The device for drying hygiene items and removing excess moisture in the bathroom is simple both in the device and in the installation. In order to carry out its installation, fundamental knowledge in the field of construction of engineering communications is not needed.
However, you should clearly know how to connect a heated towel rail. After all, the result of your own efforts or the work of hired plumbers should please for many years, do you agree?
In the article we presented, all the options for installing the PS and possible complications during its connection are discussed in detail. Verified and systematized information will become a reliable tool for home craftsmen who want to do the work themselves, or who seek to control the actions of workers.
We described in detail the specifics of connecting an important device in the home in the bathrooms of the old and new layout. We did not disregard the problems of owners of private houses. The information we have proposed is verified in practice, supported by visual materials and video instructions.
Specificity of installation of a heated towel rail
The general principle of connecting any type of heated towel rail remains unchanged: water is supplied at one end, and outflow occurs at the other. Installation of PS requires mandatory consideration of the moments dictated by the installation features.
When you connect it to a hot water supply system or central heating, it becomes part of the pipeline. If the insertion is wrong, then the problems that arise will concern not only a separate apartment, but also all others located along this riser.
The heated towel rail is connected to centralized and autonomous heating or hot water systems, suspended on a wall and / or installed on the floor
To avoid electrolytic corrosion, it is recommended to use parts made of the same material. The exception is plastic pipes, a plumbing fixture made of any material will suit them.
For our water supply system, it is better to choose a heated towel rail, issued by domestic manufacturers and corresponding to regulatory documents. One should be careful with imported models - most of them are designed for other standards.
In the model range of heated towel rails there are rotary options, the connections of which are equipped with movable mechanisms with sealing glands. Models allowed to load up to 5 kg
The heated towel rail, which is in the form of a ladder, is connected to the pipeline by several methods - vertical, diagonal, lateral. The main thing is to maintain a center distance of 50 cm.
When inserting into an existing system, its parameters must be taken into account. The distance from the riser to the newly installed unit must not exceed 200 cm, otherwise significant heat loss cannot be avoided.
Ideally, when the pipes of the system and the heated towel rail are the same in diameter, if they are nevertheless different, then the connection is made through adapters.
The pipes of the device can be larger in diameter than the pipes of the existing circuit, but in no case less. This will allow not to create excessive hydraulic pressure and ensures normal circulation of the coolant in the system.
A selection of photos will familiarize you with the features of connecting the PS to the DHW systems:
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Specificity of heated towel rails for hot water supply
Features of hot water towel warmers
Powder Coated Towel Warmer
Wide range of applications for water supply
So that the device, if necessary, could be easily dismantled, transferred to another wall, it is necessary to use detachable couplings with an internal thread such as American to connect it to the riser. It is necessary to strive to reduce the number of adapters, because leaks may occur at their locations.
Joints should be sealed with special compounds or reeling, and you should not save on this. Connections with a conventional metric thread are sealed with linen winding. Tapered threads are best sealed using FUM tape. The twisting should be carried out with a slightly tangible tightness, excessive force is unacceptable.
When picking up taps and fittings, take an interest in their electrochemical compatibility so that it does not happen that upon contact they will create a galvanic pair. A combination of steel and brass has this property. Corrosion occurs quickly and the assembly becomes unusable.
The use of an adapter called American allows you to fix the structure when the diameter of the taps and pipes in the system do not match
If a plumbing fixture is part of a riser, then no locking devices may be installed on it. To make it possible to disconnect the heated towel rail without blocking the entire riser, it is necessary to include a bypass in the system - a jumper connecting the branches from the riser towards the appliance.
Ball valves are installed after this jumper. When the connection pipes are cut into the riser, it itself acts as a bypass.
In order for the device to be dismantled for repair without shutting down the system and draining water from it, it is better to include bypass in the installation scheme of the heated towel rail
Connection PS to domestic hot water or central heating
Connecting a heated towel rail to the risers of the central networks can be done in different ways.
The tactics of the work depend on the modification of the coil:
- Top connection. Water flows from above, and the return is located below.
- Bottom connection. The coolant enters on the one hand, and is discharged on the other.
- Diagonally. Approach from above, tap below from the opposite side.
- In the lower part of the device in the center.
Regardless of where the PS is connected - to the FGP system or to the central heating riser, similar schemes are used.
In the photo, the main stages of installation of a heated towel rail. It can be used as a visual instruction when doing DIY work (+)
Installation of a heated towel rail in a riser
To embed a heated towel rail in the bathroom, located in the apartment of a multi-storey building, you must turn off the hot water in the riser. The task is facilitated if the unit can be dismantled by simply unscrewing the nuts connecting it to the common pipe. The main thing is that the connecting pipes of the new device should have similar dimensions.
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Heated towel rail in the bathroom
The appliance is next to the supply and return risers
Adjacency Location
Installation of sleeves for pipe eyeliner
When an old-style appliance is welded to a riser, it is more difficult to disconnect it. The best solution - when connecting a heated towel rail with your own hands, replace the riser - partially or completely. The second option is preferable. Pieces of old pipe left in the ceilings pose a potential threat.
The riser together with the old unit is cut out using a grinder, then the pipe thread of the neighbors is cut from above and below, a new riser is connected and taken out to its room.
The use of polypropylene pipes with the same diameter is preferable to steel pipes. They are cheaper, lighter, not subject to corrosion, resistant to high temperatures, durable.
To seal threaded collapsible joints of heated towel rails as other types of plumbing and heating appliances, it is better to use durable natural options: plumbing flax and a thread made from it
There is a large selection of fittings for PPP pipes that are welded into the riser to go to the thread and connect a heated towel rail.
A special soldering iron is used for soldering. Many arrange a box to hide the wiring behind it, without changing the connection diagram.
Self-installation of a simple configuration PS
The dryer is assembled, shut-off valves are mounted on the eyeliner using detachable connections, then they are tried on a pre-marked place on the wall, horizontality and verticality are checked, the brackets for PS fasteners are fixed.
Before installing a heated towel rail, think carefully about all the points: determine a place for it, study the installation diagram, draw an approximate sketch (+)
Connection is performed according to the following technology:
- Install bypassusing pipes or tees. In places where it is connected to the device, one valve is installed.
- Fix the heated towel railusing brackets or other hardware.
- Connect the device to the valvesusing bushings or fittings.
- Slowly open the taps and fill the unit with water.
Bypass in this circuit performs an important function - it provides the same temperature of the supplied coolant in all apartments located along the riser. Ball valves allow you to optionally turn off the device or even completely remove it, install on it a thermostat that maintains a given temperature.
Bypass is an important component of the PS connection scheme. It is necessary to provide for its installation at the very initial stage of installation (+)
Many, trying to optimize the circulation of the coolant through the dryer, make it biased or choose a pipe with a diameter one order smaller than the lead. Professionals consider this approach unjustified. In a device with a simple configuration, good circulation is also observed with direct bypass.
This phenomenon can be explained with the help of the laws of physics: the cooling liquid in the heated towel rail has a higher specific gravity compared to a hotter heat carrier, so it rushes down.
By analogy with the schemes for connecting to the DHW network, the insert into the heating circuit is performed with or without bypass. The use of a tap blocking the flow depends on whether a heated towel rail is installed in a multi-story or private house (+)
As a result, the cooled liquid is pushed into the central pipe from the bottom of the unit. The liquid with a higher temperature from the riser enters the upper point of the heated towel rail and the cycle repeats. Cooled water here acts as a perpetual motion machine.
Some advise installing shutoff valves on the bypass to shut off the flow of water. But this contradicts the rule according to which in a multi-storey building no owner of the apartment should have any opportunity to block the central riser independently and deprive everyone of hot water.
Another thing is a private house, here the owner can put the crane where he wants, but if the system is correctly balanced and thermostatic devices are available, then there is no need to install a crane on the jumper.
Not too aesthetically attractive open pipe liner can be hidden:
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Hidden Gasket Option
Niche eyeliner
Drywall masking panel
Riser and pipe construction
Shutoff valves in front of the substation are needed in order to control its operation. Both ball and 2-position, multi-turn options are suitable for this purpose. To remove air jams they are of little use.
While the products are new, this can be done by loosening the nuts, but because of this, the seals quickly become unusable. If, if there is a thread on the taps, it is not on the pipes, then it should either be cut or a suitable fitting welded.
In a new building, it is easier to install a heated towel rail in the heating system, but it will only be warm in the heating season. Installation in SGV is more effective.
Technology of working with the ladder model
The circuits for connecting the “Ladder” heated towel rail to the riser can also work on natural circulation, while the most commonly used ones are those that have proven themselves and the connections are lateral or diagonal.
For these schemes, neither the direction of the coolant supply in the riser, nor the circulation rate of the coolant plays a role, and the system does not become airborne in the event of a water supply shutdown.
Heated towel rail "Ladder" is characterized by high heat dissipation and decorates the room. Having little experience, it can be installed independently (+)
The connection sequence is the same as with a simple configuration PS.
For the circuit to work, you need to consider some features:
- Above the riser, located at the top of the PS or above its upper point, and the one below - equal to or below the lower point.
- Observe strictly horizontal supply pipes or make a slope of 5-10 mm along the entire length. If this condition is not observed, air jams may occur. If you chose a lower feed, then using a pipe of a smaller diameter for a boypast is unacceptable.
- Choose pipes with a diameter of at least 25 mmif they are polypropylene, at least ¾ inch - steel, ball valves 3/4 ″. For smaller diameters, uneven heating will be observed - hotter above and colder below.
- Put plastic pipes in insulationif you planned to wall them up.
If you installed a narrowed bypass or displaced it, then natural circulation will work in conjunction with forced circulation. This scheme has a significant minus: complete inoperability with a lower connection, only the upper version is permissible.
There are also positive aspects: it works stably at the top feed, it is not airy, the heated towel rail can be removed from the riser at an arbitrary distance.
Lateral and diagonal PS connection diagrams are approximately equal in efficiency (+)
If you decide to make the lower connection, then be prepared for the fact that this method is less effective, but it also has some advantages: the direction of water supply in the central riser does not matter, it becomes possible to hide pipes under the bathtub.
The main disadvantage is the mandatory presence of a Mayevsky crane for air exhaust. A prerequisite for the operability of the circuit is the device of the lower tap below the PS enclosure.
If desired, the lower connection can be redone in the side. For this, angles of 90 ° are mounted on the inlet and outlet pipes. The working section of the adapters should not differ from the diameter of the pipes in a smaller direction, otherwise the performance of the system will be violated. Reverse modernization - alteration of the side connection to the lower one is impossible.
If all the pipes are embedded in the wall, you can install a PS with a side connection. This design looks aesthetically pleasing (+)
Insert PS into the centralized heating system
If you want to complete the installation of a towel dryer in the winter, something is unlikely to work out of this venture. In this case, you will have to stop the heating and remove the coolant from the system, so you have to wait until the summer.
But even then, the work is complicated by the fact that the heating system must be emptied, and its recharge shut off. For all this, you need to enlist the permission of utilities.
It is difficult to conduct a performance check of the substation in the summer. Defects in the form of leaks in the place of welds and threaded joints will manifest themselves only after connecting the heating. This fact once again testifies in favor of the mandatory installation of cranes after the bypass.
Connecting a heated towel rail in a country house
The conditions of a private house are more favorable for the installation of a dryer. With an autonomous feed system, there is cleaner water. You can buy imported PS, afraid of sediment accumulation.
Typically, in such a house, a sufficiently large room is allocated for the bath, which expands the boundaries of the choice of the unit in size and shape.And for work on the connection does not need permission from neighbors.
Regardless of where you are going to connect the heated towel rail - in the heating system or in the hot water supply at home you can not do without tapping the device into the pipes
The connection scheme itself is similar to that used in an apartment building. It must be remembered that the device should only be connected in the direction of flow of water. With an eyeliner length of up to 50 cm, place the pipes horizontally, with a larger one, make a slope along the entire length.
Observe the distance between the wall and the water pipe. With a pipeline diameter of 4-5 cm, a distance of 5 to 5.5 cm is selected. When the diameter is less than 2.3 cm, this gap is reduced to 3.5 cm.
Considering the temperature deformations that hot pipes are subject to, it is impossible to fix PS on supports by welding, the fastening should be free.
Common mistakes of independent masters
When the bottom outlet is located above the end point of the PS during lateral or lower connection, a stagnant zone is formed between the bottom of the device and the connection point of the lower outlet.
This is a consequence of the fact that the cooled liquid, having lowered down, cannot get into the riser because of the pressure on it of a column of hot water with a lower specific gravity. As long as the permissible height difference between the lower branch and the bottom of the heated towel rail is not exceeded, the device works, and after that the circulation in it stops.
Circulation will also stop if there is a knee formed by the upper tube. Only the inset of the Mayevsky crane can make such a scheme work, in order to periodically bleed the accumulated air. Sometimes a loop is made in the upper pipe, laying it behind the ceiling sheathing, and the lower pipe is bricked into the floor.
Above, air will accumulate, and chilled water in the unit will be blocked in the lower loop located in the floor. The movement of the coolant will completely stop.
In order to discharge the air generated during the boiling of the coolant or brought into the heating system during its filling, air vents are installed (+)
The process of installing the device in a new building before finishing work:
A clip about errors in selecting and connecting a heated towel rail:
The connection diagram for a heated towel rail can not be called complicated. It is quite doable for a home master. But, neglecting the rules and even insignificant nuances, you can bring on yourself a lot of trouble.
Is there anything to supplement or have questions about the technology for connecting a heated towel rail? Please leave comments on the publication. The contact form is located in the lower block.