In houses with multiple stories or large, sprawling floor plans, it’s nearly impossible to maintain consistent temperatures everywhere within the structure. Because warm air rises and cool air sinks, upper floors will be warmer than lower floors. Basement rooms will be considerably cooler than the floors above them. A zoning system, which allows you to divide your home into separate zones or areas with individual temperature control, can relieve problems caused by inconsistent heating and cooling.
When temperatures aren’t reliable, residents in your home can become very dissatisfied. If one person shifts the thermostat to increase the heat in his lower-floor room, then someone in an upper-floor room may feel overheated. Turning the home thermostat down to cool an upper room means that lower rooms may become too cold. This struggle over the thermostat can lead to family disagreements and conflicts.
A zoning system ensures that all residents in the house have their own preferred comfort level. Zoned heating and cooling uses a system of individual thermostats for setting temperatures, and a series of motorized dampers to open and close ductwork to let warm or cool air into the zone as appropriate. Zones can be established in individual rooms or on entire floors.
Additionally, zoning systems allow you to choose which areas of your home receive heating or cooling. If you have a room or other area that isn’t used often, you can shut down conditioning in that area and save money on your monthly energy bills. Zoning systems can reduce overall household energy use by up to 25 percent.
Zoning systems are also good for managing temperature control in areas of your home that need cooling or heating during particular parts of the day, such as when occupants are away at work or sleeping at night. The system will automatically adjust temperatures so that living areas are more comfortable.
Thirty years of HVAC industry experience lies behind the heating and air conditioning services offered in Dayton by Ace Hardware Home Services Inc. Contact us today for more information on zoning systems, to get an estimate, or to schedule a professional installation.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about zoning system design and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
