We understand: how to make independent heating in an apartment?

Every year, the residents of apartment buildings have the same problem — the cold is coming, whether the quality of heating will correspond to the value of tariffs for utilities. Heating in an apartment for the bulk of urban residents turns into an age-old struggle for survival. Paying a lot of money and receiving mediocre services as a result is a situation that many do not want to put up with. If it is possible to insulate an apartment on your own, then it is a moot point to achieve an improvement in the quality of service by energy companies. Independent heating will help to radically resolve the issue — equipment with which you will finally get the expected comfort and coziness in your apartment.

Independent heating — what is independence

The main task that residents of a city apartment who have expressed a desire to become independent of district heating may face is obtaining a permit. Without official documents allowing you to disconnect from the central heating and a ready-made project for the future autonomous heating in the apartment, it is impossible to dismantle the equipment.

Important! Unauthorized actions to turn off and dismantle central heating elements in the premises of an apartment building can be regarded as an administrative offense. If such facts are revealed, the owner of the apartment is forced not only to pay a fine, but also to restore the dismantled equipment at his own expense.

In the process of solving organizational issues, one should not leave the development of the project for later. In other words, if you decide to equip your apartment with decentralized heating, you will have to decide in advance which type of autonomous heating to prefer.

The concept of «independent» in relation to a city apartment looks very conditional. Unlike a private house, where the owner has great technological capabilities, a city apartment has limited resources. In private households, you can install autonomous heating of almost any kind. With the desire of the homeowner and certain finances, one can really achieve complete independence from centralized energy suppliers.

The main advantages of independent heating systems are as follows:

• the ability to independently adjust the intensity of heating of residential premises;
• quick start and quick shutdown of autonomous heating systems;
• a real opportunity to achieve savings on energy costs;
• maintaining the optimal temperature in the apartment at any time of the year.

The presence of intra-house communications, the layout of apartments and strict technical standards do not allow apartment owners in an apartment building to use stove and air heating, and other options for alternative heating. In this case, you have to be content with gas or electricity. Any interruption in power supply or gas supply will reduce all your independence to zero. The only thing that can be done is to equip autonomous home heating using one of the main sources, and keep the second as a backup, fallback option.

Note: when submitting documents for disconnection from central heating, you will have to attach an alternative heating project for your apartment. The choice of energy sources is not great, the project can be designed for the installation of gas heating equipment or electric. Any other options for independent heating will not be approved and will be rejected.

We make a choice — we use gas for heating or focus on electricity

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Gas water heating — what and how?

The source of heat for any heating system is a key issue. Two points remain fundamentally important for the inhabitants of a city apartment.

• first moment. Do you want to end up with a cheap way to heat your own apartment or are you focusing on solid and capital heating equipment that can create comfort and coziness in the apartment;
• second moment. What region do you live in, what is the average monthly temperature outside your windows during the cold season;

These aspects can further help you make the right choice, solve the question — how to make independent heating in your apartment faster and cheaper?

On the first question, it is worth deciding right away, since the concepts of cheap and comfortable are not compatible. Any independence from centralized energy sources costs a lot of money. Having abandoned central heating, you will have to dismantle the elements of house heating at your own expense. The subsequent installation and installation of new heating equipment will cost a pretty penny.

As for the question of which type of heating to give preference, here it is necessary to take into account the second aspect. If you have freezing temperatures outside your window most of the time in winter, then only an autonomous gas boiler can save you without central heating. Other heating options in cold winters will not give a tangible effect.

For reference: heating with wood and coal is comparable in economic terms with gas heating, but we are talking about a city apartment. Where will you install the solid fuel boiler, how will your chimney work, and where will your fuel storage be located. At cost, such heating will be extremely inconvenient for residents of an apartment building, unprofitable and dangerous. That is why they are prohibited by regulations.

Gas heating is beneficial not only from an economic point of view. Modern models of gas boilers are equipped with automation and can work completely offline. In addition, today there are a lot of ready-made projects that have already been agreed and are being put into practice. In terms of permits, gas autonomous heating does not cause any complaints from the regulatory services. For a city apartment, the choice with the autonomous heating option is more than obvious. A double-circuit gas boiler equipped with a programmable thermostat is able to fully satisfy the household needs of residents of a city apartment for heat and hot water. There is almost complete independence of your apartment from the work of utilities.

A normally operating autonomous gas heating system in automatic mode is able to maintain the required temperature in the apartment. Automation controls the operation of the boiler and, accordingly, the heating temperature of the coolant, optimizing the gas flow.

Electric heating — is it worth getting involved

Heating city apartments with electricity is today not so massive in comparison with gas autonomous heating. Despite the high level of safety and ease of installation of heating equipment, the constant increase in electricity tariffs casts doubt on this heating option. Frequent rolling blackouts in winter are associated with an increased load on existing power grids and transformers. Would you like to sit without heat in a severe frost, if the electricity was turned off in the area for two, three hours. Probably not!

In addition, according to thermal engineers, heating with electricity through direct heating is an unaffordable luxury today. From a practical point of view, it is uneconomical to use electricity to heat an apartment, although the efficiency of electric boilers is quite high and exceeds all other types and types of heating devices.

For reference: the relatively affordable cost of electric heating is offset by the costs associated with refurbishing the home electrical network. For the efficient and normal operation of an electric boiler, other heating devices on an ongoing basis, it will be necessary to install a three-phase meter and protective devices.

According to the retail network, mostly electric boilers are purchased by owners of country houses and cottages, which are limited in the use of domestic gas. The owners of many apartments in high-rise buildings, having electric stoves at their disposal, are not particularly eager to install electric heating.

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For example: a double-circuit electric boiler with a capacity of 5-9 kW, suitable for heating and hot water supply of an apartment of 80 square meters. m, no more. Such a unit costs, we are talking about a good brand and reliable models of 12-16 thousand rubles. To this we must add the costs associated with obtaining approval from the oblenergo, the development of a heating system project. This is up to about 5000 rubles. Subsequent installation and installation will also cost a considerable amount. Total: total costs will amount to 20-25 thousand rubles. Are such expenses worth all those troubles, if in reality there are no significant savings. Independence in this case will only be on paper.

Warm floors, convectors or infrared lamps — all this is wonderful. And what about hot water? If you also use an electric boiler to heat water in the house, then your electrical network at home will not be red, but “golden”. Everything looks great in the project, only the real figures in the electricity bills say otherwise.

Conclusions and conclusion

Gas autonomous heating today is a real step towards the independence of your apartment in the winter. Electricity can be used as an additional, auxiliary source of heating. When there are small children in the apartment, or there is an overexpenditure of gas for heating, you can use household electric heaters.

For reference: a gas boiler can be installed in apartments located no higher than the 10th floor. The corresponding norm is enshrined in SNiPs, no one will allow you to violate it.

The choice of a boiler of the appropriate power is simply calculated by the formula: 1 kW of heat — 10 m²heated area + 10-20% for heat losses due to low thermal efficiency of housing. For an average apartment of 50 m2² you will need a gas boiler with a capacity of 6 kW. A single-circuit boiler is suitable purely for heating an apartment. In order to get hot water in addition, buy a double-circuit boiler. The required Power for such units is higher, however, it is only used if you turn on the hot water tap.

Independent heating is not an easy and time-consuming task. With a competent approach, patience and diligence, you can achieve not only optimal heating conditions for yourself during the cold period, but also significantly reduce the financial costs associated with heating. Your independence will consist in optimizing fuel consumption for your own needs. While saving gas, the use of electric heaters in extreme cases will allow you to achieve the necessary comfort in the apartment. At the same time, your budget will be quite predictable and balanced.