Any private house needs high-quality heating in connection with some features of the climate of our country. Usually in many villages this is done by the good old stove, which also acts as a stove and oven. And in the role of the latter is even better than the electrical counterpart. But some people prefer to use a natural resource for benefits. And here the question may suddenly arise about how much it will be needed and how to calculate the gas consumption. This will be the focus of our article.
The calculation of gas flow is influenced by many factors, which we consider below. In addition, we will try to determine at least the average fuel consumption indicator without involving specialists. At the same time, we will consider some of the advantages of gas heating.
The advantages of gas heating
Natural gas today is an excellent fuel in terms of efficiency and convenience. And since it is an inexpensive source of energy, gas heating in terms of rationality can compete with electric. In addition, the efficiency of some modern equipment already exceeds 100%. And this suggests that gas boilers are more in demand on the market.
Some time ago, gas boilers and convectors were not cheap, but the situation has changed, and now such equipment has become available. Gas is easily transported, and if certain rules are followed, it can be considered safe fuel. In the room where the modern gas boiler is located, there are no unpleasant odors, and gas flow is produced in an efficient manner. You can also observe the absence of dust and debris, which eliminates the need for sampling ash.
But the most important thing is the operation of the equipment - some models are almost completely automated, which minimizes maintenance. The controls regulate the temperature, providing uniform heating throughout the entire heating period. And since safety is paramount, enough attention is paid to this point in the production of gas heating equipment. All that is required of the consumer is to make the necessary settings.
Why gas?
Why not?! This natural fuel is highly efficient in terms of combustion due to the low sulfur content in the composition. Due to this, the boiler is less polluted. In addition, the unit walls are not corroded, which contributes to an increase in the life of the equipment. And gas consumption during combustion is accompanied by the emission of an insignificant small amount of harmful substances into the atmosphere.
Liquefied gas, which has improved properties , has gained great popularity. It can be delivered by cylinders to any place where there is no central gas main, which at times facilitates living conditions for a large number of consumers.
Heat loss
Before proceeding to the calculation of the consumption of natural gas, you need to know about the so-called heat losses - those areas of the house from where the heat goes out. Usually, future owners deal with this issue at the design stage. But, unfortunately, as practice shows, this moment is not always given due attention. After all, if the house will lose most of the heat, then the increased costs will cast doubt on the efficiency of gas heating. Money will just be wasted.
We list the most vulnerable zones through which heat loss occurs in the house:
- walls;
- joints
- window;
- doors
- roof;
- floor;
- dimensions of the building.
Poorly insulated walls are also the reason why gas consumption increases, since warm air will escape through them. And not just in large, but rather in huge quantities. And the fact is that the walls have the largest area. Therefore, isolation plays a big role. Depending on what the house is built of, the necessary heat-insulating materials with the required thickness are taken. With wooden buildings (logs, glued beams), the situation is much simpler, since in this case you can do without additional thermal insulation.
If the joints of the walls are poorly executed, then a lot of heat can also go through them. And if the shape of the house is complex, you should not lose sight of this moment.
The degree of heat loss through the windows depends on their size and quantity. The more they are in number and size, the correspondingly more heat will go to the street. The quality of the windows themselves also matters. Plastic products with multi-chamber double-glazed windows (2, 3, 5 and more) gained great popularity. When choosing a window for your home, you should be careful, because on the market you can find many fakes, the quality of which is many times worse. In addition, the installation of metal-plastic windows is important - with poor installation, increased gas consumption by the boiler is inevitable.
As everyone knows from school, the warm air is light and rises. Therefore, good thermal insulation is needed not only for the walls, but also for the roof. This process is not easy, especially if the design of the house is quite complicated, but necessary.
As for the floor, this does not mean heat loss, but rather discomfort from a cold surface that is not isolated from the low temperature of the earth.
The size of the house is also a factor in heat loss. A tall building requires more powerful equipment, since it is not easy to provide such a house with the necessary amount of heat.
What should be taken into account?
Calculating how much gas is consumed is not so complicated. It is not necessary to attract specialists in this field, but you need to take into account some parameters that will act as source data:
- The intensity of the equipment. If the house is poorly insulated, and a large amount of heat goes to the street, then the equipment will work at full strength most of the time.
- Heating period. This refers to the time factor. Those owners who come only for the summer or on weekends do not have to worry about how the gas boiler works. Gas consumption in this case will be minimal. But those owners who live in homes on an ongoing basis face big expenses.
- The area of construction. Everything is clear here.
- Type of heating equipment. Some modern boiler models are able to work in automatic mode, are able to control the temperature and degree of heating. If necessary, they can stop working for a while, and in this case, there is a saving.
The following should also be considered. Based on generally accepted standards, 1 kW / h of heat is required to heat a room of 10 m 2 to a comfortable temperature.
Payment
As an example, for calculation, we take a house with an area of 100 m 2 , and for convenience we denote by the letter Q the amount of heat in kW. Using the remark just mentioned above, we calculate that for our house 10 kW / h of heat are needed. That is, the area of the house is divided by 10 and we get the result (in this example, the figure is 10). It is easy to calculate (average) how much this energy will be needed for one month: Q m = 10 x 24 x 30 = 7200 kW.
Typically, the heating period lasts 7 months, but the boiler does not always work at full power all day long. Basically, peak power occurs only in the winter. In addition, it all depends on the area of residence. Therefore, you can safely divide the result into half: Q cf = 7200/2 = 3600 kW.
It remains to make a further calculation of gas consumption for the entire heating season: Q OS = 3600 x 7 = 25200 kW. As a rule, in mantle boilers, 1 m 3 of fuel is equivalent to 10 kW / h. Using this, we calculate the volume of gas that will be needed throughout the entire heating period V = Q / 10 = 2520 m 3 .
Similarly, you can make calculations for a house of any other area. And knowing these averages, you can estimate the financial costs.
One nuance
The above calculation is averaged. In practice, the calculated result may seem higher or lower. This is due to the presence of a number of different factors, and the deviation of the real flow from the calculated one is not uncommon. In addition, it is not so easy to observe the numbers obtained on paper. And significantly save even that. However, some tips may come in handy.
Cost-effective ways to optimize flow
These tips will help to some extent optimize the gas consumption for heating. First of all, it is worth purchasing only reliable and high-quality equipment. Accordingly, this is not worth saving. As for power, you should choose a boiler in accordance with personal needs. Do not think that a large supply will be in favor, rather the opposite. Equipment with high power, working in the middle mode, will nevertheless consume a lot of fuel.
The same applies to a low-power boiler, which will constantly work hard. Both options are not suitable, and the best choice is equipment with a small margin of productivity (about 25-30%). Then you can not worry about how much gas the boiler will have.
If during the design of the house was not provided for good thermal insulation, it is not too late to carry it out later. As already discussed above, a lot of heat can go through the walls and roof.
The acquisition of automatic equipment, although it will cost more, but as a result will result in savings. It does not hurt to also think about installing gas sensors, with the help of which a timely fuel leak will be detected.
Autonomy as a rational decision
Using autonomous equipment, gas savings can be achieved, and the more technological and sensitive it is, the more significant the result. This is achieved thanks to numerous sensors and controllers. Receiving from them all the necessary information, the equipment performs the optimal adjustment of the heating level. Modern models have a remote control or a smartphone or a personal computer / laptop can act as its analogue. It is convenient to determine from them how large the gas flow rate is or whether it is within the permissible norm.
If the heating equipment is equipped with a timer, then it is possible to use gas even more economically. With it, you can reduce the mode of operation of the boiler to a minimum at night or at a time when everything is usually at work and at home there is no one. Comfort will not suffer. It is estimated that lowering the temperature by 1 degree saves up to 3-5% of natural fuel.
Total
It takes time to create a good heating system. However, not everyone has it, and therefore, a good way out of the situation is to turn to specialists in the relevant field. The above independent calculation will be average, but if accuracy is important, then a more accurate rate of gas consumption will be determined by professionals. And on their basis it will become clear how appropriate it is to use gas heating.