A number of issues can reduce comfort in a home, including the home’s design, environmental factors, inefficient airflow and heat gain and loss through air leaks and inadequate insulation. Explore the benefits of a zoning system to enhance home comfort, and you’ll appreciate lower cooling and heating bills, too.
One room too hot, another too cold?
For many households, it’s a challenge to satisfy the comfort needs of all occupants at the same time, especially when you’re relying on only one thermostat. It’s like trying to please a large family with one flavor of ice cream. These are some of the situations where a zoning system proves beneficial:
- Two or more levels of living space
- Room additions
- Retrofitted attic or basement to living space
- Sprawling floor plan
- Large windows
- Excessive heat gain due to sun orientation
- Large open areas, such as an atrium, vaulted ceilings and lofts
- Occupants with different temperature preferences
- Sun rooms, home offices and studios
- Areas in a home are used infrequently
Zoning systems – just right
A zoning system manages temperatures from one zone to the next by using a network of automatic duct-system dampers and thermostats. The thermostats are monitored at a central control panel, and signal the duct dampers to open or close, adjusting airflow to each zone to maintain temperature settings for each zone.
Before you install a zoning system, your HVAC professional should perform a home-efficiency evaluation with specialized equipment to pinpoint and seal air leaks, and detect areas of the home that need more insulation. Once your home is buttoned up, your HVAC pro can group the rooms and areas in your home into zones by the following methods:
- Perform a heat gain/loss calculation room by room
- Ask questions regarding energy-usage habits
- Evaluate efficiency differences in building materials between room additions and retrofitted areas to the original home
- Separate zoned rooms and areas to the same floor (for multi-level homes)
Everyone in your household may not agree on temperature settings, but everyone can be happy and agreeable with a zoning system. For more information, please contact us at Mowery Heating, Cooling and Plumbing. We’ve served homeowners in the greater Indianapolis area since 1970.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Brownsburg, Indiana and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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