Permissible contour length
The length of the circuit must be selected according to the diameter of the pipe
It depends on the pressure in a particular closed loop and hydraulic resistance, the values of which determine the diameter of the pipes and the volume of fluid that is fed into them per unit time.
When installing a warm floor, situations often occur when the circulation of the coolant in a separate loop is disturbed, which cannot be restored by any pump, the water is locked in this circuit, as a result of which it cools down. This results in pressure losses of up to 0.2 bar.
Based on practical experience, you can adhere to the following recommended sizes:
- Less than 100 m can be a loop made of a metal-plastic pipe with a diameter of 16 mm. For reliability, the optimal size is 80 m.
- Not more than 120 m take the maximum length of the circuit of 18 mm pipes made of cross-linked polyethylene. Experts are trying to install a circuit with a length of 80-100 m.
- No more than 120-125 m, the size of the loop for metal-plastic with a diameter of 20 mm is considered acceptable. In practice, they also try to reduce this length to ensure sufficient reliability of the system.
How to arrange heating pipes
Based on how it is more convenient for the master, you can arrange communications in 4 options:
- snake.
- Corner snake.
- Double snake.
- snail.
The correct calculation of the heating system is a difficult task, but quite feasible with a step-by-step approach
It is problematic to take into account absolutely all the nuances when installing a warm floor, so you should pay attention to the most important characteristics, namely the length of the pipes and the volume of water in them. In addition, it is worth remembering that even a slight excess of the loop length of 100 m can seriously harm the system and give the output temperature far from the expected one.
The double-circuit model, in turn, will be much more efficient, which will allow you to heat the house without much hassle and with less consumption of resources.
In almost every country house, a warm floor is necessarily installed. Before such heating is created, the required pipe length is calculated.
Each such private house has an autonomous heating system. If the layout of the premises allows, the owners of such country estates themselves install a warm water floor.
Of course, the installation of such a floor can be done in an ordinary apartment, but such work is very laborious. Owners and employees have to solve a lot of problems. The main difficulty will be connecting the pipe to the existing heat supply system. Installing an additional boiler in a small apartment is simply impossible.
The amount of heat that needs to be supplied to the room depends on the correctness of this calculation so that it always has a comfortable temperature. The calculations carried out will help determine the power of the underfloor heating, as well as help you make the right choice of boiler and pump.
It is very difficult to make such a calculation. There are quite a few different criteria to consider:
- Season;
- The temperature of the air outside;
- Room type;
- The number and dimensions of the window;
- Floor covering.
- Wall insulation;
- Where is the room located, downstairs or on the upper floors;
- Alternative heat sources;
- office equipment;
- Lighting.
To make it more convenient to perform such a calculation, average values are taken. If a double-glazed window is installed in the house and good insulation is made, this parameter will be approximately equal to 40 W / m2.
Warm buildings with little thermal insulation constantly lose about 70-80 W / m2.
If we take an old house, heat losses increase sharply and approach 100 W / m2.
In new cottages, where wall insulation is not done, where panoramic windows are installed, losses can be about 300 W / m2.
Once you have selected an approximate value for your room, you can start calculating the replenishment of heat losses.
How is the calculation of the length of coolants
The calculation of the length of the pipeline is based on the combination of different parameters:
- room size;
- required air temperature;
- temperature at the inlet and outlet;
- the location of the pipes, the distance between them;
- type of floor finish;
- the thickness of the screed under the system and above it;
- supply line length.
In some cases, additional indicators are required for calculation. The most important is the location of the coolants in the screed.
There are general rules that masters and amateurs are guided by.
- The distance from the wall to the outer contour of the pipes is 20-30 cm.
- The gap between the pipes is 30 cm (the diameter of the coolant itself is taken into account - 3 mm).
- The distance from the end of the pipe to the collector is approximately 40 cm.
Including these indicators, the maximum length of the water floor contour is calculated.
Temperature indicators
The temperature regime in the coolant affects the size of the pipeline. To make it comfortable to move on the floor, the water must be heated to a maximum of 60 degrees. The optimal heating of the surface itself depends on the purpose of the room:
- residential - 29 degrees;
- through passage - 35 0;
- workers - 33 0 .
To control and regulate this indicator, sensors are installed. There are usually 2 of them: at the entrance and exit from the system. The temperature difference on these devices is no more than 5 degrees.
During operation of the underfloor heating system, water circulates through pipes. Passing along the entire circuit, it cools. The total length of the pipe affects the speed of this process.
Collector
The collector is the main element of the floor heating system, which serves as its beginning and end. These devices have 2 modifications: internal (mounted in the floor) and external (installed indoors on the wall). When calculating the length of the contour of a water-heated floor, the supply of heat carriers to this device is taken into account.
Amount of water
To create a water-heated floor, the amount of liquid consumed is a priority indicator. The lack of it will lead to rapid cooling of the system and the surface. The option for calculating the consumed water can be as follows:
- 20 square meters - the area of the room;
- 27 cm - the distance between the pipes;
- 15 pipes - the number of basic parts to create a snake;
- 40 cm - the distance from the pipe to the collector.
Taking into account these indicators, the maximum length of the circuit will be 51 meters. These are the total dimensions of all parts.
If the dimensions of the room are such that the maximum length of the pipes exceeds 100 m, it is better not to install the water circuit. Its effectiveness will be low. 70 m are considered optimal. If it is necessary to install a warm floor on an area exceeding 100 m, it is worth creating 2 approximately identical contours. For example, the first is 62.5 m, the second is 77.5.
For a pipeline of 51 m, 17.5 liters of water will be required. This amount of liquid must be present in the system. A pump is used to replenish it. It makes the water circulate, contributes to the compensation of losses from natural evaporation.
Water floor installation technology
To gain experience in installing a water-heated floor, you should try to make it on a small surface area. The pipe system is mounted in two ways: cold on a wooden (polystyrene) base and wet in a screed.
The dry method is as follows:
- metal strips are placed on wooden flooring or polystyrene mats, in which channels are created along the width of the pipes;
- pipes are inserted into recesses;
- then put a layer of plywood (OSB, GVL, etc.);
- then lay the flooring.
A more complex, time-consuming, but budgetary method is a “wet” cement screed. This is a multi-layer construction. It is based on a concrete surface and consists of several levels:
- – thermal insulation;
- - fixing elements (mesh, tapes);
- – tubular coolants;
- - cement-sand mortar - screed;
- - flooring.
In apartment buildings, in order to protect neighbors from flooding, waterproofing material is placed first from below. It is advisable to put a reinforcing mesh on the pipes themselves in order to reduce the mechanical load. A damper tape is attached around the perimeter of the room and between the contours. It is the boundary between the wall and the floor, different fragments of the warm floor.
Both methods have their pros and cons. Which one is preferable depends on the individual characteristics of the premises, the preferences of the owners, the possibilities of attracting craftsmen, or the need for do-it-yourself installation.
When installing a pipeline in a screed, the maximum length of the circuit may be greater. Concrete is a cold material. To heat it, a high temperature of the water in the system is required. It cools faster than wood or artificial products
When installing a warm floor, it is important to provide for all the nuances, including installation technology
Installing a water floor heating system is a time-consuming, troublesome task. It requires precise calculation and extremely careful attitude to installation. Differences in the height of the base, errors in the placement of loops, turns, defects in the main parts will lead to inefficient operation of the entire heating element. The maximum length of a water heated floor is determined individually for each house. In order not to make a miscalculation, it is worth contacting specialists. A small cost of consulting a professional will save you from errors in the operation of the facility and provide the necessary comfort conditions.
Viewed:
362
Electric water heated floor xl pipe
Electric underfloor heating - pros and cons
Infrared underfloor heating - why you should install
Plastic underfloor heating - device features
One of the conditions for the implementation of high-quality and proper heating of a room with a warm floor is to maintain the temperature of the coolant in accordance with the specified parameters.
These parameters are determined by the project, taking into account the required amount of heat for the heated room and flooring.
Why is it better to use a pipe with an outer diameter of 16 mm
To begin with, why is a 16 mm pipe being considered?
Everything is very simple - practice shows that for "warm floors" in a house or apartment of this diameter is enough. That is, it is difficult to imagine a situation where the circuit does not cope with its task. This means that there is no really justified reason to use a larger, 20-millimeter one.
And, at the same time, the use of a 16 mm pipe provides a number of advantages:
- First of all, it is about a quarter cheaper than the 20mm counterpart. The same applies to all the necessary fittings - the same fittings.
- Such pipes are easier to lay, with them it is possible, if necessary, to perform a compact step of laying out the contour, up to 100 mm. With a 20mm tube, there is a lot more fuss, and a small step is simply impossible.
- The volume of coolant in the circuit is significantly reduced. A simple calculation shows that in a linear meter of a 16 mm pipe (with a wall thickness of 2 mm, the inner channel is 12 mm) holds 113 ml of water. And in 20 mm (inner diameter 16 mm) - 201 ml. That is, the difference is more than 80 ml per just one meter of pipe. And on the scale of the heating system of the whole house - this literally translates into a very decent amount! And after all, it is necessary to ensure the heating of this volume, which entails, in principle, unjustified energy costs.
- Finally, a pipe with a larger diameter will also require an increase in the thickness of the concrete screed. Like it or not, but at least 30 mm above the surface of any pipe will have to be provided. Let these "unfortunate" 4–5 mm do not seem ridiculous.Anyone who was involved in pouring the screed knows that these millimeters turn into tens and hundreds of kilograms of additional concrete mortar - it all depends on the area. Moreover, for a 20 mm pipe, it is recommended to make the screed layer even thicker - about 70 mm above the contour, that is, it turns out to be almost twice as thick.
In addition, in residential premises very often there is a “struggle” for every millimeter of floor height - simply for reasons of insufficient “space” to increase the thickness of the overall “pie” of the heating system.
A 20 mm pipe is justified when it is necessary to implement a floor heating system in rooms with a high load, with a high intensity of people's traffic, in gyms, etc. There, simply for reasons of increasing the strength of the base, it is necessary to use more massive thick screeds, for the heating of which a large heat exchange area is also required, which is exactly what a pipe of 20, and sometimes even 25 mm, provides. In residential areas, there is no need to resort to such extremes.
It may be objected that in order to "push" the coolant through a thinner pipe, it will be necessary to increase the power indicators of the circulation pump. Theoretically, the way it is - the hydraulic resistance with a decrease in diameter, of course, increases. But as practice shows, most circulation pumps can cope with this task.
Below, attention will be paid to this parameter - it is also linked to the length of the contour. This is what calculations are made in order to achieve optimal, or at least acceptable, fully functional performance of the system.
So, let's focus on the pipe exactly 16 mm. We will not talk about the pipes themselves in this publication - that is a separate article of our portal.
Computer program calculation
A special program that facilitates calculations
For the calculation you will need:
- enter data describing the room in which the floor is to be installed;
- determine the initial data for the calculation. Basic data includes:
- the region where the room is located, which determines the average air temperature and the required floor temperature;
- indoor humidity;
- floor area;
- the number of windows, entrance doors and walls facing the street;
- to calculate heat losses;
- determine the location of equipment and pipe laying. According to the given parameters, design is carried out, that is, the program will reflect the entered information schematically;
Scheme of laying pipes of the floor, compiled according to the specified parameters
- calculate the amount of materials for the floor. The program will automatically calculate the footage of the pipe for underfloor heating and other parameters that need to be taken into account when arranging an additional source of heating;
- The program can also be used to calculate:
- hydraulic resistance parameters;
- the necessary power of the heating boiler and other equipment required for arranging the floor: an expansion tank, a pump that supplies water to the system, and so on.
A detailed description and an example of using the VALTEC program is presented in the video.
Proper calculation is the key to installing the optimal floor design. It is desirable that the calculation be carried out by qualified specialists who, having determined all the conditions, will be able to calculate the optimal parameters. If the floor is laid independently, then it is recommended to use computer programs for the calculation.
Ways to install a warm floor system
For the proper functioning of this heating system, a clear sequence of layers of the so-called “pie” of the warm floor is important.
The thermal circuit is laid on a previously heat- and waterproofed surface, and on top it is poured or covered with a cement screed, on top of which the finishing floor covering is laid. The above layers - the shell of the pie - are required in both cases.They protect the system from external influences and increase its efficiency.
Underfloor heating is an excellent solution for improving your home. The floor temperature directly depends on the length of the underfloor heating pipes hidden in the screed. The pipe in the floor is laid in loops. In fact, the total length of the pipe is added up from the number of loops and their length. It is clear that the longer the pipe in the same volume, the warmer the floor. In this article, we will talk about restrictions on the length of one contour of a warm floor.
Approximate design characteristics for pipes with a diameter of 16 and 20 mm are: 80-100 and 100-120 meters, respectively. These data are approximate for approximate calculations. Let's take a closer look at the process of installing and pouring underfloor heating.
Consequences of exceeding the length
Let's figure out what consequences an increase in the length of the underfloor heating pipe can lead to. One of the reasons is an increase in hydraulic resistance, which will create an additional load on the hydraulic pump, as a result of which it may fail or simply may not cope with the task assigned to it. The resistance calculation consists of many parameters. Conditions, styling parameters. The material of the pipes used. Here are the three main ones: loop length, number of bends and thermal load on it
.
It is worth noting that the thermal load increases with the increase in the loop. The flow rate and hydraulic resistance also increase. There are restrictions on the flow rate. It should not exceed 0.5 m/s. If we exceed this value, various noise effects may occur in the piping system. The main parameter, for the sake of which this calculation is made, also increases. The hydraulic resistance of our system. It also has limitations. They are 30-40 kP per loop.
The next reason is that with an increase in the length of the underfloor heating pipe, the pressure on the pipe walls increases, causing this section to elongate when heated. The pipe in the screed has nowhere to go. And it will begin to narrow at its weakest point. The constriction can cause blockage of the flow in the coolant. Pipes made of different materials have different coefficients of expansion. For example, polymer pipes have a very high expansion coefficient. All these parameters must be taken into account when installing a warm floor.
Therefore, it is necessary to fill in the underfloor heating screed with pressed pipes. It is better to pressurize with air with a pressure of about 4 bar. Thus, when you fill the system with water and start heating it, the pipe in the screed will expand somewhere.
Optimum pipe length
Taking into account all the above reasons, taking into account the corrections for the linear expansion of the pipe material, we take as a basis the maximum length of the underfloor heating pipes per circuit:
What is the optimal length of the underfloor heating pipe?
Let's find out the optimal length of the underfloor heating pipe and what could be the consequences if the circuit is longer. Everything in our article
How to determine the optimal room temperature
In this case, there are no particular difficulties. For orientation, you can use the recommended values, or come up with your own. And be sure to take into account the flooring.
The floor of the dwelling should be heated to 29 degrees. At a distance from external walls of more than half a meter, the floor temperature should reach 35 degrees. If the room is constantly high humidity, you will need to heat the floor surface to 33 degrees.
If wooden parquet is laid in the house, the floor must not be heated above 27 degrees, as the parquet may deteriorate.
Carpet is able to retain heat, it makes it possible to increase the temperature by about 4-5 degrees.
Calculation of the power of a water heated floor
It begins in the same way as in the previous method - with the preparation of graph paper, only in this case it is necessary to apply not only the contours, but also the location of windows and doors.Draw scaling: 0.5 meters = 1 cm.
For this, several conditions must be taken into account:
- Pipes must necessarily be located along the windows to prevent significant heat loss through them.
- The maximum area for arranging a warm floor should not exceed 20 m2. If the room is larger, then it is divided into 2 or more parts, and a separate circuit is calculated for each of them.
- It is necessary to maintain the mandatory value from the walls to the first branch of the contour of 25 cm.
The choice of pipe diameter will be influenced by their location relative to each other, and it should not exceed 50 cm. The heat transfer value per 1 m2 equal to 50 W is achieved with a pipe pitch of 30 cm, if it turns out to be larger during the calculation, then it is necessary to reduce the pipe pitch.
Determining the number of pipes is quite simple: first measure their length, and then multiply it by the scale factor, add 2 m to the resulting length to bring the circuit to the riser. Given that the allowable length of the pipes is in the range from 100 to 120 m, you need to divide the total length by the selected length of one pipe.
The parameter of the substrate for underfloor heating is determined based on the area of the room, which is obtained after multiplying the length and width of the room. If the room has a complex configuration to obtain an accurate result, it must be divided into segments and calculate the area of each of them.
How to calculate the length of the pipe for underfloor heating
Today it is difficult to imagine a country house without floor heating. Before starting the installation of heating, it is necessary to calculate the length of the pipe that is used for underfloor heating. Almost every country house has its own heating system, the owners of such houses independently install a water floor - if this is provided for by the layout of the premises. Of course, it is possible to install such a warm floor in apartments, but such a process can bring a lot of trouble to both apartment owners and employees. This is due to the fact that it is impossible to bring a warm floor to the heating system, and installing an additional boiler is problematic.
The dimensions and shape of the pipe for underfloor heating can be different, therefore, in order to understand how to calculate a warm floor, you need to understand the system and structure of such a system in more detail.
Is it possible to mount a warm floor with different contour lengths
A warm floor is considered ideal, where each loop has the same length. This will allow you not to engage in additional settings, you do not need to adjust the balance.
Of course, the length of the contour can be the same, but this is not always beneficial.
For example, an object consists of several rooms in which it is necessary to install a warm floor. One of these rooms is a bathroom, with an area of 4 square meters. meters. The total length of the pipe of such a circuit, taking into account the distance to the collector, will be 40 m. Of course, no one will adjust to this size by dividing the usable area under 4 square meters. meters. Such a division would be completely unnecessary. After all, there is a special balancing valve, with which you can equalize the pressure of the circuits.
Today, you can also perform a calculation to determine the maximum size of the pipe length relative to each circuit, taking into account the type of equipment and the area of \u200b\u200bthe object.
We will not tell you how these complex calculations are done. Just when installing a warm floor, the spread in the length of the pipeline of a separate circuit is taken within 30 - 40%.
In addition, when there is a need, it becomes possible to "manipulate" the diameters of the pipes. It becomes possible to change the laying step, break large areas into several medium pieces.
The device of a water heated floor in the house
The heat carrier in the floor is mounted in the form of a single or double snake, spiral. The total length of the pipe depends on the choice of the location of the contour.The ideal option is the coils of the same size. However, in practice, creating uniform loops is difficult and impractical.
When the floor is made throughout the house, the parameters of the premises are taken into account. In the bathroom, bathroom, hallway, which occupy a smaller area compared to the living room, bedroom or other rooms, it is difficult to create long coils. They do not require many pipes to heat them. Their length can be limited to a few meters.
Some zealous owners, when arranging a water circuit, bypass these premises. This saves materials, labor and time. In small rooms, it is more difficult to install a warm floor than in spacious ones.
If the system bypasses such cubbyholes, it is important to correctly calculate the maximum pressure parameters in the system. To do this, use a balancing valve
It is designed to equalize the pressure loss in different circuits.
Conclusion
Initially, the main thing is to know the initial data of your premises, and the formulas will help you determine how many pipes you need per 1m2 of underfloor heating.
"Warm floors" are no longer perceived as a kind of exotic - more and more homeowners are turning to this technology for heating their residential properties. Such a system can fully take on the function of a full-fledged home heating, or work in tandem with classic heating devices - or convectors. Naturally, these features are taken into account in advance, at the stage of general design.
There are more than enough proposals for project development, installation and debugging of systems. And yet, many homeowners, according to the good old tradition, strive to do everything with their own hands. But such work "by eye" is still not done - one way or another, calculations are required. And one of the key parameters is the total allowable length of pipes of one circuit.
And since in the conditions of an ordinary average private residential building, as a rule, a pipe with a diameter of 16 mm is quite enough for laying, we will focus on it. So, we are considering the question, what can be the maximum length of the underfloor heating circuit with a 16 pipe.
