Hydronic balancing
Hydronic balancing, also called hydraulic balancing, is the process of optimizing the distribution of water in a building's
System imbalances
To provide the correct power output, heating or cooling devices require a "design flow." Theoretically, it is possible to design plants that deliver the design flow at each
Control valves may temporarily help by gradually reducing the flow in favoured circuits, thus allowing unfavored circuits to achieve the correct flow. This will however cause long delays in reaching the set temperature in the building after night setback and will make the installation very inefficient.[citation needed]
Balancing
Balancing limits the flow in favoured circuits, forcing water through unfavored circuits. As a result, the required design flows are available to all circuits and the system can provide the required
In small heating systems (e.g. domestic systems), balancing is quite easy because of the small number of terminal units and relatively simple
Larger buildings, such as offices or hospitals, have more complicated heating and cooling systems and require a more accurate balancing technique. To obtain a plant with the correct design flows, consultants design systems to include balancing valves, differential pressure controllers or pressure independent control valves.
Mechanisms
Balancing valves allow the measurement of differential pressures which can be used to calculate a flow. There are various balancing methods, but all involve measuring differential pressures and adjusting them to the correct value by calculating the flow which each one represents.
Differential pressure controllers are usually membrane- or spring-driven
Pressure independent valves combine the balancing and control functions in one valve and use springs and/or membranes to precisely control the flows in the distribution network. As such they need no measuring or balancing procedure.