Homeowners in urban high-rise buildings are accustomed to the relative convenience of central heating, since they do not have to think about maintaining it, starting it up, or turning it off. However, in recent years, more and more residents have been inclined to install their own autonomous heating in an apartment in a multi-storey building, as they are faced with many problems caused by the insufficiently efficient and conscientious work of housing and communal services. Thus, the coolant temperature set in the central boiler room is not always satisfactory. For example, it’s quite warm outside, and the radiators are so hot that you have to open all the windows wide. Or, on the contrary, the radiators are lukewarm, but suddenly bitter frosts have set in outside the window.

Another important point is the dependence of heating on emergency situations throughout the entire system, right down to the boiler room and heating mains. Thus, a pipe break in one of the sections of the heat supply main deprives several houses of heating at once. This moment is especially unpleasant during the peak of winter cold.

The inconvenience of central heating also manifests itself in the off-season - in the autumn and spring, when the heating has already been turned off or has not yet been started, and it is cold in the apartment. In such cases, you have to use electric heaters and pay considerable amounts for electricity.

Those who have decided to take control of the heating supply of their home by arranging individual heating, as a rule, have a lot of questions. Therefore, further we will consider various nuances associated with such a transition.

Advantages and disadvantages of individual apartment heating

Before proceeding directly to action, you need to find out what advantages autonomous heating provides its owners. But no less valuable is information about what difficulties will be encountered during its arrangement and operation.

So, having a heating system in the apartment that is independent of the heat supply main provides the following advantages:

• The ability to create comfortable conditions in the apartment at any time of the year, regardless of the overall operation of the general heating system. An urgent need for this arises in the off-season, since in spring and autumn day and night temperatures differ significantly from each other. And summer, as we know, can bring “surprises”. The central heating system is turned on according to a standard schedule. There are also emergency starts, but this always takes several days (to analyze the situation and put it into operation), during which residents may experience significant discomfort.

• The ability to set the most comfortable temperature in the apartment during the cold season. Everyone knows that apartments located at the end of the house are colder than those located between several apartments. Therefore, the requirements for the temperature of the coolant in the system will be different. However, utility services do not always take these factors into account, charging the same amount of payment for heating, focusing only on the area of ​​housing.

It is impossible not to take into account the personal needs for warmth of each person, since one individual likes it warmer, while for another such a microclimate in the apartment seems unacceptably hot.

• An autonomous heating system can be easily configured to the desired operating mode. For example, if homeowners are away from home all day, then there is no need to “drive” the heating system in vain. You can set it to the minimum required heating, and when you get home, you can increase the temperature of the coolant.

Many modern heating boilers are equipped with programming systems for operating modes, which can be set according to the daily routine of the owners, and according to the alternation of weekends and workdays. For example, when the owners arrive from work or study, the system will automatically bring the temperature in the rooms to the most comfortable level.

Many modern heating boilers are equipped with control units connected to GSM or IP communication channels. Thanks to this, they can be controlled remotely and remotely using a phone or computer.

• Heating bills will be significantly reduced due to lower energy consumption, since modern boilers, both gas and electric, are configured for minimal energy consumption and its most efficient use - they have high efficiency, reaching up to 95÷100%.
• By choosing a unit with two circuits for installation, it is quite possible to refuse not only central heating, but also hot water supply. Thanks to this, there will always be hot water in the apartment, regardless of whether maintenance work is carried out on the heating network in the summer or not.
• Another important cost saving factor is that payment for heating will be made only in the winter, when the system is actually in use. The fact is that you will only have to pay according to the electric or gas meter (depending on the choice of boiler). It becomes possible to clearly personally control the consumption of resources. You usually have to pay for central heating all year round.

However, in order to transfer the apartment to autonomous heating and hot water supply, you will have to go through quite a lot of bureaucratic formalities. These can be considered the main disadvantages of such a reorganization.

• All work carried out must be coordinated with the relevant organizations and carried out according to established rules. Unauthorized reconstruction will not remove the obligation to pay the costs for the central heating services provided, and also threatens the imposition of a large fine on the homeowner.
• Preparation of documents both for disconnecting central communications and for drawing up a project, as well as installing autonomous equipment, will require a lot of time, patience and money.
• If you plan to use a gas boiler for heating, then the room where it will be installed must be equipped with an effective ventilation system, as well as a chimney.

• Installation work on the installation of a gas boiler must be carried out by qualified specialists from the relevant organization. Therefore, it will not be possible to implement them on your own - and this also entails additional costs.
• In addition to the costs of installation work, reconstruction will require considerable costs both for the preparation of documentation and the purchase of all necessary equipment.
• Responsibility for the safe operation of autonomous heating, as well as for carrying out preventive maintenance, rests with homeowners. Monitoring the implementation of all these regulations is carried out by specialists from relevant organizations. The owner of the apartment will be obliged to provide unhindered access to the heating equipment.

Despite all the difficulties with the design and installation of an autonomous system, as well as one-time rather large costs, the benefits of this heating system are obvious. Over many years of operation, these investments will certainly pay off. or even several times. And the apartment will always maintain the most favorable microclimate for the owners.

Documents required for switching to autonomous heating

The first thing that needs to be taken into account when starting a reconstruction is the timing of documentation. Therefore, if you plan to receive heat from an individual heating boiler next winter, then the process must begin in advance. Thus, practice shows that permitting documents are drawn up and “wander through the authorities” within three to five months. Installation work can begin only after receiving all permits, and it will take several days.

Coordination and obtaining permits

This entire lengthy process must begin by clarifying the list of documents required for drawing up a project, purchasing and installing equipment. There is a list of documentation approved by Art. 26 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation “Grounds for the reconstruction and (or) redevelopment of residential premises.” This document is taken as a basis, since when installing a heating boiler, as a rule, some redevelopment is required.

Redevelopment of apartments in multi-storey buildings must be carried out in accordance with established requirements and in agreement with local authorities. To obtain approval, a package consisting of the following documents is collected:

• Application for redevelopment of residential premises. The standard form of this application has been approved by the Government of the Russian Federation.
• A notarized copy of the certificate of ownership of housing - an agreement on the transfer of ownership or the right of inheritance.
• Also a photocopy of the technical passport of the apartment certified by a state notary.
• A draft housing redevelopment project has been drawn up.
• A copy of the document indicating all the residents registered in this apartment.
• Consent for redevelopment of the premises. This document is a list of all adult residents of the apartment, indicating their full name and year of birth. Each of them must put a personal signature opposite their name, which confirms their consent. The document is drawn up on one sheet.
• If the building in which the apartment is located is classified as an architectural monument, then permission from the organization involved in the protection of cultural heritage will be required.

When submitting the collected package to local authorities, the apartment owner should know that they have no right to demand from him additional documents that are not provided for in the above article. Having submitted the package for approval, in return the apartment owner must receive a receipt listing all the documents contained in it.

Next, the self-government organization, after appropriate verification and approval, sends the package to the administration of the city or administrative district, where the documents are approved. In this case, it is necessary to know the time frame within which the applicant must be provided with a reasoned response.

Consideration of the application and a verdict on permission or refusal must be given no later than one and a half months (45 days) from the date of submission of the documentation. And the applicant must receive his copy of the conclusion made by the commission no later than three days after the decision is made.

A ban on housing redevelopment may be due to deterioration in the living conditions of other residents of the house or apartment. This point is indicated in the norms and rules for the technical operation of housing, approved by the State Construction Committee of Russia No. 170 dated September 27, 2003.

As indicated in the list of documents, it includes a project for redevelopment of residential premises. Before a project is drawn up, it is necessary to obtain permission from the gas and heat supply control organizations to disconnect from central communication systems and install autonomous gas equipment. If permission is received, a project will be drawn up to renovate the premises and install an autonomous heating system. The finished project is agreed upon with the relevant organizations.

All of the above documents, except the project itself, must be prepared in advance, since they will need to be presented to all authorities influencing the preparation of the project.

Documentation is prepared in the following order:

• The first step will be to visit city or regional heating networks. This organization must obtain permission to disconnect the apartment from central heating. A permit can be obtained if disconnecting communications from a specific apartment does not disrupt the operation of the engineering equipment of the entire building or the apartments located next to it. There cannot be any other justification for refusal.

In some cases, an application for disconnection from the heating network is submitted through the housing management.

If an unreasonable refusal is received from the heat supply organization, then with this document it is worth contacting the courts to resolve this conflict.

• Having received a positive conclusion from the heating networks, you can take it to the gas service of the city or region. There you need to obtain technical conditions for installing autonomous equipment. This document must be completed within ten calendar days from the date of submission of the application.
• When both permits have been received, you can go to the design department of the energy company or to another design organization authorized to deal with residential buildings. If the heating boiler was purchased in advance, then its passport with technical characteristics should be attached to the general package. The project will take into account all the presented data, including technical conditions for organizing autonomous heating.

To become familiar with the requirements imposed by regulatory organizations when issuing permits, it is necessary to study the document SNiP41-01-2003 “Heating, ventilation and air conditioning”, clause 6.2 “Apartment heat supply systems”.

If there is no opportunity or desire to independently resolve permitting problems with design organizations, then their registration can be entrusted to a design company. In some regions of the Russian Federation, one of the gas service departments is involved in this process. These additional services, of course, are provided for a fee.

Drafting

The reconstruction project is drawn up according to the submitted documentation. Therefore, before transferring the package to the design organization, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the technical conditions obtained in the gas industry. Taking them into account, you need to independently draw up a sketch of the desired (from the owner’s point of view) location of the heating equipment.

However, it is necessary to correctly imagine the situation - specialists will be able to determine the exact location where the boiler will be installed after they have studied the floor plan of the apartment.

The project is the main document according to which the reconstruction of the premises will be carried out, and then the installation of heating equipment. Therefore, the efficiency of the system and the ease of use will depend on how correctly it is developed.

The project includes a considerable amount of information that describes the characteristics of the heating system being created:

• Climatic conditions of the region in which the house is located.
• Basic technical and operational characteristics of the building.
• Energy carriers that can be used for the operation of autonomous heating.
• Characteristics of the heated premises of the apartment - their area and volume, the number of rooms, the location of the loggias.
• Financial aspects of the issue.

Based on the collected and systematized information, the location of the boiler, its recommended type, as well as the required thermal power are determined.

Specialists from design or energy companies will make accurate calculations, making the heating system not only efficient, but also as economical as possible. If the organizations that will subsequently approve the documentation are themselves developing projects, then it is best to take advantage of this opportunity and entrust its development to them. In this case, there will be no likelihood that the document will contain serious errors or omissions.

However, no matter who is entrusted with the task of drawing up the project, the customer must actively interact with its developers. This is due to the fact that during the work process several redevelopment options are often considered. These options are presented to the customer for consideration, and he then chooses the most optimal one from the point of view of the apartment owner. The parameters of the heating device, as well as the range of parts, materials and components necessary for installing the system, often depend on this choice.

The project is being developed in stages:

• The first step is to review the equipment layout sketch provided by the customer. If the apartment owner has not developed his own version, then it is best to draw up a sketch together with a design specialist.
• Next, the routes for laying the heating circuit are considered and determined. If you plan to leave the old circuit without replacement, only with the necessary modifications, you must warn the developer about this in advance.
• The next step is to prepare documentation on the main components and devices of the heating system.
• An estimate is drawn up.

Specialists responsible for one or another area of ​​operation of the heating system will necessarily take part in the preparation of the project - this is heat supply, ventilation, energy supply, and, if necessary, architecture.

As a result, the documentation will consist of several parts, each of which defines different aspects of the project:

• Descriptive part. It provides information about the meaning and content of the project. This section consists of several subparagraphs:

— location of the apartment in the structure of the house;

— features of the apartment layout and location of living rooms.

This section specifies where the apartment is located - in the middle part of the building or at its end, and indicates regional climate features. This information is necessary to determine the type and optimal power of heating equipment, including the boiler itself, radiators or other heat exchange devices.

• Technological calculations are the main part of the project. This section determines the volume of coolant required for the operation of the heating unit in different modes. In addition, the optimal heating temperature is indicated, which will ensure comfortable conditions in all rooms of the apartment.

Based on the calculated parameters, the power of the boiler for heating is selected (usually a double-circuit one, that is, immediately and to solve the problem of autonomous hot water supply).

This part also determines possible heat losses when heating rooms. And based on the obtained indicators, conclusions are drawn about the efficiency of the heating system.

All calculated data are reflected in a graphical diagram, which is also included in this part of the project. This document will become a guide for installers during the practical implementation of the project. By the way, all specified parameters must be strictly observed during installation work. Otherwise, the commission accepting the system into operation may simply not allow it to be launched.

• Specification. This part of the project provides information about all the necessary components and materials intended for installation of the heating system. This section may also include a drawing diagram, which indicates the location of devices and connecting nodes.

This information is used when purchasing everything necessary to assemble a heating system, and then when installing it.

• Lately, the project is often supplemented with a graphic representation of what should happen in the end. This part of the project helps to visualize what the heating system will look like after it is installed. The image is performed using computer programs, usually in three-dimensional projection.

When submitting an application for the preparation of project documentation, it is necessary to clarify the reasons for the transition to individual heating. This is necessary so that specialists know what to focus on when working on a project.

After the project is ready, a copy of it must be sent to the company that will monitor the subsequent operation of the equipment.

You might be interested in information about what it is

Equipment for autonomous heating of an apartment

Another question that necessarily arises before an apartment owner who decides to switch it to autonomous heating is the choice of boiler based on the power source. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 307, paragraph 44 of April 16, 2012, which refers to heat supply systems, identifies devices that do not meet established safety requirements. Therefore, the units included in the list of this document are prohibited for installation in apartments located in multi-storey buildings.

Simply put, in this case, only one of two options can be chosen - an electric boiler or a gas-fired one. Which one is better suited for apartment conditions, more economical and safe?

To answer these questions, we can briefly consider their characteristic features.

A gas boiler

Gas boilers are often used for autonomous apartment heating. However, when choosing a unit, you need to know that it must meet certain requirements. These conditions are defined to maintain the safety as well as the efficient functioning of the system.

These requirements include the design features of the unit:

• The boiler must have a sealed (closed) combustion chamber.
• Automatic shutdown of the gas supply must be provided in the following cases:

— when the burner flame goes out;

— in case of malfunctions in the protection circuit;

— during a power outage;

— when the supply gas pressure drops below the limit value:

— when the coolant overheats above the established norm;

- if there are faults in the chimney system.

• The permissible heating temperature of the coolant should be no higher than 95 degrees.
• The coolant pressure in the system should not exceed 1 MPa.

In addition, gas boilers are divided into single- and double-circuit, for example. As mentioned above, the first ones are designed only for heating an apartment, and the second ones are designed for both heating rooms and heating hot water for domestic needs. Naturally, thrifty owners most often prefer the second option.

When submitting an application for disconnection from the heating network, it is necessary to indicate the type of device. This is due to the fact that consent must be obtained from heating networks to disconnect not only from the central heating main, but also from the hot water supply.

Another important factor is the choice of boiler type according to location, since they can be floor-mounted or wall-mounted. Due to the small areas of most city apartments, preference is most often given to wall-mounted options, since boiler equipment is installed in kitchens or on an insulated loggia.

Wall-mounted boilers have quite compact dimensions and a neat external design. They are practically no different in appearance from ordinary geysers. The chimney pipe from the gas heating unit is led out into the street through the outer wall of the house, so this particular wall or one adjacent to it is chosen for its placement. The window next to which the boiler is hung often immediately solves the issue of room ventilation.

The wall-mounted boiler has sufficient power to heat a standard-sized apartment.

If funds allow, then preference should be given to a condensing boiler. It is more efficient and economical to operate - it implements additional thermal power extraction due to the condensation of water vapor contained in the combustion products of natural gas. The gain in useful power compared to a conventional boiler with equal consumption of “blue fuel” is 10 percent or more.

Gas boilers for heating and hot water supply – which one to choose?

The wide variety of gas boilers on sale can, to a certain extent, play a “wicked joke” on the consumer - significantly complicate the choice of a suitable model. What parameters should you pay special attention to, which models should you give preference to? All this will be discussed in a separate publication on our portal.

Arranging a room for installing a gas boiler

Separately, it is necessary to mention the premises of the apartment where it is planned to install gas equipment. The safety of the residents of the entire house will depend on its proper arrangement.

To place a gas boiler, you cannot choose an arbitrary room in the apartment, guided by some of your own interests. The premises must meet certain requirements, the list of which includes the following:

• The equipment cannot be installed in any of the living rooms of the apartment.
• The area of ​​the room must be at least 4 m².
• The entrance door to the room cannot be less than 800 mm wide.
• The room must have a window facing the street.
• The unit is hung on the wall or installed on the floor, at a distance of at least 300 mm from another gas-powered appliance, for example, from a kitchen stove.
• It is not allowed to connect the chimney of a gas boiler, as well as the water heaters, to the general house ventilation system. The pipe must be led outside through an external wall. The most convenient way in this regard is to use coaxial chimneys with forced air injection and exhaust of combustion products.
• Some gas boilers with high power require the installation of forced ventilation in the room, that is, equipped with an exhaust fan. If the technical conditions for arranging a room for the installation of a specific boiler model indicate such a requirement, then you will have to install a fan of the appropriate capacity into the window.
• A wall-mounted boiler can only be installed on a wall made of non-combustible material. The floor area under the floor-standing version of the device is usually covered with ceramic tiles.

If at least one of the requirements cannot be met, the commission that accepts the gas equipment will not sign the act of permission to put it into operation.

Based on the list of requirements, we can come to the conclusion that the gas boiler can be installed in the kitchen area or in the associated loggia. The loggia must be well insulated in advance. These rooms are most suitable for installing gas equipment, since the gas supply riser is traditionally located in the kitchen.

The kitchen area of ​​the apartment must have a window facing the street, as well as a doorway of the required width. In addition, general house ventilation ducts pass through the kitchen, which are also necessary when arranging the room as a “mini-boiler room”.

Gas boiler prices

a gas boiler

Electric heating of the apartment

Unlike gas equipment, the electric heating option is much easier to install, since there are much more places where, for example, the same boiler can be hung on the wall.

The main thing that needs to be taken into account when choosing an area for installing equipment is the possibility of connecting a heating circuit to it, as well as supplying a power supply line of the required power. There is no need for a ventilation system or pipes for removing combustion products.

If you decide to choose an electric heating option, then before starting to implement your plan, you must contact the energy company with a request to check the availability of free energy resources in the house. This organization must give written permission to connect devices of the required power and apply to disconnect the apartment from the central heating and hot water supply. The homeowner must submit this application to the heating network, and a copy of it is attached to the general package of documents.

The list of other documentation for the transition to electric heating will have to be clarified with the energy company, as well as with the self-government organization. Administrative regions of Russia may have their own requirements for the use of electricity for heating.

In any case, to install electric heating equipment, the number of documents that will have to be collected will be much less than when choosing a gas boiler.

Heating an apartment with electricity can be implemented in different ways, which allows you to choose the best option for a particular case:

• Installation of an electric boiler connected to a classic heating circuit with coolant circulating in it.
• Direct heating from separately installed electrical convectors
• Permanently installed or mobile infrared heaters or fan heaters.
• “Heated floor” system using a heating cable or infrared film.
• Several different electrical appliances used in a complex.

You may be interested in information about what characteristics they have.

Heating using an electric boiler

If it is intended to leave the heating circuit in its original state, only disconnecting it from the central heating, then it is connected to an electric boiler. Passing through the heat exchanger of the electric unit, the coolant heats up and enters a closed heating circuit. Then, having passed the circle and cooled down, it returns again to heat up. To make the coolant circulation more intense and controlled, a special circulation pump is built into the system.

Modern electric boilers are equipped with automatic control. Thanks to such systems, the boiler can be programmed not only for a specific coolant temperature, but also for a specific operating mode by hour and day of the week. That is, the device will not function constantly, but at a time and with the heat output that is beneficial to the homeowners.

Specialized stores offer wall-mounted models of electric boilers with a power of 5 to 60 kW, as well as floor-standing options with much greater power of 60 kW or more.

Manufacturing specialists will help you determine which power model to choose when drawing up a project. The choice of unit will depend on the characteristics of the heated apartment, its area, the number of windows and balconies, the type of window frames installed, etc. An approximate guideline when choosing the power of a heating boiler is 1 kW per 10 m² of apartment area, although one can argue with this.

If to heat your home you need to install a boiler with a power of 9 kW or higher, you will have to re-equip the apartment’s electrical network - install a three-phase line and install a three-phase meter. A unit with a higher power can only be installed with the permission of the energy company servicing the house. But, as a rule, since we are talking about an ordinary apartment, single-phase units with a power of up to 9 kW are more than enough.

You might be interested in information on how to choose

An electric boiler can be installed in the kitchen, bathroom, one of the utility rooms or in the hallway. And all the necessary communications (pipes and cables) can be placed hidden - hidden in the wall or under the floor surface.

By the way, electric boilers can be even miniature. Electrode-type units, for example, are compact. That is, finding the optimal place for them will be even easier. You might be interested in information about how we have proven ourselves

A lot can be said about electric boilers, since they are represented by several types, differing even in the principle of converting electrical energy into heat. But it’s better to read about this in a separate detailed publication.

What is an electric boiler and how to choose one?

These units attract with their compactness, ease of installation and management, and high performance indicators. A special article on our portal will help you understand the variety and even independently calculate its required power.

Priceselectric boiler

electric boiler

Heating the apartment using the principle of direct heating with electrical appliances

This heating option can include heating from separately located electric heaters or a “warm floor” system. They can also be used in combination.

This heating option is chosen in cases where you want to get rid of the heating circuit pipeline, as well as radiators, which, in the opinion of the owners, spoil the interior of the premises.

In addition to convectors, the rooms can be equipped with a cable or film infrared “warm floor” system. The simplest and most affordable, both in price and in terms of installation complexity, is the film option. It can be arranged under regular linoleum or laminate and does not require hiding with a screed.

When using two different types of heating devices for heating, for ease of control they can be combined into one system by connecting to a common monitoring and control unit. Using automation, temperature conditions can be set for different times of the day, as well as by day of the week. If you don’t want to complicate the heating settings, then the system can be adjusted manually by setting the desired temperature directly on the convectors or on the “warm floor” thermostat. This option is convenient because you can set different temperatures in each room.

You may be interested in information about how

* * * * * * *

Let's summarize the results of electric autonomous heating of the apartment.

If electricity is chosen as the energy source, then to ensure safety it is necessary to install a grounding loop. Without its installation, the commission may not issue permission to operate autonomous heating.

Electric heating, unlike gas heating, is safer. When compared to central heating, it also benefits in that you can precisely set the desired temperature, and you only pay when you actually use it.

The disadvantage of heating from electricity is that if the electricity is turned off for any reason, the apartment will be left not only without light, but also without heat. And if in the area where the apartment is located, blackouts are a constant occurrence, then it is better to give preference to gas equipment.

In addition, electric heating is still a very “expensive pleasure”, especially since the upward trend in electricity tariffs looks depressingly stable.

But if you still choose the electric option, then you should listen to the recommendations of experts:

• For heating from electricity, it is necessary to stretch a dedicated power cable from the distribution panel.
• For autonomous electric heating, it is necessary to install a residual current device (RCD) or a differential circuit breaker. They are designed to protect against damage due to current leakage onto the housing of electrical appliances. This is especially true if the circuit is assembled from metal pipes.
• To save as much as possible on electricity consumption when using it at night preferential hours or at weekend tariffs, it is recommended to install a multi-tariff meter.

Some nuances of installation work on installing an autonomous apartment heating system

All work related to the reconstruction of the heating system in the apartment is carried out only by specialists from companies providing heat supply to the housing stock. The task of the masters will be the following:

• Temporary shutdown of home central heating lines.
• Trimming the heating circuit or heating radiators from risers and then restoring the integrity of these risers.
• Connecting a closed circuit of an apartment to a gas or electric heating device.
• Testing the installed system.

These rules are in place to ensure safety for both the owners of a particular apartment and the residents of the entire building.

You can install pipes and install heating radiators yourself (with your own hands or with the invitation of experienced plumbers) if you plan to completely change the circuit. This is usually done after cutting off the radiators in the rooms from the risers. It is worth taking on such work if you have good skills in carrying out plumbing installation operations. In this case, the assembly of the new heating circuit is carried out strictly according to the diagram attached to the design documents, with strict adherence to the specifications and all other parameters of the system being created.

* * * * * * *

Before you decide to reconstruct the heating and hot water supply in your apartment, abandoning the services of centralized heating in favor of autonomous heating, you need to carefully consider all the points. In addition, it is recommended to calculate the costs of installation and savings opportunities when operating an autonomous system. After weighing all the pros & contras, you can make a final decision.

By the way, we should not forget that, unfortunately, you will still have to pay for communal heating. True, these amounts will be incomparably small compared to those that previously came monthly and year-round.

You might be interested in information about what it is

Finally, a video in which the owner of the apartment, who has been using an autonomous gas heating system for many years, shares his vision of its advantages and disadvantages. find out via the link.

Video: Autonomous heating in an apartment - “pros” and “cons”

Evgeniy AfanasyevChief Editor

Author of the publication 19.08.2018

Anton Tsugunov

Reading time: 5 minutes

Many people do not even suspect that it is possible to install individual heating in an apartment, as well as in a private house. However, for some apartment owners, the heating issue is so acute that they are seriously considering this option. Let's find out how realistic this is, what permits will be required and which autonomous heating system to prefer.

What makes residents of high-rise buildings think about abandoning central heating and connecting to an autonomous heating system? There are many reasons for this:

• unreasonable cost of utility bills;
• poor-quality heating, which cannot cope with maintaining a comfortable temperature in the home during the cold season without the use of additional heat sources;
• unfavorable location of the apartment, requiring more heat - corner room, first floor;
• dependence on the established dates for the beginning and end of the heating season, causing one to freeze in the fall and suffer from the heat in the spring;
• the need to maintain the desired temperature at any time, paying money only for actual heat consumption.

Advantages and disadvantages of independent heating

To understand whether it makes sense to abandon the central heating supply in favor of an autonomous one, it is worth weighing all the pros and cons of a separate option.

Advantages:

• Significant savings. According to reviews from owners who have switched to autonomous gas heating, the cost of heating an apartment is reduced by 6–7 times.
• Complete independence from the start and end of the heating season.
• The ability to adjust the temperature at your discretion. Some systems allow you to set the desired mode, in which the heating intensity changes at specified intervals. For example, when all family members are at work or school, the temperature drops by several degrees, and in the evening it rises again. This allows you to further increase your savings.
• Uninterrupted supply of hot water.
• Free choice of radiators. Any batteries are suitable for an individual system, since there is no possibility of water hammer.

Flaws:

• High cost of equipment.
• Dependence of modern boiler models on power supply.
• The need to install a new heating circuit.
• In many cases, there is a need to install a suitable exhaust duct.

You can learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of autonomous heating in an apartment in a multi-storey building from the owners’ words by watching the video.

What is autonomous heating?

The transition to individual heating of an apartment involves abandoning the use of a common building heating system and dismantling the radiators and pipes associated with it. Instead, new lines and batteries are installed, which are connected to the heater. Two types of installations are traditionally used in apartments - gas and electric boilers. The principle of operation of the device is simple: it increases the temperature of the water and forces it to circulate through the system, heating the room in the desired mode.

Boiler types

All devices can also be divided into two types:

• single-circuit – working exclusively for heating;
• double-circuit – additionally providing hot water supply.

Depending on the installation method, heating boilers can be wall-mounted (as in the next photo) or floor-mounted. The former are more popular due to their compactness and lower price. The latter have greater power and a long service life.

Electric boilers

Installations powered by electricity are affordable and have a high level of safety. They can be installed anywhere in the apartment. Unfortunately, such a unit is not suitable for a house with old wiring due to the risk of constantly knocking out plugs.

Gas boilers

Gas appliances are more expensive, but they last a long time and quickly pay for themselves during operation, since they use a cheaper source of energy. A gas-powered heater has a special combustion chamber and a smoke exhaust system to avoid any inconvenience to apartment residents.

The choice of boiler depends on many conditions, including the size of the home, so its choice must be approached very responsibly.

Advice. It is believed that to heat a standard room with a three-meter high ceiling and an area of ​​10 m2, 1 kW of heating boiler power is needed. To calculate the required resource of a heating device, divide the area of ​​the room by 10.

Heating scheme

District heating uses a single-pipe scheme, which is inferior in efficiency. The single-pipe system is used only for a small number of radiators in situations where savings are needed.

The optimal choice for individual heating is a two-pipe scheme. It has the following advantages:

• use of pipes and fittings of smaller diameter;
• high pressure stability in the system;
• the possibility of installing automatic flow regulators on all batteries, which will operate without compromising the heating of others;
• independent connection of each heating section, allowing it to be removed for maintenance or gaining access to the niche during repairs.

Is it legal to install an individual heating system?

There are many disputes and lawsuits on the legality of autonomous heat supply equipment in a separate apartment. It all started with the fact that in 2010 the Government of the Russian Federation banned the disconnection from the general heat supply and the transfer to individual heating systems, forcing many people to give up. However, already in 2012, a new resolution was adopted regarding the procedure for connecting heating systems. It provides a list of heat sources that are prohibited for use in apartments. This list does not include modern certified heating boilers. Consequently, the legislation does not prohibit the installation of your own heating, and all restrictions relate only to the technical characteristics of heating devices.

This does not mean that the owner of the premises can freely install individual heating. Before refurbishing, you must obtain permission from the local government. If the administration refuses to issue it on the basis of Art. 14 of the Federal Law “On Heat Supply”, you can safely go to court, since such a refusal is illegal.

How to get permission

For permission to install autonomous heating, they contact the district administration, or rather, the interdepartmental commission responsible for the use of the housing stock. No later than a month and a half later, officials give an official response. From the administration you can get a list of papers that need to be provided to obtain permission.

Sample list of documents

Since installing your own heating system refers to the refurbishment of a residential premises, the list will include:

• an application drawn up in a special form;
• documents establishing the right to own housing: state registration certificate, deed of transfer of ownership, gift agreement, document confirming the right of inheritance (originals or copies certified by a notary);
• certified copies for each owner and a statement signed by all owners (if the apartment is in shared ownership);
• a copy of the technical passport of the premises;
• consent of family members of the tenant and residents of the apartment building, documented in the form of minutes of the meeting of apartment owners (if the area is municipal);
• conclusion of the body responsible for the protection of architectural monuments, historical or cultural heritage on the possibility of redevelopment (if the house is an architectural, cultural or historical value).

The most difficult thing will be to prepare and provide technical documentation. These include:

• redevelopment project for the installation of a gas boiler, including gasification of the premises and changes to the central heating system;
• a copy of the passport for the electric boiler, technical conditions, agreement confirming the permission of the maximum power, which exceeds the capabilities of the boiler (when choosing an electric heating device);
• Specifications for disconnecting the wiring in the apartment from the communal heating system;
• Specifications for ventilation;
• Specifications for supplying gas networks.

Where to get the necessary documents

Collecting the required papers can take a lot of time and effort, because you will have to contact many services and organizations.

1. For permission to disconnect your apartment from the general heating system, go to the city heating network. A refusal can be obtained only in one case: if the removal of radiators leads to disruption of the operation of equipment in neighboring apartments.
2. Specifications for installation of a gas installation are provided by the gas service. To receive them, you need to go to the district housing office, from where a letter with the request is sent to the department.
3. The refurbishment plan is handled by the design organization. This document should contain all information about the future system, technical solutions and calculations.
4. A completed redevelopment project requires approval from the authorities from which the specifications were received, as well as the fire service and SES authorities.

What to do when permission is received

If everything was done correctly and you managed to get a positive response, the next step will be to purchase equipment and conclude an agreement with an organization that will install autonomous heating.

Installing heating pipes with your own hands, if you know how to do at least a little tinkering, is certainly justified:

• The cost of replacing the heating system by hired craftsmen is no less than 12,000 rubles, of which no more than 5,000 is for materials.
• The work requires a reasonable approach, but is not technically or technologically difficult.
• If the radiators remain in place, no special permits or paperwork are required.

Note: a meticulous inspector may find fault with hidden wiring. In this case, you need to refer to the list of signs of apartment redevelopment, see, for example, the article about. It only talks about moving RADIATORS, and not a word about pipes. In general, “What guys? Who saw them?

Related works

Replacing the heating system in an apartment with your own hands is often combined with measures to insulate the apartment and repair the floor with additional insulation. At the same time, hidden pipe routing is achieved in the most natural way, the total repair costs are reduced by 7-10% (at current prices the value is more than noticeable), and if the apartment has heat meters and HMS installed (see below), then heating costs for season they fall by 15-20 percent (!). In a private home, too, but you don’t need to spend money on heat meters.

About HMS

HMS (hydromagnetic system, magnetic anti-scale apparatus) has nothing to do with “living” and “dead” water and other esoteric wonders. The principle of its operation is simple: an insert with strong magnets is mounted into the pipe; The pipe material doesn't matter.

Water is a conductor of electricity, and it moves and flows in the pipe. An electromotive force, EMF, is induced in a conductor moving in a magnetic field. In the lumen of the HMS, it is only a few volts or fractions of a volt, depending on the flow speed, but this is enough so that the impurities contained in the water (they are either in the form of ions or their molecules are polarized) do not settle on the walls of the pipes, but stick together and form a thin the suspension, which at the heating unit will precipitate in the settling tank, and the sludge will be removed.

There is nothing to be afraid of when using HMS: electrically neutral and therefore the most persistent components of impurities form a thin dense layer of sediment on the inner surface of the pipe, its properties reminiscent of corundum. After a growth of approximately 20-60 μm, the layering stops: surface polarization increases and pushes the next “candidates” back into suspension.

HMS has long been widely and successfully used in industry; most often to prepare water for purification and filtration. In recent years, household HMSs have appeared on sale for installation on water supply and heating pipes. At home, HMS provides, in addition to heating reliability and savings, another important advantage: a warm floor in a system with HMS almost never requires a bulkhead, and an additional circulation pump is most often not needed for it.

HMS should be installed on the supply pipe at the very beginning of the system, before wiring. If there are several risers, then for each riser. The HMS does not break down, does not require maintenance, and its validity period is unlimited.

Stop heating the street!

Whether the radiators will be changed during the heating reconstruction process or not, but since they will still have to be removed for some time, it is highly advisable to cut off the outflow of heat to the outside. To do this, you need to cover the wall behind the batteries with heat-insulating mats aluminized on both sides. How such a bedding works in terms of heat can be read in the article on floor insulation; here it is enough to note that in a block Khrushchev house with radiators in niches, double heat shields behind the radiators are equivalent to covering the walls with 20 mm plywood.

In an alternative option for insulating the wall behind the radiator, heat-insulating material (1) and aluminum foil (2) are used separately.

Installing the shielding mat is simple: we cut holes in it for the hooks of the battery suspension, apply thin “sausages” of construction silicone or mounting adhesive using an “envelope” to the side adjacent to the wall, put it on the hooks and press it to the wall.

An indispensable condition: the mat must be organic, made of synthetic or natural fibers. The use of open mineral wool mats in residential premises is unacceptable - it is harmful to health.

Floor insulation for hidden wiring

Removing heating pipes out of sight is tempting from an aesthetic point of view. To prevent hidden heating wiring from subsequently causing the righteous anger of heating engineers with accompanying sanctions, it is advisable to prepare the floor accordingly. If the decorative flooring is laid on joists and additional floor insulation is not required, then the pipes are simply laid between the joists, and removable access hatches are installed above their connections.

Otherwise, the pipes must be laid in the floor. About methods of floor insulation, and for this case we can recommend the following:

• We lay pipes.
• We form an additional warm screed from foam concrete. We fence the pipe connections until the concrete hardens with boards according to the required dimensions (see at the end).
• Directly on a warm screed 12-18 mm with gluing the joints with liquid nails or assembly adhesive. We cut out openings in the plywood above the pipe joints.
• We restore the finished flooring. We cut out the hatches for access to the pipes larger than the openings in the plywood - they will simply be removed.

Note: It is advisable to use sheets of tongue-and-groove plywood. But if there are no wild parties in the apartment, you can also install a simple one - it is much cheaper.

The second method is somewhat more expensive, but it is easier to work with and provides access to the pipes along their entire length. To do this, we use foam concrete or aerated concrete slabs with cement-sand mortar as a warm screed. The rest is the same.

Pipe type selection

The next, and very important, stage of preparation for work is deciding which pipes to use for heating. Costs, complexity of work, and reliability of heating with its durability depend on this.

Steel

There is nothing bad to say about steel as a material for heating systems, and in combination with HMS, steel pipes become truly eternal. In addition, steel pipes are cheaper than all others. There are only two small “buts”:

1. Firstly, steel is difficult to work with and welding will most likely be required. That is, to independently install heating with steel pipes, you need to have the working skills of a mechanic and pipe welder, or hire a specialist temporarily. And you will have to buy or rent steel equipment: a pipe bending machine, pipe dies with a knob, etc.
2. Secondly, if cast iron “accordions” are replaced with aluminum, it is necessary to insert at least 10 cm of propylene in both the supply and return pipes and radiators, otherwise in a conductive medium two different metals will form a galvanic couple and electrocorrosion may begin.

Propylene

Polyisopropylene pipes for heating systems (trade designation - PPR) are the main competitor of steel, equal or superior to it in everything except price. In an apartment building, a valuable advantage is that propylene pipes are “blind”: the blow to the pipe does not reverberate across all floors. They practically do not transfer heat to the ceiling.

The main advantage of propylene is reflected in the collective transition to them. Currently, most houses are equipped with house heat meters, and a complete transition to house-to-house heat meters is inevitable. Heating payments are “scattered” across apartments by area, and replacing steel with propylene throughout the entire house reduces heat leakage by three to four times.

In some regions, because of this, there is an increase in the fuss of thermal power plants: with a massive transition to propylene, planned “Soviet” losses on highways become very noticeable for them, which forces them to find means and methods for their reconstruction. One heating engineer put it this way: “For us, switching to propylene is like discovering antibiotics for doctors.”

A separate section below will be devoted to the specifics of installing polypropylene heating systems.

Other plastics

Installation of heating with plastic pipes made of other polymer materials attracts many due to its relative cheapness. Pipes made of modified polyethylene, specially designed for heating systems, are actively advertised; trade designation – PER. Unfortunately, they have a fundamental drawback: the softening temperature of the starting material is 65 degrees Celsius versus 130 for polyisopropylene.

No modification of fundamental defects can, in principle, eliminate it, therefore PER or PVC heating wiring can be recommended only in warm regions with predominantly low-intensity heating. In the middle zone, you should not expect a service life of simple plastic of more than 10 years, and in the north it may not survive until the end of the heating season without leaking.

There are two more nuances: if Chinese propylene is practically not inferior in quality to the “cool company,” then “alternative” polyethylene is worthless. And metal fittings (see below) on any PER often leak - this is due to the high “slipperiness” of polyethylene.

Note: R - means reinforced for direct flow of hot water. Both “cold” and “hot” water pipes are not suitable for heating. Conflicting user reviews are explained precisely by ignorance of this circumstance.

Metal-plastic

Metal-plastic heating pipes are somewhat more expensive than propylene ones, and installation requires quite expensive additional equipment: a pipe cutter, a press for flaring the ends, a special pipe bender. And the heat outflow through the thin wall is quite high. There are also technical disadvantages: gaskets in connectors often leak even in the most “company”, thin pipes are afraid of shocks and direct sunlight.

Nevertheless, it is beneficial to distribute heat throughout the apartment using metal-plastic pipes:

1. Equipment rental is compensated by a smaller number of rather expensive fittings: metal-plastic pipes can be bent.
2. The high cost of the pipes themselves is compensated by the reduction in the length of the pipelines: flexible pipes can be routed along the shortest route.
3. You can also do without a pipe bender if you firmly remember that the bending radius must be at least 5 clearance diameters: metal-plastic bends easily by hand.
4. The design of the connectors allows the use of additional low-cost sealing, see below.
5. Heat loss in the apartment is not terrible, since it will still go into the room.
6. With hidden wiring, the thickness of the floor does not need to be tied to the pipes and connectors: the pipes are thin, and there are no intermediate fittings.

Copper

They speak sharply but fairly about the installation of heating with copper pipes on construction forums: “Let sellers of copper pipes install copper for heating. If they counted crows in school chemistry lessons.”

And the point here is not that technical additives to the coolant water can corrode copper. And it’s not that copper pipes perfectly heat walls and ceilings from the inside at the expense of their “lucky” owner. And not in the price of copper itself.

Copper pipes are connected by soldering. The main part of solder is tin. Tin exists in two chemically identical but physically distinct forms: a white soft metal (white tin) and a gray semiconductor powder (gray tin). Chemically speaking, tin is known in the form of two allotropic modifications.

White tin is an unstable allotrope; over time it turns into gray tin. Any radio amateur knows: old solderings are prone to crumbling, they need to be soldered again. Under water pressure from the inside, the slightest microcrack will leak, and always in winter, when the system is full. And heating is not running water; you can’t bring a bucket of heat from another entrance, from a water heater or from an ice hole.

Let's not remember the horrors of unfrozen houses, which are reported from time to time in the media. But the neighbors in the riser will have a compelling and undeniable reason to demand compensation from you for the costs of electric heating during your repairs. Which will cost a pretty penny anyway.

In general, the conclusion about copper is that its advertising can be explained solely by the tricks of marketing specialists armed with modern brainwashing technologies. There are no physical, technical, or objective economic justifications for heat supply with copper pipes.

Conclusions on the section:

1. In apartment buildings, the optimal option for heating wiring - from the entrance to the house to the risers inclusive - is propylene; in apartments - metal-plastic with additional sealing with tow.

1. For compact private houses, the best heating system is steel.

1. For houses with 2-3 floors with 1-2 entrances, households with attics, heated garages and outbuildings, polypropylene has no alternative.

Radiators

There is only one note here: if hidden wiring is planned, then replacement radiators should be selected with supply and return connections from below. If you are interested in a description of the radiator installation process, then about it.

Seal

We have already found out that all connections, even complete ones on metal-plastic, need to be sealed. Fumka (FUM tape), which has proven itself well on water pipes, is unsuitable for heating: it creeps from constant heating.

The sealing of heat pipe joints remains traditional to this day: oiled flax tow. So far, no high-tech tricks have come up with a replacement for it.

Wiring diagram

Developing, drawing, designing and approving a heating scheme for a new building or at least moving a radiator to another location is the subject of a separate article, not even several articles. Therefore, we believe that we are only talking about the reconstruction of heating in a city apartment and all the batteries remain in their places.

In this case, the general heating scheme of the house remains as is, and we only need to choose the method of connecting the radiators to the riser. There are four options, see fig. Bottom connection – for hidden wiring. It is important not to forget about TWO ball shut-off valves for each radiator, for supply and return; they are highlighted in color in the left picture. In the event of a leak, this will allow you to disconnect one battery without affecting the entire system.

For steel and metal-plastic with aluminum radiators, do not forget about propylene inserts to avoid electrocorrosion. They are also highlighted and labeled on the left.

Installation of metal-plastic heating pipes

The technology is no different from tap water:

• We cut the pipe to size, always with a pipe cutter.
• Use a scraper (reamer) to remove the burr. Do not scrape with a knife!
• We put on the fitting and move it further along the pipe.
• Flare (press) the end of the pipe.
• We wind flax around the mating fitting.
• Insert the gasket, screw it on, tighten it.

Installation of propylene heating

Heating with polypropylene pipes is not installed “plumbing”: it is carried out mainly with fittings; Soldering is only permissible for connecting straight pipe sections to size. Both soldering and fittings for heating pipes also require special ones, more on that below.

Such requirements are explained by reliability considerations: any malfunction will be revealed, at best, during pressure testing of the system before the start of the heating season, or even at its height in severe cold.

Due to the rising cost of utilities, people are increasingly starting to install autonomous heating in their apartments. It is much easier to do this in a private country house, but such a project can also be implemented in a city dwelling. It is important to adhere to the correct installation of equipment. In this case, making the apartment energy independent will not be difficult.

When installing a boiler in your home, you need to approach it carefully. there are many nuances

Difficulties with installation

If we talk about a private house, then here you can install any of the existing heating systems: solid and liquid fuel boilers, gas or electric installations, systems that run on solar energy. You can build or allocate a separate building for a boiler room. All these works It’s almost impossible to do this in a city apartment, since:

• not all neighbors will agree with the construction of such a building, because it may not correspond to their interests;
• Not every project can be technically implemented;
• There are many prohibitive laws that do not allow certain work to be performed in the apartment.

For example, installing solid fuel units in a high-rise building is not allowed. This is due to the need to store firewood, which weighs a lot, in a special room. The ceiling in an apartment building is not designed for such loads. In addition, such a room still needs to be found. It is also prohibited to install water heated floors in the apartment, but installation of electric insulation is allowed.

Solid fuel boilers may not be suitable for everyone

There are times when you need to start not with preparing all the necessary documentation for installing autonomous equipment, but with consulting a lawyer. This is due to the legal ban on making such changes and disconnecting from centralized heating. The problem can be solved by obtaining permission to install autonomous equipment. Often this opportunity appears only after a court order.

As a rule, two types of equipment are installed in apartments: gas and electric boilers. It is better to choose a double-circuit gas boiler.

Electricity as an energy source is used not only to directly heat water, but also to operate a heat pump. In both cases, most likely, you will have to dismantle the old heating equipment, since it is not always possible to remake it.

In this video you will learn the pros and cons of autonomous apartment heating:

Gas structures

In a city apartment, the ideal option would be to install a gas double-circuit boiler, which has a closed combustion chamber, a thermostat, an automatic shutdown system and electric ignition. This configuration will provide the ability to adjust the optimal temperature day and night. Additionally, a boiler can be connected to the system. This will allow you not only to heat the apartment, but also to have enough hot water for washing dishes and showering.

A gas boiler has some advantages over others

Advantages and disadvantages

Modern gas boilers have a fairly high degree of automation. Once the equipment is installed and configured, it can operate around the clock without human intervention. There are also modern safety systems that turn off the equipment if something goes wrong, so the risk of gas leakage is minimized.

Especially for small one-room apartments, they came up with compact models that do not take up much space. Such equipment is almost completely silent, so its operation will not disturb family members and neighbors. Prices vary and depend on the performance, size and manufacturer of a particular model, so choosing the right and cost-effective option will not be difficult. Installation of autonomous heating in a gas-type apartment It also has its disadvantages:

• although the likelihood of a gas leak is minimized, it still exists;
• the need to install a ventilation system and high requirements for its quality;
• the cost of gas is increasing day by day;
• ventilation must be periodically cleared of soot.

Gas boiler in the apartment:

Installation features

All work on installing gas equipment is carried out in several stages: installation of heating equipment, dismantling old batteries, connecting new radiators in place of old ones, starting the system. The last stage may require the participation of regulatory authorities who will check safety precautions, the correct connection of all equipment and the legality of such construction.

Do not forget to adhere to certain rules when installing pipes

Radiators can also be of low strength, since high pressure or other problems that may arise with a centralized connection will not occur. The autonomous system is personally controlled, so the occurrence of such difficulties is reduced to zero. Often, apartment owners choose batteries made of lightweight aluminum, which have sufficient strength and increased heat transfer. It is good to use polypropylene pipes with them. When installing pipes, you must adhere to several rules:

1. The batteries must be connected in series.
2. A thermal head must be connected to the return of each radiator.
3. A Mayevsky tap should be installed in front of the upper entrance near each radiator.
4. You will need to install a valve for the supply to the radiator.
5. Before supplying water to the system, it is necessary to perform a pressure test.

All necessary components can be purchased in specialized stores. If you want to save money, you can order them directly from the manufacturer through the official online store.

If an autonomous system is planned, then The following items need to be installed:

• pressure gauge;
• device for air exhaust;
• expansion tank;
• set of valves

As a rule, modern boilers in the purchased version already include a number of all necessary components.

Warm water floors in an apartment building:

Electrical systems

There are not only many varieties of electric boilers, but also many options that allow you to construct a project. For example, an apartment owner has several options for heating a room:

• warm floor;
• electric boiler;
• Heat pump.

The first two methods are not always advisable to install, since they are expensive to install, and you will also have to pay a lot for electricity. Electricity, like other energy resources, is constantly becoming more expensive. If you install an electric boiler, you must remove all the old equipment and install new ones, just as in the case of a gas installation.

Autonomous heating is not a cheap pleasure

Warm floors are more efficient than a boiler due to its features. If all heating elements are located evenly across the entire floor, and the air is heated from the bottom up, then much less energy will be needed to create comfortable conditions.

But it is better to do autonomous heating of an apartment in an apartment building in the form of a heat pump. Two types of such devices can be used: air-to-air and air-to-water.

A heat pump is an environmentally friendly type of equipment for heating rooms, since energy is renewable. But it is advisable to install it only in warm climate zones where the temperature does not drop below -20°C.

People are often interested in the question of whether it is possible to install autonomous heating in an apartment at a low price. In this case, they should not look closely at thermal devices. The cost of heat pump equipment can be high. In addition, the price per unit of energy spent will also be slightly higher when compared with gas equipment.

But on the other hand, if we talk about the long term, then such equipment is interesting to install. Also, a device that operates on the air-to-air principle can perform the functions of an air conditioner in the summer, since their operating principle is the same. In this regard, a heat pump is sometimes called an air conditioner.

Some models can perform air conditioning functions in hot seasons

Before installing the air type device, you need to choose the right model. It is better to install multi-channel equipment in apartments with a large area. Buying such a device for a small apartment is not advisable, since its cost will be significant and the electricity bill will not please you.

For small apartments, it is beneficial to install separate split panels for each room separately. In this case, there will be no need to install air ducts. This option is ideal if the renovation of the apartment has already been completed, since installation does not require breaking down the walls. In addition, one system can produce up to 5 kW of heat. In the northern regions, a combined heating system is used: in winter they use a gas boiler, and in summer - an electric one. Thus, it is possible to save a lot of resources.

Overview of installation of water heated floors in an apartment:

Reasons for switching to autonomous heating

Utility tariffs are increasing from year to year. In addition, the service of housing offices is simply disgusting. Their equipment is often old and the pipes are rusty. This is the situation for most apartment owners, so many began to think about installing autonomous equipment. There are many reasons to switch to autonomous heating:

1. A personal heating system makes it possible to turn on the heat at any time, rather than wait until it gets cold.
2. Hot water will flow from the tap constantly, and not from time to time, as with centralized heating.
3. The temperature in the apartment can be adjusted independently. Sometimes incorrect temperature settings by utilities make life difficult. It can be very hot or cold.
4. If a person is not satisfied with something, filing complaints is unlikely to help.
5. Payments are made only for the heat used, and not for imaginary utility bills.

There are many reasons for switching to autonomous heating

Obtaining a building permit

People who are thinking about whether it is possible to install autonomous heating in an apartment need to start by preparing all the required documents. To legalize a future construction, you need to obtain permission from several authorities. Moreover, in all former countries of the Soviet Union this procedure is approximately the same.

If the apartment is located above the 10th floor, then you will not be able to obtain permission. But in the case when the apartment is located below, it is necessary to obtain permission either from representatives of the city executive power or from the local government. In most cases, you should contact your local government authority.

The biggest difficulties arise at the stage of obtaining permission. For some reason, government officials often believe that switching to autonomous heating for several apartments will lead to disruption of the hydraulic system as a whole, resulting in a drop in temperature. Because of this, permission is often not issued.

For example, it is required to obtain a construction permit from the competent authorities

But there is a way out of this situation. First, you can insist that the application be considered by an interdepartmental commission. The members of this commission must conduct an inspection and make their decision within a maximum of 1 calendar month.

You can call the sanitary and epidemiological station to document a violation of the heat supply and the absence of all established sanitary standards. If such an act is in hand, it is necessary to go to court and demand termination of the contract with the housing office. But if the utility continues to accrue debt, the bills may not be paid. Even if she goes to court for debt collection, she will be denied, since the contract has been terminated. In this case, the housing office has only two options: continue to supply heat to the apartment or give permission to install autonomous equipment.

By installing an autonomous heating system in your home, you can get rid of the eternal problems with utilities, lack of heat in winter or its excess in hot weather. In addition, you can significantly save on bills, since you only have to pay for the electricity you use.

Autonomous heating – price of use:

Having central heating in an apartment is, of course, convenient, since the owners “don’t have a headache” in this regard. But, unfortunately, this is not always practical, since the temperature in the rooms begins to directly depend on the thermal regime established in the common boiler room. In addition, such a system is not insured against emergency situations that may occur at any site her length, as a result of which the entire house is often turned off from heating. Many difficulties also arise during the “off-season” periods, when cold snaps that arrive early are ahead of the planned the beginning of the heating season, or, conversely, the batteries are heated when the weather outside is too warm.

Despite violations of temperature conditions and temporary shutdowns of the house from heating, payment for it remains unchanged, which absolutely not profitable ordinary users. Therefore, in recent years, a trend has been gaining momentum when more and more owners of apartments in high-rise buildings are resorting to installing autonomous heating systems.

Those who decide to “separate”, as a rule, have numerous questions related to various nuances of this procedure. Therefore, we will consider further individual heating in an apartment building - necessary documents and installation rules for him.

Advantages and disadvantages of autonomous heating in an apartment

Before deciding on such a radical replacement, it is necessary to evaluate all the pros and cons of an individual heating system.

So, advantages availability of an autonomous heating system are as follows:

• The possibility of heating the apartment in the off-season, when the central system is not yet turned on or is already turned off, in accordance with established regional standards, which are based on the ambient temperature, is very unstable and with large daily fluctuations at these times of the year.
• The ability to maintain the required temperature in the rooms, which is much more difficult to organize with central heating, since it does not take into account the location of the apartment and the degree of its insulation. There is probably no need to explain that apartments located inside the house, and corner ones, and even exposed to the prevailing winter winds, still require a differentiated approach to heating. However, to balance consumption costs, payment for warmth is calculated equally, usually based on the area of ​​the apartment.

Therefore, having installed autonomous heating in apartments, you can and should immediately take into account the specifics of the location of the rooms, obtaining both a comfortable microclimate in any of them and considerable savings in money.

• Autonomous heating can be easily adjusted to individual operating modes. For example, there is no point in heating “to the fullest” if all the residents are absent at the moment. It would be more logical to only maintain the required level of heating. But by the time the owners arrive, the automation will “catch up” the heat so that the rooms have the optimal temperature.

Many modern control systems are also capable of independently responding to changing weather conditions. They can also be controlled remotely using GSM or IP communication channels.

• A reduction in operating costs will also occur due to significantly lower energy consumption, since modern gas or electric equipment is designed for optimal energy consumption - they have high efficiency rates approaching 100 percent.
• When installing, it is quite possible to abandon the central hot water supply system, providing your family with hot water autonomously. This means that an apartment equipped with such a unit will not depend on summer hot water maintenance work, and there will always be hot water.

• Another advantage can be attributed to the fact that you have to pay for central heating even in the summer, since it requires constant maintenance. Having installed an autonomous heating option, payments will be made only according to the gas (or electric) meter, that is, it will be possible to directly control energy consumption and costs for heating and hot water supply, conduct analysis and find ways to further save.

However, there are also considerable difficulties when transferring an apartment to individual heating, and they can be attributed to shortcomings its arrangement:

• All work must be carried out legally and in compliance with all requirements necessary for this process. Unauthorized reconstruction, firstly, will not eliminate utility bills for heating and hot water supply. And secondly, it also threatens with serious administrative punishment in the form of a quite large fine.
• There will be difficulties associated with preparing documentation for disconnecting from central communications, developing a project, and obtaining permission to install equipment.
• It will be necessary to allocate or equip a room with a proper ventilation system for installing the heating unit.
• Installation of the system is a task of a fairly high complexity category.
• Considerable expenses will be required, both in paperwork and in purchasing everything necessary for the installation of autonomous heating and hot water supply. And this does not even take into account installation work.
• All responsibility for carrying out operational and preventive measures, as well as for the safety of the system, falls entirely on the owner of the apartment. It should be taken into account that all of the above-mentioned processes associated with autonomous heating will be controlled by the relevant specialized organizations, whose representatives the owner of the apartment will have to provide access to the installed equipment.

However, even taking into account all the upcoming difficulties and significant initial costs, an autonomous heating system is in all respects much more profitable than central heating and hot water supply. In practice, it will pay for itself quickly enough and will serve reliably for many years.

A package of necessary documents for “autonomization”

In order to organize autonomous heating in an apartment, you will have to do some redevelopment, and this, as you know, is quite a process labour intensive. It should be taken into account that the preparation of permitting documents can take from three to five months, and installation work can take about a week. In this regard, the preparation process must begin in advance.

Preliminary approvals and obtaining permits

So, the first step is to decide on the documents that will be required in order to begin developing the project, purchasing equipment, and then installing an autonomous system. The list of documents is approved by Art. 26 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation “Grounds for the reconstruction and (or) redevelopment of residential premises.”

Any reconstruction of residential premises is carried out taking into account the established requirements and in agreement with local authorities. For approval, it is necessary to collect a package of documents, which includes standard legal documents for ownership of this housing, which include the following:

• Application-petition for housing reconstruction. The application form is standard and approved by the Government of the Russian Federation.
• Certificate of State registration of ownership of an apartment - this may be the right of inheritance or an agreement on the transfer of ownership of housing. A copy of the document certified by a notary will be required.
• Technical passport for the apartment - a photocopy certified by a notary.
• An apartment redevelopment project, completed in accordance with the established form.
• A certified copy of the document indicating all the persons registered in the apartment.
• Consent to the reconstruction of the heating system from all residents of the apartment. This document is drawn up on one sheet of paper, where all persons living in the apartment are listed, and then they put their signatures, confirming their consent.
• A document from the organization for the protection of architectural monuments, if the house where reconstruction is planned belongs to the category of architectural monuments.

The applicant should remember that self-government bodies do not have the right to demand other documents not provided for in this article. After accepting the package of documentation for consideration, the applicant must be issued a receipt with a list of accepted documents.

Review and decision on consent or refusal must be carried out no later than in 45 days from the date of submission of documentation. The document developed by the commission must be issued to the applicant no later than 3 working days after the decision is made.

According to the norms and rules for the technical operation of housing, which are approved by the State Construction Committee of Russia No. 170 dated 27. 09.03. , a refusal to redevelop or reconstruct a residential premises may follow if these actions worsen the living conditions of all or individual residents of the building where the applicant’s apartment is located.

However, that's not all. The list of documents indicates a redevelopment project, which must be approved by the gas and heat supply regulatory organizations, since permission must be obtained to disconnect from the central heating system and install gas equipment. And after receiving such permits, a project for redevelopment and installation of an autonomous system is drawn up, which must be agreed upon with the relevant authorities.

Therefore, it is necessary to prepare all the above documents, since they will have to be presented to all organizations that directly influence the preparation of the project. Documentation is completed in the following order:

• The first organization you need to contact is the city or district heating networks. It is there that permission is given to disconnect the apartment’s heating circuit from the central heating system. Consent can be issued if the shutdown does not lead to disruption of the engineering equipment of nearby apartments or the entire building. In principle, there cannot be any other reasons for refusal.

If an unfounded refusal is received from this organization, then this is a reason to go to the courts. It should be noted that sometimes an application for disconnection is submitted through the organization of self-government of the housing stock.

• Then, with the received letter of agreement, you must contact the gas service of the district or city to obtain technical conditions for the installation of autonomous heating. This document must be issued within 10 days from the date of the applicant’s application.
• After receiving the specifications, taking all the documentation for the apartment, you can go to a design or energy organization that is engaged in drawing up such projects. If the boiler was purchased before the project was drawn up, and it meets all the requirements for installation in an apartment in a multi-storey building, then documentation for it should also be provided to the design organization. The project will be prepared taking into account the provided technical conditions.

Most of the requirements imposed by regulatory organizations, including the gas service, are specified in the document “Heating, ventilation and air conditioning”, paragraph 6.2 “Apartment heat supply systems” SNiP41 - 01-2003.

To free yourself from going through all the authorities, you can entrust the preparation and approval of all necessary documents to the design organization. In some regions of Russia, this function is taken over by the gas service. Naturally, all this additional work comes at an additional cost.

Autonomous heating project

Separately, it is necessary to say about the heating reconstruction project. First of all, before contacting specialists who will carry out the design work, you need to carefully study the technical conditions used in drawing up the project, and it is advisable to draw up a preliminary sketch of the approximate location of the heating elements.

Its exact location can be determined after specialists study the apartment plan, which is in the technical passport.

So, the project is a necessary document when carrying out any reconstruction of a residential premises. Based on it, a new heating circuit and heating boiler will be installed. How correctly and accurately this document is drawn up, and then the equipment is installed according to it, the more efficiently it will work.

The project includes data on external and internal factors that determine the type of heating:

• Climatic conditions of the region in which the house is located.
• Engineering and technical characteristics of the structure.
• Available energy sources on which the heating system can operate.
• Technical characteristics of heated housing - the number of rooms, the presence of loggias, as well as the area and volume of the premises.
• The financial side of the issue.

Based on these data, not only the installation location of the heating unit is selected, but also its type, as well as power.

To make heating efficient and economical, it is recommended to entrust the development of its design to specialists. This stage is best handled by energy companies that themselves control or interact with organizations that approve the heating sector, with whom the project will subsequently be coordinated, which will definitely ensure the correctness of its preparation, and therefore approval.

To obtain a positive result and an optimal technical solution, the customer must work closely with the organization developing the project. During the process of creating a project, several options are usually considered. The customer selects the one that suits him most, after which the technical parameters of the unit and all the necessary equipment are determined. The project is being developed in several stages:

• If the customer has not provided his own version of the sketch, then work begins with it.
• A heating circuit diagram is being developed, on the basis of which the system will be installed.
• Documentation for the designed heating system is being prepared.
• An estimate is drawn up.

If this work is entrusted to professionals, then at each specific stage of project development, specialists in the field of heat supply, ventilation, architecture, and energy supply will participate in it.

The project consists of several parts, which present certain data from different aspects of the project:

• Descriptive part provides information about the content and significance of the project. This section of the document, in turn, is divided into several paragraphs, which contain the following technical data:

— location of the apartment or house, if it is planned to be installed in the private sector;

— location of residential premises and layout features.

The descriptive section of the document clarifies the technical characteristics of the premises, taking into account their location and climatic characteristics of the region where the building is located. This description is necessary in order to determine the types and types of heating equipment. This information will subsequently be used to carry out calculations and determine the power that the heating system should have, as well as the temperature parameters in the apartment.

• Technological calculations - this is the main part of the project, which summarizes the parameters of the volume of the required energy carrier when the unit operates in different modes, as well as the optimal temperature of the coolant, ensuring the necessary heating of the apartment’s rooms. It is especially important to determine the power of the heating and hot water supply boiler, since on the basis of these calculations the selection of equipment and components for it is made.

In the same part, heat losses when heating rooms are calculated, on the basis of which it will be possible to draw conclusions about the efficiency of the system.

The calculated parameters will also show how appropriate this or that wiring is and the type of connection of radiators to the system circuit. The calculations also include the use of automatic control devices in the heating system.

Further, all the data obtained is necessarily reflected on the diagram of the heating system, which will become a guide for installers during the work. Deviations from the scheme developed by specialists and approved may lead to refusal to put the system into operation, which is permitted by the selection committee.

• Specification . This section contains data on the main materials and elements of the heating system, and their main technical characteristics. This part of the project also includes a diagram of the heating system with marked components and devices listed in the list.

This information is key to calculating the hydrostatics of the system, as well as the required heating temperature. If these calculations are carried out incorrectly, the system will be ineffective and gas consumption will be exceeded.

• Graphic image - this is an important section of the project, which visually represents what the overall design of the heating system will look like. This part of the project is carried out using special computer programs, most often in three-dimensional projection.

When submitting an application for project development, it is necessary to clarify for specialists the reasons for the transition to an autonomous type of heating. The more justifications there are, the more accurate the calculations will be, since specialists will know what to pay special attention to when carrying them out.

A copy of the design documents must be submitted to the gas company, which will subsequently maintain the installed equipment.

Gas boiler for autonomous heating of an apartment

When drawing up a project, specialists will offer boiler options that can be used for installation in an individual apartment heating system. However, you need to independently study some information related to the choice of unit.

First of all, you should refer to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 307, paragraph 44 of 16. 04.12. , which discusses the connection of heat supply systems. This resolution provides a list of heat and power devices that do not meet the established requirements and are therefore prohibited for installation in apartments of multi-storey buildings. After studying this document, you will be able to immediately decide which devices cannot be installed in the apartment’s autonomous heating system.

So, the list of boilers that can be used in apartments of multi-storey buildings includes units that operate on natural gas and meet the following requirements:

• Having a closed (sealed) combustion chamber.
• Mandatory automatic shutdown of the fuel supply in the event of a power outage, burner flame extinguishment, if there is a malfunction in the protection circuit, in case of insufficient pressure inside the system, which may fall below the limit value, when the coolant is heated above the limit temperature, as well as in case of problems in the smoke exhaust system .
• With the permissible coolant temperature in the system not exceeding 95˚.
• The coolant pressure is not more than 1 MPa.

In addition, boilers are single-circuit, used only for heating the apartment, and double-circuit, designed for both heating and water heating. When submitting an application and collecting documents, this factor must also be indicated. This is due to the fact that heating networks must give consent to disconnect the apartment not only from heating, but also from the hot water system.

Next, you need to decide on the design of the heating unit, since it can be wall-mounted or floor-mounted. For installation in a modern apartment, the wall-mounted version of gas equipment is most often chosen, since such boilers are compact in size and quite aesthetic design, resembling in appearance. Since the chimney pipe from the heating boiler must go outside, it will be convenient to place it on an external wall; with this installation there will be no problems with the location of the pipe in the room. As a rule, there is a window on the external wall that will solve problems with ventilation of the room. Typically, the power of a wall-mounted boiler is sufficient to heat a standard apartment with proper insulation of the walls and the presence of Euro-windows with double-glazed windows.

Premises in the apartment where a gas boiler can be installed

Separately, a few words need to be said about the room for installing a gas boiler, since it will not be possible to place it in any room, according to the owners’ preference.

The room for placing gas heating equipment must meet certain safety requirements, which include the following:

• Gas equipment must not be installed in a residential area.
• The area of ​​the room must be no less than 4 square meters.
• The entrance door to the room with the installed boiler must have a width of at least 800 mm.
• The room must be equipped with a window facing the street.
• The boiler is wall mounted or installed on the floor, at a distance, which must be at least 300 mm from other gas equipment, for example, a gas stove.
• Indoors, it is necessary to find the possibility of outputting it to the street, that is, through the wall. Exiting the pipe into a common house ventilation duct is not allowed.
• Some heating units require forced ventilation in the room, that is, you will have to install an exhaust fan on the window. This will be indicated in the technical specifications.
• A wall-mounted boiler must be mounted on a wall built of non-combustible material, and for a floor-standing boiler it is necessary to make a fire-resistant flooring, for example, lay ceramic floor tiles.

Without meeting these requirements, the commission signing the acceptance certificate will not give its consent to the commissioning of an autonomous heating system.

Based on the characteristics of the room, we can conclude that the unit can be installed in the kitchen or in a pre-insulated loggia combined with it. Since the gas boiler is connected to the main energy supply pipeline, which is connected to the kitchen area of ​​the apartment, it is this that is optimal for the location of the heating unit.

In addition, the kitchen must be equipped with a window facing the street and a door of the required width. And, in addition, a general house ventilation channel is connected to it, which is also necessary for placing an apartment “boiler room”.

How to choose a gas heating boiler?

In order for the purchased boiler to fully meet the to its parameters of the created system heating system, was reliable and easy to use, when purchasing, it is necessary to be guided by a number of criteria for evaluating such equipment. – read in a separate publication on our portal.

Autonomous electric heating

Installing electric heating is much simpler than gas heating. If only because there is a wider choice of where to install the boiler or other equipment, since the power supply is distributed throughout the apartment, and ventilation and a combustion product removal system are not required.

When planning the installation of electric heating, first of all, you need to consult the Energonadzor institution (or a similar organization). It is necessary to check the availability of resources in the house for the release of additional energy. If written consent has been received from this organization, then you must contact the heating network service with it and with a request to disconnect the apartment from the centralized heating supply.

The list of remaining documentation should be clarified with the energy company and local government authorities. The fact is that when installing electric heating in different regions of the country, the requirements for its installation may vary significantly. The only thing that needs to be noted is that the number of documents and approvals will be much less compared to the gas option for heating the apartment.

Thanks to modern technologies, today you can choose one of two options for electric heating. One involves the use of a heating unit with conventional piping for coolant circulation. The second involves direct heating by separately installed devices or systems - electric convectors, infrared heaters, "" systems.

Heating using an electric boiler

The system uses coolant, that is, the pipework and radiators remain in place. But they are connected to an electric heating boiler, and the coolant will be heated from it, and not from the central heating line.

Most modern models of electric heating units are equipped with automatic control. Therefore, the system can be programmed so that the heating of the premises to the required temperature does not occur constantly, but only at the time set by the owners. You can save a lot on this function, for example, by using a reduced night tariff for “charging” heat accumulator.

On sale are wall-mounted electric boilers, which can have a power of 5÷60 kW, as well as floor-standing options, their power exceeds 60 kW.

Experts will tell you which one to choose when submitting documents for drawing up a project for an electric heating system, which will contain a diagram of its arrangement. The choice of boiler will depend on the area and location of the apartment in the house, the degree of its insulation, the number of windows and balconies, as well as the material used to make the frames. Usually, when choosing a boiler power, they rely on established technological standards, that is, 1 kW of electricity per 10 “squares” of area.

We must not lose sight of the fact that if a unit with a power exceeding 9 kW is purchased, then there will be a need to re-equip the apartment electrical network and install a three-phase meter. If you plan to install a heating boiler with a larger capacity, then before purchasing it, you must consult and obtain written permission from the local energy company.

It should be taken into account that household electric boilers are not designed for a large number of radiators; therefore, their installation is optimal for heating small areas, up to 80 - 90 m². In addition to the boiler, “warm floor” systems can be used, which consume electricity quite economically.

Electric units operate according to a standard automatic heating system. The coolant (water or antifreeze) is heated as it passes through the boiler and then enters the heating circuit with radiators installed in it. Along this path, the coolant cools down and returns to the boiler for heating, etc. To make the circulation more intense and the radiators to warm up faster, a circulation pump is installed in the heating circuit.

An electric boiler, unlike gas equipment, can be installed in any utility room where it is convenient to install the power line, and from where it will be easier to carry out the general wiring of the heating circuit pipes. Most often, a kitchen or bathroom is also chosen for this. But sometimes it is also installed in the corridor, recessing the circuit pipe distribution into the wall surfaces.

What is an electric heating boiler?

The variety of such devices is quite large, and, not only in size, power and other operational parameters, but even in terms of heating principle. Read more about this in the special article on our portal dedicated to.

Direct space heating with electrical appliances

Heating using separate electrical appliances or a “warm floor” system, which can be combined or work separately, is called a direct heating system.

This option is preferable to choose if there is a desire to get rid of numerous pipes and volumetric radiators, since, for example, electric convectors have a more aesthetic appearance and compact size. The “warm floor” system can be cable rod or film - but in any case, it is completely invisible to the eye.

When combining individual devices into a single system, it is possible to connect it to a common control unit, with the help of which temperature conditions are set by time of day and day of the week, taking into account the family’s daily routine.

When choosing any type of electric heating, for safety reasons it is necessary to provide grounding, without which permission to put the system into operation will not be issued.

The advantage of electric heating is that, unlike gas heating, it is safer. And compared to the central system, it can be easily and very accurately adjusted, setting the required temperature.

The main disadvantage of the electrical system is that if there is a power outage, the apartment will be left not only without lighting, but also without heating. Therefore, if in a particular locality this phenomenon repeats itself with frightening consistency, then it is better to opt for autonomous gas heating of the apartment. In addition, the obvious “disadvantages” include very high electricity tariffs.

Features of the arrangement of electric heating lie in the observance of certain conditions that are not provided for the gas heating option. So, experts recommend:

• Carry out for the electric heating system from the distribution shield separate power cable, which stabilizes the load on the general house electrical network.
• RCD systems are installed today in all apartments of new buildings equipped with autonomous electric heating. If it is not there, then you will have to worry about purchasing such a block. This - reliable protection against electric shock when it leaks onto the device body.
• It is highly desirable to install a two-tariff meter, which will help save money if the heat supply to the premises occurs during preferential hours.

Devices and systems for direct space heating – what to choose?

The variety of such devices is extremely wide. You can get to know each other better in a special article on the portal. Another publication will tell you in detail about the varieties and specific features various systems.

Installation of an autonomous heating system

Disconnecting an apartment from the central heating and hot water supply lines, as well as installing a gas and electric boiler, is carried out only by specialists from energy companies who have a special documented permit to carry out such work.

Such rules have been introduced to comply with all safety conditions both during installation and during operation of the equipment. We must not forget that in an apartment building there are many neighboring apartments with people in them. And you shouldn’t put your life and theirs in danger.

You can take on the laying of pipes and the placement of heating radiators, as well as the installation of other necessary elements of the system. But even then only if you have good skills in carrying out such operations.

In this publication, there is little point in dwelling on the installation order. The fact is that all the details are set out in a special article on the portal.

Nuances of installing a water heating system

Whether a gas boiler is installed or an electric one, otherwise the wiring of the pipe circuit, installation of radiators, additional devices and parts are almost the same. How to do it in a house or apartment - the recommended link will lead you to the corresponding detailed instructions.

Before deciding to abandon centralized heating and hot water supply, you need to weigh all the positive and negative aspects of autonomous heating of the apartment. And only after carrying out such a comparison and carrying out a thoughtful analysis - start collecting documents.

One more small clarification. It may also happen that, having disconnected the apartment from the heat supply and hot water supply, you will still have to pay for general heating. But these amounts will be quite miniscule compared to those that were previously indicated in the monthly payment order.

And finally, a short video that will also help you weigh all the “pros” and “contras” of an autonomous heating system in an apartment

Video: Advantages and disadvantages of an autonomous apartment heating system