With the onset of the first autumn cold, all owners of cottages, garages or private houses begin to think about what is best - heating with electricity or gas. Gas convector, what is it? Can this heater become an indispensable unit in a garage, in a country house or in a private house? Installing a gas convector or heater is especially relevant if your visits are periodic. It is worth noting the fact that the convector heater can operate on both natural and liquefied gas. Using this technique, you can quickly, efficiently heat your home without resorting to the serious and complicated installation of boilers or heating stoves.
From a material point of view, it is also more profitable to purchase a cylinder gas convector, the price of which is lower than the electrical analogue. Such a unit does not dry the air, does not raise dust, does not burn oxygen in the room.
A medium-sized convector gas heater is able to heat not only a garage, but also a country house of a standard area. The lack of coolant in the system is an important factor if you have no connection to the water supply in the country. With your prolonged absence, nothing will happen to the unit, they will not deform and do not fail during a working pause.
Wall-mounted version of the convector, photo:
Gas heating convector - principle of operation
The basis of the operation of this equipment is the replacement of cold air masses already heated. Air continuously circulates in the system and in the space of the room, leaving already warm through the upper and lower openings of the unit body. Sometimes, to increase the efficiency, a ventilation system is installed on the convector, thus, forced air is forced.
The gas entering the system from cylinders or a gas central line is responsible for heating the heat exchanger. Upon contact with the heat exchanger, the air masses heat up (become lighter) and are replaced by cold ones - this is the principle of convection.
Heater with outlet pipe, photo:
The heat exchanger itself is heated by a gas burner located inside the convector body.
The gas convector device is a rectangular case, the combustion chamber can be steel or cast iron, the burner is turned on by piezo ignition, an automatic valve is responsible for the gas supply. This valve also guarantees the safe operation of the system - it determines the gas flow (depends on the temperature of the surrounding air masses), closes it in the following cases:
- if the burner goes out;
- insufficient traction;
- low gas pressure in the gas pipeline;
These gas units are divided into two types - wall and floor counterparts, externally similar to fireplaces. The difference between them is only in the installation method. It should be borne in mind that gas convectors (especially floor convectors) are large. If you install such a heater under the window, then it will look much larger than a standard heating radiator.
Floor version, photo:
A feature of the convector installation is a hole in the wall where a coaxial gas outlet will be discharged. In fact, these are two pipes that are one inside the other. Exhaust gas exits on the inside, and fresh air "is drawn in" on the outside. The hole, of course, is located next to the unit.
If you have a wooden house, then regardless of whether you are installing a convector on liquefied natural gas or natural gas, all surfaces must be insulated. In the process, the pipe and the device itself are heated to +55 ° C. If the chimney is coaxial, then due to the design features it heats up much less. The heater body should be located as close to the floor as possible - this will increase its productivity and increase air circulation.
Chimney, photo:
Natural gas or balloon convectors, on which equipment does it work?
Many interested people mistakenly believe that natural gas convectors only work - this is not so. Despite the fact that most convectors are designed for connection to the main gas pipeline by default, an additional set of adapters easily solves this problem. Thus, even in the wilderness (figuratively speaking) without electricity and central gas supply, you will not freeze - with a transition kit, a gas convector will work perfectly.
Gas heater with cylinders, photo:
The nuances of using gas cylinder equipment:
- It will not be possible to save, since in terms of money the costs of liquefied gas are approximately equal to the cost of electricity (for heating the same area, if you compare).
- A big plus for a remote area where there is no gas and electricity (or it is intermittently supplied).
- You need to have special knowledge to properly equip this system. Nevertheless, it is better to entrust this matter to professionals.
Always pay attention to the technical characteristics of the equipment, do not be lazy to look on the Internet for reviews about a particular convector. For example, the units of the Karma Beta Comfort Electronic range do not work without electricity. For giving it is preferable to purchase non-volatile gas units.
If you choose a gas convector, reviews of units of the brands Alpine Air, TMT, AKOG, Karma, FEG, Hosseven, Emax will certainly come in handy. These convectors are optimal for domestic use, among a wide range of equipment you can always find your own version of an acceptable price-quality ratio.
Gas convector - price, reviews
According to reviews, for a small country house it is better to purchase a wall convector. It will not take up much space, it can be placed under the window and there you can make a hole in the wall for the chimney. For adjacent rooms, this option is perfect.
To heat a room with a large area, a floor-mounted heating convector is suitable - it is heavier, more voluminous, capable of generating hundreds of thousands of kilowatts of heat.
The main difference between this unit and the standard heating boiler is the absence of pipes and batteries conducted throughout the house. If desired, a convector can be installed under each window of a single room, without pipe wiring. As mentioned above, this equipment can operate on liquefied bottled gas, as well as from the central gas system.
Summarizing the above, before buying a convector, decide on the required parameters:
- Installation method - floor or wall;
- What the heat exchanger is made of - steel, cast iron (the most durable), aluminum;
- What circulation is forced or natural (with or without a fan);
- Combustion chamber - closed or open type;
- Power required;
- Natural or liquefied gas (in principle, changing the type of fuel requires reconfiguring the gas valve).
Regarding the combustion chamber: it can be closed or open. An open combustion chamber draws air from the room, thereby reducing its humidity. Dry air is not very comfortable for perception, therefore the installation of an additional ventilation system is recommended for such a convector. Units with a closed combustion chamber (for example, a number of Alpine Air models) already have a centrifugal fan integrated in the chimney. Such a convector will ensure the preservation of temperature balance and humidity in the room. Equipment with a closed burner is more expensive than its counterpart with an open camera, it depends on electricity, it works a little louder.
To determine the choice of heater power, take the area of the room that you want to heat, and divide it by 10 (this takes into account the usual height to the ceiling - 2.5 m). The resulting number in kW will be equal to the required power of the unit.
Despite the fact that these heating units are inferior to standard boilers in terms of efficiency, they surpass them in functional characteristics. Such a heater heats the room much faster and at the same time consumes less blue fuel.
A gas convector for summer cottages is perfect for heating not only country houses, but also country houses of a small area.