Winter is coming, and you want to make sure your house is warm and comfortable. Even though there are many different heating options on the market, do-it-yourself solutions can occasionally be more affordable and efficient. Making a heater out of a battery or radiator is one such approach that is becoming more and more popular. This clever technique harvests heat from your home’s heating system using easily accessible materials and basic methods.
At first, converting a radiator or battery into a heater might seem difficult, but with the correct advice, it can be a simple and satisfying project. Repurposing these pre-existing components of your home’s heating infrastructure helps you live a more sustainable lifestyle by making the most use of resources and saving money on new heating equipment.
It is imperative that you comprehend the fundamental workings of batteries and radiators before starting any do-it-yourself project. Through the circulation of hot water or steam through their metal fins, radiators radiate heat into the surrounding area, thus heating the room. In a similar vein, batteries—which are frequently seen in older homes—work similarly by producing heat through electrical resistance. You can efficiently use these mechanisms to generate additional heating sources by engaging with them.
The versatility of building a heater out of a radiator or battery is one of its main benefits. You can modify this do-it-yourself project to fit your needs, regardless of whether you live in a home with a central heating system or use separate radiators or batteries in each room. Furthermore, turning radiators and batteries into heaters guarantees targeted heating where it’s most needed because these components are usually found in bedrooms and living rooms.
- How to make a heater from a cast iron battery, heat exchanger or oil radiator
- Heater from a battery and a heating element
- Oil radiator from battery MS-140
- Heat exchanger for boiler from a cast iron battery
- Conclusion
- Useful video
- Making your own heater
- What kind of heater is worth making for the house
- Self-contained heating device
- Sequence of making an autonomous heater
- Oil device
- Algorithm for making an oil heater
- Related articles:
- Homemade heaters
- The right homemade heater for your home
- Effective infrared radiator
- Making an oil heater with our own hands
- Video on the topic
- Autonomous heating with your own hands. Overview of the heating element and battery after 4 years.
- Radiator with a heating element. Do it with your own hands.
- oil battery in the garage
How to make a heater from a cast iron battery, heat exchanger or oil radiator
Today more than ever, switching to alternative home heating sources is important. This problem is particularly concerning to many occupants of multi-story homes when it comes time to replace the outdated cast-iron batteries with new ones, which necessitates additional expenses—often substantial ones. Customers then become curious about what can be done with a cast-iron battery to ensure that its owners can continue to enjoy warmth.
Heater from a battery and a heating element
Customers find it difficult to choose between using electricity or solid/liquid fuel for room heating because of the high cost of each. As a result, a lot of people are curious about how to create a heater out of a cast-iron battery. to reduce costs and require less upkeep.
Installing a heating coil has many advantages that hobbyists have long been enjoying. Its primary benefit is that it can effectively heat small spaces without the need for additional heat sources, such as a garage, workshop, greenhouse, or chicken coop, provided it is connected correctly.
In fact, using a cast-iron battery with a tenon as an additional source of heat in an apartment during city heating system conditions is a very efficient way to heat a small room on its own.
A metal cylinder with a coil inside serves as the heating element. Because of the insulation provided by the special filler, the tube’s walls do not come into contact with the coil. The following benefits come with having a homemade heater made out of a cast-iron battery installed in the heating device:
- It is a reliable construction, completely safe for human life.
- This device has a high efficiency.
- They are simple and durable in operation.
- The heating elements are practically invisible, as they are installed directly into the heating system.
- Since they are equipped with a thermostat, they help to save energy resources.
- The amount of electricity it consumes is much lower than that of conventional electric heaters, boilers or floor heating systems.
- To make such a heater from a cast-iron battery with your own hands, you will not need any authorization documents. The heating element is simply installed in the heating pipe.
Installing and connecting the heater is simple enough even for someone who is not close to electrical work. Typically, they come fully assembled with components for safeguarding and installation, as well as components for connecting to the electrical grid. All that needs to be done is screw the heating element into the radiator’s socket and plug it in.
It is important to keep in mind that the heating element needs to be mounted horizontally. When coolant is present in the system, the device for room heating can be activated.
The heating elements have double overheating protection for safety control. The device has control sensors on its outside as well as inside.
Contemporary heaters designed to connect to cast iron radiators have two modes of operation: emergency or intermittent, or full capacity when used as the primary source of heating. In the latter scenario, such technology is useful to use, for instance, in dachas where residents don’t live there permanently, but you still need to keep an eye out to make sure the radiators and pipes don’t freeze.
In order to manually heat cast-iron radiators effectively, you must choose the right heat exchanger power. The computation for this purpose considers the quantity of heat carrier in the battery as well as the necessary heating of the carrier.
Oil radiator from battery MS-140
Oil heaters are typically used as backup sources of heat in the event that the central heating system "fails" to provide enough heat. They are occasionally used to provide some minimal heating in small rooms.
In this instance, you can save a lot of money on the purchase of a new device as well as on the operation of the old one by learning how to make an oil radiator from a cast-iron radiator.
It could require one to four heating elements to make it, depending on how much power the heater needs to provide. Usually, one or two heaters are sufficient for the installation of such an oil radiator in a house. The task will need:
- Classical cast iron radiator, e.g. brand MS-140.
- A heating element with a suitable output.
- Technical oil, but, if to believe the craftsmen, the best option is to use electrical oil, which is poured into transformers. It is resistant to high temperatures and therefore safer. The only disadvantage of transformer oil is its high cost.
The current thermal technology market provides heating components that are specifically designed to function in a MS-140 cast-iron radiator. Seeking and purchasing a pre-made device is preferable to attempting to determine the power, shape, and size of the device on your own.
Making an oil radiator is quite simple if you follow these steps in the correct order:
- The heating element is installed in the lower collector of the cast iron battery from the end part of the battery.
- The rear wall of the structure is grounded.
- The oil drain hose and ball valve should be moved downwards. This is important, because in the case of draining the medium, a heavy battery case filled with oil can be difficult to tilt.
- A plug is placed on the upper end hole above the heating element, and the hole above the faucet is closed with a plug with a Maevsky faucet.
Because oil expands significantly when heated, the cast iron radiator needs room for it, so only 80–85% of the container should be filled.
Heat exchanger for boiler from a cast iron battery
Many competent people install heat exchangers in boilers or furnaces to reduce heating costs in self-contained heating systems. The primary function of them is to transfer the heat produced by burning solid fuel.
A design needs the following qualities in order to be genuinely effective:
- The larger the surface area to be heated, the more heat it can transfer.
- The material from which the heat exchanger is made must have a high heat output.
- The device must be resistant to temperature fluctuations.
As demonstrated by experience, building a heat exchanger out of a cast-iron battery is the most cost-effective and optimal choice. It is appropriate for the reasons listed below:
- From sections of radiator it is possible to assemble a device of necessary heating area. If you use old cast-iron batteries, they first need to be disassembled and washed, and then, knowing how to assemble a cast-iron radiator, from it make a construction of the desired length.
- Cast iron has sufficient thermal conductivity and at the same time is resistant to the aggressive environment that is formed inside the furnace.
- Sufficiently wide channels of a cast-iron radiator are able to freely pass water from the heating circuit, which for effective heating of the house requires a high speed of movement. To ensure such circulation, it is necessary to create a significant temperature difference between the incoming and outgoing water. The larger it is, the faster the coolant runs through the network.
It is essential to replace the gaskets on cast-iron radiator assembly by hand with unique asbestos threads that have been pre-impregnated with graphite grease before mounting the heat exchanger.
You can use multiple sections of cast iron radiators or even arrange them in two rows, depending on the size of the stove. The assembly process follows the same steps as connecting to the city’s heating system. Adapters, bends, and angles are used for this purpose; once all sections are connected, the construction should be examined for tightness. Water is pushed under pressure into it for this reason.
A heat exchanger cannot be installed in a heater without first being verified to be reliable and tight.
The chimney would be the ideal location for this kind of equipment. There, an open flame will not threaten the cast iron, ensuring its safety. The heat exchanger is not designed to withstand severe temperature variations, such as those caused by a flame on one side and cold water entering it through a pipe on the other.
Conclusion
The process of converting cast iron batteries into an oil radiator or heat exchanger by hand is not difficult. Give old Soviet "harmonicas" a second lease on life by converting them into effective heaters with the right parts and equipment.
Useful video
In this post, we’ll examine an easy and affordable way to heat your house: turning your radiator into a heater. You can efficiently heat your living space by harnessing the heat produced by your radiator with a few do-it-yourself skills and easily accessible materials. You can make a heater that not only lowers your energy costs but also adds to a cozier and more comfortable home environment by upcycling common household items and using some creative techniques. Let’s examine the procedure in detail and discover how to utilize your radiator as a do-it-yourself heating source.
Making your own heater
When a heating system malfunctions or needs repairs, the heater can always make up for the lost heat. Of course, one can buy a device like that in a store. However, a homemade heater is a good substitute. It is easy to make. It only takes gathering the required supplies and charging a positive attitude to accomplish this.
What kind of heater is worth making for the house
Actually, you can make almost any kind of heater at home. The inverter is the exception due to its intricate design. Nearly all modern devices are almost 100% efficient at producing heat. They’re all equipped with electric heating elements. which has a nichrome wire as its central component.
With this wire, the most basic DIY heater for the house and garage has the following structure:
- Horizontal ceramic pipe with a diameter equal to 12 cm.
- Four supports.
- A wire wrapped around the pipe.
- A wire with a plug is connected to the wire.
Naturally, there are many questions regarding this heater’s safety because, in addition to its 1,000 °C temperature capability, the wire is left open. Coming into contact with it puts electric shocks and burns at risk. Furthermore, if a portion of the house is burned down by one of these devices, extensive repairs will be necessary.
Many knowledgeable people point out that there is no need to manufacture any devices with nichrome wire because it is much safer and more effective to design a heater yourself. The infrared version is this one.
Unlike most heating devices, he transfers the heat to the objects around him rather than heating the air around him. It only provides the necessary heat.
Self-contained heating device
The voltage and current specifications for this heater are 12 volts. This allows it to be linked to the battery. Any room in the house, including the garage and those without heating or where repairs are done, can be ideal places for its usage. Your hands will undoubtedly be warm even though the room won’t be completely heated by it. It produces no infrared rays. All it does is warm the air.
To manufacture it, you must take:
- Metal can. It could be a coffee can. Its height and diameter should be 20 and 10 cm respectively. These values can deviate more or less. Do not use a can made of plastic, cardboard or any other material worth. This is because they do not conduct heat well.
- Bracket . It can be a U-shaped piece of a child"s metal construction set.
- Bayonet chuck.
- A car lamp from a brake light. As you know, it is designed for 12 volt voltage. Its power is equal to 25 watts.
- Fuse for 2 A.
- A bushing made of insulating material.
- Cable. The cross-sectional area of one wire must exceed 1 mm².
Sequence of making an autonomous heater
The 12-volt gadget is constructed as follows:
- Drill 20-30 holes in the side wall of the can. Their diameter should be equal to 3 mm.
- Make a hole in the bottom of the jar. It is drilled in the center of the bottom. The diameter should be equal to the diameter of the bolt that will be used to fix the bracket.
- Fix the bracket on the bottom of the jar.
- A cartridge is fixed on the upper part of the bracket. This element should be located so that the lamp does not touch the walls of the container.
- In the side wall of the can at the level of the top of the bracket drill such a hole to fit the cable sleeve in it.
- In this hole insert the bushing and push through it an electric wire, through which the current will flow with a voltage equal to 12 volts. The cable will be connected to the lampholder.
- The lamp is screwed in and the jar is closed with a lid.
- A fuse is included in the cable break.
The heater that runs on 12 volts is complete. It still needs to be plugged in to the battery and given ten minutes. The garage’s homemade heater will warm up during this time. It’s important to keep an eye on the battery voltage when using a device that runs on 12 volts. It must never drop below 10 volts. If not, there will be no restoration of the current source. That is, it will be impractical to repair the battery.
Till the lamp fails, the manufactured heating device will function. Restore its functionality by replacing the lamp so that repairs can be made. You can even put a halogen lamp in its proper place.
Oil device
He created the safe and highly functional oil heater with his own hands. Furthermore, due to its high efficiency, it is appropriate for rooms where various household appliance repairs are done.
Its construction consists of an enclosed body that holds heating components and oil.
Prior to creating a heater by hand, the following materials must be ready:
- Sealed container. As it can be used as an aluminum or metal battery, car radiator.
- Technical or transformer oil.
- TENS. 4 pcs.
- Electric motor with a power of 2-2.5 kW. A pump with the same power can be used instead.
- Switch.
- Set of drills.
- Angles or profile pipe with dimensions of 40×40 mm.
- Two tubes. Must withstand a temperature of 100-150 ° C.
You will need to use a drill and a welding machine as your tools.
Algorithm for making an oil heater
- Welding the frame. Before that draw a scheme of the frame. To do this, you should be guided by the dimensions of the selected container and the height at which the housing should be placed. The frame can be made in the form of two rectangles. The width of the rectangle should be greater than the depth of the selected vessel, and the length should be greater than the height of the vessel. The main part will be inserted into the rectangles. These parts of the frame should be at the ends of the vessel. Each rectangle should have two legs. It is desirable to connect them with one corner, which will go along the body.
Angles or profile pipe are cut into sections of the necessary length at the start of the frame-making process. The legs are then welded to the rectangles once they have been welded together. Using bolts, the longitudinal corner can be secured. This allows the frame to be taken apart and stored away until the start of the following winter season.
- Cutting 7 holes in the selected vessel. 4 of them should be such that in one hole could fit the heating element. They can be located at the corners of the heatsink. 2 holes are for the pump. They are made at the bottom of the radiator. Another hole is needed for filling the oil. It should be made at the highest point of the radiator. To cut out the holes, you can use a bolt cutter or a welder. The best option is an autogen.
- Making a fixture for fixing the pump. For this purpose, metal plates with bolt holes cut in them are welded to the container. These plates should be placed close to the holes for the pump.
- Fixing the pump and connecting it to the radiator. For its connection it is necessary to use two tubes. They can be welded to the radiator and connected through the stop valve to the pump. You can also weld fittings to the holes designed for the pump and connect the tubes to them.
- Fastening of heating elements. They are fastened with bolted connections. It is easiest to fix those heating elements, the base of which is threaded and is a kind of large bolt. In this case, an internal threaded fitting is welded to the holes in the radiator. A nut will do. The heating element is screwed into it.
- A male threaded fitting is applied and welded to the oil filler hole. It will have a cover on it. It can be made of pipe. To do this, an internal thread is cut on one end. It should be the same as the thread on the connector. Of course, the pipe must have a larger diameter than the connector. A metal square plug is welded to the second end.
- Check tightness of all holes. To do this, create a large pressure in the middle of the oil heater.
- Connect the heating elements. For this purpose, use the parallel connection method.
- Connect the voltage regulator and the cable with plug.
- Install the housing on the frame and ground it.
- Pour the oil in.
The oil heater is now prepared for use in any of the twelve months of the year. Naturally, it might break down and need to be fixed over time. Replacement of the pump or heating elements is the extent of repair. At times, it might be essential to increase the connections’ tightness. This is a fairly simple repair.
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Homemade heaters
When will your house, cottage, or garage need a homemade heater? The lack of centralized heating pushes common people to make their own heating devices (in the case of a garage or country house). When construction is underway or during the fall and spring months, when the centralized heat supply is either off or has stopped entirely, home-made heating equipment will be required. It is now appropriate to replace the heating pipes, by the way.
In order to save money on the purchase of factory-made equipment, which can be very expensive, people build their own heaters for their homes. Whatever the motivation behind creating homemade heating devices, all work must be done with professionalism and strict adherence to state laws governing the safe operation of such machinery.
The right homemade heater for your home
Whatever the kind of energy carrier and heater type, the apparatus needs to fulfill these specifications:
- characterized by simplicity of manufacture;
- have low cost of construction materials and elements;
- have a high output;
- sufficient power;
- be safe to use;
- be economical in terms of manufacturing and energy consumption;
- as compact as possible;
- simple and easy to use.
Any factory-made heater can boast of economy, efficiency, and safety. Increased power, performance, and ease of use are hallmarks of homemade machinery, but safety is largely irrelevant. For this reason, before being used extensively, any DIY heater for the house must be tested.
Many excellent choices for winter and off-season dacha heating.
If you have any questions regarding heating a dacha without gas, this article will help to clarify things.
Effective infrared radiator
An efficient infrared radiator is one with a high efficiency factor when it comes to room heating. All of this is made possible by the special operating principle. Instead of interacting with the air, infrared waves raise the surface temperatures of the items in the room.
After that, those give the air thermal energy. The greatest amount of radiant energy is thus transformed into thermal energy. Because of their great efficacy and efficiency as well as the inexpensive structural components, infrared heaters are becoming more and more independently manufactured by regular people.
Infrared emitter made of dust graphite. room heaters made at home,
Comprising the following components and functioning in the infrared spectrum:
- graphite ground to dust;
- epoxy glue;
- two equally sized pieces of clear plastic or glass;
- wire with a plug;
- copper terminals;
- thermostat (optional);
- a wooden frame, commensurate with the pieces of plastic;
- tassel.
First things first, the workspace is ready. Take two identically sized pieces of glass, say one meter by one meter, to accomplish this. Contaminants such as paint residue and greasy hand prints have been removed from the material. Here’s where booze becomes useful. Proceed to the heating element preparation after the surface has dried.
Here, graphite dust serves as the heating element. It is a highly resistant electric current conductor. Heat will be generated by the graphite dust when it is connected to a power source. When the temperature reaches a certain point, it will start to release infrared waves, and we will receive an infrared heater for our home that they made themselves. Our conductor needs to be fixed on the work surface first, though. To achieve this, carbon powder and adhesive compound must be combined until a homogenous mass is created.
Homemade space heater.
We use a brush to create pathways out of a graphite and epoxy mixture on the previously cleaned glass. This is completed in a zigzag design. Each zigzag loop should stop five centimeters short of the glass’s edge, and the graphite strip should begin and finish on the same side. The glass’s edge doesn’t need to be indented. There will be terminals for connecting electricity in these locations.
With the graphite-coated sides facing each other, stack the glasses on top of one another and secure with glue. To increase dependability, the resulting blank is set inside a wooden frame. Copper terminals and a wire to turn on the device in the power grid are attached to the locations where the graphite conductor exits on the various sides of the glass. The room’s homemade heaters should then be left to dry for a day. A thermostat can be attached to the chain. This will make using the equipment easier.
What benefits does the end product offer? Because it is made with unconventional methods, its production costs are minimal. Since its surface doesn’t get hotter than 60°C, it can’t burn. You have the option to adorn the glass surface with a film featuring a range of drawings, without compromising the harmony of the interior arrangement. Do you want to build your own gas heaters at home? The video will assist in resolving this issue.
Infrared film warmer. It is advised to use ready-made film materials with infrared wave capabilities for full heating of a medium-sized room. These days, there are a lot of them available.
When purchasing film material, you should consider the heating element’s composition. Lead must not be present in the latter. It poses a health risk. A quality certificate needs to be included with a high-quality product.
Construction-related necessities:
- IR-film 500 mm by 1250 mm (two sheets);
Repairing the thermal insulation is the first step in getting the wall surface ready for an apartment DIY heater. Its thickness must be at least five centimeters. This is accomplished by removing the self-adhesive layer’s protective film and attaching polystyrene to the surface by foiling upward. The material in this instance needs to be firmly pressed up against the wall. You can move on to the next step an hour after the work is finished.
IR-film sheets are connected to one another in a sequential manner. Using a spatula, the adhesive is applied to the material’s back side. Everything is fastened to the polystyrene that was previously mounted. Fixing the heater securely will take two hours. The thermostat and cord with plug are then fastened to the foil. Decorating is the last step. Decorative corners are used to secure the prepared fabric on top of the foil for this purpose.
Why is heating in a bathhouse so important, and what are some low-cost ways to make it?
The calculations provided here can be used to determine the precise amount of gas required to heat a cottage.
Making an oil heater with our own hands
Handcrafted register featuring an air vent and a heating element.
How can you create a powerful heater for your home using only your hands? It is vital to pay attention to oil radiator factory models for this reason. You can easily put them into practice on your own. A few nuances are necessary for you to accomplish this. Additionally, read. "How to assemble the heating register and connect it."
The container beneath the future radiator must, first and foremost, be completely airtight. If not, the coolant will leak out, causing the heating element (TEN) to overheat. As a result, knowing a few basic metal welding techniques is essential. We discussed them in the article on heating-pipe welding.
Second, transformer oil or mineral oil should be used as a coolant if at all possible. It ought to fill the heater’s tank to 85% full. The air occupies the remaining space. It is essential to avoid hydrostroke. Thirdly, a steel heating element is utilized when the heater is housed in a cast iron tank. A stainless steel tank is appropriate for a copper heating element. Magnesium anodes cannot be used in this system.
- old, cast-iron radiator or steel pipes with a diameter of 15 cm, pipes with a diameter of 7 cm;
- TEN;
- transformer oil;
- thermostat
- two-core cord with a plug at the end;
- pump up to 2.5 kW.
A welding machine, a drill, a set of drills, and electrodes will be necessary tools for your work. Pliers will come in handy. constructing an oil heater for
The bottom end is where the heating element is placed.
Apartments by hand, starting with the tank’s preparation. If a cast-iron battery that was taken from an old battery should be taken apart, cleaned thoroughly of any dirt or rust, and the inner surface should be greased. If you require a heater with more power, set up a welded framework made of prepared pipes, arranging the larger diameter pipes horizontally.
Bridges between the larger pipes are made of smaller diameter pipes. They will be circulated by the coolant. It is important to keep in mind that a hole must be left in the lower pipe to accommodate the heating element. If there are multiple heating elements, they are spaced apart and shouldn’t come into contact with one another. The pump is also given a hole. The heating components are fastened firmly with bolts. A bolgar or an autogenous tool can be used to drill a hole for it.
A pump is used when handling a large, bulky room heater where natural coolant circulation is not possible. It is situated in the apparatus’s lower section. The pump and the heating element shouldn’t come into contact.
The equipment is examined for tightness following the installation of the structural components. The coolant is poured in if the outcome is satisfactory. With a plug, the drain hole is tightly sealed. The power supply and the equipment are linked in parallel. An additional component of the scheme is a bimetallic thermostat made from a regular iron. Ground the installation prior to the initial start-up. DIY oil heaters for the house: The following installation guidelines and their device are covered in detail in the video:
Materials Needed | Step-by-Step Instructions |
Copper Pipe | Measure the length needed to fit over your radiator. |
Tubing Cutter | Use the tubing cutter to cut the copper pipe to the measured length. |
Heat Resistant Hose | Get a heat resistant hose that fits snugly over the copper pipe. |
Hose Clamps | Secure the hose onto the copper pipe using hose clamps. |
Water Pump | Attach a water pump to one end of the hose to circulate water. |
Thermostat | Install a thermostat to regulate the temperature of the circulating water. |
Power Source | Connect the water pump to a power source, such as a battery or electrical outlet. |
One creative and affordable way to heat your house is by making a homemade heater out of your radiator. You can effectively heat your living area by repurposing materials and using basic tools to harness the heat produced by your radiator.
Making your own radiator heater allows you to tailor it to your own requirements and tastes, which is one of its main benefits. DIY radiator heaters give you flexibility in terms of placement and design, whether you’re looking to add to your current heating system or heat a smaller space.
Furthermore, you can utilize heat that would otherwise be wasted by building a heater out of the radiator. Radiators are meant to provide warmth to a space; by retaining this heat, you can increase the heating system’s energy efficiency.
But it’s crucial to approach do-it-yourself radiator heaters carefully and mindful of safety issues. Careful planning and adherence to safety guidelines are necessary when working with electrical components and heating elements to prevent accidents and ensure the longevity of your homemade heater.
In conclusion, constructing a heater out of your radiator can be a fulfilling project that will test your ingenuity and inventiveness while also keeping you toasty during the winter. You can create a cost-effective and energy-efficient heating solution for your house while also lowering energy usage if you have the appropriate supplies, equipment, and expertise.