Combined heating boilers: how to make home heating

Every citizen of our country knows firsthand about the low quality and unreliability of utility networks. When installing a gas or electric boiler, many fear that in the event of an accident on a gas pipeline or a power line break, their home will be left without heat, and the coolant flowing in the pipes will freeze. To protect you from such troubles can universal combined heating boilers, which will make your heating system as autonomous as possible.

Design features

Unlike residents of city apartments, where housing and condominiums are responsible for the performance of the heating system, the owner of the dwelling ensures the presence of heat in a private house or cottage.

However, not everything depends on it. In particular, the performance of most modern models of heating units depends on the availability of gas and electricity. Therefore, if in the village where you live, there is a break in the supply of gas or an accident on the power lines, you and your loved ones will be left without heat.

This is still half the trouble. If ordinary water is used as a coolant in the pipes, it can freeze when the boiler is turned off, breaking the pipes, damaging the radiators and disabling expensive electrical equipment.

To avoid this, many homeowners buy and assemble a combined heating boiler. Its price is higher than that of classic models, but for this price you buy peace of mind and confidence that your climate network will work without interruption during the entire heating season.

The essence of this device is that it can operate on various types of fuel. You can do it yourself or with the help of automation switch the unit to the burning of a particular type of energy source.

Note! For the automation of the boiler heating system in any case, you need electricity. Therefore, it is desirable to equip the boiler room with a battery uninterruptible power supply or a diesel electric generator. So you will ensure the functioning of the device at any time and under any circumstances.

Structurally, the solid fuel combined boiler consists of two combustion chambers:

• the first is used to burn fuel entering in a liquid or gaseous form;
• the second is needed to load coal, wood, pellets for heating and so on.

Most modern heating units, for example, the ZOTA combined boiler, produced by the Krasnoyarsk Plant of Heating Equipment and Automation, have several inlet and outlet connections, allowing them to equip independent heating circuits.

So you can lay separate pipelines:

• for radiators and floor heating;
• for a winter garden or a greenhouse;
• for the pool or veranda.

Such a design, in addition to heat, will provide people living in the house with hot water. To do this, it is desirable to connect a storage tank to the heat exchanger, which allows keeping a certain amount of hot water in reserve all the time.

All combined solid fuel boilers have a sufficiently high efficiency and are adapted to possible gas pressure drops in supply pipelines and sharp decreases in voltage in power lines.

Let's stop on the most popular types of the described climatic equipment.

Varieties of combined boilers

Gas and diesel fuel

This kind of equipment is quite rare.

Features of such combined boilers are as follows:

1. Installation of a liquid fuel heating boiler is allowed only in a separate room, equipped with powerful exhaust ventilation.. Therefore, you will incur additional costs, while the standard gas unit is installed just in the kitchen.
2. For the operation of a combined diesel fuel boiler, it is necessary to equip an additional heated tank in which diesel fuel is stored.. Given that you will use the backup burner infrequently, the solution in question cannot be considered optimal.

On the other hand, you get the most autonomous climate system, which during operation does not require human intervention for periodic loading of fuel into the combustion chamber.

Note! Combined solid gas boiler, using diesel as an additional fuel, it is easy to switch from one type of energy to another. This will help guide available in the accompanying documentation. It is only necessary to change the burner and connect the necessary piping.

Gas, diesel and solid fuel

In the modern age of high technology for the installation of climate systems, high-tech equipment is used, working on different heat carriers. And many inexperienced home craftsmen believe that using a wood-fired boiler is unprofitable and inefficient.

However, this is not at all the case.

Moreover, there are a large number of universal boilers on the market of heating systems, which are designed for simultaneous use:

• gas;
• diesel fuel;
• wood or coal.

Thus, having installed one unit, you will be able to choose from the above-listed types of energy carriers, alternating them depending on cost, efficiency, and just personal preferences.

Gas and solid fuel

Combined heating boilers for solid fuels may have an additional gas burner.

If you decide to opt for such a device, pay attention to the following points:

1. The main type of fuel in this boiler is firewood. Gas is used as an additional source of heat (at night and so on). Take this into account when calculating the cost of operation.
2. Since the unit also works on gas, its installation requires a special permit from the gas service. Without such a document, the operation of the boiler is prohibited.
3. The device has a minimum of automation. All modes of operation are set and controlled manually. Therefore, to achieve a fine temperature control in the rooms is unlikely to turn out.

The main advantage of the described universal equipment is low cost. This is one of the most inexpensive units among the combined boilers.

Gas, diesel and electricity

This combination is common.

Electricity is one of the most efficient and convenient ways to heat a house, however, it is quite expensive and the power of equipment is often not enough to heat large areas.

Combined boilers of this type are used according to the following scheme:

1. Liquid fuel is used to raise the temperature in the house to the desired level.
2. The electric heating circuit is included in the work to maintain the microclimate in the house after turning off the burner on diesel fuel.
3. The gas burner takes effect if the diesel fuel runs out or the electricity supply stops.

Note! Such boilers do not work on the main gas, but on liquefied gas, which is supplied in cylinders.

Solid fuel and electricity

This is a fairly common option. As in many other cases, the main mode of operation of such a boiler is space heating with the help of wood or coal. Electric heater is included in the work only to maintain a comfortable temperature in the premises.

Some equipment models have sufficiently powerful heating elements and to connect them you need to make sure that the wiring in the house, the meter and the main power line are able to withstand such power.

For example, if your boiler has a heater with a capacity of more than 12 kW, it can only be connected to a three-phase line, which is not available in all homes.

Solid fuel, electricity, gas, diesel fuel

The climatic equipment of this variety works primarily on solid fuels. Most of the time, the boiler is operated as well.

Often these models of heaters are chosen by people who want to save as much as possible on the heating of dwellings. At the same time, additional burners are used while the flame in the main combustion chamber is extinguished (for example, at night).

Pros and cons of using combined equipment

The advantages and disadvantages of universal boilers for home heating are given in the table below.

Conclusion

After reviewing the information offered above, you had the opportunity to independently verify that solid fuel combi boilers allow you to equip the most autonomous heating system. For more information about the possibilities of designing independent engineering networks of a private home, you can learn from the video posted in this article.