Mixing unit for a warm floor. Scheme, installation, price

Heating rooms with warm floors has long been not a novelty. Now many people use this system if not in the whole house, then at least in separate rooms, for example, in the bathroom or the living room. A warm floor is an increased comfort and safety. However, these criteria can only be achieved if a competent calculation of the warm floor and its installation is made.

The warm floor is economical, it can perform automatic control of the heating temperature, however, despite this, it needs thermoregulation. Actually, therefore, a mixing unit is needed. The water-heated floor is usually connected to a system that has a temperature of + 60-80 ° C, while the optimum temperature should not exceed + 35-40 ° C. Otherwise, overheating of the surface of warm floors will lead to the drying of the flooring, furniture, and in the room itself it will be stuffy and uncomfortable.

If you have certain knowledge, skills and free time, you can calculate the warm floor and also install it yourself.

Collector for a warm floor and the principle of its operation

Outwardly the collector resembles a thick metal branch pipe, which has exits equipped with valves. The heat carrier flows under pressure into this same pipe and is distributed over the outlets, the capacity of which is regulated by the valves. On the opposite side, a pressure gauge or pressure relief valve is installed.

In addition, there is another scheme of work, in which the collector receives the coolant from the bends and moves it along the pipe in the opposite direction. In this case, the knotting unit should include two collectors-collector and distributor.

The standard scheme of the mixing unit of the warm floor includes the following elements:

• Thermostatic valve connected to the collector;
• Thermostatic head with remote sensor;
• The control valve;
• Temperature limiter;
• thermometer;
• Check valve;
• filter;
• circulation pump.

Collectors are of two types: on two- and three-way valves.

Bladder assembly on two-way valves

Many experts make a choice in favor of this reservoir, considering it more correct. In such a device, the hot coolant is continuously diluted with cold water from the return pipe, which prevents warm floors from overheating. The two-way valve has low flow capacity, this fact ensures a smooth and constant temperature adjustment. This mixing unit for the warm floor is most common, but it is useless to install it in rooms larger than 200 m ² .

Blade assembly on three-way valves

This design uses in its work three-way mixing valves. The task of such a collector is to mix hot water from the boiler and a cold one, coming from the "return". Often these valves are equipped with servo drives, which allow controlling both dependent weather controllers and thermostats.

This mixing unit for the warm floor is the most versatile, although it has some inherent disadvantages:

• There is a possibility that the thermostat signal provokes a full opening of the valve, which will let in the hot heat carrier, which can lead to the rupture of pipes due to the high pressure established in them.
• In addition, three-way collector valves have a large capacity, this can negatively affect the warm floors. After all, even a slight displacement of the valve adjustment can significantly affect the surface temperature.

However, despite these disadvantages, this type of mixing unit is indispensable in large-scale heating systems and weather-compensated designs.

Installation of the mixing unit for the "warm floor" system: instruction

The process of connecting the collector in the following breakdown is as follows:

• First of all, it is necessary to determine the location of the manifold and prepare the installation point.
• After this, the collectors should be connected to the discharge pipe and the "return", providing them with control valves, automated drives and fuses.
• Next, it is necessary to connect the outlets of the heating circuits to the branch pipes of the tee-pipe.
• And in the end - to adjust the knot of the admixture by calibrating the control system, bleeding air and other commissioning.

Of course, each of the above stages has numerous nuances, so it is worthwhile to consider this sequence in more detail.

Place under the cabinet

The location of the cabinet is discussed already when the "warm floor" system is designed, since each circuit is made up of a single piece of polymer pipe, the length of which does not exceed 120 meters. The difference in length between the chains can not be more than 100-150 cm. Therefore, the location of the point at which the mixing unit for the warm floor is installed is determined based on the scheme for installing spiral-like contours.

Connecting the Tees

Mixing unit for the warm floor is connected according to the following scheme:

1. A shut-off valve is connected to a pressure pipe with a heating medium heated to + 40-55 ° C, a tee is mounted to it, the straight channel of which is provided with an automatic temperature limiter or a ball valve with a socket for the thermometer.
2. On the return line, along which the cooled heat carrier leaves, a stop valve, a tee and a ball valve with a thermometer socket are also installed.
3. The upper tee is connected to the lower bypass by means of a circulating pump, which pumps water upwards, directly to the pressure line.
4. To the upper ball valve connect the pipe-tee with flowmeters above the outlets. Its end is damped with a vent for venting.
5. The lower valve is connected to a pipe-tee with thermostats above the outlets. Its end is closed with a valve to bleed air.

Connecting contours

The heating circuit pipe is connected in series to the pressure and return pipe branches, starting from the first from the edge, etc. The installation is carried out using press fittings that ensure reliable tightness even under linear deformations. Collet elements can not give such a guarantee, but this method allows further dismantling of the pipe.

Mixing unit setting

This stage is responsible for setting up an automated control system, which is based on synchronous operation of servo drives and data read from temperature sensors. In addition, thermostats, flowmeters, ball valves and pressure relief valve are checked.

At the very end, the system "warm floor" is checked for tightness of connections in the mixing unit. Although this work can be done in the beginning. Because the tightness of the connections determines how accurate the calibration of the entire control system.

The cost of warm water floors

One of the most common questions that worries many customers: "What is the price of a warm water floor?" The cost depends not only on the brand you like. At the prices affects the material from which the pipe is made. Installation of the system also affects the cost.

The decisive criteria on which the price of the warm water floor depends is the number of rooms in which the work will be carried out, the number of storeys of the object and, of course, the heating scheme. In Moscow, the cost of 1 m ^{2 of} water-heated floors starts from 1100 rubles (a pipe made of cross-linked polyethylene).

Advantages of warm floors with mixing unit

The system of "warm water floor" has a number of undeniable advantages in comparison with other types of heating:

• Comfort. Due to the fact that thermal energy is transmitted by radiation, rather than convection. At the same time, the room heats up evenly, there are no cold corners and heat-filled batteries.
• A healthy atmosphere due to the absence of dust circulation. The floor surface is dry, there is no mold on it, the nutrient medium that promotes the reproduction of microbes and mites is eliminated. The rooms are maintained with fresh air and an optimum level of humidity.
• Hygiene . Due to the fact that warm floors are easy to clean and disinfect, they can heat rooms, which are put forward special requirements for cleanliness.
• Security . First of all, it concerns children: warm floors exclude the appearance of burns and scratches, i.e. All that can happen when in contact with a convector or radiator.
• Convenience . The system "warm floor" allows you to easily plan the arrangement of furniture in the room due to the lack of heating devices.
• Economical . Warm floors allow you to save up to 30% of energy in residential buildings, up to 50% - in buildings with high ceilings.
• Modernity . This system is perfectly combined with the latest heating equipment, which produces advanced energy-saving technologies.