HVAC Zoning System Guide For Your Home

An HVAC zoning system is a cooling and heating system that makes use of dampers within the ductwork for redirecting and regulating the air flow to specific areas in the house. Zoning helps in creating customized temperature zones within your Northern California house for increased efficiency and comfort. Keep reading to learn more about how HVAC zoning works and whether it will work for you.

Mechanism Behind HVAC Zoning

Forced air systems make use of a single thermostat for controlling both heating and cooling. Once the thermostat is set, there is no other way for you to control individual room temperatures unless you manually close the vents in the room. HVAC zoning makes use of 2 or more thermostats placed in different portions of the house along with an electronic monitor.

The electronic monitor activates the installed dampers within the ductwork for moving the conditioned air to areas where it is required the most. Certain monitors can be used with cellphone apps and wireless thermostats.

Benefits of A Zoned HVAC

HVAC zoning is an efficient, simple, and affordable way of attaining more control over your HVAC system. You don’t need an additional system for satisfying the whims of different family members. The electronic monitors will control automatic dampers that allows the temperature to be controlled individually in separate areas of the house.

Zoned HVAC systems work best for large homes or multi-story homes where there are certain rooms that are hardly used. You can reduce energy consumption and prevent uneven comfort. On top of this, zoning areas can also accommodate for special needs in terms of windows, sun exposure, and construction. Zoning allows for better comfort through improved energy usage. This reduces the stress placed on the HVAC system and prevents costly breakdowns.

Convert Your HVAC System

Your current system may be converted to a zoned HVAC system since a zoned system is not much different from a forced air HVAC system. You would need to install control panels, dampers, and thermostat sensors to convert your HVAC system into a zoned system. Zoning would be created by installing several dampers inside the ductwork to direct air flow to those parts of the house that need it most. Varying panels will also need to be installed for individual control. The control panels should offer control over the heating and cooling.

Do You Need a Zoning System?

There are always rooms that are used more frequently than others regardless of the size of the house. You can cut down energy costs in both summer and winter with HVAC zoning. HVAC zoning is for you if:

• Your current system is unable to keep up with demands
• There are huge temperature fluctuations in different areas of the home
• You want increased control over the temperature in different areas
• You have a multi-story home with difficult to cool areas

You would benefit from installing a zoning system if you have multiple rooms or flows in your home that are not regularly used. You may want to upgrade if you want to stop wasting energy on conditioning unused areas. Single stage systems should not be zoned since they always run on 100% capacity. You should have a trained professional assess your individual needs and recommend the best system.