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Warm walls. Complete Installation Guide! Heating system with water warm walls Water warm walls technology

Every person who has conceived the repair of an apartment at least once asks himself the question: should I break this wall, and should I move this partition two meters to the right and at an angle of 45?

I will not consider issues related to various building codes and approvals here, because this is a topic not for an article, but for whole book, but suppose that all the treasured papers with signatures and seals are in your pocket, all partitions that interfere with the flight of your imagination have been demolished and it remains only to start building new ones.

First of all, you should understand what you need from your walls.

Will it be just a partition separating one room from another, or something more. Whether you need heat and sound insulation or not, whether there will be a niche or an arched opening in your wall. Or maybe you put sliding door and you want it to go inside the wall, or you can’t imagine your life without regular sports, but you don’t know whether it is possible to fix a horizontal bar or wall bars on your new partition or not. And so on...

warm walls

Wall insulation is relevant for those who live in corner apartments when two walls of the room are facade, or in case of any defects in the facade, because in a normal house, built in compliance with all building codes and without violations of technology, there should not be such problems.

So, it should be insulated, obviously, only outer wall. As a heater, glass wool, mineral wool or polystyrene foam is usually used. Then the insulation is covered with plasterboard sheets fixed to the frame in one or two layers. Mineral wool and glass wool have approximately the same thermal conductivity.

There is a prejudice against glass and mineral wool as unhealthy, but this is not true. In fact, it is harmful to breathe microparticles, which are present in the form of dust in the air during the installation of mineral and glass wool. Therefore, when working with them, you must use a respirator. After the insulation is closed with drywall, it does not pose any danger, in addition, it is an absolutely non-combustible material. The most famous brands in the Moscow market of building insulating materials made of glass and mineral wool are ISOVER, ROCKWOOL, URSA.

Expanded polystyrene is a more efficient insulation, as it has a lower thermal conductivity. The disadvantages of expanded polystyrene include a higher price compared to mineral and glass wool, as well as the fact that it is a moderately combustible material. When insulating walls with expanded polystyrene, it is advisable to use grades with the addition of a flame retardant - a substance that reduces its combustibility.

Silent walls

If you want peace and quiet, but cheerful neighbors throw parties every day, or you want to install a home theater in the living room and there is a nursery in the next room, then soundproofing the walls is just what you need. In principle, the materials and technologies used for sound insulation are very similar to thermal insulation, but there are some differences. When soundproofing walls and partitions, a combination of materials of different densities is used. For example, mineral and glass wool - as a material with a low density, and as facing panels, not plasterboard sheets are attached to the frame, but gypsum fiber ones, which have a higher density. There are others, including specialized, soundproof and sound-absorbing materials, but their significant drawback is their very high price.

Do not forget that with both heat and sound insulation, you will have to sacrifice the area of \u200b\u200bthe apartment, since the thickness of the walls will increase by at least 6 cm.

All that has been said about sound insulation is true in relation to any of the partitions, which will now be discussed.

Types of partitions

Partitions made of plasterboard and gypsum fiber sheets I have already considered, I will only add that they are very convenient for creating curved surfaces, various niches, columns, arches, etc. An important point is that they are quickly mounted and do not require plastering. Inside such partitions it is convenient to place electrical, telephone and Internet wiring, antenna cable.

The disadvantage of such partitions is the inability to attach heavy objects to a single-layer partition.

But there are several solutions - the use of lining in two sheets on each side, bookmark wooden beam in metal U-shaped racks of the partition frame, as well as fastening plywood to the frame before installing drywall sheets.

Brick partition. The most traditional. Brick for partitions in an apartment is best to use ceramic, solid or hollow. Solid brick is good for building partitions on which something heavy will be hung (for example, a sliding two-section oak door). It is also easy to equip niches, arches, etc. in such a wall.

The disadvantage of brick partitions is the obligatory plastering of the surface before final finishing and a longer construction time compared to other technologies.

Partition of gas silicate and foam concrete blocks. Such partitions are built much faster than brick ones, but surface plastering is also necessary.

Partition of tongue-and-groove gypsum boards. This is a very convenient material, the walls of it are built very quickly, do not require plastering and are ready for final finishing.

Unfortunately, expanded clay, foam concrete blocks and tongue-and-groove slabs have some limitations in terms of design, but, as practice shows, such problems are quite rare.

All of the above types of partitions are non-combustible and have good soundproofing properties.

How to make a wall smooth

It is important to keep in mind that plastering is not required for tongue-and-groove boards and drywall. But we plaster and putty brick, expanded clay and foam concrete partitions.

In my opinion, it is better to use gypsum plaster.

It is, of course, more expensive than a conventional cement-sand mixture, but it has undoubted advantages over it: it is much more convenient to use, dries faster, has better adhesion and allows you to achieve smoother surfaces, which will subsequently save on expensive putty.

Do not forget that putty for painting is more expensive than for wallpaper.

When puttying for painting, it is advisable to apply a finishing putty with a very fine filler fraction to the walls: 0.1 mm is the maximum, and even less is better. Gypsum plaster mixes and fillers are represented on our market by the brands KNAUF, VETONIT, CONSOLIT, UNIS, PRODUCERS, BOLARS.

Now that we have got even and smooth walls, the most crucial moment has come - what type of finish to choose. There are quite a few options here, and it’s impossible to talk in detail about each within the framework of this article, but it’s worth listing: wallpapering, wallpapering for painting, painting simple, multi-colored and immiscible multi-color paint, decorative painting, Venetian plaster, facing panels of various materials, decorative stone (for the last two types of finishes, wall putty is not required) and so on. Choice in this case After you. On the own experience I can say that the most important thing here is the overall intelligible concept of the entire project and the quality of its implementation.

If you do not really trust the builders and are afraid that they use cheaper materials than those specified in the estimate, then it is worth appearing in the apartment several times during the construction of walls. Distinguish, for example, more expensive and high-quality tongue-and-groove plate well-known brand from a cheaper "no name" slab is very difficult (it's not worth talking about brick, expanded clay and foam concrete). But to see how the workers plaster and putty your walls is quite real. The difference in the price of these materials from different manufacturers is very significant.

When soundproofing walls, it is very important that an elastic tape is glued between the frame for gypsum fiber sheets and the floor, ceiling and walls. If this is not done, then your wall will be an excellent resonator for impact noise transmitted through the floors.

The outer corner of the wall or partition must be closed with a special plaster corner to avoid damage.

Many people are concerned about the practicality of this or that wall covering - the possibility of easy cleaning from pollution, durability and ease of repair. Obviously, strong and smooth coatings (as opposed to brittle and textured ones) are the most practical. When repairing this or that damage, the greatest problems can arise with the restoration of surface texture and decorative coloring.

And the last thing, I’ll add just in case: upon completion of the repair, be sure to save one roll of each type of wallpaper used.

They began to make warm water walls in Europe, although we have already introduced this method of heating under the advice. The development and calculations were not carried out by anyone, but by entire research institutes (research institutes). You can still find houses where low-temperature heating systems are embedded in the walls. So the method is far from new.

Features of warm walls

Lateral heat radiation is most comfortable for people.

Warm walls are water and electric. For water pipes, pipes made of polyethylene metal-plastic with a degree of cross-linking from 70% are used. For electrical heating, it is allowed to use a single-core or two-core thick cable (5 mm) or a thin cable (2.5 mm) glued to a fiberglass mesh. Last produced in rolls.

Warm walls are a great alternative when underfloor heating is not possible - in garages, workshops, warehouses, small double bedrooms, simply filled with furniture rooms, etc. It is possible to combine these two heating systems. Features of warm walls:

the air does not overheat;
you can save from 3 to 6% of energy;
heating of the room occurs in a radiant way;
no convection - no dust.

Thanks to the radiant heating method, the room temperature can be lowered by 2 degrees. This will not affect comfort in any way, respectively, you can save on energy.

You can not force the walls with furniture in order to make the most efficient use of thermal energy. Lateral radiation of heat is most comfortable for people, besides, there are no strong temperature drops from above and below the room.

Warm walls as heating are more efficient than underfloor heating in rooms with high humidity because no energy is needed to evaporate the water. For example, in the bathroom. Heating can be mounted both on external walls and on internal partitions. In the second case, one circuit can heat two rooms at once. Making water warm walls with your own hands is more difficult than electric ones. But, despite this, they almost never resort to installing an electric cable on walls under plaster, preferring a low-temperature water heating system.

The need for insulation

In the bathroom, you can put electric heating mats directly under the tiles.

To make external warm water walls with your own hands, it is necessary to insulate. Thermal insulation is laid outside. Although this will lead to an overexpenditure of the energy carrier for heating the walls, the dew point will be shifted to the heater, and condensate will not settle. About , we have already discussed in one of the articles. Depending on the method of insulation (wet or ventilated facade), materials are selected:

Styrofoam;
mineral wool;
polyurethane foam;
ecowool;
penoizol and others.

It also needs to be correct . For the Moscow region, the thermal insulation layer should be 8-10 cm. In extreme cases, if external insulation is not possible, thermal insulation can be laid from the inside. To do this, it is convenient to use warm panels for walls with aluminum inserts, which, after laying out the contour, are sewn up with drywall.

Layout of the contour of warm walls

A horizontal snake is preferable to a vertical one.

The wiring of warm water walls is carried out by a horizontal or vertical snake. The snail laying method makes it difficult to remove air pockets, so it is not used. The coolant moves from the bottom up, from the floor to the ceiling. With vertical wiring, there is a problem of air removal in the upper half rings. With horizontal wiring, it is easier to expel air. Unlike a warm floor, the pipe laying step is not limited, as temperature changes are allowed. You can use a variable step to achieve a temperature distribution in the room close to ideal conditions:

from the floor to a height of 120 cm, pipes are laid in increments of 10-15 cm;
in the interval of 120-180 cm, the step is 20-25 cm;
above 180 cm, the step can be 30-40 cm.

The contour is laid under the screed or drywall (wet and dry methods).

We have already told. With the walls, everything happens in the same way, so we will not repeat ourselves. During dry installation, a sheet of galvanized corrugated board is attached to the wall in order to increase the heat exchange area. A PEX pipe made by any of the stitching methods (a, b, c) is placed in the grooves. Drywall is screwed onto the corrugated board.

On warm water walls, according to reviews, it is necessary to put a separate . In the vertical low-temperature circuit, the coolant velocity must be at least 0.25 m/s. The water pressure must be strong enough to squeeze out any air that may have accumulated in the system. By the way, a warm floor is devoid of such a problem, although a pump is often also needed for it. Warm walls are connected to the main heating system through a collector unit, in which thermostats and an automatic air vent are installed.

It is allowed to install warm walls in wooden houses. In this case, only the dry method of finishing is suitable. It is not necessary to use corrugated board. It is possible to lay the contour between the crate, having previously laid the reflective insulation with foil inside the room. At the same time, Penofol is not enough for normal insulation, it is just a screen for IR rays.

Water heated walls - a built-in heating complex, similar in design to underfloor heating. The device of wall water heating is close in design to floor heating, but has its own characteristics. This method of heating has been known since ancient times, when hot flue gases were passed into the channels built into the walls.

But flue gases are a dangerous thing for humans; increased tightness of circulation channels is required.

Appearance polymer materials, not subject to corrosion, allows the use of heated water as a heat carrier. The material of the publication gives an overview of the device of warm water heating walls, analyzes their effectiveness.

Warm wall installation

The design of warm walls includes the following main elements:

The base is a wall;
waterproofing layer;
Thermal insulation layer;
Reinforcing mesh;
Control and circulation unit.

Warm walls have a vertical orientation, usually the heating circuits are laid on the inner surface of the outer walls of the room. This blocks the main direction of heat loss.

It is important to evaluate the presence and value of two layers - waterproofing and thermal insulation. It would seem that isolation from moisture is not required, in warm floors it protects the lower premises from leakage of the coolant. In the event of a water leak from the pipes of the warm wall, the water will flow down.

But the importance of waterproofing is important - it blocks the way for the penetration of air moisture into building structures. Most authors write that when heated with warm walls, moisture freezes at certain points - depending on the location of the thermal insulation layer - internal or external. Allegedly, with external wall insulation, air moisture will freeze in the insulation layer and then defrost it, when internal insulation- moisture will freeze in the wall structure.

These statements are incorrect. A simple example can be given. Have you ever seen condensation on the exterior walls of standard multi-storey buildings? Most likely no. But in the interior there is heating and there is the same temperature difference as with heating with warm walls.

Calculations confirm the following - at a room temperature of +21 0 C, an outdoor temperature of minus 21 0 C and a relative humidity of 60%, the dew point temperature is 12.8 0 C. Even steam heating, which considered to be the hottest.

Therefore, the thermal insulation layer should be placed indoors, and it should have a reflective layer. The purpose of thermal insulation is to direct the flow of heat into the room, to minimize the amount of heat needed to heat the wall. With an external placement of a layer of thermal insulation, part of the heat from the circuits will be spent on heating building structures.

Moisture insulation is also needed - the penetration of air moisture is still present, but in minimal quantities.

Pipelines are fixed to the wall on special mounting rails, on clips, fixed with aluminum perforated tape. The most preferred method for warm walls is the method of laying pipes in rows (coil). In this case, the contour feed is located at the bottom of the wall. This allows you to concentrate the heat flow in the lower part of the room, to avoid possible airing of the circuit.

Regarding airing, it is worth mentioning separately. The pipelines of the circuits have a small diameter, with proper filling of the system with water and an average coolant velocity for underfloor heating (less than 1 m / s), air bubbles simply will not linger in the pipe. They will be carried away by the flow of water into the collectors, which must be equipped with air vents.

The pitch of the pipes to achieve an average heat flux density should be maintained in the range of 150 - 250 mm. Moreover, it does not make sense to lay the contours of the pipes to the ceiling, a height of 2 meters is enough - the boundaries of the human stay zone. It is not recommended that pipes cross the contour of the corners of the room - this will increase the thickness of the plaster layer.

Pipelines can also be attached to a reinforcing mesh, but then additional reinforcement for plaster should be laid on top of the pipes - a mesh or grate.

Mounted contours are plastered. Moreover, the thickness of the plaster layer must be at least 30 mm above the top point of the pipe. Such a thickness is necessary, first of all, to prevent cracking, as well as for a more uniform distribution of heat.

The last stage is the connection to the circulation and control unit. The node has a device similar to the node of water heated floors.

For effective work wall surfaces should not be covered with furniture and other enclosing objects. A "wet" installation configuration of a warm wall system is usually used. "Dry" installation, as in the case of underfloor heating, is less effective in heat dissipation. This is due to the presence of air gaps, and air has poor thermal conductivity.

Efficiency of the warm wall system

An assessment of the effectiveness and functionality of the system can be made by listing the advantages and disadvantages of warm water walls. The main advantages of the complex are:

Lack of heating devices;
Higher than underfloor heating, heat output;
Reduced consumption of materials;
It is possible to use the network as a cooling system;
Possibility of self-assembly.

The absence of appliances frees up space in the room, but the total area is reduced due to the total thickness of the “pie” of the structure.

Increased thermal power is achieved by raising the water temperature to 70 0 C and increasing the difference between the direct and reverse heat carriers to 15 0 C. These indicators exceed the similar temperature characteristics of the floor system, limited by the temperature of the floor surface that is comfortable for a person.

The thickness of the plaster layer, as a rule, is always less than the thickness of the floor screed. Accordingly, thermal resistance decreases - heating occurs faster and with less heat. Due to these indicators, better heat transfer is achieved.

Many talk about energy savings in the case of using warm water walls as the main type of heating. This issue requires more detailed consideration, since the statements about the efficiency of the system are incorrect.

The pump power in the case of warm walls is not reduced, that is, there will be no energy savings. It is possible that the power will even have to be increased, since the hydraulic resistance of the system increases significantly.

This is because each circuit is oriented vertically and adds a minimum of 2 meters of water column to the total system resistance. The final value of the water columns of all circuits imposes a serious correction on the required pressure of the pumping unit, on which the performance directly depends.

The statement about saving due to the radiant nature of heat transfer (and reducing the temperature in the room by 1 - 2 0 C due to this) and the absence of convective heat transfer is also incorrect. Radiant heat transfer in the case of a warm wall is greater than in the case of warm floors - but no one canceled convection. The air also comes into contact with the heated surface of the wall, receives heat and rises, being replaced by cold air.

By the way, this is the reason for the absence of the need to build contours with a height of more than 2 meters.

Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that warm water walls do not have outstanding efficiency and are comparable in efficiency to radiator heating. But compared to radiator systems, a warm wall provides a more uniform heat flow and a high-quality blocking of the path to heat losses.

The consumption of materials during the installation of wall-mounted built-in heating is less than in the floor configuration of the system. This is confirmed by the calculation. The consumption of pipelines with a laying step of 200 mm is in the range of 4 - 5 meters per 1 square meter styling.

For a room with an area of 100 m 2, the required average amount of pipe will be 100 x 4.5 \u003d 450 meters.

In this case, the length of the perimeter of the room will be 40 meters, the width of the contours (in the case of a warm wall - height) - 2 meters. Then the number of pipes will be: 40 x 2 x 4.5 = 360 meters. The savings in material is almost 100 meters.

It is difficult to say about the use of pipes of the built-in complex for space cooling. To do this, you need to carry out calculations, since there is very little actual data. In this case, it will be necessary to consider the possibility of condensate formation, the operating modes of the mixing unit - after all, it is focused on working in, with other temperatures of the working environment.

The system of water warm walls has the following disadvantages:

Reducing the internal volume of the premises;
Difficulties in installing electrical wiring;
Requirements for the placement of furniture;
Uneven heating of the room.

The uneven heating of rooms is often leveled by the construction of heating circuits in the construction of partitions between rooms. In this case, the circuit will heat adjacent rooms to varying degrees, depending on the location of the pipes in relation to each room.

Built-in heating based on water heated floors - the original configuration of the heating system. It has both advantages and disadvantages. The need to use it depends on the specific desires of the owner of the heated premises, the required operating conditions and placement. Installation of wall-mounted built-in heating is cheaper, but still much more popular. The system of warm walls is most applicable in rooms with limited height, it can work efficiently at objects with an increased load on the floor (the construction of a powerful screed is not required).

For some reason, there is an opinion that the heating system is not sufficiently efficient. However, it is very popular in some European countries (for example, in Germany), where a large number of high-rise buildings are heated with warm walls. It is unlikely that this was done only to speed up the pace of construction ... In fact, the heating system with warm walls has many advantages.

Advantages of heating with warm water walls

Water warm walls provide the premises with high-quality, i.e., the most favorable heat for people (the word “quality” means radiant heat, which is precisely the most favorable for us).

It makes sense to talk about the merits of something only in comparison with something else. And since we have compared warm walls with a warm floor above, we will continue their comparison.

The vertical projection of the human body is 23 times smaller than our lateral unfolded surface. That is, in order for us to feel more comfortable standing and sitting even at low air temperatures, radiant heat should be emitted not by floors, but by walls! The heat that warm floors give, we feel only due to the direct contact of the foot (thermal conduction) and the movement of warm air (convection). And the most high-quality and healthy radiant heat - a little! I suppose it is easy to conclude in favor of heating with warm walls.

Another plus is the reduction to a minimum (or complete absence) of convective air flows in the room, hence the lack of dust circulation around the room.

Unlike warm floors, warm walls can use water at a higher temperature (up to 70 degrees), and the temperature difference in the supply and return can reach 15 degrees (in a warm floor, 10 degrees maximum). What does it give us? Circulation pump you can use less power, which means that it will consume less electricity, and the price of such a pump is less.

The step of laying the wall pipeline is not limited by anything, since temperature differences are allowed between adjacent sections of the wall. And these differences are not felt by a person. That is, less pipes will go to the same area as the floor area.

As mentioned above, heating with warm walls saves on energy.

Where does the energy savings come from when heating with warm walls?

It turns out that with this type of heating, a person is comfortable even at a lower temperature than if the heating was radiator and the heat spread in the room convectively. That is, the air will need to be heated by 1.5 ... 2 degrees less (seemingly small numbers, but in the end the energy savings are noticeable: 8 ... 11% of fuel is saved). Well, I already talked about the pump ...

Scheme of the heating system with warm water walls

Warm walls schematically look like this:

As in the underfloor heating system, there is a collector (1), and pipeline loops (4) are separated from it along the walls. In diagram 2 - wall cladding, 3 - reflective plates, the task of which is to improve heat transfer and make it uniform.

The only subtlety here: since the loops are located vertically, you need to remove the air that can accumulate at the highest points (but more on that later).

Types of structures of water warm walls

Structurally warm walls can be made in two ways: with a horizontal arrangement of pipes:

And with vertical:

With horizontal pipes, it will be easier to remove air from the system.

Thanks to the variable pitch of the pipe, it is possible to achieve the most ideal distribution of heat in the room. So, at a height of 1.2 m from the floor, lay the pipes in increments of 10 ... 15 cm; from 1.2 to 1.8 m from the floor, increase the step to 20 ... 25 cm; above 1.8 m, the pipe pitch is allowed 30 ... 40 cm:

The direction of movement of the coolant is taken from the floor to the ceiling, so the warmest areas are located at the bottom of the wall.

Since warm walls are sources of radiant energy, they must be positioned so that they are not then covered by furniture.

Heating by one loop of two adjacent rooms is allowed. I.e warm wall make a partition between the rooms.

When and where is heating with warm walls used?

When there is no free space in the room, because of which underfloor heating will be inefficient (in bathrooms, garages, swimming pools, workshops ... they say so, but I would doubt about workshops and garages - and what kind of master does not dream of wall-to-wall racks Again, judging by myself, you may have other preferences).

When there is little furniture and equipment along the walls in the room (offices, corridors, auditoriums, bedrooms, halls, recreations, etc.).

Where the floor humidity is high (bathrooms, laundries, pools, sinks), which is why the warm floor will not be effective for heating, because a lot of its energy will be spent on evaporating water from the surface.

By the way, nothing prevents you from making a combined heating system of warm walls and underfloor heating so that they complement each other with insufficient power of one system. For example, there is not enough power for a warm floor - we make warm walls under the windows (and not radiators):

Or warm walls + radiators: most of the time the warm wall is on, and the radiators are turned on only to warm up the room quickly or during extreme frosts. Another option is a combination of all three water heating systems: warm walls + warm floors + radiators. This is if the walls are brick, not insulated, and large heat losses take place through them (to be honest, it’s not clear why bother with so many systems and then pay for their work when you can invest in warming a house once? But - everyone goes crazy for to his own).

Design features of the system of water warm walls

If the warm wall system is mounted on an outer wall, then special attention should be paid to the calculation of temperature conditions, namely: where and how thick should the insulation be on the walls? With external wall insulation, the freezing point shifts into the thickness of the insulation, so non-frost-resistant materials can be used for such walls. The disadvantage of such insulation: in addition to energy costs for direct heating of the room, energy is spent on heating the wall.

Another option - the wall is insulated from the inside of the room. Then the freezing point of the wall also shifts inward. But no longer a heater, but the wall itself. In this case, you need to use frost-resistant wall materials, otherwise there will be freezing of the wall and the appearance of condensate (between the wall and the insulation and in the thickness of the wall itself). Operational control of the coolant temperature is also important.

If the walls are not insulated at all, miscalculations or delays in temperature control can lead to significant heat loss through the exterior walls. Large heat losses are obtained due to the large difference in temperature between indoor and outdoor air. And large heat losses lead to a large number condensation of moisture from steam that enters from the room into the outer wall during diffusion (I suppose it is clear that this condensation occurs inside the wall? That is, in severe frost this moisture can freeze, when it freezes, the water expands - the wall collapses; do you need it?).

After calculating the heat gains, the following must be taken into account: the warm wall system can be made on internal walls and, on the one hand:

During this installation, heat is distributed as shown in the figure: 70% to the room where the pipe is laid, 30% to the adjacent room (in the absence of thermal insulation between the rooms). This can be taken into account in the design and calculations.

Although structurally water-heated walls are very similar to water-heated floors, there are a number of features here and they must be taken into account when designing or installing. So, the speed of water in the pipes of warm walls should not be lower than 0.25 m / s (this is calculated in a special program, which we will talk about in other materials). Why? At such and high speeds, air pockets are “washed out”. If the coolant velocity is too low, airing of the system is very likely.

In the underfloor heating system, the removal of air from the system is achieved very simply: we put the air vent on the manifold and that's it.

In warm walls, the highest point of the contour is the upper loop, and here the accumulation of air is most likely. So the air vent on the manifold will not do anything, but this device is placed on the upper loop, which is described in detail in the article about installation.

In warm floors, the pipe can be laid in two ways: with a snail and a snake. The snail is not suitable for warm water walls, because air plugs will not be washed out in it. The conclusion is unequivocal: only a snake!

Here, it seems, is the whole theory about, and about practice - about installation - we will talk in the section on installation.

warm water walls

The desire to improve and modernize things that are already quite effective sometimes leads not only to the appearance of another blade on a razor or even smaller micro-bristles on a toothbrush, but also to real cost savings and higher thermal comfort. So, the technology of creating a warm wall, today is increasingly of interest to those who are trying to thoroughly study the features of each heating system.

Today, in addition to traditional radiator systems, floor, ceiling, and wall heating systems have been developed. All of them have taken root in the market in different ways. I must say that the popularity of one or another principle of heating largely depends on the awareness, first of all, of masters of heating engineers. It is no secret that very often people whose qualifications leave much to be desired are engaged in the installation of a heating system. Many of them are tolerably proficient in only one technology, and are not at all interested in its alternatives. However, when they receive some “exotic” order from a client, they boldly take on its implementation, not wanting to lose earnings. But before that, they will still try to dissuade the client from an unconventional undertaking in favor of their “native” technology.

All this was said to the fact that we all often become hostages of non-professionals, but no one forbids us to become more literate ourselves and make our housing comfortable, economical and environmentally friendly.

Why is wall heating good?

First of all, high thermal comfort. In "warm wall" systems, heat is distributed throughout the room most evenly and exclusively through thermal radiation. A warm wall acts as a source of this radiation, and since a person is an upright creature, he can absorb the heat coming from the side most of all. The work of a warm wall is very clearly shown by an example with a snow-covered slope in bright sunny weather. Despite the fact that the air temperature is well below zero, we are warm, because we are in a zone of intense diffuse radiation emanating not only from the sun itself, but also from white reflective surfaces. As soon as we go into the shade, the thermal effect instantly stops and thermal comfort disappears in the place with it.

If a warm wall is used in the room, then thermal comfort is achieved already at 17-18°C. This is a few degrees lower than traditional radiator heating which cannot but affect the savings. By the way, with wall heating, there are no radiators in the room, which affects the aesthetics for the better. So, the "warm wall" system is a high thermal comfort, cost savings and the absence of protruding heating elements.

Varieties of wall heating

Warm wall systems differ in the way these walls are heated. The first type is the oldest air heating wall. Today, air heating looks a little different than in ancient Rome, but its essence remains the same. The heating element is located at the bottom, and between the finishing layer and the bearing part of the wall there is an air gap, the air in which, when heated, gives off heat to the wall.

This heating system is called hypocaustic. Ideally, the walls of the house should be constructed from hollow blocks, which, laid in a certain way, would form communicating air channels inside the wall. Directly above the floor, a niche is provided in which the heating element will be located (usually laid copper pipe connected to the water heating circuit).

Air heated wall, in principle, can be created with any design of its supporting part and in the absence of a niche near the floor. For this, a plasterboard false wall is made, behind which there is an air space heated in a similar way. In both cases, the wall heats up and radiates heat into the room.

A warm wall with air heating can be open. In this case, warm air, rising through the air channels, enters the room through the holes near the ceiling. IN closed systems air circulates inside the wall by means of convection.

Wall heating water surface type in principle, it is very similar to the system of underfloor heating. Copper, plastic or metal-plastic pipes through which the coolant is supplied. Pipes are securely fixed with special fasteners. The direction of laying (horizontal or vertical) is largely irrelevant, since the function of the pipes is to directly heat the wall. The pipes themselves are covered with a layer of plaster (by no means warm) or another finish with good heat transfer properties.

Warm wall with electric heating arranged in a manner similar to the previous one, with the only difference that in place of the water pipes are special electric heating elements. Electric heating films can also be used, which are quite convenient to install. However, experts recommend using films only from European manufacturers, since they have a longer service life. Weakness Asian films in the oxidation of contacts, which must be made of high-conductivity alloys manufactured using a special technology.

Quite rare is the method of heating the wall with the help of heat pipes, inside of which there is a volatile liquid. A system of such tubes is laid in the wall, and a collector with a coolant passes below. Easily evaporating liquid boils and in the vapor state rises through the tubes, giving off heat to the wall. It must be said that this method of heat transfer is one of the most efficient in terms of energy savings. The fact is that as a result of the use of heat pipes, the volume of coolant in the system is reduced by 5-8 times. This system is less inertial, i.e. more controllable and heats up faster in the event of a "cold start".

Where can a warm wall be installed?

Although a warm wall is an alternative to traditional radiators, it is still best to use it in conjunction with a floor heating system. To achieve high thermal comfort, the proportions of wall and floor heating must be adjusted. It is advisable to give priority to a warm wall in the living room, dining room and children's room. Bathrooms and kitchens will need more underfloor heating as these spaces are small and don't require a lot of energy to heat them. And, finally, the installation of a warm wall on glazed verandas and in winter gardens is not at all suitable, where the floor area is much larger than the wall area.

The "warm wall" system with a surface water or electric heater has several disadvantages, although not very significant. Firstly, it is advisable not to cover a warm wall with furniture, you can’t hang carpets on it, and in general it is necessary to block it as little as possible. various materials with low thermal conductivity. Secondly, an attempt to drive a picture nail into it may result in damage to the heating pipe or electric heating element. To accurately determine the sections of the passage of thermal channels, a special map of the wall is drawn up, according to the coordinates of which free places are then found. Also, for this purpose, you can use special thermal films that change color depending on the surface temperature. With the help of such a film, it is easy to find a thermal channel located in the wall.

IMPORTANT: before creating a warm wall, it is necessary to think over the furnishing of the room. The greatest restrictions apply to built-in furniture: it is absolutely pointless to heat the contents of the closet!

Benefits of wall heating

The temperature of the coolant in a warm wall usually does not exceed 30-35°C, and this makes it compatible with solar collectors, heat pumps and other low-temperature sources.

The elements of the warm wall system are made so that they can be easily mounted even by yourself, however, the system design must be carried out by a specialist. Its effectiveness will largely depend on this.

A huge plus, thanks to which the same thermal comfort is achieved, is the absence of air drying and adverse air ionization, which occur with high-temperature heating methods.

Speaking of ionization, which for some reason is given so little attention when choosing a heating method. From school course In physics, we know that positively and negatively charged particles are respectively called cations and anions. So, it turns out that cations, being in the air, increase the movement of dust, viruses and various allergens present in every apartment. Beam monitors and kinescopes, as well as hot metal surfaces, such as radiators, contribute to positive air ionization. Numerous studies have established that the atmosphere in rooms where there is a high concentration of cations cannot be called healthy.

Anions - negatively charged particles, on the contrary, improve the well-being of a person. At the level of sensations, this manifests itself as freshness, ease of breathing, cheerfulness. In order to increase the amount of anions in the air, it is necessary to use special ionizers, but it is also possible to achieve the desired ratio of cations and anions by reducing positive ionization, i.e., by eliminating the cause of cations.

Warm wall systems exclude air contact with hot metal surfaces, and therefore, in a room with such heating, balance is maintained between positively and negatively charged particles.