Zoning Puts You In Charge

Have you sometimes wished you could heat or cool only the rooms you spend the most time in, rather than heating and cooling your entire home? Well, this is possible with zoning. That's because a zoned heating and air conditioning system let's you independently control the temperature in different parts of your house. Probably the best way to explain how zoning works is to compare it with lighting. Each room in your home has its own light switch. These individual light switches allow you to light only the areas you need instead of the entire house. Zoning works much the same way, giving you control over your comfort, room by room by room.

A Look Inside Shows You How It Works

A home that has been zoned with controls, using a single comfort system would consist of an outdoor air conditioner or heat pump, an indoor furnace or air handler, a system controller, zone comfort sensors, and a modulating damper for each zone. For a better idea of how this works, take a look at the illustration above. As you can see, each zone has its own comfort sensor which acts as an individual thermostat. These sensors relay information to the system controller. The system controller activates the home comfort system and the modulating dampers in the ductwork, sending the right amount of conditioned air to the zones where it is needed. Zoning with controls allows you to program your comfort, zone by zone by zone, depending on your family's schedule and the way you live.

Zoning From A to Z

There are basically three different ways that zoning can be applied to your home. For example, your home could be zoned with equipment. This means you could have two - or more - completely separate comfort systems, each with an air conditioner, a furnace and a thermostat. One system might supply conditioned air to a downstairs area, while the other system handles the upstairs area.

Or your home could be zoned with controls and dampers, using a single comfort system. In this case, your home could be divided into as many as eight areas or "zones," with each zone having its own sensor that monitors the temperature and controls it with a motorized mechanical dampeL The third way is simply a combination of these two methods with two or more systems, each zoned with controls.

Would you like more information or a free estimate?
Use our handy Estimate Form!