Without hot water in the house, talking about a comfortable life is not necessary. It’s neither normal to wash the dishes, nor take a bath, nor use a shower. The most common option for obtaining heated water in the apartments of high-rise buildings is to connect the piping of the centralized water supply. However, residents of the private sector and suburban cottages are often deprived of this opportunity. The solution does exist!
It is enough to purchase a highly specialized electric water heater - a boiler, or, as an option, think about
replacing a heating
boiler with a two-circuit analog. The first ones became so popular that they are even installed in apartments, the owners of which, after performing simple calculations, come to the conclusion that it is cheaper to purchase a device and pay for electricity than to receive monthly payments for centralized hot water.
What is a boiler
This device is designed to heat cold water supplied to it, and dispense hot water to the consumer. There are gas and electrical modifications, as well as using indirect heating. In the first, a stream of water passes through a heat exchanger heated by a flame of a burning gas. Electric ones come in two versions: storage and flow. The latter work by analogy with the gas, but use the heater. More interesting are those that accumulate cold water, and then gradually heat it with a heating element. Such models are most widely used due to the relatively low power consumption and ease of use. We will consider them in more detail.
The choice of energy source
The main advantage of gas water heaters is the high efficiency of the built-in burner, so that you can heat large quantities of cold running water to high temperatures. In other words, if someone loves basking in the bathroom, then a water heater that uses gas for its work seems to be the best option.
However, despite the fact that the connection scheme for a gas boiler is very simple, when installing in a new place, you have to resort to the services of the gas service, spending honestly earned money.
If you choose a device that heats water with electricity, then no permits are required for installation. The connection diagram of this type of boiler is also very simple, so everything can be done independently. From an economic point of view, such solutions are often preferable to gas analogues. The only drawback is the limited supply of heated water, which can be dispensed once (for models of the accumulative type).
Simplified wiring diagram for an electric boiler
Self-assembly of any equipment should begin by reading the accompanying instructions. Otherwise, you can not only get a completely inoperative system, but even unknowingly damage the device. If you do not go into details, then the boiler connection diagram is as follows: pipelines of cold (supply) and hot (outlet) water are connected to the nozzles on the tank. The device is connected to the mains and the desired heating value is set by an analog or digital controller. It is necessary to open the tap (draw-off point) - and hot water rushes along this path, being squeezed out cold, coming from the water supply system.
Choose a wire
But a simplified boiler connection scheme still cannot serve as an instruction for installation, so we will dwell on all the key elements in more detail. Most electric water heaters come with a power cord and plug, allowing you to connect to the outlet in the usual way. Some manufacturers, however, decide to save a little and “forget” to put these little things in the delivery set, as a result of which the owner has to buy them on his own. The first important point is the correctly selected wire.
If the home network uses a grounding wire, then you should buy a three-core cable of the desired length. Otherwise, a two-core will be enough. The next question that will be asked to the buyer in the electrical goods store is the necessary section of cores. It is chosen as follows: for a copper cable - 1 mm sq., 17 A is permissible, which approximately corresponds to 3500 W. That is, if the instructions for the electric boiler indicate that its power is about 3 kW, then a cross section of 1 mm is enough. sq. Otherwise, the conductors will heat up during the operation of the water heater, which can lead to damage to the insulation.
Checking wiring
In addition to the power cord, the wiring itself should be able to pass the necessary current through itself, and withstand the protection. Imagine a situation when an electric water heater is mounted in the bathroom, where it is plugged into an outlet. Let its power be 3 kW. For 220 V networks, this roughly corresponds to a current of 14 A. The cross-section of the wiring conductors is 1 mm. sq. In this mode, the equipment can work.
But if in the same bathroom someone decides to use a hairdryer with 1.5 kW, then the total consumption will exceed the permissible one, and the conductors will begin to heat up. In addition, depending on the wiring diagram, it is not at all necessary to connect a hairdryer in the bathroom - a vacuum cleaner or an iron included in the corridor outlet may also affect the circuit. From the above, the corollary is the following: if the owner of the electric boiler does not understand electrical engineering well, it makes sense to invite a specialist once to help connect the device to the mains.
Required component
To power a boiler with electricity, the easiest way is to simply plug the power cord into a power outlet. So many do. We recommend spending a small additional amount and purchasing a special electrical device - RCD. Using a residual current circuit breaker several times reduces the likelihood of electrical injury due to possible malfunctions in the boiler circuits.
A feature of the RCD is that it performs its functions even in two-wire networks, without a grounding circuit (old wiring). The first models of such devices externally represented an analog of a dovetail circuit breaker, which required solving the issue with the installation site. Now there are small highly specialized solutions, which are an additional inclusion in the power cord of a boiler, the size of a matchbox. For example, the connection diagram of the Ariston boiler initially contains this component. When using switches on the cord, a couple of recommendations should be given:
- if the RCD "knocks out" for no apparent reason, then it is worth trying to expand the plug by changing the polarity;
- make sure that the heater is intact (having the skills and the appropriate tool, you can ring the case).
Protecting equipment
The connection diagram of the accumulative type boiler necessarily involves the use of a special device - a safety valve. It always comes complete with a water heater, and if for any reason it is missing, it must be purchased separately. Outwardly, it is a small tube with an additional third output.
Inside the spring-loaded mechanism. When the pressure of the water passing through the tube rises above a certain value, the internal valve activates and the "excess" fluid is released. Note that the connection diagram of the indirect heating boiler also uses this element, which is part of the so-called safety group.
How does the safety valve work?
Imagine that the owner of the boiler set the heating temperature too high. The closer to the boiling point, the more intense the expansion. And since the tank's capacity is tight, the pressure on its walls increases, which can lead to their destruction. The safety valve is mounted on the cold water pipe of the boiler and is designed in such a way as to operate with increasing pressure. During installation, you need not make a mistake with its orientation - there is always an arrow on the case showing the normal movement of fluid through the element.
Water works
The connection diagram of the boiler to the water supply, in addition to the aforementioned safety valve, may include an additional device - a water pressure reducer . This is a small sealed element with two threaded connections. For work does not require a connection to electricity.
Its task is to reduce water pressure to acceptable values and to level water hammer in the system. For example, in country houses using a pumping station, when the pump is turned on, the pressure in the system increases briefly, and the safety valve must react to this. In the case of a gearbox mounted on the boiler nozzle, you can not worry about such pressure jumps. Also, this element may be useful to residents of some apartments, in which, due to the proximity of the water station, the pressure exceeds normal, which also badly affects the operation of water heaters.
Providing Maintenance
Although the connection diagram of the boiler to the water supply can be performed without additional elements, with the exception of the safety valve, it is still recommended to think in advance about the ways to service the device. Since the supply is carried out directly from the main cold water supply line, if necessary, replace the heating element, re-energize the pipe connections, etc., it will be necessary to turn off the water supply to the entire apartment. To avoid this, it is necessary to install stop valves on the supply and outlet pipes of the water heater at the installation stage. It is better if they are spherical, not reducing the diameter of the pipe.
If a lot of consumers
Sometimes water heaters are used as a backup source of hot water. Usually we are talking about dozens of water points. Even a 200 liter water heater may not be enough. In such cases, a connection scheme for two or more boilers is used. It is simple: a pipe is stretched from the outlet of hot water of the first to the cold supply of the second, and its output goes to consumers.
That is, a sequential circuit is used. This allows you to reduce energy consumption, as one of the boilers will be less likely to turn on, and not think about equalizing the pressures.
Drazice
Products of the Czech manufacturer "Drage" are very popular. The company produces both electric and indirect heating boilers. The exclusion of the latter is associated with a number of nuances. So, the connection diagram for the Drazhice boiler of the heat exchange (indirect) version is designed to use an additional pipe route - the Recirculation output. This line extends from the farthest consumer of hot water, returns to the circulation pump, and from it to the "Recirculation" hole at the beginning of the wiring. The result is a closed loop, through which hot water circulates, so that by opening the tap, there is no need to drain the already cooled down.
Heat transfer solutions
The indirect boiler connection scheme is identical in most models. Unless with rare exceptions. The heat source in the house through the heat exchanger heats the water in the boiler itself. The cold supply is carried out at the lowest point, the middle pipe is designed for recirculation, and the hot one is taken from the upper point. The correct scheme for connecting an indirect heating boiler assumes that the movement of the heating fluid occurs from top to bottom, which allows to achieve the greatest efficiency. The most commonly used solution is a three-way valve. In this case, two circuits are used - the main one (heating) and the additional one (water supply). While there is no water intake, the liquid from the heating circuit passes through the heat exchanger, but it is worth opening the tap, and the DHW begins to circulate through it. Circuit switching is controlled by a thermostat.
The connection diagram of the indirect heating boiler can be implemented differently - on two pumps. The first creates the movement of the coolant in the heating circuit, and the second - in the domestic hot water system. If hot water is needed, then the corresponding pump is turned on, the heating is turned off and is backed up by a check valve. The connection diagram of the boiler with a boiler depends on the model (included in or is a separate device), as well as on the chosen implementation.