...

Heating stoves with a water circuit

This WordPress post discusses the features and advantages of heating stoves with a water circuit. These stoves offer excellent heat output, while allowing easier thermostatic temperature control, and reducing energy consumption. With advanced digital controls and a flame-proof design, they make heating your home more efficient and convenient than ever. Moreover, they require no piping, are easy to install, and have a longer lifespan than conventional models. All of this adds up to heating stoves with a water circuit being an ideal choice for anyone looking for an efficient, cost-effective home heating system.

Recommendation points



What is a fireplace or stove with a water circuit: is it just exotic or an effective method of generating heat and hot water? This overview will give you a better understanding of the varieties, characteristics and rationale of using heating stoves with a water circuit..

Heating stoves with a water circuit

Device: what is the difference from boilers

Stoves with a water circuit do not lend themselves well to classification due to their great similarity with solid fuel boilers and fireplaces. Let’s agree that a solid fuel stove with a heat exchanger means a device that combines the features of a convection and solid fuel boiler. They often have every reason to be called a euro-burzhuyka because of the external similarity, however, some models can indeed be equipped with a hob.

Heating stoves with a water circuit 1 – return flow input; 2 – grate; 3 – convective pipes; 4 – injector; 5 – hot water outlet; 6 – afterburner chamber; 7 – combustion chamber; 8 – water jacket; 9 – cold air

Such furnaces are interesting for their design: with relatively small dimensions, they have two heat exchangers – air and water. The presence of the first implies that the stove should be installed in the most habitable places, or serve as the main source of heating in the living room. For this reason, most wood-burning stoves with a heat exchanger do not have sequential heating chambers and, as a result, are not used in steam heating systems..

An exception can be called the case when the stove is installed in an adjacent and uninhabited room: workshop, garage, semi-open terrace or boiler room, where there is a possibility of correct and open installation of protective equipment. The power of these stoves is much higher, they can be used as the main source of heating in houses up to 250 m2.

How efficient are ovens with a heat exchanger

The design of the heat exchangers inside each individual furnace determines its productivity. The simplest ones have one chamber with a simple sheet steel heat exchanger. This is a more technologically advanced version of the rough stove, supplemented by a water boiler.

Heating stoves with a water circuit

More expensive and technologically advanced options have a heat exchanger around the entire perimeter of the combustion chamber. Water from the “return” can also be preheated by passing through a heat exchanger in the chimney. It can be seen that the normal flow of water is inverted in this case, therefore stoves with a water circuit are not suitable for use in open gravitational heating systems. But this problem can be solved if the furnace is equipped with a circulation pump and a closed expansion tank, and in case of power outages – also with autonomous power supply..

Heating stoves with a water circuit

Pyrolysis ovens are devoid of this drawback. The smoke comes out of them almost cold due to the division of the firebox into several chambers. The internal structure of such equipment is very complicated, the channels with hot gas are separated from the heat exchangers by thin walls. Therefore, only furnaces from a manufacturer with a high level of trust and only from high quality steel deserve attention..

Gravitational and forced circulation

It is somewhat unfair that for the area of ​​the most widespread use of stoves with a water circuit – in summer cottages and in country houses – there are too few suitable technical solutions, and most of them lie in the price segment above the average.

Heating stoves with a water circuit

In suburban housing, dependence on the electrical network for the heating system is unacceptable. In addition, in many farms, the heating is turned on only for the period of arrival, the constant drainage of water does not have a beneficial effect on the technology. The exception is cast iron furnaces, they are recommended for use in open-type systems.

Forced circulation increases the performance of the system, but the natural flow must be maintained. For this purpose, it is recommended to equip the boiler piping with a non-return valve..

In some furnaces, circulation pumps are installed not only for water, but also for air. This concept is purely optional, the blower fan is used only as a way to quickly heat the room to a comfortable temperature.

Heating stoves with a water circuit An example of piping a fireplace with a water circuit: 1 – supply of cold water from the water supply when the operating temperature is exceeded; 2 – drain into the sewer; 3 – return flow entrance; 4 – electrically controlled air supply; 5 – plate heat exchanger; 6 – circulation pump; 7 – automation; 8 – expansion tank; 9 – safety valve

Let’s briefly consider systems in which the stove has additional aesthetic and / or practical components. This category of stoves is filled with fireplace stoves with a transparent door, built-in, and with a hob, or those that are simply installed to heat large open areas.

It is rational to install such furnaces as auxiliary devices in tandem with cheaper and more reliable solid fuel boilers with full hydraulic piping and a protective automation unit. You can also consider an option with a daily mode of operation: daytime heating with wood and an electric boiler at the night rate.

Sizes and power

Wood-burning stoves with a water circuit have three power classes, which are determined by the amount of heat generated, the speed of heating the air, energy efficiency and the duration of continuous operation..

The smallest class of devices has a conventional potbelly stove device, into which a tubular heat exchanger is inserted. The power of such furnaces is 6–8 kW, very rarely – 10 kW. For a summer residence, such a solution is ideal, as an example, you can consider the products of EUROKOM, Lechma, Kratki.

Heating stoves with a water circuit

The second class of devices is modular furnaces with an average power from 12 to 20 kW. The device is not particularly complex, but in this segment, units with automatic control units are already more widespread. Manufacturers: MBS, Schmid and Harvia.

High-power ovens are usually installed on basements, where convection heat from them is sufficient for heating. In addition, a powerful stove can be connected to the supply ventilation duct to heat the air, or give off heat to the room from where it is taken. Most of the furnaces in this category have a complete set of onboard equipment: forced circulation, automation and safety group. Variants with two heat exchangers are very common, one of which is connected to an indirect heating boiler, thus the stove serves the domestic hot water system in winter..

Heating stoves with a water circuit

Please note that the total boiler output is the sum of the output of the air and water heat exchangers, excluding the incidental heat radiation from the casing. These parameters vary in different proportions, therefore, with a certain amount of time, you can choose a unit with the desired ratio of boiler and convection module performance..

The main problems and design flaws

The main disadvantage of PVC is the low level of security. The convection principle of heat distribution causes the same rapid spread of combustion products if the stove suddenly starts to “pickle”. Therefore, the furnace should be made either from a special boiler or stainless steel, or from cast iron..

Heating stoves with a water circuit

Furnaces of medium and high power, due to a more complex furnace arrangement, are subject to abundant formation of carbon deposits and scale. In addition, the heat exchanger built into the housing eliminates any repair or replacement.

Stoves with a water circuit also cannot be called “long-playing” heat sources: one firewood is enough, at best, for 2-3 hours of burning, briquettes can burn up to 5 hours. And yet, for all its shortcomings, most of which are relatively easy to neutralize, a heating stove with a water circuit can be a very practical and complete heating tool for a home..

Rate the article
( No ratings yet )
Recommender Great
Tips on any topic from experts
Comments: 1
  1. Clara Foster

    Can someone explain how heating stoves with a water circuit work? I’ve heard about them being more efficient, but I’m unsure how they operate and if they’re suitable for residential use. Any insights or recommendations are greatly appreciated!

    Reply
Add comments