Scientists SPbGASU proposed a new technology of heat-insulated flooring
Yuri N. Kazakov
Scientists at the Department of Construction Technology at St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering proposed replacing glycerin in warm floors. An article about this under the title “Optimization of selection and improvement of the technology of heat-insulated flooring” was published in journal No. 2 (79) Bulletin of Civil Engineers.
The author of the publication is Ksenia Novikova, fourth-year Bachelor’s degree student at the SPbGASU Faculty of Architecture of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, co-authored with her scientific adviser, professor of the SPbGASU Department of Construction Technology Yuri Kazakov and Associate Professor at the department of Construction Management Gela Makaridze.
– There are four main types of heating: air, electric, water and using alternative energy sources. We chose a well-designed system of heat-insulated flooring, as it provides the best heat distribution throughout the room, warming the air at an altitude of 1-1.5 meters above the floor. The system has other advantages: environmental friendliness, economy, ease of installation, freeing the interior from bulky radiators,” said Professor Kazakov.
– Professor, why did you suggest replacing water with glycerin?
– This reduces the cost of heating the liquid and increase the security of the system, since the heat capacity of glycerin is 40 percent higher than that of water, and it is non-conductive. The new technology for the use of floors with glycerin has high level of manufacturability, simplicity and accessibility during installation and operation throughout the entire life cycle.
– Please tell us about the studies that laid the basis for publication in the Bulletin of Civil Engineers.
– We conducted research on different options for heat-insulated flooring. We studied the processes of their device in homes, operating modes, calculated costs.
– Could it be that the heat-insulated flooring system has no minuses?
– The most significant minus is energy dependence. In some regions, this is a pretty much significant factor: if electricity is lost, the boiler, the circulation pump, and the automation go off. However, in warm floors, due to the high hydraulic resistance, natural circulation is impossible, and therefore, while the system is energy-dependent, due to its inertia, the room with the warm floor will cool down significantly longer than in the premises where the radiator system is installed.
The lack of circulation of air flow is both a minus and a plus of a warm floor. In the case when the house has large windows, be prepared that the heated floors cannot cope with cutting off cold flows. Plus, at a height exceeding two meters, the windows will fog up. Therefore, floor convectors should be mounted near large windows. And to generate electricity when its centralized supply is off, you can use diesel generators in homes.
– Is heat-insulated flooring suitable for any home?
– Yes, this is a universal solution that allows using any energy source, any heat generator, any types of coolant and flooring. It is worth paying attention to the following: if we are dealing with a laminate, parquet board, parquet or linoleum, then you need to pay attention to the packaging and carefully study the information indicated on it.
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– At first glance, the “warm floor” technology is not particularly cheap.
– We don’t always realize how much this or that heating concept will cost us. We know how much the equipment and its installation cost, and some believe that this is the cost of the heating system. But there still are operating costs during the entire period of use (which can be decades for a warm floor), and the high energy efficiency of warm floors makes them significantly more economical than other heating systems for an individual house. In the heating period, which on average in our country lasts about two hundred days, this is a significant reduction in cash costs. At the same time, energy consumption is reduced, thus contributing to energy conservation that is a worldwide concern nowadays.
Text: Tatyana Petrova
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