How to drain water from the system. Replacing coolant in a standard closed home heating network

With the advent of the first cold weather, many owners of private houses and summer cottages there is a need to drain water from the pipes of the plumbing and heating systems. Many people think about how to drain water from pipes with their own hands, they think that it is very difficult, and the help of specialists is needed. In fact, you can do this on your own.

In preparation water pipes Before conservation, it is worth remembering that all work must be carried out at an outdoor temperature of at least 5 ⁰C.

To implement correct drain water from water pipes, their design must include the following details:

1. A tee and a drain valve must be installed on the pipe valve supplying water from a well or well caisson.
2. Water pipes must be made of polyethylene low pressure or polypropylene. This will prevent them from being damaged during emergency defrosting.
3. A water drain valve must be installed at the lowest point of the pipeline branch.
4. If drain taps are not installed, a tee must be installed. It connects to Automobile compressor. It is used to blow through pipes.
5. If a water heater is connected, it is necessary to install a tee and a tap to drain the water. They must have a hose attachment to the check valve on the incoming water heating pipe. Also, a tee with a tap should be installed on the outlet pipe from the water heater to quickly supply air when draining the water.

Stages of draining water from a pipeline

To drain water from the heating system, you must perform the following steps:

1. Turning off the heating boiler or closing the distribution valve on the pipe extending from the riser.
2. Shutting off the valve that collects water into the heating system.
3. A hose must be attached to the radiator system drain valve. Here you should correctly calculate its length. It must be sufficient to drain water into the street or into a sewer well.
4. The drain valve on the heating radiator must be opened.
5. On the heating system, it is necessary to open the valves with air valves. This will ensure a faster drainage rate.
6. Leaks may occur during the draining procedure. To avoid unpleasant incidents, it is necessary to place a deep container in advance and place it under the junction of the tap and the drain hose.
7. After completing the draining procedure, you must disconnect the hose and drain the remaining water into a container.

We drain water from the central and autonomous water supply

On modern summer cottages many install a piping system. The pipeline can be connected:

• to the central water supply,
• to an autonomous water supply system.

If on winter period water needs to be drained from central pipeline, you must perform the following steps:

1. Shutting off the water supply to the room. To do this, close the tap located on the inlet pipe.
2. Opening all pipeline taps to drain water.

To drain water from pipes at the dacha for the winter from autonomous system pipeline, you must do the following:

1. If the water supply is from a well, the pump must be removed from it.
2. It should be preserved for the cold period in accordance with the operating instructions.
3. If using a container with accumulative system, it is necessary to open the drain valve.
4. Where water is consumed, taps should also be opened to drain the piping system.
5. To completely remove water from the pipeline, it is necessary to additionally blow it out using a compressor.
6. If the storage tank is not in use, you simply need to open all the taps on the pipeline system and drain the water.

If water is not drained from the pipeline on time, there is a possibility of the system freezing. What to do in this case?

How to solve the problem depends on the type of pipeline installation. He can be:

• open,
• closed.

If a pipeline is used open type, solving the problem of freezing pipes is quite simple. To do this you just need to heat it up. A blowtorch can easily handle this.

If the pipeline is buried in the ground, and even hidden by a layer of insulation, solving the problem of pipe freezing is much more difficult. To do this, you need to connect a hose to the hot water supply system. It should be placed inside the pipeline and moved along the pipe to the place where the ice has formed. After this, the hot water tap opens. The water will melt the resulting glaciation.

To avoid problems with freezing of the pipeline, it is necessary to drain the water in the pipes in a timely manner.

When is it necessary to drain water from the heating system? Most often, the need for it arises when it is necessary to clean or replace a heating radiator, for example. If we are talking about a city apartment that is connected to central system heating, then a similar operation can be carried out independently on the internal section of the network. In the event that it is necessary to drain the heating system of a private house equipped with a boiler, it will have to be temporarily emptied.

The essence of the

The first step is to shut off the branch of the heating riser that goes to the apartment. It is enough just to close the distribution valve located here. For a private house with an autonomous heating system, this process is slightly different:

• firstly, you need to stop the supply of fuel or electrical energy;
• secondly, you should carefully read the user instructions for this case.

Only after this can the boiler be turned off. Then you should close the valve through which water is drawn into the system.

To speed up the process a little, you will need to know those places in the system where taps with valves may be located air type. They all need to be opened. In this case, nothing will interfere with the process of water flowing to the hose.

During this operation, small leaks of water from the system onto the floor are possible. Therefore, at the very beginning, it is better to place a large bowl or basin under the place where the hose is connected to the tap (drain). As all the water leaves the system, it is necessary to disconnect the hose and drain the remaining water from it into a substitute container.

Only after completing all the described procedures can you move on to the main thing - to the work for which the water was drained from heating system residential apartment or private housing construction.

If the owner of an apartment or house does not quite understand how to drain the water from the heating without harmful consequences, then it is better to contact a qualified contractor. For example, to a plumber from a company that services a specific home.

How to drain water from a heated floor - methods and features of the work

Installing underfloor heating means long-term and stable operation of the heating system. This system is equally convenient both in a city apartment and in country house, and at the dacha. Such a floor can be installed in almost any residential space, however, its operational efficiency is affected by compliance with the technical characteristics of the products design features premises. Correct calculation and correct styling heating circuits, high-quality pressure testing of the heated floor heating system allows property owners to for a long time forget about maintenance of heating equipment.

Find out the price and buy heating equipment and related products you can find here. Write, call and come to one of the stores in your city. Delivery throughout the Russian Federation and CIS countries.

But nothing lasts forever, and any product may require repair work. Warm floors are a complex complex of very different equipment; a malfunction in one of the elements can cause a breakdown of the entire heating system.

Sometimes, for example, if there are problems with throughput or the tightness of such a floor, when preserving the house, it is necessary to drain the water from the heating circuit.

In the article we will look in more detail when this procedure is required and how, in principle, to drain water from a heated floor.

Draining water from heated floors

Why drain the water?

There are many reasons why you may need to drain your underfloor heating system. For example, this procedure should be carried out if the owners long time you are not at home, or when there is a need to replace water as a coolant with antifreeze. Everything must be done correctly so as not to violate the integrity of the system. Below we will consider the rules for draining liquid.

Often this need arises when preserving the heating system for the winter. This procedure is often carried out in summer cottages and in houses outside the city that have been empty for a long time. To simplify and speed up the draining process, a special technique is used.

Remember that water in houses with seasonal use must be drained. Otherwise, frost will cause the system to freeze. That is why the use of antifreeze as a coolant is more preferable - in addition to resistance to low temperatures this solution also protects the pumps from unnecessary wear.

Another, also important point when using heated floors is preventive work in the heating system. The water from the boiler contains many impurities, which, when heated, precipitate or form deposits on the walls of the pipeline.

Due to a decrease in the internal clearance of heat pipes, the circulation of the coolant in the system is disrupted, and the heat output becomes lower. Therefore, experts recommend draining the coolant from the system at least once a year when using water.

A liquid circuit that is filled does not have this problem. In this case, the coolant can be replaced only once every 3-5 years (the main condition is that the boiler operates without overheating, for heated floors the maximum threshold is permissible temperature liquid is 45-55 °C).

Another reason why it may be necessary to drain the water is the liquid losing its own physical properties. The antifreeze parameters change after overheating - the solution begins to form foam. When foam fills individual sections of heat pipes, it disrupts the circulation of the coolant in the system and heat transfer becomes lower.

Inconsistency in the installation technology of heated floors, the use of materials that are not intended for contact with chemicals, contributes to the formation of corrosion in the heating system. As a result, the circulation of the coolant is disrupted and leaks in the water circuit appear.

Of course, you will have to drain the water from the heated floor circuit when replacing it with antifreeze.

These are the main reasons when systems need to be drained. And no matter what the base, water drainage must be carried out in accordance with all the rules, following safety precautions and technological sequence all points.

Draining water in stages

Warm floors are a closed system, so it’s worth taking care of the drain taps during installation work. The number of valves must be equal to the number of water circuits.

- This is basically a long hose that is laid on the floor. Laying option, i.e. the configuration of the circuits may be different, but the liquid circuit operates on the same principle - the coolant transfers heat to the surrounding space by heating the floor surface.

Before draining the heating system, you need to turn off the heating system, then wait the time required for all its elements to cool completely.

Taking into account that the water circuit is connected to the main pipeline, and the connection point is located above the floor level, the water is drained forcibly using an air compressor.

The power of a household vacuum cleaner to drain liquid from a water heating system is not enough.

To purge the water circuit, a compressor with an operating pressure of up to 5 bar is used. A more powerful device can destroy heat pipes.

Emptying is carried out through a return line equipped with drain valve, and the compressor is connected to the manifold at inlet pipe, because of this, the check valve can create certain interference when blowing the pipe.

After connecting to the collector, the compressor starts to displace the coolant from the circuit and the air supply pressure is slowly increased - until the point after which liquid begins to flow out at the outlet. Do not forget that the volume of water in each of the heated floor circuits is not that large, so an ordinary small container of 8-10 liters is enough to receive it.

The compressor must be turned on until air begins to flow continuously from the pipe immediately behind the water.

When you do not have the opportunity to use a compressor, you can use another method to empty the system of liquid and thereby avoid defrosting the heating system. A hose is put on the inlet of the heat pipe suitable size 1 meter long with a funnel at the end. The end with the funnel needs to be raised higher and antifreeze slowly poured into it (it’s better to take a brightly colored one). Gradually, water will begin to flow from the return pipe, and then liquid. The procedure will take time, but you will not regret the effort.

Nuances and features

Before preparing for draining, you need to study how it works in order to find and mark on the supply and return circuits the location of the valves, which are marked as follows:

• feed are red;
• return – blue.

Draining water from the underfloor heating collector

If you confuse the supply circuit with the return circuit, the drain system will not work, since the check valve will block the pipeline.

If there is no receiving container, you can get out of this situation by connecting the drain hose to the return valve, stretching it to the nearest sewerage intake (toilet, washbasin).

After you have drained the liquid from one circuit, drain all the remaining ones in the same way. At the moment of emptying any system section, the valves of other circuits must be closed; at the end of each stage, the valves of already empty pipelines must also be closed.

To be sure that the circuits are 100% clean of water, the purging process is repeated after an hour again (when the water drains from the walls of the pipes and accumulates in a certain area).

Draining water from a warm water floor from time to time is a necessary operation. How often the procedure is required depends on the frequency of use of the heating system and the quality of the coolant. In areas where the water is hard and contains many impurities, it is worth removing liquid from the heating circuit at least once a year.

You do not need to spend money on replacing water in the heating pipeline (perhaps the only exception will be paying for the rental of a compressor), therefore it is recommended to carry out this manipulation in a timely manner, thus extending the time of stable operation of the water circuits.

If antifreeze is used as a coolant, then draining is required much less frequently - once every 3-5 years, but with high safety precautions. This is because ethylene glycol, which is used to produce antifreeze solutions, as well as its vapors are classified as toxic substances, and they require the use of means personal protection(special clothing, safety glasses and gloves) and ventilation.

One of our readers is interested in how legal it is for the management company to pay for draining the heating system riser during the work of replacing heating radiators in an apartment? Let us recall that we have previously considered the question of . Today we will look at this topic in more detail.

Indeed, before proceeding with the replacement heating devices in the apartment, you need to turn off the riser central heating and drain the water from the heating system. There are no other options, because even in summer period There is residual water in the batteries.

You can entrust the process of draining the coolant only to representatives of the management company servicing your home, or hire another specialized organization, while coordinating the disconnection with the Criminal Code.

In this case, you will have to pay for the service provided in both cases. The cost of turning off the riser for each area and even for each house may vary - the final price is determined by the management company of the house. The fact is that prices and tariffs for services and work performed by housing services at the request of residents are not regulated by the state in any way. Therefore, each office has its own tariffs.

The cost of work is indicated in the price list for paid services, which can be found by contacting management company your home. In addition to the service of disconnecting the riser itself, a fee is also charged for draining the coolant (water) in the radiators, as well as for filling the heating system after all the work has been carried out. These two components (sink and physical water) are set by state tariffs (in practice, their cost is averaged), which, just like for the drainage/filling service, you need to pay to your management company.

In addition, if the riser is turned off during heating season, then the payment will be hourly. In winter, the riser can be turned off for a maximum of three hours (to avoid freezing), but usually only an hour is enough for repair work. If the temperature outside the window drops to minus 30 degrees, then turning off the risers is prohibited!

It would seem that it could be easier to drain water from the heating system? After all, all you need to do is connect it to the battery drain hose and open the water. However, an incorrectly performed operation can lead to the most unpleasant results, especially in the event of unforeseen situations in apartments, where you can simply flood all your neighbors with water. We will talk about the rules for removing liquid from the heating system in this article.

Draining the coolant in the apartment correctly

Intervention with the heating system should only be carried out if such actions are necessary for normal operation communication, prevention or elimination of breakdowns. For example, it is impossible to replace a radiator in a room without first draining the liquids. In addition, it is necessary to remove liquid from the pipes when leaks occur, the system is contaminated, and, if necessary, replace the coolant with a new one.

In an autonomous home heating system, it is easiest to drain the coolant. To carry out such work, no special permits or approvals are required, since even the occurrence of unforeseen situations in this case cannot damage significant harm to people. To replace the coolant, we perform the following work:

1. 1. turn off the heating boiler;
2. 2. wait for the water in the system to cool completely;
3. 3. close the cold water supply valve to the system;
4. 4. open special air valves, which are necessarily present in closed communications.

Modern heating networks have drain valves that are located at the lowest point of the system - usually on the return pipeline in close proximity to the boiler. After completing the operations described above, connect a hose to this tap through which water can be drained from the circuit. When there is no coolant left in the heating network, you can begin to repair the communication, replace its damaged elements, or any other work for which the drain was performed.

It is more difficult to properly drain water from the pipes and batteries of an autonomous system if a “warm floor” is installed in the house. In this case, to remove the coolant, you will have to connect a compressor to the inlet pipe of the network, which will help displace water from the pipes using air pressure. Although it is not always necessary to completely drain the water from the system. For example, if you need to replace only one in the house heating battery, you can drain the coolant only from it, of course, if the design of the system and the features of its installation allow this.

It is highly desirable to provide for the possibility of draining water from a specific radiator by installing valves and taps.

So that when following the described recommendations, replacing the coolant does not cause big problems, it is necessary to prepare a container of suitable size in advance. It should contain all the liquid from the autonomous heating supply without any residue. In some cases, you can simply use a long hose that is pulled from the heating drain tap to the street. However, the longer the hose and the older it is, the higher the likelihood of leaks occurring during heating network repairs.

Drain the coolant from the heating system located in apartment building, much more difficult. If you need to remove water from a communication in order to modernize it, you will have to empty the entire riser pipe running through all apartments located in the same vertical from the coolant. Such repairs require prior approval from the company that services the heat supply of the apartment building.

The service of draining water from the riser is paid, it is performed by employees of the responsible company, its cost depends on the time of repair. The most expensive drainage is in the winter during the heating season, and the cheapest in the summer. Therefore, you should plan in advance for the modernization and maintenance of heating elements.

How to replace a radiator - dismantling procedure in an apartment building

The easiest way to replace a radiator is in relatively new apartments, in which engineering communications are installed correctly, and builders have provided the ability to drain liquid from the system without affecting the common riser. To replace the radiator in such an apartment, first turn off shut-off valves at the battery inlet, thereby stopping the supply of water to individual sections of the heating network, but without stopping the circulation of the liquid as a whole. Your further actions when working with coolant depend on whether the system design includes outlet valves on the radiators. If there are taps, then you just need to connect a hose to them and drain the liquid into a large container.

Single-pipe heating needs to be handled differently. You will first have to open the valve on the bypass (bypass), which is a backup path for the coolant, which is used to replace the radiator. Only after opening the bypass valve can you close the shut-off valves on both sides of the battery itself.

After this, you can begin to disconnect the radiator from the heating network in the house. When a new battery is installed instead of a broken one, it is necessary to check the sealing of the connection, check the tightness of the lock nuts and only then gradually open the valves at the inlet and outlet of the radiator. At the end, you can open the Mayevsky tap and slowly close the bypass so that the radiator fills gradually. Slowly filling the system will prevent water hammer, and air will escape from the battery through the Mayevsky valve. The tap can be turned off once water starts flowing through it.

We solve problems with the heating network

Problems with engineering communications happen quite often, but to repair the heating supply it is not at all necessary to always remove the coolant from the pipes. The most common heating problems include:

• air entering the system circuit;
• pollution;
• insufficient diameter of system pipes;
• low circulation pump power;
• absence check valves in complex networks;
• making various errors during installation work.

Problems in the heating network are often related to each other. For example, the gurgling of water in pipes can be caused by air getting into the pipes, poor sealing of connections, or the presence of leaks. For the system to provide the apartment required quantity thermal energy and did not cause discomfort to users, it must be constantly checked. Monitor the quality of the connection, bleed air through the Mayevsky taps, and if you find a problem on your own and cannot get rid of it, turn to professionals for help.

Calling specialists in a timely manner when detecting the slightest signs of problems in the heating operation will allow you to avoid serious malfunctions, to eliminate which you will have to spend your money and time, obtain permission to drain water from the riser and coordinate your work with the responsible authorities.