How To Design A Zoning System

If you have been looking for ways to save money on your utility bills, you may want to have a professional design a zoning system for your home. A zoning system divides your home into “comfort zones” based on the unique heating and cooling demands of each space. Each zone is equipped with a thermostat, and each thermostat controls dampers that regulate the amount of conditioned air that reaches the space.

A zoning system can save you money and create a balance of comfort in your home year-round. But it’s important that certain design guidelines are followed to ensure maximum efficiency:

• Avoid floor combos: Different floors should never be combined in the same zone because heat rises while cold air falls, creating an imbalance.
• Segregate different construction types: If there is any kind of add-on to the original construction of your home, it should have its own thermostat. Additions will likely have improved insulation and will react differently than the rest of your home.
• Keep interior and exterior walls separate: Your contractor should design a zoning system keeping in mind that due to temperature fluctuations, rooms that contain only interior walls should not be zoned with rooms that share perimeter walls to the outside of your home.
• Smartly locate thermostats: The room that will be used the most in any zone should contain the thermostat, and thermostats should never be placed in hallways.
• Avoid conflicting heating loads: As you design a zoning system, areas with extra solar or mechanical heating loads (rooms that receive a lot of sunlight or other heat gain) shouldn’t be zoned with a room that does not receive the same level of heating.
• Shoot for two registers per zone: Having at least two registers in any zoned space will boost your home’s airflow and will keep that airflow constant.

For more expert advice on how to design a zoning system, and other matters related to home comfort, contact the professionals at C.R. Wolfe Heating & Air Conditioning. We have proudly served Middletown and the surrounding area since 1945.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Middletown, New York about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about a zoning system and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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