On many personal plots you can see the so-called summer shower. Its design is quite simple - a small container located on the building is filled with water. As it is exposed to sunlight, it heats up to the desired temperature. But it is not always convenient to wait several hours until the water is at an acceptable temperature. Therefore, often this design is slightly modified by adding a solar collector to it.

It is a panel, inside of which there is a network of pipelines. On the inside there is a heater (to reduce heat losses), and on the outside - a protective glass. It also performs another function - it creates a greenhouse effect inside the collector. Under the action of sunlight, the water in the tubes heats up, and the protective layers minimize energy losses.

To manufacture a device according to a similar scheme, special tools, significant financial costs and a large amount of work will be required. Therefore, "craftsmen" developed an alternative model of cellular polycarbonate. Its specificity lies in the use of cavities instead of copper tubes. If you correctly ensure the supply of water to the cavity and its further intake for use, then such a design can replace expensive factory models.

How to make a polycarbonate solar collector with your own hands and what is required for this? Before proceeding with the development of a manufacturing plan, a number of important differences and limitations for this model of solar installation should be known.

• Minimum water pressure. The connection of polycarbonate and PVC pipes will be carried out using hot melt adhesive, which cannot ensure the proper level of reliability. Therefore, the operation of the pumping station or connection to the central water supply is excluded.
• Such a collector is much lighter than factory models (their types and capabilities, which makes it possible to install it directly on an outdoor shower or roof of a house.

Knowing these nuances, you can start manufacturing.

Necessary materials and tools

You will need the following consumables to complete the job:

Polycarbonate sheets

It is necessary to choose models with honeycombs, in which the water will be heated. Standard sheet dimensions are 12000*1000 mm. It is best to make a design with overall dimensions of 2000 * 1000. Those. for this you will need two blanks - in one of them the water will be heated, and the second will serve as external protection.

The useful volume of the collector will depend on the size of the cells. Sheets with a thickness of 4 to 8 mm are considered optimal. For them, the volume of liquid per 1 m² will be 35 and 80 liters, respectively. With the selected dimensions, its weight in the filled state will be optimal.

PVC pipes, flexible hoses and fittings

A PVC pipe (32 mm) with a threaded connection is considered optimal. Its length should be 2050 mm (50 mm for connection). Fittings and flexible hoses are needed to connect the manifold to the water supply and intake system.

Frame profile for drywall and foam sheets

Surface treatment is carried out with an angle grinder (grinder), the connection of individual elements is carried out using hot melt adhesive.

Procedure

Before performing work, it is important to correctly navigate the location of the cells. They should go horizontally, which will ensure uniform heating of the water. First you need to make longitudinal cuts in the pipes. To do this, they are fixed with clamps. It is necessary to ensure the most even cut lines, for which a special circular saw for grinders with small teeth is used.

In a typical city apartment, we are used to seeing a simple and unpretentious scheme for connecting plumbing fixtures: a pair of valves with or without filters comes from the risers, and from them pipes are teeed to the toilet bowl and faucets.

However, sometimes another type of wiring can be used - collector. Let's see what it is and what great benefits it has.

feel the difference

First, let's give clear and precise definitions of the main types of wiring.

• tee(serial) circuit. All plumbing fixtures are connected to the same pipe through tees. At the same time, nothing prevents in front of each of them to put shut-off valves specifically for it.

• Collector. Shut-off valves are concentrated on entering an apartment, house or anywhere else.
  The key difference is that all the valves are nearby and from them to each device, whether it is a toilet, a mixer or a radiator, there is an independent pipe or a pair of pipes.

• mixed. Mix of both options. For example, a washbasin and a shower located in different directions have a collector and independent pipelines, and a common tee stands on a toilet bowl, a bidet and a washing machine standing near the riser.

Please note: collector wiring is used not only for plumbing or heating on the scale of a separate apartment.

All sewerage of a quarter or a microdistrict also drains into a sewer.

Although within a block, sewer systems can be consistent: when laying pipes underground, builders try to save within reason.

Bonuses and costs

Flaws

Let's start with the reverse side of the coin. What's wrong with collector wiring? Why don't we see it in every apartment?

The secret, in general, is simple: it requires more materials and work. If the shower and washbasin are nearby, with a serial scheme, five meters of pipes will be required to connect them, and with a collector, eight meters. The combs themselves (stop valves for several consumers, mounted together for ease of installation) are also expensive.

In addition, if it is not accompanied by a global renovation in the apartment, there is a big difference between two pipes running along the wall and, say, six.

Tip: collector wiring is more often used, however, during the Big Repair, when the pipes are laid in a screed or hidden under decorative boxes on the walls.

As we will see from the future, here the collector circuit will be very useful.

Advantages

And now we finally got to the quintessence of the article: to how many utilities and benefits a collector can bring in a heating or water supply system.

• All plumbing fixtures can be turned off and on from a single center. "So what?" - a resident of a city apartment will shrug his shoulders, in which the distance from the riser to the distant mixer does not exceed two meters.
  My friend, in addition to the layout you are used to, there are also mini-hotels, guest rooms, offices, and so on and so forth. Imagine that you saw a puddle crawling out from under the guests' door. And they themselves, along with the keys to this door, are away. s?
• AT easy and convenient adjustment of the patency of pipes for each device separately is possible. You can press the throttle on the battery, which does not need to be heated so much in a warm spring: it’s warm, we are increasingly paying on the meter!
  You can limit the flow of water in the washbasin, which is used by children prone to pranks. Why do we need puddles on the floor and excess spilled water, for which, again, we pay?

Centralized Control Panel is convenient

• In the case of plumbing, with the correct collector wiring, the “bottleneck effect” is eliminated: when someone from the household flushed after himself in the toilet, you will not be scalded with boiling water in the shower.
• Finally, the main advantage. Where do pipes most often flow? That's right, connections. Any experienced plumber will confirm that modern materials only leak in the middle of a pipe after a long and sophisticated abuse, like repeatedly defrosting or driving a tractor through the pipe. caterpillar.
  So, collector wiring allows you to lay a straight pipe from the collector to any device without connections. And then hide it under a screed or drywall, without fear for the consequences.

Implementation

There are few subtleties here, but they are still there.

Heating

Pipes to heaters will be of different lengths. This is an axiom.

Even modern pipes made of smooth plastics have a certain hydraulic resistance, which is directly proportional to the length of the pipe. Nobody canceled the heat loss in the pipeline.

If so, then in order to equalize the temperature of the radiators, we need to adjust (balance) the heating system. Therefore, we will forget about ordinary valves and put a pair of throttles on each heater.

By steam - so that you can not only slow down the circulation, but also completely cut off the heater. A throttle and ball valve combination is also an option.

Water supply

To avoid the notorious boiling water in the shower when another faucet is open or a tank is being filled, a certain ratio of pipe diameters is needed. If the wiring to the washbasin, shower and cistern is made with a half-inch pipe, then the input to the collector or the section from the riser should be a step thicker.

Twice the diameter is useless here: the permeability of the pipe is proportional to the square of its diameter. If it has become a quarter larger, the cross-country ability has increased by more than one and a half times.

It is better to put the filter in common, before the collector. Hydrodynamics and patency have nothing to do with it - it's easier to maintain the water supply. Of course, you will need a diameter no smaller than that of the input. The filter can also become a bottleneck.

Finally: in the case of polyethylene or polypropylene on welds, correctly made joints are as strong and reliable as a solid pipe. They can be easily laid in a screed.

Tip: Just don't forget about thermal expansion. made of reinforced polypropylene.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are few difficulties here, but the benefits are great. Do not forget that with collector wiring you save on tees, which in the case of metal-plastic are much more expensive than a few additional running meters of pipe. However, of course, it's up to you to decide. Good luck with the repair!

Today, the main requirement for heating systems is their energy efficiency. The best heating options are considered to be connection schemes for heating devices that provide a comfortable microclimate in the house during the winter cold, and also guarantee rational energy consumption, affordable heating costs and rationality. This description fits the collector heating system of a private house, which has other advantages. Among them are practicality, functionality, ease of use and reliability.

Homeowners who do not know what it is for, before considering this device in a home heating system, should familiarize themselves with the principle of its operation. Unlike the traditional heating scheme, which provides for the presence of a single coolant flow, the installation of a heating collector allows you to achieve more uniform heating of the building due to the distribution of flows along the circuits.

Collector functions

With the help of a collector in the system, the total volume of the coolant is divided into several streams that circulate through various circuits. The number of circuits may vary, therefore, when making a collector for heating with his own hands, the owner provides for a certain number of nozzles for connecting autonomous channels. Usually, from two to twelve nozzles are installed on one collector, but these parameters may vary depending on the characteristics of the system.

Collector design

The design of the device is quite simple, so if you have a tool and materials, any master with minimal work skills can make a heating collector with his own hands. The collector consists of two interconnected pipes with a square or round internal section. It is connected to the heating system, and is also equipped with pipes. With the help of shut-off and control valves installed on the nozzles, the coolant flow in each circuit is regulated.

The design features of the collector allow you to give the system the following functional advantages:

Based on this, we can conclude that the collector is a useful and practical device that will make the heating system more stable and reliable.

The collector can be made independently and as a result you will get a device that will optimally complement the heating system of any building.

Of course, the collector heating system of a two-story house, a city apartment or a small cottage will be different, however, the general principle of self-manufacturing a distribution comb, further described in this article, will help owners of various types of property save money and make a collector on their own. In addition, the owner of the house will be able to adapt the collector to the needs of the heating system.

Preparatory work

Before you make a distribution heating manifold with your own hands, you need to stock up on tools and perform a series of calculations - determine the length of the comb, the number of heat supply circuits and the internal section of the connected pipes. It is important that the hydraulic balance is observed in the design. To do this, you need to make sure that the throughput of the collector nozzles corresponds to the sum of the same characteristics of the connected circuits. This is the key to the reliability and durability of the collector.

The correct calculation of the heating collector can be carried out independently using special programs, or using the services of heat engineers. It is worth taking the calculations scrupulously, since their correctness will determine the correct assembly of the collector.

After making the calculations, the owner of the house should prepare the following components:

Also, the process of self-manufacturing of the collector provides for the presence of a certain tool for work:

Material selection

Before making the first blank, the owner of the house must study in detail the scheme for manufacturing the collector. It contains information about the material for the manufacture of the collector and its specification. At the same time, preference is given to durable, reliable and stable materials.

The material for the manufacture of the collector must withstand constant temperature loads and high pressure in the system.

You can choose durable metal as the material, such as steel, brass, copper. Also, the owner can choose polymers as materials and make a polypropylene heating manifold with his own hands from pre-purchased pipes. It should be understood that the polymer collector has a number of features.

A do-it-yourself manifold made of polypropylene for heating will have the following advantages:

Metal collectors also have their own specifics. They are stronger and more reliable, have a long service life and a universal scope. Most often, when self-manufacturing, craftsmen prefer steel pipes with a square section. This material for the manifold allows you to easily connect the pipes and minimize labor intensity and duration of work.

Main stages of work

To make a hydrocollector of a heating system, several stages of work will be required. At the first stage, blanks are made - the main body and pipes, of which the collector for the house heating system will consist. If it is not possible to make blanks on their own - the owner does not have the necessary tools or does not have consumables at hand, he can buy ready-made components in a hardware store, and then assemble a collector from them.

At the second stage of the work of the master, the assembly of blanks into a single structure awaits. It provides for the presence of a welding machine (soldering is required in the manufacture of a polypropylene manifold). If the master will independently solder the polypropylene collector, then he needs to choose a pipe with a reinforcing coating for the construction. They will not undergo deformation during exposure to high temperatures and will provide the collector with reliability and efficiency.

The final stage of work involves checking the collector. For its implementation, the device is filled with water to make sure it is tight. In addition, it is definitely worth checking the reliability of the comb under pressure - for this it is necessary to fill the manufactured collector with water and create the maximum allowable pressure in it, and then analyze the strength of the welds. After the work on the manufacture of the collector for heating is completed, the installation diagram of the device is used by the owner to connect it to the system.

Making a solar collector - alternative heating in your home

Recently, the interest of ordinary people in renewable energy sources has increased. In view of this, many homeowners seek to buy for heating a house that converts solar energy to heat water. But the decision to buy a solar collector for heating in a store is not always rational. The cost of the finished device is far from budgetary, so such a purchase can hit the family budget hard.

To avoid spending, you can make a solar vacuum collector for heating yourself. Various solar collectors for home heating, reviews of which are positive, have the following design details:

The materials from which the collector can be made are very diverse. Known technologies for self-production of solar collectors from polypropylene, ordinary garden hoses, window frames, plastic bottles, old refrigeration units and other improvised materials. The collector assembly scheme directly depends on the type of material chosen, so it is worth studying it after the owner has decided on the concept of the collector.

Self-made vacuum solar collectors for home heating, which cost $ 200 or more in the store, can be used as full-fledged sources of heating.

Vacuum solar collectors have several advantages:

1. energy efficiency;
2. environmental friendliness;
3. autonomy;
4. availability.

It is not difficult to make traditional distribution or solar collectors for home heating with your own hands. This does not require large material costs, the availability of complex technological equipment and solid experience. However, these homemade devices will greatly optimize the heating system of the house and help the owner to create a reliable, efficient and uniform source of heating for his home.

The construction of heating is one of the most expensive items in any construction estimate. That is why it is important to think in detail how to make a collector for heating with your own hands, all the steps and options for each building, whether it is an industrial building or a private house. The presence of miscalculations and weaknesses in the scheme will affect the further quality of operation and its repair.

Be sure to correctly select the type of piping and do it so that you get the most productive, efficient and trouble-free heating system. One of the most popular options for piping from a heat source to heating radiators is a combined - beam.

Radiation scheme: features

Polypropylene heating manifolds are best suited when the house has several floors or if there are a large number of rooms. By installing a heating collector in these cases, it will be possible to improve the quality of the functioning of all equipment, ensure maximum heat transfer, and also reduce heat loss.

The principle of operation of such a heating option, which is implemented at the expense of the collector, is quite simple, but at the same time it has some features. For example, a scheme with such an element implies the installation of a heating collector on each floor of the building (if necessary, even several pieces), and pipes are already laid out from them. In most cases, the instructions for such schemes involve their installation in a cement screed or wall.

Advice. To create the most rational work plan, it is necessary to deal with the heating system and its branching before the start of repair work in the premises, so there is no need to spoil the floor screed.

Circuit elements

Modern heating due to radiators is a large structure consisting of the following basic elements:

• Source of warmth. The first point is equipment that supplies coolant to pipelines and batteries. The power of such equipment must be correctly calculated and correspond to the heating loads;

Important. The process of selecting and calculating boilers is very important. Because with an underestimated power of the heat generator, the circuit will not work at full capacity, the rooms will not be comfortable and cool. If the power is too high, there will be excessive fuel consumption and the need to introduce regulatory elements.

• Circulation pump. The circuit with a comb on the device is closed and needs to create forced circulation. To achieve these goals, special pumps are used that create the necessary injection, pump the coolant, provide a more optimal temperature regime, guaranteeing high-quality work.

When choosing a circulation pump (this is also required by the instruction), it is necessary to take into account many parameters, ranging from the height and length of the heating system (these data create resistance) and ending with the materials of the heating devices.

Pump motor power is not the main parameter. It determines only the amount of energy that the engine consumes. Particular attention should be paid to the speed and volume of the pumped liquid. This parameter indicates how much water the pump can move per unit of time;

Important. Circulation pumps must be selected carefully. In particular, it should be remembered that for high-quality heating it is necessary to select a pump with a power margin, approximately 10% more than the calculated parameter. In the future, you can add a heating area or add heat consumers without replacing the pump.

• Collector for radiator heating. A very important component of the system, it is as important as the boiler or the pump. This element gives the scheme "radiance". The collector in the heating system (and this can be seen in our photo and video gallery) is a distribution section, a device that supplies coolant to all heating devices.

The heating collector for these systems can additionally be equipped with various shut-off and control or thermostatic elements. Thanks to them, it turns out to provide the required coolant flow in each branch of the circuit. In addition, by making an additional installation of automatic air vents and thermometers, it is possible to get a better system operation at no extra cost.

Tying the heating manifold - a variant of plastic pipes

The selection of one or another type of comb (and they are widely represented on the domestic market) is carried out in accordance with the number of connected batteries and heating circuits. At the same time, the combs also differ in the materials of manufacture. They are made from polymeric materials, as well as steel or brass;

• Cabinets. This type of system needs to hide all its components (ball valves, pipelines, heating manifold) in special cabinets. These are quite simple designs, but at the same time practical and functional. They can be built into walls or outdoors.

Pipe selection

Before starting any work related to the arrangement of the heating system, it is necessary to agree on the main parameters of the pipelines. First, we note that the inlets and outlets to the comb, the heat source and pipelines must have the same diameters. Why are they the same? Because if the pipes are of different sections, then the use of adapters will be required, and this is additional work, the cost of purchasing adapters and time.

Materials for supply and return pipes can be very diverse, but it is better to use polypropylene pipes. They have practicality and accessibility, as well as the simplicity of their installation work.

Advice. When selecting polypropylene pipes for your system, be sure to take into account the required diameters obtained in the course of hydraulic calculations. Failure to comply with them will lead to negative circulation work, uneven heating and airing.

Symbiosis of heating with "warm floor"

The beam pattern can work great with underfloor heating systems.

But before you start doing any work, you need to familiarize yourself with the main features of the design of such heating:

• Heating manifolds must be equipped with thermostatic valves and control valves on all circuits;
• In systems of "warm floor" when distributing pipes, thermostatic heads and electrothermal drives are used. In this way, the "warm floor" can quickly respond to changes in temperature parameters and maintain a given climate in each room;

• Selecting an option for creating a distribution system. It can be used as a typical, which is made according to the standard scheme, and individual. It is best to turn your attention to the last type. Because in them the boiler functions in normal modes, while there are no significant temperature jumps, and the fuel is burned sparingly. I must say that such "warm floors" made in an individual design and wiring are mounted in any buildings.

Advantages

When comparing a radiant heat supply system with the most classical analogues, its advantages become noticeable. Among its advantages are:

• The possibility of hidden installation of pipes and various elements for heating the building;
• Lack of connections (weak points) in the section of the collector for the heating system - radiators;
• Simple installation of the constituent elements, it is possible to perform work independently, without certain skills. During installation work, the minimum number of connections is used, and, therefore, the assembly of the entire system takes quick terms;

• Work stability. During the construction of beam distribution systems, the possibility of hydraulic shocks disappears. This is very important when using expensive imported plumbing;
• Quick and high-quality replacement of damaged components, such as pipelines, without complex installation work, destruction of the concrete screed structure. It will be sufficient to simply turn off the required beam in the circuit and eliminate the defect without disturbing the operating mode;
• Affordable price for equipment and all components;
• Simplified installation and system design due to the use of pipelines of the same size, which are bred from the comb.

Compatibility with alternative heat sources

Recently, the topic of alternative heat sources has become very popular. This question mainly concerns solar collectors. We will not particularly go into the details of this issue, because if you want, you can read it in a special article on our website.

But let's just say one thing. The use of combs and solar collectors is quite a successful friendship. Of course, it has its shortcomings, the elimination of which still needs to be worked on.

Today, when energy resources are so expensive, many people are looking for an opportunity to use alternative sources so that they can reduce their gas or electricity bills. One option is to make equipment that can convert solar energy into heat.

Initially, glass was used for the manufacture of such devices, but, as practice has shown, a solar collector made of cellular polycarbonate has much better characteristics than a glass counterpart. Having almost the same transparency as glass, polycarbonate is much lighter than it, so you can mount such installations anywhere without worrying that their presence will be too heavy for the placement surface. In addition, polycarbonate panels are much stronger than glass and even ordinary hail cannot damage them, so products made from modern material are considered much stronger.

Types of collectors

Solar collector installations are panel, which are called flat because of their shape, and vacuum, otherwise tubular. Polycarbonate panel manifolds are much cheaper, but if you make them yourself, they can become even more affordable. But, panel structures are intended for use only in the summer for heating water, and their use in the winter is completely excluded.

It takes a lot more money to make vacuum models, but the money invested will soon pay off, since they can be used throughout the year. In addition, vacuum units are more than twice as productive as panel analogs, which is why even at sub-zero temperatures they can heat water inside the systems.

Necessary materials

For the manufacture of a homemade polycarbonate collector, only honeycomb panels are used, since they have high thermal insulation properties. Acceptable thickness of sheets - from 4 to 30 mm. This figure depends on the number of people living in the house. For example, for a family of two adults and two children, a material of 4-10 mm thickness will suffice. In this case, you will need sheets of different sizes. One should have the same dimensions as the box, and the second one should be slightly smaller, it should fit inside the box so that there are gaps of the desired size. In addition, you will need:

1. Two threaded rods.
2. Propylene fittings. It is necessary that they have a metal thread.
3. Two PVC water pipes, the length of which should be one and a half meters, and the diameter should be 32 mm.
4. 2 plugs for the pipes mentioned above.

Manifold assembly

It is not difficult to assemble a polycarbonate solar collector with your own hands, if you know some of the subtleties and sequence of work.

So, first you need to make a longitudinal cut in the pipes, later a polycarbonate sheet will be inserted into them. Water will rise from below into the grooves of the sheet, where it will warm up due to the effect of the thermosyphon, after which it will rise and be discharged through the upper pipe into the accumulator. Therefore, when installing a polycarbonate panel into a pipe, care must be taken that it is not placed too deep, this will prevent the circulation of the heated liquid. It is undesirable to expand the cut: the tension in the pipe will contribute to its stronger fixation, but if a slight adjustment is needed, then this is quite acceptable.

Good to know: To improve the adhesion of the solar collector panel made of polycarbonate and sealant, when building a structure with your own hands, you need to process its edge with sandpaper before installing the sheet into the pipe, and then degrease it.

Then - seal the joints of the surface and the pipe. It is not worth saving when buying a sealant; the quality of the entire system depends on its quality.

After that, the metal threaded corners are attached to the ends of the pipes with hot glue. During operation, they will facilitate the process of turning the unit off and on. To increase the level of absorption of heat from the sun will help ordinary coloring of the surface of the collector.

It is necessary to start work on the installation of a solar collector from the installation of a polystyrene foam sheet using glue or mounting foam on the surface of the rear wall of the frame structure, and then proceed with the installation of the installation. To do this, it is necessary to fasten the plastic or metal clamps connecting the manifold to the foam plastic with the highest quality. After that, on the front side, you need to attach a polycarbonate sheet with screws.

Scheme of work

In the attic of a house or other building that needs warm water, you need to install a storage tank with a volume of about 160 liters, which must be insulated. Now it is necessary to attach the heated water extraction system to the tank. To do this, you do not need to create additional pressure - everything happens by gravity, but for cold water you need to install a pump that will supply it from a well or well.

On a note: In order for water to circulate freely, it is necessary to install a polycarbonate solar collector so that its surface is at the same height as the tank, then the heated water will naturally be replaced by cold water.

It is for this purpose that the hot water supply pipe is attached slightly above the middle point of the storage tank, due to which hot water accumulates in its upper part.

If hot water for some reason is no longer enough, you can increase its amount. It is quite simple - to mount another collector on the other side of the roof. According to those who already use such installations, these are economical, environmentally friendly and non-volatile systems that fully pay for themselves in 3-4 years, and since they can serve for at least 10 years, the benefits of such a design are obvious.

Collector video