the right place so that it is easy to connect the heating system piping and control its operation. The installation of an electric boiler itself is not particularly difficult and is similar to the installation of other types of boilers.

There are the following options for installing water heating: using one pipe, two pipes, using collectors. The easiest installation method is a single-pipe heating system. With this option, only one pipe is laid around the entire perimeter of the house. It leaves the supply pipe of the boiler, and enters the opposite one. Branches are made from this pipe for each radiator. This type of heating is not only the most convenient for installation, but also the cheapest.

With a two-pipe heating system, a pipe with hot water is supplied under each radiator, and the cooled water descends through the return line into the boiler.

Do-it-yourself installation of water heating is as follows: 

1. arrangement of the room for the boiler and installation of the boiler;
2. connecting a pump (if needed) or installing a manifold (if provided);
3. fixing all measuring and control devices near the boiler;
4. arrangement of main pipelines;
5. installation of heating radiators;
6. system check. 

Installation of gas heating

The rules for installing gas heating in a private house are similar to installing water heating. Gas boilers can be single-circuit (designed only for heating) and double-circuit (supplying hot water as well); floor and wall.

Do-it-yourself gas heating installation involves the following steps: 

1. install the boiler and connect it to the chimney, through which the products of gas combustion are removed; 
2. mount pipes and fix them on the walls with the help of special brackets; 
3. in the case of using forced circulation of the coolant, a circulation pump is installed on the return pipe at the entrance to the boiler; 
4. a coarse filter is mounted in front of the pump; 
5. at a height of about two meters from the middle of the boiler, an expansion tank is installed; 
6. under the windows, not lower than ten centimeters from the floor, radiators are mounted; 
7. connect pipes to the boiler; 
8. fill the system with coolant and start the boiler.

Installation of electric heating

For electric heating using fan heaters, oil radiators, convectors or infrared heaters, it is necessary to install a separate power outlet and a residual current device (RCD) in each room using wiring (2.5 mm cross-section is recommended for a power of not more than 5 kW). A five-core cable is recommended for the operation of an electric boiler.

The “warm floor” system is created by laying a single-core or two-core cable, covered with a floor covering on top. The thermostat used can be programmable, overhead or built-in.

How to calculate the required power of heaters

The total power of the electric heater for the room can be calculated as follows:

1. Find the volume of the room by multiplying the area by the height.
2. The result obtained is divided by 30 (a constant coefficient offered by manufacturers). 

For example, the area of ​​​​the room is 18 square meters. m, and the height of the walls is 2,8 m. We get about 50,4 cubic meters. m. Divide it by 30. The required heater power is 1,68 kW or 1700 W, if this figure is rounded.

There is a simpler way of calculating, according to which 100 W of heater power is needed for each square meter. So for 20 sq. m. you need 2000 W, for 30 sq. m. – 3000 W, etc. It should be borne in mind that this method can be used if the ceilings in the room are not higher than 3 meters.

It is also worth considering that none of the proposed formulas takes into account the properties of the materials from which the house is built, the quality of construction and other features of the premises.

Wood stove installation

It is necessary to place a metal furnace in that place of a private house where there is no strong air movement. It is not allowed to install wood-burning heating equipment in rooms less than 16 sq. m. The stove itself must be at least 110-130 cm away from the walls, so it cannot be placed in narrow rooms. If the house is two-story, then each floor will need its own stove.

Before starting installation, a pre-furnace steel sheet with a thickness of at least 1 mm is necessarily mounted under the furnace. Installation of the furnace itself does not cause any particular difficulties, here you just need to follow the fire safety instructions. The chimney is installed as follows:

1. A hole is cut between the beams, corresponding in size to the square part of the cut (a special factory-made box); 
2. After that, the assembly of the chimney begins: a pipe must be connected to the chimney outlet, a slide valve designed to regulate draft is mounted above; 
3. The tightness of the joints is ensured by special heat-resistant compounds; 
4. The chimney is passed through a box in the ceiling, and the space between the walls is filled with basalt fiber.

Installing a brick oven is usually done during the construction of a house – this is ideal. A brick oven can also be installed in an existing house, but it will have to build a foundation, which can be very laborious and even impractical.

Installation of equipment for steam heating

Installation of equipment for steam heating in a private house is similar to the installation of water and gas heating. The key point here is the choice of steam boiler. They are of the following types: liquid fuel (run on gasoline and diesel fuel), solid fuel (on coal and peat), gas (natural and liquefied gas), combined.

During installation, the steam heating pipeline can be located both vertically and horizontally. The wiring of highways is carried out according to the upper or lower scheme. In the process of choosing pipes, the features of the room where they will be located should be taken into account.

Installation of steam heating involves the following sequence: 

1. Installation of the boiler in a special room;
2. Pump connection;
3. Collector installation;
4. Fixing the necessary control devices near the boiler;
5. Carrying out main pipelines;
6. Installation of heating radiators;
7. System check.