Initially, the boiler house schematic is designed for specific heat power equipment. Before installing a home heating network, the list of hot water installations is often changed or supplemented. For example, the owner wants to put a second boiler, boiler and other devices not provided for in the project into the furnace.
There is a problem: how to fit all the heating equipment, plus strapping elements into a small room. Moreover, the boiler room in a private house must comply with design standards, compliance with requirements = safety during operation. Consider ways to solve this problem.
What can be placed in the furnace
Before equipping the boiler room, you need to make a list of equipment that is planned to be installed in a country cottage. First of all, these include units that ensure the operation of the heating system, cold and hot water supply (cold water, hot water), various electrical installations. Here is the complete list:
- heat sources - boilers for various fuels, indoor units of a geothermal heat pump;
- units for the preparation of hot water - an electric or indirect heating boiler, gas column, instantaneous water heater;
- buffer capacity of the required volume;
- hydraulic separator (hydraulic arrow) with a collector;
- comb with a mixing unit for water floor heating;
- equipment for water treatment and water purification - filters, hydraulic accumulator, pump, automation (pressure switch);
- piping elements - pipes, circulation pumps, expansion tanks, shut-off and control valves;
- house electrical panel.
Note. The storage water heater is optionally placed in the furnace. An electric boiler can be placed in the bathroom, a gas boiler in the kitchen. But if the dimensions of the boiler room allow, it is better to assemble all the devices in one technical room.
The switchboard can also be installed inside the heat generator, on a separate wall. On the remaining free area, you can place bulky household appliances, for example, a washing machine, a freezer.
From the above list we select the necessary equipment, we are guided by the project or the actual heating and water supply scheme. We draw the layout of the room on a scale and proceed to the design - the placement of all water and heat supply units. But first you have to study ...
Regulatory requirements for the boiler room
The requirements of the standards for heat-generating plants operating on natural and liquefied gas (LPG) are most accurately formulated. The installation of electric boilers is regulated by the PUE (Electrical Installation Rules). There is no clear description of the installation of solid fuel units, the SNiP II-35-76 “Boiler installations” does not apply to heat-generating units with a capacity of less than 360 kW.
The device of gas boiler rooms is standardized by such documents:
- SP 62.13330.2011 "Gas distribution systems";
- SP 42-101-2003 "General provisions for design";
- SP 402.1325800.2018 “Residential buildings. Rules for the design of gas consumption systems ";
- SP 60.13330.2012 “Heating, ventilation and air conditioning”.
Recommendation. The norms stated in the listed documents are not coordinated with each other. This gives rise to discrepancies that make it difficult to commission the facilities. Before building a furnace, visit the office of the gas supplier organization in your area and find out which Rules should be followed.
When installing any boiler house, it is better to follow the installation instructions for gas heat generators. Causes:
- The probability of an explosion or ignition of a solid fuel boiler is no less than that of a natural gas or liquid fuel heater. Accordingly, fire safety rules must always be observed.
- In the diesel heat generator there is a sharp smell of diesel fuel, solid fuel boilers often throw smoke into the room. So you need ventilation.
- All heating units burning various types of fuel need a chimney.
- Electric boilers operate at a voltage of 220/380 volts, the current in the circuit is at least 5 amperes. Turning on / off heating is accompanied by a click on the contactor. So the heater asks in a separate room with limited access.
Dimensions and other parameters of the room
The furnace can not be equipped in the living rooms of a private house. An exception is local air heaters: gas and electric convectors, fireplaces, wood-burning stoves. Where can I place boiler equipment:
- in non-residential premises - a corridor, a kitchen, a cellar, a basement, subject to the requirements for the size of the room and ventilation;
- in the interior on any floor of the house, specially designed for the installation of boilers and water heaters;
- in an annex or in a separate building, for example, a summer kitchen or garage;
- on the street under a canopy (if the instruction manual for a particular device does not forbid).
Important clarification. An autonomous boiler house operating on liquefied gas (LPG) should not be arranged in a basement or basement. A mixture of propane and butane is heavier than air; in the event of a leak, gas spreads over the floor and is not removed by natural exhaust.
In bathrooms and bathrooms, gas-powered heaters cannot be installed. The heat generator should have windows; the calculation of the glazing area is done as follows: for each cubic meter of the room’s volume, there is 0.03 m² of translucent construction. Functional purpose of windows in a boiler room:
- Organization of natural daylight.
- Discharge of the shock wave to the street in the event of an explosion.
Glazing refers to easily erasable structures. In the event of a gas explosion or an overheated TT boiler, glass first flies out, the load from the shock wave on the walls is significantly reduced. This is especially true for light frame buildings. For the same reason, the door from the furnace must swing open outward.
Requirements for the volume and size of a boiler with a heating capacity of up to 60 kW:
- minimum ceiling height - 2 m;
- cubic capacity - at least 8 m³;
- when 2 heat generators are installed, these dimensions increase to 2.5 m and 13.5 m³, respectively.
Note. We cited the norms from the document SP 62.13330.2011. The Code of Rules 402.1325800.2018 (newer) already requires to allocate 2.5 m high for the furnace room, the minimum volume is 15 m³. Hence the discrepancies and unpleasant nuances in the commissioning of boiler rooms to gas services.
Heat generating ventilation
In the internal, annexed and separate rooms should provide for a natural extract and fresh air. Specific Requirements:
- in a boiler room with gas heat generators, the amount of supply and exhaust air is 3 room volumes for 1 hour (three-time air exchange) plus combustion air supply;
- for turbocharged boilers equipped with a closed chamber, an external intake of the air mixture for combustion is provided;
- for units on solid and liquid fuel, a single air exchange is made + additional inflow to combustion (the amount is indicated in the heater's passport);
- the hood is organized through a vertical channel with a section of 140 x 140 mm (or Ø150 mm), the grill is located in the upper zone of the boiler room;
- the supply air is supplied through the front door in 2 ways: from below, the ventilation grill cuts into the canvas or a gap is left between the floor and the sash (cross-sectional area is 0.02 m²).
Addition.If one of the boilers consumes liquefied propane-butane mixture, it is necessary to install 2 exhaust grilles in the room - one above the floor, the second under the ceiling. We explained the reason above - LPG is much heavier than air.
Natural ventilation is a typical solution for domestic boiler houses. The principle of operation is as follows: in the vertical exhaust channel there is a natural draft, which removes air from the upper zone of the furnace. A vacuum is created that draws fresh air masses through the intake grille or the gap under the door.
Rules for the installation of chimneys
The pipe for the removal of combustion products is used in most boiler rooms. The chimney must be built correctly - choose a good place and at the same time comply with all requirements. Rules for laying the chimney:
- diameter (section) - not less than the output of combustion products from the boiler;
- the maximum permitted number of pipe turns by 90 ° is three;
- a vertical chimney barrel is laid directly through the ceilings or along the outer wall, the maximum length of the horizontal connecting section is 3 m;
- to bypass a wall pipe of a roof overhang it is allowed to use 2 elbows of 30 °;
- the upper section of the duct should not fall into the zone of wind backwater, the height of the pipe is determined according to the drawing;
- the ends of the chimneys connected to the gas heat generators cannot be covered with umbrellas and various caps;
- when designing a boiler house for a house under construction, a separate chimney is provided for each water heater;
- in the furnace of an existing house, 2 boilers can be connected to the outlet channel.
Clarification. 2 heat sources are connected to one vertical chimney at different heights with an indent of 75 cm, as is done in the photo.
In wooden and other houses built of combustible materials, the pipe is laid with a fire spacing from the wall of 50 cm. If the structure is sheathed with a non-combustible finish (sheet of metal, asbestos, minerite), the specified distance is reduced to 250 mm.
The node of the pipe passage through the wooden wall of the boiler room is arranged according to a similar principle. It is necessary to cut an opening of such a size that the distance from the wall of the chimney to the wood is 50 cm. If an insulated pipe of the sandwich type is used, the interval can be reduced to 38 cm.
6 requirements for the placement of equipment
Regarding the integration of heating and water heating devices into the boiler room, the norms are quite democratic:
- Boilers, boilers, columns, buffer tanks are located according to the manufacturer's instructions, taking into account the ease of use and repair. That is, you need to ensure easy access to the equipment.
- The mounting height of wall-mounted heat generators is determined from the same considerations and lies within 1.5 ... 1.8 m.
- The free space in front of the heater front panel is 1 m, the distance from the side wall of the housing to the building structure is at least 3 cm.
- If the heater is placed close to the wooden wall of the boiler room or suspended on it, the surface should be protected with fireproof material. A sheet of metal or asbestos should protrude beyond the dimensions of the housing by 10 cm, from above by 700 mm.
- Similarly, the wooden floors of the furnace are protected during the installation of floor boilers.
- The minimum technological offset from one heat generator to another is adopted according to the installation instructions for a particular unit, but not less than 100 mm.
There are no strict requirements for the placement of boiler room piping details - pumps, expansion tanks, fittings. Typically, the listed items are mounted with the pipes to the walls.
Reference. Now on sale there are block (modular) mini-boiler rooms assembled in accordance with all the rules. You buy a finished product or order your own set of equipment - the manufacturer makes a furnace according to an individual project. The module is installed in the yard near the house.
Implement Layout Options
Having studied all the requirements of regulatory documentation, we can proceed to the design of the furnace and the arrangement of equipment. If you plan to equip a boiler room in a private house with your own hands, then you need to make a list of heat power units in advance and find out their sizes. Then it will turn out to beat the layout options on paper - draw a plan of the room and arrange the technique in different ways.
We proceed directly to the recommendations on how to fit the equipment inside the boiler room:
- If you have the opportunity to change the dimensions of the room, try to get away from the square shape in plan. Since water heaters and other elements are located along the walls, the middle of the square room will remain free, that is, unused.
- A good solution is a rectangular room with a window and a door on opposite short walls. Another option: the entrance and the window are made in adjacent partitions, and the remaining 2 walls and 2 corners will be occupied by equipment.
- If there is not enough space, choose small-sized or suspended units. Examples: a horizontal wall-mounted boiler or a slim-type floor tank that is elongated upward.
- How to rationally use the area near the window: Install nearby low floor equipment, for example, a gas stationary heat generator. If you successfully position the chimney, the pipe almost does not block the light opening.
- Try to hang the maximum units on the walls at a height of 1.6 ... 2 m, under them will fit the collector of underfloor heating and the rest of the heating wiring.
- Slide the bulky heat accumulator into a corner, but leave 5-10 cm gaps for laying piping piping.
- Any floor boiler can be placed sideways close to the wall. Then, on the other hand, there will be a passage for servicing and cleaning the chimney, as shown in the video below.
Note. In the event of a catastrophic lack of space, the electric storage water heater can be moved to the next room. It is more difficult to move an indirect heating boiler, the tank is connected by several pipes + a recirculation system.
The most difficult thing is to place in the boiler room 2 floor-mounted overall boilers, for example, diesel + pellet with a hopper. Try to place them near a long wall without a window, there also assemble the heating circuit. Leave a passage of 0.6 m between the boilers and other equipment. Consider the layout option near opposite walls or against each other, but then you will have to pull the lines through the room.
Give the rest of the area along the walls and partitions to a water treatment system with a hydraulic accumulator. If you managed to use only wall-mounted thermal units, the boiler room will leave room for various useful things - sinks, a small bathtub for shoes or a washing machine.
Technological scheme of the boiler room
After arranging the heat generators, it’s the turn to connect the devices to the engineering networks of a country house - heating, water supply, electricity. It will not be possible to consider all possible schemes, but we will give the main options for tying boilers and water heaters in the boiler room:
- The simplest option is to connect one double-circuit wall-mounted boiler. Since the unit was originally equipped with its own pump, expansion tank and automation, it can be installed in the kitchen or in the corridor, and communications can be hidden in the walls. It is not necessary to separate or attach a room.
- The scheme of a boiler room with a solid fuel boiler provides protection against cold "return" and condensation inside the firebox. The key role is played by a three-way valve that does not let coolant from the radiators into the jacket until the bypass circuit warms up to 50–55 ° C.
- Tying with a heat accumulator increases the efficiency of the TT boiler, which operates in maximum mode, giving most of the energy of the buffer tank.The second three-way valve limits the temperature of the water entering the radiator network, the balancing valve is used to configure the layer-by-layer loading of the tank.
- A typical connection diagram of a wall heater with an indirect heating boiler. The temperature in the tank is monitored by a thermostat that sends a signal to the boiler controller. Electronics switches the three-way electrovalve and in turn directs the heat carrier to the coil of the water heater or radiator.
- If necessary, an indirect boiler is included in the small circulation circuit of the TT boiler, as shown in the following picture.
- The scheme with two boilers - electric and wood - is often used when there is no gas in the house. The wood heat generator serves as the main source of heat, the electric boiler - auxiliary (automatically turns on after burning solid fuel).
- When it is required to combine several power plants and consumers in a boiler room, the scheme of primary and secondary rings is practiced. In residential buildings of small and medium size, this option successfully replaces the more expensive water gun with a collector.
A more detailed description of each technological scheme is given in the relevant articles - methods of strapping heat generators and installing an electric boiler with your own hands.
Conclusion
The complexity of the layout and connection of thermal power equipment depends on the size and configuration of the room, the number of units, the number of consumers. The heated area does not always play a role, the boiler room in a 100 m² house may include 2-3 heat generators, a storage water heater and underfloor heating. Accordingly, the furnace circuit and installation are complicated. In such a situation, expert advice does not hurt.