SPECIAL HEATING

Radiators: how many elements do I need?

Now that the year is ending and we realize that both electricity and gas are going to rise again, it is time to tighten budgets more and opt for efficient architecture.

How many elements do I need to place in the radiators of a home? It is undoubtedly a question that sooner or later appears in the development of any project.

One of the most important points in the development of any architecture project is to correctly plan the interior comfort that we want to have. We must prescribe the most appropriate heating system in each case and a mechanical ventilation system that ensures air quality and the ideal temperature inside the home. And for this system to work it is essential to have the interior space well insulated. Both the PVC walls and windows must be watertight to ensure that there will be no heat losses.

But how many elements to place?

Next we are going to indicate the steps you have to follow. It is a simple process following this little calculation:

- First, we calculate the space of the room to heater. Space means calculating cubic meters (m3), so we multiply width x length x height. Suppose you have given us a space of 100m2.

- For every m3 to heater 40 kcal / h are needed, so the operation is simple. It gives a total of 4000 kcal / h. As is logical, the larger the space, the more power we are going to need, it is not the same to heat a double-height living room than a bathroom.

- We already have the kcal / h necessary to heat the room in question to the degree of comfort. If we want to know how many elements to place, it is necessary to know the power of each one, there are 79.10, 107.48, 123.80, 138.50 kcal / h.

Assuming that we use the 138.50kcal / h we would have to divide the necessary kcal / h between those provided by each elected, in this case 4000 / 138.50. We would get approximately 28 elements that we would distribute between 7 or 8 smaller radiators.

- Other tips for their installation and conservation is to know that they can be used in hot water and steam installations up to a maximum of 120ºC. The maximum operating pressure is 6bar or 6kg.

- Radiators must be installed leaving at least 12 cm from the floor and 2.5 cm from the wall. In the event that the wall is not sufficiently insulated, it is advisable to install additional insulation in order to limit heat dispersion to the outside as much as possible. If you have to bleed too frequently, it is a sign of the existence of some anomaly in the heating installation. Finally, for a better cleaning, do not use abrasive products.

-The climatic zone is another of the variables, in the Technical Building Code there is a map where it indicates the average temperature that each zone has and a table with its characteristics. This is an important piece of information if we want to calculate the necessary power that we need in each instance through the formula: Correction factor x M2 of the room = Necessary power (W).

To define the different climatic zones, the Technical Building Code has taken into account factors such as dew temperature, effective sky temperature, specific humidity and severity in both winter and summer.

-One of the aspects that should not be neglected when calculating the radiators I need in a home is knowing their orientation. It is not the same to have a south facing room that is capturing solar energy throughout the day than to have a north orientation.

In short ... what are the ways to save energy? They all are, because they all add up. If we add a good system to a fair pre-dimensioning, we will be contributing to an efficient installation and the timing of the boiler that we have to install will also help us.