Saturday, August 4, 2018

Why Zoning Your Home's HVAC System Makes Sense

By Debra Reynolds


It's hard to say how much the average household spends on indoor climate control annually, but it's quite a tidy amount. In most cases, this means paying to heat or cool every room within at the same time. If that sounds familiar, chances are that you've wondered if there's a less-wasteful way to go about this. As it turns out, there's a perfect answer for you in the form of HVAC Cape Coral zoning.

Like the name suggests, zoning is basically a way of creating subsections within a building to allow for localized temperature management. This is accomplished by installing dampers inside air ducts, a programmable thermostat for every zone, and a central control panel. The result is a system that allows for control over airflow throughout the house.

The fact that zoning involves the addition of components means it further complicates what's already an intricate mechanism. But why would you opt for this when upsizing offers a much simpler solution? Just like you wouldn't want all your lights to be controlled from one switch, there's no sense in having one thermostat for the entire house. If you're not convinced, just take a look at other benefits to be had from a zoned system:

Energy Savings: Zoning will eliminate the need to circulate air throughout the house just to heat/cool a single room. If studies are anything to go by, this could cut down your home's energy consumption by 30%. Your carbon footprint will also shrink, which means you'll be making a bigger contribution towards sustainability.

Convenience: Being able to adjust temperature at a room level sounds like a great idea on paper, but how practical is it? As it so happens, remote controls typically come as standard features of zoned systems. There's also the possibility of connecting yours to your smartphone. Either way, not much effort will be required on your part.

Improved Consistency and Quality: With a zoned system, you'll be able to eliminate the temperature fluctuations associated with traditional heating and AC equipment. More crucially, it won't let as much air travel around the space as is the case with the latter. This translates to a lower likelihood of contaminants spreading through the house.

While there's no universal formula for zoning a heating and AC system, it's worth stressing that this is a process that involves many variables. The benefits are contingent upon proper configuration, installation and testing of all the components. The first is particularly crucial -- this ensures that the design matches the size and layout of the space. Also keep in mind that failure to achieve the desired performance is rarely an equipment issue. Rather, it's typically related to a lack of design and installation expertise.

Although zoning isn't the only way to improve the performance of your equipment, there's no other solution that can do so without sacrificing comfort. So don't waste too much time comparing the cost to that of other alternatives. Instead, focus more on the savings you stand to make in the long run. Talking to a professional can help you identify the best way to go about the zoning process.




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