Automated boiler room for households

How does an automated boiler room for households differ from a similar solution for houses? First of all, the power and complexity of the boiler circuit wiring. As a rule, modular solutions are not effective, but in some cases, dividing different heating areas into independent segments can be more cost-effective and profitable than interconnected installation. For example, if you need to make relatively inexpensive heating with climate control, you can use monoblock electric boilers that control each circuit separately. This will be automated heating, but not a boiler room.

When is an automated boiler room for households used?

A boiler room from a single heat source is used when there is a powerful heating circuit, which is enough to heat the entire household, a house with utility rooms. Moreover, it can be heated by different heaters and different ones at different times of the year, but the boiler circuit will be the same. The most common is heating from one powerful heat source, for example, from a domestic (semi-industrial) FOCUS pellet boiler with a power range from 2 to 30 kW.

The advantage of such heating is economy and automatic operation of the boiler with automatic ignition and extinguishing. Cheap heating with pellets means that it is cheaper to install heating circuits than to buy several different boilers for different rooms. Moreover, this applies not only to installation, but also to operation, when, thanks to ECOMAX microcontrollers, the operating power of the boiler and, accordingly, the pellet consumption are regulated.

How is an automated boiler room installed?

As we have already said, any automatically operating boiler room consists of three main groups of components: a microcontroller, controlled elements of the boiler circuit and climate control devices. Of course, it is advisable to make a project before installation, but typical solutions in the spirit of modular boiler rooms are usually used.

In this case, we recommend starting installation from the boiler circuit. It is after this work that the operating power of the boiler equipment and control capabilities will become clear.

After installing the boiler circuit, install climate control devices, that is: sensors, thermostats and touch panels. At this stage, you already need to decide what you will connect them to, that is, which microcontroller.

Please note that some boilers have a built-in controller. TT boilers with manual loading can be partially automated through the use of an external microcontroller, but its functions are limited and do not allow you to connect climate control. That is, climate control will have to be carried out using a buffer tank, then an external control unit will be required purely for the boiler circuit.

After or simultaneously with all work, select a heat source. Electricity will be quite expensive. And it’s only beneficial if you have a home power plant under the “Green Tariff” system. Again, as in the case of gas and unstable tariffs, such heating cannot be called autonomous and independent.

Selecting a boiler and equipment for the heating circuit

An automated boiler room implies automation of the boiler; this can be implemented in different ways, that is, the boiler can have a built-in and external controller. The built-in device usually regulates the combustion intensity, although in TT boilers this can also be achieved through an external module that controls the supply of air to the firebox necessary for combustion. However, this setting is imprecise. Built-in automatic boiler regulation is a higher level of automation. The functionality of the controllers may also differ.

Multifunctional mode, using the example of pellet equipment, implies turning the boiler on and off (auto-ignition) depending on weather regulation scenarios, controlling the supply of pellets, controlling the movement of the grate, pneumatic cleaning if available, controlling pumps, three- and four-way valves. If this is a regular TT boiler and an external EcoMAX260 controller, then you can control the air supply to the combustion chamber and the temperature in the heating circuit through the operation of a three-way valve.

Automated heating for households and farms

The choice is up to the user and depends on the specific solution and level of heating automation. The best option is to buy a FOCUS pellet boiler for households; on its basis, you can set up automated heating for a small household quite simply and relatively inexpensively.

Depending on the solution, heating automation for farms can be built on the basis of one powerful automated boiler room and separate and independent heating circuits. The second option is probably more pragmatic. For what reason?

Firstly, building a farm boiler house based on the principle of cluster heating is possible and even profitable, but it is not always available due to expensive installation and the need to transport heat to utility rooms. With such heat delivery, heat loss is observed. This may be optimal when the pipeline runs under a greenhouse or poorly heated utility room. But in other cases it is better to use separate heating units.  

For example, for keeping animals or heating a group of greenhouses, the compact version of the FOCUS Monoblock pellet boiler would be the best choice. Its power reaches 35 kW, thanks to automation it is possible to make inexpensive hydraulic wiring based on distribution manifolds and a three-way valve to lower the temperature in the heated floor circuit. This boiler power is sufficient for air heating of greenhouses and animal premises, as well as heated floors.

Automated boiler room for production

What features should an automated boiler room for production have? First of all, we are talking about heating large rooms with significant heat losses. For this reason, the choice of boiler equipment is focused on air heating and powerful heat sources, which are complemented by a system for recirculating air masses from the ceiling to the floor of the room. In workshops, workplaces are also heated using heated floors, radiators and convectors with fans. What are the automation tools for such solutions?

Industrial automatic boiler room

When choosing boiler equipment for production, preference is given to models with maximum automation. Although more expensive to install, it is beneficial as large budgets can be allocated and operation and maintenance costs are dramatically reduced. For this reason, we recommend self-cleaning boilers with ash removal and pneumatic cleaning from our range for organizing a heating circuit. Additional automation makes such equipment virtually maintenance-free.

If we are talking about a separate room, then you can purchase a large-volume boiler hopper for pellets. Depending on the needs and organization of pneumatic feed by auger. It should be noted that screws for supplying fuel pellets in production are made according to a separate project.

The deployment of a boiler circuit will also be required; it will depend on the type of production and the nature of the workshops. In general, we will talk about air heating. If it is the only one, then it is more profitable to purchase a pellet steam generator that will provide electricity and a large amount of heat and build a factory thermal power plant on its basis.

Climate control devices will also be required, but their choice will also differ depending on the specific project.