Replacing heating radiators in the apartment

Recommendation points

• About heating radiators in communal real estate
• When radiators need to be replaced
• What do you need to replace
• How is the replacement
• Radiator piping

Even in modern new buildings, the cheapest radiators are initially installed. It makes no sense to start a major overhaul of the apartment until all the dirty work has been done, part of which is replacing radiators and heating pipes with better and more reliable.

About heating radiators in communal real estate

The developer is installing a heating system with one goal – to comply with the norms of building climatology, which are far from optimal for human living. As a rule, in new apartments cheap steel radiators with low heat transfer and short service life are installed..

At the same time, the technical passport for housing determines the share of heat release, according to which apartment owners determine the heat output of new radiators. For installation in apartment buildings, it is most advisable to buy either steel panel or bimetallic radiators, which are designed for high water pressure in the centralized heating system.

Since the supply riser is the same for the entire row of apartments, it can be turned off only during the downtime of the heating system. Therefore, plan the replacement of heating devices in advance. This does not mean that repairs cannot be started in winter, because radiators do not interfere with leveling the floor and walls, installing plumbing, electricians and other work not related to finishing.

When radiators need to be replaced

In modern renovation, it is customary to hide the heating system behind a false wall. This does not lead to a waste of useful space, because the sheathing goes into the same plane in which the curtains are located. At the same time, the area of ​​the window sill increases, the aesthetics of the room improves, and most importantly, it becomes possible to avoid bypassing pipes when finishing the floor and ceiling.

If initially high-quality radiators were installed in the apartment, which do not take up much space and allow you to build a false wall 100–120 mm from the main one, you do not need to change them. Recommendations on this matter will be given by an invited technician who is able to determine the heat transfer of the radiators, the presence of damage and the general condition.

What do you need to replace

To install new radiators, as a rule, re-equipment of pipelines is required, because the center-to-center distances of the inlets usually do not match. At the same time, it is strictly not allowed to switch to another pipe material. If the wiring around the house is carried out with steel pipes, you should invite a gas welder, if PPR pipes are used, you can rent a soldering iron yourself. If the apartment has radial wiring from the collector, the best solution would be to lay PEX pipes in the floor with a connection on push-in press fittings.

To turn off the riser and drain the water, you need to contact the HOA or the management company. In the application, it is necessary to indicate the reason for the disconnection of the line and the time of work. On the specified day, the technical service will send a locksmith who will shut off the water supply and drain the remaining coolant from the system. By this time, everything should be ready for work: new radiators and fittings for them have been purchased, equipment for working with pipes has been raised to the floor, workplaces have been cleared.

How is the replacement

When replacing radiators, the section of the heating pipeline changes. Such a need arises due to the mismatch of the center distance of the supplies. It is important in this case that the turn of the pipes to the radiators is carried out from the riser itself, and not on a horizontal section. In this case, the pipes of the inlets should be located with a slope of about 1 cm per meter..

If the configuration of the inlets is incorrect, air locks will constantly accumulate in the radiator, which there is no way to get rid of. Unlike home heating systems, it is forbidden to install any points of water intake in apartments, including Mayevsky taps. If they are available, the selection committee will not draw up an acceptance certificate and will oblige to bring the strapping configuration to the established standards. It will not be possible to avoid the visit of the commission: the need for an acceptance examination inevitably arises when an application is made for disconnecting and lowering the riser.

It is very important to comply with the technical requirements when reworking pipelines:

• Before dismantling, you need to make a test hole in the pipe with a cordless screwdriver or gas welding.
• Steel pipes are allowed to be welded only with flaring or through a glass.
• Bending of swivel elbows should be done only cold using a pipe bender.
• Packing of threaded connections is done using flax fiber and anaerobic sealant.
• The supply and return are necessarily connected with each other by a closing jumper.

There is only one specific requirement for wiring with polypropylene pipes, the installation technology of which has already been written in detail. The house management organization may refuse to carry out welding work, in such cases it is necessary to change part of the riser to polypropylene. This must be done in the next apartment, because if the neighbors themselves start a major overhaul, it will be more problematic to tie to the riser on your territory, because the finish has already been completed. It is required to draw conclusions of plastic pipes with a length of at least 50 cm, cut threads on steel pipes and make a connection on threaded transition couplings MRV.

Radiator piping

The heaters are connected through detachable threaded fittings and shut-off and control valves. When connecting with plastic pipes, it is recommended to install a ball valve for soldering on the return line, behind which a transition from plastic to a thread of the “American” type is installed. A transition sleeve with an external thread is mounted on the supply, followed by a thermostat with the possibility of complete cutoff. A detachable threaded connection is installed between the thermostat and the plug.

When wiring with steel pipes, threaded couplings are welded at the ends of the inlets. At the flow, a thermostat and a detachable fitting are immediately mounted, on the return there is a ball valve and an American. It is most convenient to work in the reverse order: first pack the fittings with pipe sections, and then make welded joints.