September82022

Which heating batteries are better to choose for an apartment and a private house

Starting any work related to heating in the house, each owner wonders which heating batteries are better. Today, the market of thermal equipment is represented by a wide variety of radiators. Everyone can get lost in it. To be fluent in the situation, it is necessary to study all available options for radiators, their description and features, pros and possible cons.

Vertical wall batteries for heating a private house

Types of radiators and their description

The variety of radiators is due to the fact that they are made of completely different metals. Their consumer properties and appearance depend on this. Let’s review the most famous types of radiators that can be purchased in the store today: cast iron, aluminum, steel, bimetallic, copper.

To determine which heating batteries are better in certain conditions, it is necessary to study their technical characteristics.

Steel radiator for heating in the children’s room

Batteries with cast-iron housing

This is the oldest type of batteries, which was the only one widely used in the USSR since the beginning of the era of water heating. It’s no accident that they lasted so long. After all, cast iron is a very corrosion–resistant and reliable material. With proper care and periodic cleaning, batteries made of cast-iron sections serve for 50 years. Having excellent heat capacity and wall thickness, such radiators do not cool down for a very long time even when the heat supply is turned off. They cannot be destroyed as a result of a water hammer, which happens when the central heating system is started in autumn. Such heating batteries are better for an apartment. What prices they have developed on the market today depends on various parameters. However, they are significantly lower than other types. Bad water, air and rust do not particularly affect the technical condition of radiators.

Mounting dimensions of the battery with a cast-iron housing

Cast iron batteries have a number of disadvantages that limit their use in modern realities. Firstly, it is too much weight, making it difficult to transport and install. Secondly, high inertia, which does not allow the use of these products in systems with automatic temperature control. Thirdly, not very successful and attractive appearance. By the way, the last drawback, in some places they have learned to turn into an advantage. Today you can find very exquisite cast iron products with a beautiful design and coloring. They are used in retro-style rooms.

The cast-iron radiator can be painted in any color, depending on the style of the room

The technical and dimensional features of cast-iron type radiators are considered by the example of a battery of the MS 140 500 brand:

The maximum water temperature in them can reach 130 C.
The pressure in the operating mode is up to 9 atmospheres, and during the system crimping up to 15 atmospheres.
The radiator is sectional with two-channel sections, with a volume of 1.35 liters, a width of 0.98 m and a height of 0.5 m.
The heat transfer under normal operating conditions is 175 watts.

The main advantage of a cast iron battery is high heat dissipation

Useful advice! When constructing a heating system using cast-iron batteries, calculate the number of sections as follows: with the required 1 kW of energy per 10 m2 and 0, 175 kW in one section, you need 12 sections per room with an area of 20 m2.

Knowing these characteristics and properties, you can answer the question of which heating batteries are better for an apartment. The prices of cast-iron radiators further encourage the purchase of such devices.

Cast—iron radiators are the most economical option compared to other types of batteries

Aluminum batteries

The technical features of aluminum batteries are determined by the metal from which they are made. Aluminum is lightweight and durable, it is not afraid of corrosion and scale formation. It has excellent heat dissipation, so it has a low inertia. Aluminum radiators heat up and cool down so quickly that it allows you to use this type of batteries in automated heating systems by connecting thermoregulators and other sensors to them. Due to the narrow channels, there is no need to fill the system with a large amount of water.

Mounting dimensions of the heating radiator made of aluminum

As disadvantages, you can specify: the fear of an alkaline environment, under the influence of which corrosion occurs, a rare but possible occurrence of leaks at the junction of sections, the appearance of gas inside the battery. The main necessary quality of aluminum radiators is good inertia. In this regard, such heating batteries are better for a private house. Whatever automatic climate controls are used in the house, aluminum radiators will be perfectly combined with them.

Useful advice! When buying aluminum radiators, ask the seller about the properties of the model you like. This is necessary for the correct calculation of their number.

Aluminum batteries have a concise design and fit perfectly into any interior

Steel radiators for heating

If you want to have beautiful batteries in your home that have suitable technical characteristics for use in autonomous heating systems, while having a low cost, then you need to purchase steel batteries. They are a construction of many tubes. It can be one-piece or sectional with a different design, suitable for any interior. Such products have excellent heat transfer and very little inertia. They are not afraid of corrosion, but they cannot withstand water shocks and pressures of more than 25 atmospheres. This does not allow you to purchase such heating batteries for an apartment. What are the best prices, from them or from aluminum ones? With equal technical and decorative parameters, the steel version will cost less, simply because the price of steel is noticeably lower than the price of aluminum.

The internal structure and the principle of connection of the steel radiator

The heat in steel radiators is transferred as a result of convection and radiation, so they are very efficient. The room temperature rises quickly. The operating pressure of these batteries should not exceed 16 atmospheres, and the water temperature is 110 degrees. However, these characteristics strongly depend on the thickness of the steel radiator housing.

Steel battery in the interior of a modern living room

Bimetallic batteries

Two metals are used in the production of this type of radiators. There is a steel pipeline inside the structure, and the ribs attached to it are made of aluminum. This option combines all the most remarkable qualities of steel and aluminum radiators. This type of radiators quietly carry a pressure of 50 atmospheres. Due to the special shape of the ribs, they provide a swirl of hot air, not allowing it to accumulate in one place of the room.

Connection diagram of a bimetallic radiator to the heating system

They also have disadvantages: too high a price, accumulation of slag inside the tubes, sensitivity to excessive oxygen in the water. Another disadvantage is the presence of a bimetallic boundary at which a potential difference occurs, which reduces the efficiency of the devices. For this reason, it is not necessary to use such heating batteries for a private house. Which ones are better to buy, it was indicated above.

Useful advice! If the price is not a significant problem for you, then it is better to install bimetallic batteries in a city apartment. They have a beautiful design and sufficient resistance to the surprises of central heating.

To avoid burns, it is advisable to wear protective covers on batteries in the children’s room

Copper type of heating radiators

They are made of seamless pipe without the use of metals other than copper. Ribs and a protective wooden casing with a decorative design are installed on a pipe with a diameter of 28 mm. Since copper has the highest thermal conductivity of all metals, such batteries heat rooms 5 times more intensively than cast iron and twice as fast as aluminum. Low inertia allows the use of such devices in any automatic heating systems. The layer of oxides formed on the inner walls of the radiator protects the battery from corrosion very effectively. It is impossible to say anything about the disadvantages of this type of devices, since the only one is the high price.

Installation and dismantling of batteries is a time-consuming and costly process, so their choice should be treated very carefully

Which heating batteries are better

Having studied the characteristics of all types of radiators, you can decide which heating batteries are best for you. If you own a city apartment with central heating and do not have the means to purchase expensive bimetallic or copper radiators, then buy cast-iron batteries. They will fully satisfy your needs in quality and endurance, but not in design.

Radiators with a mirror surface will become a real decoration of the room

Which heating batteries are better for a private house? Here everything depends on the heating system that is installed. If there is a lot of automation in it, it is better not to use cast-iron radiators. All other types are suitable. Which heating batteries are the best of the rest? A matter of taste and wallet. You can install any.