Natural gas is constantly becoming more expensive, but gas heating still remains the most popular option for heating a private home. The main reasons: efficiency, ease of use and reliability of power supply - the pipe is closed much less often than the electricity is turned off. The price of fuel depends on the country and region of residence.
To make a gas heating system for a country cottage or summer house, you need to clarify a number of points in advance:
- Assess the possibility of connecting main gas or installing a container for a supply of propane-butane mixture - a gas holder.
- Select a heat source designed to burn gaseous fuel.
- Develop a scheme for efficient heating of rooms.
Where to begin
Before you start figuring out how to make gas heating yourself, you need to leave behind naive thoughts about what will happen without gas service employees. Unfortunately, it is impossible to do all the work yourself.
In any case, you will have to involve specialists. But to reduce costs, you can install a lot of things with your own labor.
Why do we rely on gas:
- This is a cheap source of raw materials for combustion and heat transfer to the house. Even firewood is approximately twice as expensive to heat an identical living space;
- The operation of gas implies the absence of soot or combustion products, which is an undoubted advantage in comparison with firewood, coal, and pallets;
- Modern gas systems come with a thermostat - this allows you to regulate the temperature level;
- The equipment does not heat up much as a result of gas combustion. This practically eliminates the possibility of fire in a wooden wall, rafter or beam.
But most of the economic benefits relate to the centralized method of gas supply. Unfortunately, based on cylinders, the cost is expected to increase by 6 - 7 times.
Financial costs are almost comparable to the costs of operating an electric boiler. Therefore, we will not take this option into account.
Optimal gas heating scheme
You can rely on 2 diagrams related to the types of available heating devices. They are based on one operating principle: gas heats water to distribute and release heat throughout the entire area of the house. The choice is made based on the characteristics of residential meters.
Available heating schemes:
- Single-circuit gas boiler. It is characterized by a constant volume of coolant in the heating system.
- Double-circuit gas boiler. It has the additional ability to heat water for household use. To do this, a plate flow model of the heater or a storage version of the tank is used with the addition of its own burner and the ability to regulate power thanks to a thermostat. Therefore, such an implementation becomes not only part of the heating system. It increases the comfort of life in the home by providing warm water for washing dishes and taking a bath.
Choosing a country heater
Let's start by clarifying the concept of “dacha”. Some call a dacha a small summer house where you can relax and store gardening tools, others mean a country mansion. We do not consider the second case; it requires a full-fledged heating system - water or air.
Now let's move on to recommendations on how to choose a gas heater:
- If in winter you visit a country house infrequently and without an overnight stay, it is easier and cheaper to buy a portable ceramic stove with a 5-liter propane tank. This is convenient: the stove is easy to transport and can be used in other places - a garage, a workshop.
- If you stay for a longer period, you should take care of your health and purchase a catalytic combustion stove; it emits much less harmful emissions.
- For permanent residence, definitely choose a convector. If the house is gasified, you can heat it constantly. In terms of reliability, the device is equal to a gas boiler and is quite capable of operating safely without human intervention.
- A convector installed in the central room can best cope with heating 2-3 rooms. Leave interior doors open.
- You arrived at your dacha, started the boiler, but the temperature in the house is rising slowly. A simple ceramic heater will help quickly heat up a living room.
On the left in the photo we see the back of a gas stove with a small cylinder, on the right there is a defect in the ceramic panel (the material crumbles and crumbles).
Gun heaters are of little use for heating a dacha. Unless you want to quickly heat up a cold terrace or greenhouse. The heater consumes a lot of propane and emits the same amount of harmful exhaust, and an indirect heating gun will be too expensive.
Important. Of all types of gas heating systems, only a convector, and even a fireplace, is suitable for heating residential buildings. Conscientious manufacturers of infrared burners indicate in the instructions that the device is intended for heating utility, technical and utility rooms.
What to do before installing the boiler
You will have to take into account that without a gas service, it is prohibited by law to connect a gas boiler and operate a heating or water heating system.
Necessary steps before installation:
- All documents and constituent papers are collected to approve the planned project. This is needed for the gas service. She will sign the permit only after a complete review of the project.
- Additionally, you will need an explanation of who will do the installation. The performer must have permission. For their part, gas workers will help supply gas to the required place in the house.
- Gas equipment, consumables and a full list of components are purchased. You can save a little, but you can’t do without the basic elements of the system.
- A connection is made into a centralized gas pipeline to connect to a fuel source.
- You can install a boiler and connect to a pipe system with radiators.
Therefore, it will not be possible to do without the help of the gas service. But you can do some of the work yourself.
What is required to connect the boiler?
Unfortunately, this is not a simple matter, and for this, as we understand, you need permission from the gas service. The problem lies in the danger of gas. If you make a small mistake, then an explosion is possible or the reptile may enter the living space, which may cause dire consequences.
First, you should rinse the pipes in the boiler. Let's move on to inspecting the reliability of the wall for mounting the boiler. A gasket based on a material inert to combustion is mounted to it. Maintain a distance of 5 cm from the boiler to the gasket.
The quality of the ventilation system and the cleanliness of the chimney are checked. If the permit is in hand, then there is nothing stopping you from moving on to the next stage.
Set of tools for boiler installation:
- Self-tapping screws with a large diameter of 6 mm, 4 units required;
- Marker for marking;
- Pobedite drill;
- Working drill;
- Plastic dowels;
- Reliable level;
- Parapet.
Materials for work:
- Three-core wire;
- Elbow for forming a chimney;
- Parallel bracket;
- Corner filter with mesh structure;
- Ball valves;
- Paronite gasket;
- Detector for gas appearance outside the boiler;
- Certificate for installation and operation of gas equipment.
A true owner relies on his own strengths and strives to do everything for comfort in the house. But, if there is no permission, then it is prohibited and dangerous to carry out the entire installation of the gas system. You can limit yourself to the delivery and preparatory stage of the site for installing the boiler, laying pipes, and leave the rest to the gas service specialists.
Storage and safety rules
The first thing you need to pay attention to is the amount of fuel that is allowed to be stored:
- ten-liter containers in residential premises, provided that the container is sealed;
- three-liter containers that have characteristics that are resistant to fire and shock.
Rules to follow when sending cylinders for storage:
- when choosing a place to store gas containers in the open air, you need to make sure that there is no direct sunlight in this place;
- Only containers that have been checked for integrity are allowed to be stored;
- if corrosion processes are detected on the surface of the cylinder, it is strictly prohibited to send it for storage;
- the residue pressure level must be below 0.05 MPa;
- the temperature regime for storage must be maintained within 45 degrees;
- When storing, keep the distance between fuel containers more than half a meter from each other and from heating devices.
Connecting the boiler yourself (instructions)
As we understand, this requires permission from the gas workers. But where to start doing the work? It is important to secure the boiler correctly. Large screws are used for this.
Let's look at the stages:
- We use pre-prepared: 4 self-tapping screws with a diameter of 6 mm. Thanks to the marker, the corresponding holes are marked on the wall. They are drilled with a pobedit drill.
- Dowels are inserted into the holes.
- The boiler is being installed.
- The elbow for the chimney system is put on.
- The structure is fixed to the wall thanks to self-tapping screws.
- In the lower part, the distance to the floor is 80 cm, and to the wall 50 cm. It is important to place the boiler evenly.
- We check with a level or plumb line.
- You can attach a parapet bracket.
- The boiler is connected to the pipes. Before connecting, you need to get rid of the factory plugs. We use a mesh filter for protection. It is necessary to get rid of debris before water enters the heat exchanger. Ball valves are mounted on both sides of the filters.
- Here is an important point: only gas service experts can connect to the gas pipe. For this, only a rigid connection is used, thanks to a metal pipe. To ensure safety, a paronite gasket must be added.
- It is equally important to install a gas meter, a gas outlet alarm, and a thermal shut-off valve. Without this, you cannot use a gas boiler.
It is important to use a three-wire wire to connect to the electrical network.
Now you can turn on the water. It is important to maintain a pressure of 1 bar. Then you can tighten the valve. A test run is being carried out.
Now we realize the benefits of gas heating for the home. But, if you plan to install gas heating in an apartment as an autonomous system, so as not to depend on the level of centralized heat, timing of switching on or off, or accidents on the line.
Then you will have to face practically the same stages. They should not be considered separately.
What you should know before installing a gas cylinder in your dacha
One of the main elements in a gas heating system is the reducer. It is needed for the reason that the degree of pressure in the cylinders is often an unstable value; it may depend on the volume of remaining fuel, what composition the mixture has, or the distance from the consumer. In this regard, you need a device that can produce a constant level of pressure, regardless of the factors that interfere with this.
You can select a gearbox according to the parameters indicated on its body:
- Productivity . To calculate what performance gearbox to buy, you need to start from the fuel consumption per unit of time. The ratio should be such that this gearbox parameter is greater than or equal to the boiler intake capacity. Gearboxes with minimum performance parameters cannot be installed in a house for heating.
- Working pressure level . There are reducer models that allow you to adjust the pressure level in the range of 20-60 mbar. If you purchase another type of device, you need to pay attention to ensure that the indicators of the heating devices and the gearbox are equal. Standard models require operating pressures from 30 to 50 mBar.
If it is necessary to connect the system using flexible hoses, you need a reducer equipped with a herringbone fitting. When installing rigid pipes, it is necessary to purchase a device that has threaded outlets.
