Basics of hydronic balancing and types of hydronic balancing

Hydronic balancing ensures that the right amount of water is distributed in the heating system. Its main objective is therefore to make optimal use of the hot water.  

To enable individual room temperatures/control for each radiator, radiator valves with pre-setting must be used to individually regulate the mass flows of the heating system. Pre-setting ensures that only as much hot water as is required to achieve the desired room temperature is provided in each radiator or heating circuit. 

It should always first be decided which balancing variant – static or dynamic – makes sense for the respective system, as the automatic system supplements both concepts or acts as an alternative.  

For small or single family housing, for underfloor heating in existing buildings, static pre-balancing combined with automatic flow control based on room temperature gives the best results due to the inertia of the system. The necessary components for this are easy to retrofit.  

For radiator systems in single or multifamily buildings, on the other hand, the combination of dynamic balancing and automation offers the greatest optimization potential, either in new buildings or existing buildings. This solution optimally reflects changing user behavior in particular.  

In large-scale systems with more than 20 radiators or heating circuits, pressure-independent valves must always be used on the radiators or in the rises, otherwise the reliable function of the temperature-based automatic control cannot be guaranteed.