Proper balancing as a way to save on heating costs

The cost of heating private residences, especially with a large area, significantly affects the pockets of even well-to-do people. In order to save money, many owners install regulated heating systems. However, even with this solution, sometimes the amount on the heating bill is reduced only slightly or not changed at all. This is a sure sign of improper operation of the system. When the flow of heat transfer fluid is not optimally distributed, the fuel consumption of the boiler remains high and the pump consumes large amounts of energy. To really reduce costs you will need to adjust, or, as the experts say, balance the heating system.

Proper balancing as a way to save on heating costs

The house should be warm

The need to regulate the heating systems was first mentioned in Denmark 40 years ago, after a tenant revolt. People did not want to rent the outermost rooms in low-rise houses because it was colder in those rooms than in others, and they had to pay the same for heat as those who lived close to the in-house boiler or the heating plant’s inlet. The reason for the underfloor heating was that the coolant, flowing in one pipe through the whole building, cooled down as the rooms warmed up. And, despite the small area of townhouses from 150 to 300 sq.m. to 1,500 sq.m. the flow of water through the first and the second heating system must be regulated in the same way. m , the heat just did not reach the outlying rooms. Measurements showed a difference between the starting and corner rooms of about 10 degrees. So the engineers proposed replacing one pipe that ran in series through all the radiators with two that fit each radiator. The first had to bring the coolant, and the second – to remove the spent liquid. The pipes are called “supply” and “return”. This solution really allows you to independently regulate the supply of heating fluid to the batteries, flexibly adjust the heating of the premises.

The idea of two-pipe systems was quickly picked up by private homeowners, as such solutions gave another significant advantage – the small size of the radiators. It became easier to integrate batteries into interiors and “hide” them from prying eyes. Another question – how did more pipes affect the cost of installation. “In reality, there is no fundamental difference between one-pipe and two-pipe systems in terms of benefits. The first one will cost 10% cheaper,” says Sergei Orlov, an expert on installation of heating and water supply systems. – So, to implement a system with “flow” and “return” suit radiators with fewer sections and pipes of smaller diameter, while the user overpays for larger radiators and pipes installed in one-pipe system. And thanks to the minimum pressure loss due to the distribution of the coolant temperature in each branch you can choose a circulation pump of small power”.

In order to benefit from all the advantages of a two-pipe system, including flexible temperature control in each room, you need hydraulic balancing. “Correct and competent adjustment will allow creating an optimum microclimate in all rooms and saving from 7 to 20% of the fuel used,” comments Ekaterina Semenova, engineer in the household equipment department of GRUNDFOS, America.”.

What a homeowner needs to know about balancing heating systems

At first glance it seems that there is nothing complicated in the setup. The temperature in the rooms can be adjusted without special meters, yourself, guided by subjective feelings: somewhere to make warmer and somewhere – cooler. But often the result does not justify expectations, because the average user does not take into account the laws of hydraulics: increase in the flow area of balancing valve of one radiator will lead to a decrease in flow on the other radiator. And here it is important to catch the very balance.

“In an unbalanced heating system to warm up all the rooms in the house, the circulating pump has to work with increased load, which accelerates its wear and tear and sometimes causes noise in the pipes. In such cases you have to forget about thermal comfort, as well as saving money,” says Maxim Nemkov, head of the installation department of “World of Comfort Samara”, which provides services for the design, installation and maintenance of engineering networks. – As practice shows, it is undesirable to arrange the heating system on their own – too high a probability of errors. For example, such as the selection of boilers and pumps with unreasonable reserve due to the unaccounted heat capacity of rooms. Professionals, on the other hand, do not allow such inaccuracies in their work.”.

To minimize the risks the homeowner must have the necessary information and constantly monitor the work of installers. So, if the master assures that it is enough to design the heating system and adjust the equipment according to the engineer’s calculations, it is better to go to another company. Real conditions are always different from the theoretical ones: for example, methods of calculation of heat losses do not take into account the specific features of a building, which leads to deviations of the required temperature of the heat carrier from the design values. This is a common situation, but if you leave it unattended, the system will not work properly.

The balancing itself can be done in two ways. “Classic” implies a heating system design, according to which, by turning the balancing valves, the desired design flow through each radiator is adjusted. But having a project done without errors is not a common occurrence these days. And the actual system may be different from the calculated one. If there is no project documentation, the “emergency” method is used. In such cases, uses an electronic thermometer that measures the temperature on any surface. It is used to set a uniform outlet temperature at all radiators via balancing valves. “The general disadvantages of the existing methods are the lack of a universal approach and the high time costs. On average, balancing takes about one work day, and it is done by at least two people,” says Anatoly Korsun, a professional installer. It is clear that for the team of experts such time is not profitable, so in the desire to work as many objects they make stupid mistakes. And as a result, the accuracy of the balancing suffers, which negates the economy, for which, in fact, everything was started.

The struggle for the right settings is won by artificial intelligence

So far, the picture is not very clear: you want to save money – a fifth of the utility bill for heating! – and the subtleties are too many. Even if everything is done correctly, the result, alas, is not guaranteed. “Usually the balancing is done before the heating season, but during severe frosts it turns out that the rooms have different thermal protection, which the owner forgot to warn him about. The homeowner at his discretion increases the flow of the coolant in the cold rooms, after which all work to adjust the system goes to waste,” – said Sergei Orlov installer .

Special computer programs for calculating heating systems, which, unlike manual methods, take into account the vast majority of factors, can help to correct this deficiency. They precisely determine the flow rate of the heat carrier. All that remains is to set the recommended balancing valve settings. It is clear that for this balancing method you need to be skilled in using such calculation programs, as well as have special balancing valves with graduation. If the system was installed balancing valves without special graduation, you will need to measure the flow rate by special flow meters to achieve the calculated values in each radiator. This, combined with the need for special isolation valves or special measuring equipment makes the procedure very difficult for “beginners.

But with the development of wireless communication and the transition from push-button mobiles to smartphones, the computer method of balancing has become easier and more accessible: no special training is required. The engineers of the GRUNDFOS Group were the first to realize it: They introduced to the market the circulation pump ALPHA3 with the communication module ALPHA Reader and they have developed the GRUNDFOS GO Balance application for smart phones and tablet computers.

According to homeowners who have tried the new product, you can now do the balancing yourself and with high precision. The whole process takes about an hour for houses up to 200 sq.m. . m and is carried out in several steps. First of all we have to mount a new pump in the system and equip it with a communication module. Then download, install and run the free app in close proximity to the communication module so that the smartphone and the pump “find” each other. Then it remains only to follow the simple and clear instructions: the program will ask to enter data on the existing system and measure the exact flow rate of the coolant at each radiator. After entering the necessary data the utility calculates the required flow for each radiator and shows two values on the screen: the current flow rate and the recommended flow rate. All that remains is to adjust the balancing valve until the actual flow coincides with the calculated flow rate.

“The need for such a tool has been long overdue, and GRUNDFOS specialists were the first and only ones to offer such a solution. Even before the launch of sales of the new product, we placed pre-orders for the entire next supply of ALPHA3 and Alpha Reader,” says Ekaterina Semenova “GROUNDFOS” . – And it is not surprising, because, as I said earlier, a well-adjusted system can save up to 20% fuel gas, coal, wood . Moreover, the GRUNDFOS ALPHA3 series pumps themselves are characterized by low power consumption: they are 87% more economical than conventional units and are therefore recognized as the most energy-efficient in their class”.

Mobile technologies – the engine of progress. They help us not only to cope with quite ordinary household issues, but also to save money. And who knows, maybe in the future engineers will please homeowners with even more intelligent solutions.