TEN in the heating battery with a temperature regulator

In winter, the heat in the apartment directly depends on the work of utilities. Even if the radiators in the house are a bit warm even in severe cold, it makes sense to take the heating of the living quarters into your own hands. To do this, you can install a special heater for the heating battery with built-in thermostat. Installation of this device is simple, but it is better to take care of this before the start of the heating season. We will deal with everything in order.

What are electric heaters

TEN is a tubular electric heater. In fact, it is a hollow tube made of stainless or carbon steel. Inside is a wire spiral, which is characterized by a high resistance index. For installation, a brass nut is provided, which is screwed into the heater. TEN is installed in any radiators, suitable for both old cast-iron batteries, and for modern aluminum and bimetal.

The best option is a heater equipped with a thermostat. This device will allow you to control the temperature and protect the heating element from overheating. Given that the device will be installed in a heating radiator, water will play the role of the coolant.

Electric heating elements work quite simply. After connecting to the home network, the spiral installed inside the tube starts to heat up, transferring energy to the coolant. If the device is equipped with a temperature controller, the required temperature regime is set. After the batteries reach the set temperature, the electric circuit will open and the heater will turn off. When the liquid in the batteries starts to cool, the device will turn on automatically.

The heater with a thermostat has several additional modes:

• Turbo. In this mode, the heater turns on for a short period of time, but uses the maximum power. Turbo mode is used to quickly warm the room.
• Antifreeze. This function is relevant mainly for non-residential premises. The heater operates at minimum power, preventing freezing of the system in emergency cases.

The electric heater for the battery allows you to turn the heater into an autonomous system with minimal cost, time and effort.

TEN in the heating battery: how to choose

When choosing a heater for a radiator, several characteristics are taken into account:

• power;
• compatibility with battery type;
• element length;
• type of automation (internal or external).

The price of TENA ranges from 750 to 1500 rubles. and depends on power, manufacturer and other parameters.

Power

Power TENA varies from 800 to 2,000 watts. When choosing, you can be guided by the following scheme:

• 20 W / m3. Such power is suitable for new buildings that have excellent thermal insulation.
• 30 W / m3. It is recommended for apartments in which plastic windows, walls and floors are equipped with reliable thermal insulation.
• 40-50 W / m3. Heaters with such power are recommended for use in old houses.

Battery Type

Electric heaters for different radiators differ in the shape of the outer part of the body, material, thickness and diameter of the plug. In the product passport it is written for which batteries the heater is intended.

On a note. The plugs of cast iron radiators are usually 32 mm thread, aluminum - 25 mm.

Heating tube length

The length of the heating element should be sufficient to ensure circulation of the coolant in all sections of the battery and uniform heating. The optimal size corresponds to the length of the radiator minus 10 cm.

Manufacturers

Good reviews have Italian Thermowatt heating elements, Ukrainian Electron-T, Polish and Russian models. Products from China are not always of high quality.

TENA installation: important features

The heating element is mounted according to the following scheme: one of the battery plugs is turned off, and a heating element is installed in its place using a threaded connection. To ensure the tightness of the joint, a rubber gasket is used.

Mr. Build recommends: screwing in the heating elements is best instead of the bottom plug. There is a logical explanation for this: heated water will rise, and cold water will fall, which will ensure the efficient operation of the heating element.

This procedure is repeated in each room of the apartment. We remind you that installation is carried out before the start of the heating season.

It is important! Near the radiator, to which the electric heater is planned to be connected, shut-off valves and bypass must be installed without fail. If there are no gates, all the heat will go to the neighbors. In the absence of a bypass, a common heating system will be violated.

Some more important points:

1. Do not use excessive force during installation. It is not necessary to tighten the contact nuts and the fasteners of the heating element itself with force. Fragile material may burst.
2. After the shut-off valve, it is strongly recommended that you install a safety valve or a small expansion tank with a volume equal to 10% of the battery volume. This is due to the fact that when the coolant is heated in a closed system, it expands and increases the pressure in it.

Rules of operation and maintenance

In order for the heater installed in the heating battery to last as long as possible, the following rules are observed:

1. The heater turns on only when there is water in the battery. If liquid enters the device’s already heated tube, a small thermal explosion may occur. As a result, not only the heating element will fail: damage to the heating battery may occur.
2. During operation of the device, scale will form on its surface, which must be periodically cleaned. The recommended maintenance schedule is once every three months. If the thickness of the scale on the heating tube exceeds 2 millimeters, the heat transfer will decrease and the device may fail.
3. To exclude possible power surges, it is recommended to connect the heater via an uninterruptible power supply or a stabilizer. At installation, the heater is grounded.
4. Manufacturers recommend using only distilled water as the coolant. In apartment buildings with a common riser, it is unrealistic to comply with this requirement, so you need to clean the heating elements from scale more often.

Conclusion

Installing a heating element is one of the ways to ensure comfort and coziness in residential premises. This design can be compared with an electric oil cooler, but it provides faster and more uniform heating of all rooms in the apartment. But you need to keep in mind that with the constant use of such a device, electricity bills will grow very significantly. The installation sequence of the radiators is shown in the video below.