zoning
The Ultimate in Comfort Control
Zoning is the controlled delivery of heating and cooling to different areas (zones) in your home or business as desired, making you more comfortable. Whether it’s an existing building or new construction, zoning is the solution to your comfort problems.
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Individual Zoning is Key for Control
A zoning system for your HVAC system is a way to control the temperature for each area, or “zone” in your home, rather than have to heat or cool the whole house to the same temperature. With a zoning system, you can set temperatures differently for either individual rooms or sections of your home.
Most forced air heated homes have a single thermostat, and therefore a single zone. Once that thermostat calls for heating or cooling there is virtually no way to control the temperature in each room of the house except by manually closing off the outlets in each room.
Zoning solves this problem. It also allows you to save energy (and therefore money) by not heating or cooling rooms when they don’t need it. For example, this allows you to keep one bedroom at 66ºF , another bedroom at 72ºF all while maintaining 70ºF in a family room. You can turn the heat off in a vacant guest room, or turn down rooms for certain times of the day when they are unoccupied. Will one section of your home be too hot in the morning due to solar gains while other parts still need heat? Easily program your thermostat to heat only the areas of the house that need heat during those hours. Directing the right amount of heat to the right rooms is be a big energy saver. Such is the power of zoning.
By choosing a comfort system with zoning, you’ll only use energy when you need it, which can save you money on your monthly energy bills. You’ll also reduce your carbon footprint and be a bigger part of the “green” movement.
Is a zoning system right for your home?
Almost every household can benefit from a zoned HVAC system. That’s because most homes have a room that’s always too hot or too cold, and family members with different temperature preferences. Zoning systems allow you to accommodate those different comfort needs, while also helping you save energy.
You should also consider zoned HVAC if you have large windows in your home, a top floor that’s always warmer than lower floors, rooms that you seldom use or that feel stuffy, or special areas like a home office or gym that need additional cooling.
Is zoning costly? Is it worth the investment?
In some homes, zoning is a “must” if reasonable comfort levels are to be attained given the architectural features of the home. However, in many applications, zoning can be considered an upgrade. Some systems can be easily upgraded with the addition of automatic dampers and additional controls (like temperature sensors and thermostats). Other systems may require additional HVAC units to effectively accomplish zoning, which may become expensive. In any scenario, it’s certainly worth exploring the costs and then weighing them against the benefits of
1) a more fine-tuned level of comfort throughout the home, and
2) less wear and tear on a single system that would otherwise bear the burden of servicing the entire home.
The experts at Capitol District Supply would be happy to walk you through these considerations to help determine whether a zoned system is right for your home.