To keep your home comfortable and cut down on energy expenses, make sure your insulation and heating system are operating efficiently. The correct installation of a supply valve in the wall is a crucial component of this. By regulating the hot water flow to your radiators, this valve enables you to adjust the temperature in various rooms. With the correct equipment and knowledge, installing a supply valve is not as difficult as it may seem.
It’s important to comprehend the fundamentals of how your heating system functions before beginning the installation process. Hot water is usually circulated via pipes that are attached to a central heating system or boiler. When hot water is required, the supply valve serves as a gateway, allowing it to reach the radiators. Proper installation of this valve will guarantee maximum heating efficiency throughout your house.
Choosing the right spot on the wall for the supply valve installation is one of the first steps in the process. This location should be well-accessible and well-planned to facilitate effective heat distribution. In order to prevent any potential hazards, it’s also crucial to take into account elements like the proximity to existing pipes and electrical wiring.
After deciding on a spot, you need to get the wall ready for installation. This entails determining the exact location of the valve installation and marking it. Then drill a hole in the wall the same size as the valve assembly using the necessary tools and a drill. To enable a seamless installation, be sure the hole is clear of debris and clean.
After the hole has been prepared, install the supply valve. To stop leaks, start by firmly fastening the valve assembly to the wall. Make sure the fit is snug. Next, connect the required pipes using the fittings and seals specified by the manufacturer, following their instructions. After everything is installed, check that the valve is operating properly and make any necessary adjustments.
You can improve the efficacy and efficiency of your home heating system by taking the time to install a supply valve in your wall. This do-it-yourself project can be a satisfying way to increase comfort and lower energy use in your home with careful planning and attention to detail.
Step 1: Gather materials – supply valve, pipe cutter, soldering torch, flux, solder, emery cloth. | Step 2: Turn off water supply. |
Step 3: Mark the spot on the wall for valve placement. | Step 4: Cut a section of the water pipe where the valve will be installed. |
Step 5: Clean the ends of the pipe and the inside of the valve with emery cloth. | Step 6: Apply flux to the pipe and the valve. |
Step 7: Insert the valve onto the pipe. | Step 8: Heat the joint with a soldering torch and apply solder. |
Step 9: Allow the joint to cool. | Step 10: Turn on water supply and check for leaks. |
When it comes to insulation and home heating, it’s important to make sure that heat is distributed effectively. One do-it-yourself project that is both practical and can greatly increase the efficiency of your heating system is installing a supply valve in your wall. This valve can be positioned to strategically control the flow of steam or hot water to specific rooms, enabling customized heating adjustments based on needs. This lowers utility costs and possibly saves energy in addition to increasing comfort. Even individuals with little plumbing experience can complete this project successfully with the correct tools and cautious approach, making their home more efficient and comfortable.
- Types of wall air inlets
- Natural inflow valves
- Cross-flow ventilation elements
- Supply and exhaust dampers with heat recovery
- How to install a supply valve – instructions
- Why the valve freezes
- Video on the topic
- Installation of supply dampers in windows. Ventilation in a private house with your own hands.
- Supply damper to the apartment
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Types of wall air inlets
For the purpose of bringing fresh air into homes and other buildings, there are three different kinds of dampers:
- passive wall ventilators (natural inflow);
- overflow devices;
- forced-air supply and exhaust units with air heating due to heat recovery.
Aereco, Air Box, and "Ventz" are manufacturers of window ventilation dampers, which are the least expensive and most basic way to ventilate a room. Air vents’ low capacity is a drawback. In a different post, we went into great detail regarding the installation procedures and working principle.
Apart from the products mentioned above, apartments also make use of wall-mounted household appliances called breezers, which are designed to force out air and automatically heat it to a predetermined temperature. Breezers are complete air inlets that cost three to five times as much as vent valves.
Natural inflow valves
Regarding the wall ventilator device, let us examine the KIV-125, a reasonably well-known product under the KIV brand. Companies like Ventz, Domvent, and Aereco manufacture comparable dampers. The following components are part of the household appliance’s design:
- air duct – PVC pipe with diameter of 125 mm, length up to 1 m, inside – heat-insulating sound-absorbing insert;
- external air inlet grille with rain deflector visor and insect screen;
- silicone sealing ring for sealing inside the wall;
- double spring damper, regulating the amount of incoming air;
- coarse air filter class G3-G4;
- mechanical drive for controlling the dampers;
- additional insulation, cover of the internal header.
Citation. "Ventz," a Ukrainian brand, sells items with telescopic ducting. Rather than being cut to fit the thickness of the wall, the pipe is extended to the necessary length.
Only the grille is visible from the outside of the air inlet, which is embedded in the outer wall. An internal header with a setting handle is present. The working principle is straightforward: air from the street enters the pipe, passes through the header’s slits after being cleaned by the filter. Characteristics of the valve’s operation:
- the airflow is dispersed along the wall towards the ceiling;
- Street noises are absorbed by the thermal insulation insert;
- The damper blades can overlap the duct cross-section by 100%;
- Adjustment is made with a handle or a special cord when the unit is installed under the ceiling.
To be clear. Other types of dampers have a plastic gate or diaphragm to control airflow.
The strength of the draft in the exhaust shaft, which enters roughly 55 m³ of air in an hour at a vacuum of 10 Pa in the room, determines how well the product performs. However, a greater volume of air can also be passed through by the ventilator. For instance, the kitchen exhaust hood, which you have turned on, will readily "pull" through the valve at a rate of 150 m3/h.
Wall ventilator benefits:
- energy independence;
- reliability, maintenance frequency – once a year (filter cleaning);
- affordable cost of the product;
- compatibility with any ventilation system – natural, mechanical, combined ventilation systems.
The passive valve of supply ventilation has many benefits, but it also has two major drawbacks: it delivers cold air and occasionally freezes at low temperatures. It’s true that condensation, or too much moisture, left in the space for a variety of reasons can cause frost to form. The particular detail that we will address below pertains to the hand-installing instructions for the ventilator.
Cross-flow ventilation elements
The ventilation gap (or grille) in an interior door that is tightly sealed reduces the amount of airflow within the apartment. The house’s ventilation system will stop working if the flows from the living rooms to the kitchen’s and bathroom’s exhaust shafts are blocked.
There is no need to cut the leaf or install grilles on the airtight door between the rooms. It is sufficient to incorporate this type of supply and exhaust damper into the partition wall:
- 2 decorative plafonds under the hole Ø125-160 mm;
- hollow cylindrical insert made of noise insulation material 15 cm long;
- 2 mounting rings + tie bolt.
Take note. Only partition walls up to 150 mm thick—half a brick plus finishing—can use reversible dampers. You will have to create a homemade fixture for a thicker wall.
The air inlet and outlet device is extremely easy to assemble: soundproofing is simply placed into the pre-drilled hole, and rings are fastened to the ends and bolted together. To stop light from leaking into one room from another, plaques are put on top. Watch the video to find out more about the damper’s working principle:
Supply and exhaust dampers with heat recovery
There are instances in which exhaust ducts were not installed in private homes from the start. Additionally, ventilation in apartments can be ineffective because there is little to no draught in the upper floor shafts. Installing reversible supply and exhaust units solves the issue.
In terms of structure, the installation is similar to the air ventilator; the photo shows the ceramic heat accumulator and axial fan that are located inside the pipe. There are three ways the wall reversing valve can operate:
- Only supply + filtration of outside air.
- Only exhaust from the room to the outside.
- Heat recovery – combined mode, supply and exhaust works alternately.
It is the primary mode, the third mode. The following is the algorithm: the fan forces air from the room outside through the ceramic heat exchanger for 70 seconds. Subsequently, the accumulator heats the street air, causing the fan to begin blowing in the opposite direction and go into reverse. 70 seconds later, the cycle is resumed.
Citation. Manufacturers can accomplish this by either rotating the impeller in the opposite direction or by adding a second servo drive to turn the fan itself, thereby changing the flow direction by 180 degrees.
Benefits of recuperator valve use include:
- no need to build exhaust ducts made of bricks, plastic or galvanized pipes;
- heated air flows into the rooms;
- in summer the efficiency of ventilation operation does not deteriorate;
- energy saving – the unit returns part of the heat used by the heating system to heat the ventilation air;
- Similarly, the unit saves the cold produced by the air conditioner in summer;
- regulation of the quantity and temperature of the supplied air;
- choosing a model with the desired capacity from 25 to 70 m³/h.
One unfavorable aspect of the supply air valve with recovery is its expensive cost. Based on user feedback, this is the main reason why most people don’t purchase this device. Remember that you will need multiple appliances—one for each living area—for complete ventilation.
Even the loud volume is not a particularly significant drawback. You will gain additional knowledge about the air inlet unit with heat recovery by watching the following video:
How to install a supply valve – instructions
There are two things that need to be figured out before installation: where to put the ventilating valve and how to make a clean hole in the wall. For the location, we recommend the following:
- Ventilators with a pipe diameter of 50-60 mm should be placed between the radiator and the window sill. Provided that the height of the gap is sufficient. Then the cold street air will immediately mix with the rising convective flow from the radiator.
- Device with ducting greater than Ø100 mm put on the side of the window opening, make an indentation of 30 cm (to exclude freezing). The second option – between the window and the ceiling, minimum distance from the ceiling – 15 cm. In both cases the ventilator is located in the area of convection flow from the radiator.
- The height of the passive valve above the floor is 180…200 cm.
- When installing the recuperator damper, observe the indent 0.5 m from all structures – ceiling, window, nearest corner, as shown in the drawing.
- Place the air handling unit in a convenient location without restrictions.
Note: If the room is heated by warm floors, the passive air ventilator can be positioned at any distance from the window, with the minimum remaining at 30 cm.
It is best to leave drilling a reinforced concrete wall to experts who have access to a machine equipped with a diamond drill bit with the necessary diameter. You can drill a hole in the brick by yourself, but it will require a lot of effort. Make numerous drill holes around the perimeter with a long, thin drill before carefully drilling out the center.
Two crucial ideas. Make sure there are no hidden heating pipes or electrical wiring on the chosen portion of the structure before beginning any work. Second: To allow condensate to escape, a hole is drilled with a 2-3 ° slope towards the street.
How to put in a supply valve in a wall correctly:
- Cut the air pipe flush with the structure or with a small outlet – as prescribed in the manufacturer"s installation instructions. Ventz telescopic ducting is not trimmed.
- Inserting the pipe into the hole, blowing the gaps with construction foam. Cement-sand mortar must not be used.
- Fixing the grille with mosquito net on the outside. Observe the correct position of the element – visor on top, louvers pointing downwards.
- Insert the heat-insulating element inside the duct, if necessary, cut to length.
- Disassemble the damper head, fix the body to the pipe and the inner surface of the wall with dowels. Put the filter, flaps and lid with the supply slots facing upwards.
The recuperator valve installation technology is the same. The unit’s components, including the fan and ceramic heat exchanger, are installed from the inside after the duct has been embedded in the wall and the outer grille fixed. Disparities: a power cable is connected to the fan, and thermal insulation is installed on the exterior of the pipe.
Citation. Certain ventilator models come equipped with a fan that runs on its own solar panel. Example: the valve labeled "Ventz" PSS-102 in the picture.
Why the valve freezes
In regions where winter temperatures are low, this phenomenon takes place. Condensation on the ventilator’s heavily cooled surfaces is the cause of the frost. You must determine the reason for the freezing in order to solve the issue:
- Natural exhaust hood is inefficient or does not function at all. Result: water vapor stays inside the room and partially escapes outside through the air inlet damper.
- The capacity of the heating system is not designed for infiltration (natural supply) of air by the inlet device. The header is overcooled and moisture condenses on it.
- Violation of installation rules, such as placing the ventilator too close to the window, a large setback from the radiator or insufficient insulation of the pipe.
- The header is covered with too dense curtains, which creates a cold zone along the wall. Ice appears on the lid.
A drop in temperature following the installation of air vents has been reported by users, allegedly as a result of the dampers’ intense blows. We would like to remind you of a basic rule: the extractor hood’s operation is the only factor that determines how much air flows through the element. Try modifying the wall damper’s flow or partially blocking the exhaust aperture.
A useful do-it-yourself project that can greatly improve the convenience and effectiveness of your home’s heating system is installing a supply valve in the wall. By installing this valve, you can better regulate the temperature in particular rooms of your home and possibly save money on energy by having more control over the hot water flow.
One of the key benefits of installing a supply valve is the ability to isolate sections of your heating system for maintenance or repairs. With the valve in place, you can stop the hot water supply to a specific area without compromising the system as a whole. When it comes to fixing problems or updating your heating system, this can save you money and time.
Although installing a supply valve may seem difficult at first, many homeowners—even those with no plumbing experience—find it to be a manageable project. You can approach this task with confidence and success if you have the proper resources, advice, and instruments. Throughout the process, just remember to abide by local building codes and safety precautions.
Make sure you have access to the required pipes and fittings and carefully plan where the supply valve will be placed before beginning the installation. As they say, measure twice, cut once. And don’t be afraid to ask experts or online tutorials for guidance if you run into any difficulties along the road.
All things considered, upgrading your home’s heating system with a supply valve installed in the wall may be a wise investment. It gives you more flexibility and control, but it also gives you the ability to better maintain and maximize your heating system for many years to come. So grab your tools, roll up your sleeves, and get ready to improve the functionality and comfort of your house with this do-it-yourself project.