Heating of frame houses and log houses
Warm houses built today can be divided into two main categories. The first is warm houses (masonry with concrete elements), which have a high ability to accumulate heat. The second - very warm houses but with low or very low heat accumulation.
Frame houses
Very warm low-accumulation houses include Canadian houses, i.e. houses built using timber frame technology and other timber-framed houses, which have a large number of supporters. Frame technology is used to build large year-round structures, as well as summer houses. They can be manufactured with a prefabrication system.
In addition to the simplicity and speed of their erection, they offer great opportunities in creating a diverse body, using different techniques for interior and exterior finishing, it is easy to distribute various types of installations in them. Making changes in them is very easy - an example is the varied American and Canadian suburban housing. Often emphasized advantages of these structures are energy efficiency and ease of heating.
Why are timber-frame buildings inherently warm and yet poorly accumulate heat?
The materials used in construction (wood, plasterboard, insulation and insulating materials) have a low heat transfer coefficient and low heat capacity, which means low energy intensity. The only element with a higher heat capacity is the foundation slab, sometimes made for their foundation.
Elements that have a key impact on energy consumption for heating purposes (in addition, of course, to the different area to be heated and the different cubic capacity of the building):
- construction technology;
- ventilation losses;
- the method of heating the object - heat source, type of radiators;
- the way the object is used.
Warm houses, poorly accumulating any excess heat, are easy to overheat
Theoptimal heating system for warm but low-accumulation houses must be based on undersized heat sources having a very low minimum power. It should be characterized by:
- asuitable heat source - guaranteeing quick access to it;
- easily controllable radiators - guaranteeing minimal thermal inertia;
- appropriate control of the system's operation - with as little hysteresis as possible, giving the possibility to quickly stop heating and fully utilize the heat yield in the heat balance of individual interiors.
The ideal solution is a heating system that provides thermal comfort with the lowest possible energy consumption. A system that will respond quickly to heating needs and with a small expenditure of energy will make it possible to achieve the desired temperature in a short time and accurately. For wooden buildings, this will be a system that will quickly heat and not overheat the air, which is very easy to happen in buildings with low heat storage. They can use a central heating system (water, electric, blowing) or a non-central heating system (electric). A frame house heats up quickly and cools down just as quickly, heating the air, partitions and fixtures - all of which have a low heat capacity.
What kind of heating system to choose?
Theheat source must be as controllable as possible. The user must have full control over the amount of heat produced (heat pumps, gas boilers including condensing boilers, electric boilers). Only a dynamic radiator system guarantees precisely controlled heat emission.
Radiators, heat distributors, should have a low total mass (mass of radiator + mass of water contained in it). The goal established above: fast and precise heating, is certainly not met by floor heating, which has a huge thermal inertia. In addition, the underfloor radiator is very slow to respond to changing heating needs, which does not allow adequate use in the heat balance of the object of the emerging heat yields.
Agood alternative solution is hybrid heat distribution, in which most of the heat is emitted by dynamic radiators: 70-80%. The condition for its use is to have a concrete floor, in part of which (about 20-30% of the surface is occupied by communication paths, bathrooms) electric heating mats or significantly slimmed down underfloor heating are placed. Such a solution allows us to store excess energy produced by a low-temperature heat source (heat pump, condensing boiler) and minimize temperature fluctuations, then when we do not have appropriate controls. Uncontrolled heat emission through the underfloor will always involve some energy losses (when the underfloor heating system is only in part of the floor, the losses are severely limited).
Characteristics of REGULUS®-system radiators
Made in a radiator-like manner, with materials that guarantee rapid heating and cooling: copper and aluminum. They give off heat by convection and wide-angle radiation, so that heat is emitted to the room efficiently and evenly. The temperature difference between the floor and ceiling is minimal and can close to tenths of a degree Celsius. REGULUS®-system lightweight radiators can be installed directly on plasterboard walls, or they can be mounted to the floor on legs (e.g. low, narrow, long radiators). The small water capacity and low weight of the radiators themselves means low thermal inertia. In turn, the large heat transfer surface allows efficient operation over a wide temperature range of the heating medium.
Interesting, solutions in the REGULUS®-system offer
Radiator inside the wall - INSIDE-system
Radiators placed in a shallow recess in the wall, hidden behind an aesthetic blind. A discreet and functional solution. Application: knee walls, gables, vestibules, vestibules, they can be placed inside narrow partitions with the option of simultaneous heating of adjacent rooms. In this case, the louvers will be on both sides of the wall. This solution can be used in bathrooms, for example, a radiator encased in tiles or under the edge of the bathtub in its enclosure (regulus are characterized by high resistance to corrosion). INSIDE will also work well in the kitchen - an under-cabinet radiator, or in the casing of the kitchen island. The louvers can be painted in any RAL color, such as the color of the wall, tiles, furniture.
Radiators in the floor - CANAL-system duct heating sets
The system of radiators built in a channel in the floor is an alternative not only to wall radiators but, above all, to underfloor surface heating. The solution is used in timber-frame and timber houses, and is eagerly used in log houses (very popular in Podhale). It does not put restrictions on the type of floor covering, you can have plank floors, parquet panels, as well as tile. Ducted radiators heat quickly and efficiently, guaranteeing thermal comfort.
The shallowest sets are only 8 cm deep - they fit into the insulating layer of the screed. Heating channels are placed along the glazing: exit to the terrace, at large windows reaching the floor. They protect the room from the intrusion of cold air, prevent evaporation of windows, acting as a curtain of warm air. They do not limit the space, the space on the walls assigned to wall heaters can be used differently. A wide range of openwork platforms covering the heating duct, including those made of wood, perfectly fit into the atmosphere of log houses, will also complement the modern design of frame houses (platforms made of powder-coated aluminum in the color of your choice or anodized).
Radiators with a fan - wall, in-wall, duct radiators.
To increase the power of radiators without increasing their size and to increase the dynamics of their operation, radiators equipped with a silent fan can be used (loudness at the limit of a whisper 28 dBA, power up to 10W). All groups of REGULUS®-system heaters have such an option: wall-mounted(REGULLUS, SOLLARIUS), in-wall INSIDE-system and duct CANAL-system. The fan increases the power of the radiator by 30-40%. The air heats up faster, which is important in weekend homes or rooms that are rarely used. Quiet three-speed fan or with smoothly modulated speed, guarantees high efficiency of this way of heating and comfort of use. Particularly important is the use of fans in heating with heating ducts, as they offer the possibility of significantly reducing their length and depth.
Noteworthy is the factory-adapted for installation of fans series E-VENT - traditional heating, heating with increased dynamics (fan 230V) and series REVERS - traditional heating, heating with increased dynamics and cooling of rooms (fan 24V). The latter are designed to work with heat pumps.
Regulus as heat distributors are a good investment for years, they guarantee the effects that are most important for any investor: the ability to change the heating strategy, flexible level of heating dynamics, low heating costs and thermal comfort. To have all this, optimal heat production and optimal heat distribution must go hand in hand. These are radiators for the times.
For more information, visit the company's REGULUS-system Wójcik sp. j. page on the A&B portal.
