According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), heating and cooling your Vacaville, CA home could account for up to half of your energy bill. The good news is that it doesn’t have to. Recent innovations in HVAC equipment, setup, and system design are allowing for far higher levels of efficiency. HVAC zoning is one such innovation. Zoning divides homes into two or more service areas and eliminates the need to condition air in unoccupied spaces. Read on to learn more about HVAC zoning and determine whether it’s right for you.
How HVAC Zoning Works
Standard, central HVAC systems heat and cool homes uniformly. These systems are governed by a single thermostat that’s installed in a central, neutral location. When you set your thermostat to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, your furnace, heat pump, or air conditioner will run until every room in your home reaches roughly the same temperature.
Although this works well in smaller homes and for households with relatively static heating and cooling needs, it isn’t always comfortable or efficient. Some people in your household may prefer cooler or warmer temperatures than others. There may be hours of the day or night when large areas of the building are completely empty and don’t require heating or cooling.
Zoning optimizes air delivery by sectioning off the air ducts that route conditioned air to individual zones or rooms. HVAC technicians install duct dampers to block the flow of air in areas where it isn’t wanted or need. Zoned HVAC systems also have separate thermostats for each zone or room. This way, residents can control the temperatures in their immediate areas independently.
Call and Hold Signals
Zoned HVAC systems have central zone controllers. Thermostats send “call” or “hold” signals to zone controllers based on the real-time heating and cooling needs for their service areas. When a call signal is received, zone controllers open duct dampers to let conditioned air through to their respective zones. Hold signals cause duct dampers to seal shut so that conditioned air moves on to other rooms.
Static Pressure Mitigation
It might seem possible to achieve the comfort and efficiency of zoning by simply closing HVAC air vents in unoccupied rooms or spaces where residents no longer want heated or cooled air. However, vent closures are extremely harmful to HVAC systems. Closing one or more air vents throughout your home causes a rapid buildup of static pressure in your ducting. This inhibits airflow and places tremendous stress on your HVAC system. Even a single vent closure can eventually lead to stress-related problems like icing, overheating, short cycling, and shutdown.
In addition to providing customized comfort and all-around higher levels of operational efficiency, professional HVAC zoning additionally mitigates buildups of static pressure in HVAC air ducts. When zoning central heating and cooling systems, HVAC technicians install bypass ducts or oversized ducts. These features give unwanted air a place to go so that airflow throughout zoned systems is unimpeded.
Customized Comfort
Zoning is an excellent choice for your home if you have one or more residents who are always hot when everyone else is cold. Zoning accommodates residents with vastly different temperature preferences by giving them the chance to create and maintain the indoor conditions they want in select areas.
Avoid Unauthorized Vent Closures
When homeowners discover that closing air vents places stress on their HVAC equipment and could lead to breakdowns or significantly shorter equipment lifespans, they often make every effort to ensure that all air vents are in a fully or partially opened position. However, your diligence in this area doesn’t mean that everyone else in your household will follow suit. Residents or guests could seal vents shut when you’re away or aren’t looking, especially if they’re desperate for relief. Zoning gives people a safe, alternative way to stop the flow of chilled or heated air when they’re uncomfortable.
Prevent Arguments Over Thermostat Settings
Another sign that you may be a great candidate for HVAC zoning is frequent arguments over your thermostat’s setting. If you’re constantly having to monitor and adjust your central thermostat due to residents cranking it way up or way down, zoning will afford you some relief.
Building Layouts and Zoning
One of the best reasons to zone a home is to eliminate energy waste. For instance, many two-story homes have the majority of their bedrooms upstairs. When everyone retires for the night, central HVAC systems waste tremendous energy to cool empty, downstairs areas. With a two-zone HVAC system, your heater or AC can route all of the conditioned air it produces into the spaces that people are sleeping in. This way, you won’t have to heat or cool your living room, den, kitchen, and family room when they’re unoccupied for long stretches of time.
People on the Move: Zoning and Geofencing
Many of the latest zone control systems are designed to work with smart thermostats. Much like programmable thermostats, smart thermostats can hold the programming for multiple, preset temperature changes. These devices can automatically raise or lower your temperature before you go to bed, leave for work, wake up, or return home. However, smart thermostats are also Wi-Fi-enabled. This allows for:
- Remote temperature monitoring
- Remote temperature changes
- Real-time HVAC performance alerts
- Real-time indoor air quality (IAQ) alerts
- Remote filter change and maintenance reminders
Some smart thermostats also offer geofencing. Geofencing establishes virtual perimeters around and throughout homes. It then tracks residents’ movements within these virtual boundaries and adjusts HVAC output accordingly.
If you opt for a two-zone HVAC system for a two-story home, geofencing will automatically route heated and cooled air away from empty, downstairs areas and into occupied, upstairs rooms when you retire for the evening. Geofencing also works well for busy professionals who don’t always have the time to adjust their thermostats before dashing off or update their pre-programmed thermostat settings. If you leave home unexpectedly, geofencing will make the necessary temperature changes for you.
How Many Zones Can a Zoned HVAC System Have?
Zoned residential HVAC systems can have up to four zones. You can create separate service areas based upon the location of your bedrooms, the location of rooms with the highest amount of activity, or residents’ temperature preferences. When creating zones, our HVAC technicians work closely with homeowners to determine which configurations will provide the greatest comfort, convenience, and energy savings.
Schedule a Consultation
The best way to determine whether HVAC zoning is right for you is by scheduling a consultation appointment. Our team can assess your current ductwork and heating and cooling equipment with our whole home performance analysis. We’ll consider factors like the size of your household, the layout of the building interior, and the square footage of your total service area. As per the DOE, for medium to large-sized homes and households with lots of traffic, zoning could cut heating and cooling-related energy use by as much as 30%.
We help homeowners in Vacaville customize their home comfort, reduce their carbon footprints, and save cash. We offer outstanding cooling, heating, and plumbing services. You can also count on us for cutting-edge IAQ improvements, electrical panel installations, and the latest in home solar technologies. To find out if HVAC zoning is right for you, get in touch with Cozy Home Services today!
