Starting any work related to heating in the house, each owner wonders which radiator is better. Today the market of thermal equipment is represented by a wide variety of radiators. Everyone can lose it. In order to be fluent in the situation, it is necessary to examine all the available options for radiators, their description and features, advantages and possible disadvantages.
Types of radiators and their description
A variety of radiators due to the fact that they are made from completely different metals. Their consumer properties and appearance depend on it. We will review the most famous types of radiators that can be purchased today in the store: cast iron, aluminum, steel, bimetallic, copper.
To determine which radiator batteries are better in certain conditions, it is necessary to study their technical characteristics.
This is the oldest type of battery, which was the only one widely distributed in the USSR since the beginning of the era of water heating. Not by chance they lasted so long. After all, cast iron – it is very resistant to corrosion and reliable material. With proper care and periodic cleaning, batteries from cast iron sections last 50 years. Possessing excellent heat capacity and wall thickness, such radiators do not cool for a very long time even when the heat supply is turned off. They can not be destroyed as a result of water hammer, which occur when you start the central heating system in the autumn. Such radiators are better for an apartment. What prices for them 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 the radiators.
Cast iron batteries have a number of drawbacks that limit their use in modern realities. First, it is too much weight, which complicates transportation and installation. 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 learned to turn into an advantage. Today you can find very refined products made of cast iron with beautiful design and coloring. They are used indoors in a retro style.
Technical and dimensional features of cast-iron type radiators consider the example of the battery brand MS 140 500:
- The maximum water temperature in them can reach 130 C.
- The pressure in the operating mode is up to 9 atmospheres, and in the period of pressing the system up to 15 atmospheres.
- Radiator sectional with two-channel sections, a volume of 1.35 liters, a width of 0.98 m and a height of 0.5 m.
- Heat output under normal operating conditions is 175 watts.
Helpful advice! 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 0.775 kW in one section, you need 12 sections per room with an area of 20 m2.
Knowing these characteristics and properties, we can answer the question of which radiator is better for an apartment. Prices for cast iron radiators are even more pushing to purchase such devices.
The technical features of aluminum batteries are determined by the metal from which they are made. Aluminum is light and durable, not afraid of corrosion and scaling. It has excellent heat transfer, so it has a low inertia. Aluminum radiators are so quickly heated and cool that it allows you to use this type of battery in automated heating systems, connecting them to thermostats and other sensors. Due to the narrow channels, there is no need to fill the system with plenty of water.
As disadvantages, you can specify: the fear of an alkaline environment, under the influence of which corrosion occurs, a rare but possible occurrence of a leak at the junction of the sections, the appearance of gas inside the battery. The main desired quality of aluminum radiators is good inertia. In this regard, such radiators are better for private homes. Whatever automatic climate controls in the house are used, aluminum radiators will be perfectly combined with them.
Helpful advice! When buying aluminum radiators, ask the seller the properties of the model you like. It is necessary for the correct calculation of their number.
If you want to have beautiful batteries in your house that have suitable technical characteristics for use in autonomous heating systems, while having no greater cost, then you need to purchase steel batteries. They are a multi-tube construction. It can be solid or sectional with a different design, suitable for any interior. Such products have excellent heat transfer and a very small inertia. They are not afraid of corrosion, but they cannot withstand hydraulic shocks and pressures of more than 25 atmospheres. This does not allow to purchase such heating batteries for an apartment. What are the best prices, they or aluminum? With equal technical and decorative parameters, the steel version will cost less simply because the price has become noticeably lower than the price of aluminum.
Heat in steel radiators is transmitted as a result of convection and radiation, so they are very effective. 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 are strongly dependent on the thickness of the steel case of the radiator.
By production of this kind of radiators two metals are applied. Inside the structure there is a steel pipeline, and the ribs attached to it are made of aluminum. This option combines all the most remarkable qualities of steel and aluminum radiators. Radiators of this type tolerate quietly a pressure of 50 atmospheres. Due to the special shape of the ribs, they provide a swirl of hot air, not allowing him to accumulate in one place in the room.
They also have disadvantages: too high price, accumulation of slags inside the tubes, sensitivity to excessive oxygen in water. Another disadvantage is the presence of a bimetallic boundary at which a potential difference arises, which reduces the efficiency of devices. For this reason, it is not necessary to use such radiators for a private house. Which is better to buy, it was indicated above.
Helpful advice! If the price is not a significant problem for you, then it is better to install it in a city apartment. bimetallic batteries. They have a beautiful design and sufficient resistance to the surprises of central heating.
They are made of seamless pipes without the use of other metals except copper. On the pipe with a diameter of 28 mm install ribs and a protective wooden casing, having a decorative design. Since copper has the highest thermal conductivity of all metals, such batteries heat up rooms 5 times more intensively than cast iron and twice as fast as aluminum ones. Low inertia allows the use of such devices in any automatic heating systems. A layer of oxides formed on the inner walls of the radiator protects the battery from corrosion very effectively. To say anything about the shortcomings of this type of devices is impossible, since the only thing is the high price.
After examining the characteristics of all types of radiators, you can decide which radiator is best for you. If you own a city apartment in which central heating is arranged, and you do not have the funds to purchase expensive bimetallic or copper radiators, then purchase cast iron batteries. They will completely satisfy your needs for quality and endurance, but not for design.
Which radiator is better for a private house? It all depends on the heating system that is installed. If it has a lot of automation, it is better not to use cast iron radiators. All other types are suitable. Which radiator is better than the rest? The question of taste and wallet. You can install any.
