HVAC Zoning System: A Short Guide

HVAC systems work round the clock to maintain a comfortable indoor environment in your home.

But even then, you will notice there are often spots that feel really cold when the other parts of the house are warm; or that the top floor is too warm even when the rest of the house is cool.

These temperature differences are caused due to multiple reasons – angle of the sunlight pouring in, physics of heat and the design of your house for instance.

No matter how well your HVAC systems are functioning, they cannot overcome these temperature fluctuations that stop your house from having uniform heating or cooling. HVAC Zoning systems help to regulate the temperature in these difficult to manage parts of the house.

Unlike one temperature setting for all rooms of the house, zoning systems divide the house into ‘zones’ with their own set of programming and controls.HVAC Zoning systems allow you to even out the temperature differences in various corners or floors of the house and also provide for personal preferences with respect to temperature settings.

Difference between average HVAC systems and Zoning Systems

HVAC Zoning systems work a bit differently from traditional air conditioners and furnaces. Zoning systems have dampers inside the ducts that direct cooling and heating to various parts of your home. An additional zone control panels also exists.

This facilitates communication between the dampers, the thermostat and the AC or heating unit through electrical controls.

Programmable thermostats that can maintain different temperatures in the different zones of the house are also required for zoning systems to do their job.HVAC Zoning systems are generally sold as a package and include all the necessary parts like dampers, control panels, thermostat, and sensors that can automatically correct any fluctuations in temperature and air pressure in any of the zones.

Advantage of HVAC Zoning Systems

The biggest advantage of zoning systems over traditional ACs and furnaces is greater energy efficiency. Zoning systems help consumers save about 30 percent on their utility bills.

By designating different rooms as separate zones in the house, you can further increase efficiency in heating and cooling. So that no matter how warm or cool you wish to keep your room, you won’t be wasting energy cooling other rooms of the house.

But it is important to have the right system design otherwise it can lead to static pressure. The components of the system will have to work harder, as a result. And this will not bring down your energy bills but increase them.

House Design for Zoning Systems

Zones in the house need to be created keeping in mind various factors like individual temperature preferences, window size and direction of sunlight, flooring, and purpose of the room (kitchen/gym/office).

It is also important to decide where you wish to place the zone control point for your convenience. Depending on the ductwork of your house, a professional contractor can suggest suitable zone designs and requirements.HVAC Zoning systems do require an initial set-up cost but they are energy efficient and highly convenient.