Whether you’re upgrading your existing HVAC system or you’re building a new home, you have the option of going with either a traditional HVAC setup or HVAC zoning. Each comes with its own pros and cons that you should be aware of. We’re going to dive into more detail below about what each one of these setups entails so that you can determine which one is going to be most effective for your home before you speak to your HVAC service technician about your needs.
What Is a Traditional HVAC Setup?
A traditional HVAC setup uses ductwork to deliver hot and cold air throughout your home. Air is pulled in through the return air ducts that run from each room of your home. This air passes through an HVAC filter to remove unwanted airborne contaminants like dust and allergens. Then the air enters your HVAC system to be heated or cooled.
The now-treated air gets distributed through a series of trunks and air supply ducts back to the various rooms of your home. This whole process helps to bring in stale air, treat it, and redistribute it throughout your home. Traditional HVAC setups use a single thermostat to control the temperature throughout your home.
What Is HVAC Zoning?
HVAC zoning takes temperature control to a much higher level. Instead of all the rooms in your home running off of one thermostat, your home can be broken up into different zones where you can set different temperatures for each zone. For example, if you have a two-story home, you can have a thermostat for the zone upstairs and a thermostat for the zone downstairs.
With HVAC zoning, your heating or cooling system still relies on ducting to deliver treated air throughout your home. The main difference is that there are dampers installed in the supply ducting at the entrance of every zone. This allows your HVAC system to completely shut off supply ducting to specify areas of your home that you do not want to have treated air delivered to.
For example, during the wintertime, you may find that your first floor seems to be colder than your second floor due to the natural rising of heat. If you simply want to heat up the downstairs without overheating the upstairs, you can use a zone system. This will shut the damper for the upstairs supply air ducting so that all the hot air your furnace produces will be delivered only to the downstairs of your home.
How Many Zones Can You Have?
When it comes to using HVAC zoning, you can pretty much have as many zones as you would like. Remember that each zone comes with its own respective thermostat to control its temperature. When selecting the appropriate number of zones for your home, it’s important to keep your budget in mind. Every zone you put in will need to have its own thermostat and damper that’s controlled by the HVAC system. This can get quite costly when you try to zone off every individual room in your home. For this reason, most homeowners will only have a couple of zones throughout their homes as this strikes a good balance of affordability and comfort.
When Is HVAC Zoning Most Effective?
There are many different home environments that can make HVAC zoning a great choice for you. One of the most common is having a multi-story home. Because heat naturally rises, the upper stories of your home can be much hotter in both the summer and winter seasons. A zone system is ideal for helping to better control the temperature in your home’s stories so that your home can be more comfortable overall.
Another reason you may want to consider HVAC zoning is if you have a room that has an abundance of large glass windows. During the summertime, sunlight can pour into these windows and drastically increase the temperature in the room. To avoid having to run your air conditioning system to cool down your entire home, it can be beneficial to have that room in its own zone so that you can better control the temperature in that area specifically.
HVAC zoning can also be very beneficial if you have rooms with high ceilings in your home. Rooms with taller ceilings are going to feel colder as heat naturally rises to the top. It can be helpful to put rooms with a high ceiling in their own zone so that you can better control your comfort in that room without having to affect the temperature throughout the rest of your home. Additionally, HVAC zoning systems can be ideal for homes where there is a stark difference in temperatures throughout various rooms. By sectioning off different zones, you can work to eliminate unwanted hot and cold spots throughout your home.
The Many Benefits of HVAC Zoning
When it comes to determining whether or not HVAC zoning is effective for your home, it’s important to understand the various benefits that it can bring you. One of the most significant is increased energy savings. When you’re able to have more control over the temperature in various areas of your home, you can be more efficient with your energy usage. For example, instead of wasting energy heating up your entire home, you can direct all the heat to your lower level. This leads to more energy savings as your heating system won’t have to run as long to heat up just one zone.
Another great benefit of HVAC zoning is better indoor comfort. When you have more control over the temperature settings in different zones instead of relying on a singular temperature setting, you can ensure each area is set at a comfortable temperature for you. You can enjoy not having cold or hot spots throughout your home, which will make all your rooms more livable throughout the year.
Another great benefit of HVAC zoning is that it helps to reduce the strain on your heating and cooling systems. Since they won’t have to run as long to alter the temperature in every room all of the time, their internal components will last much longer. This translates to a much longer system lifespan than if you were to simply rely on a traditional HVAC setup.
When you invest money in having an HVAC zoning system installed in your home, it will help to enhance your home’s overall resale value. This type of system is super convenient for homeowners as they can easily set the temperature as they walk into a zone instead of having to walk to one central location in their home.
While there are many benefits to installing HVAC zoning for your heating system or air conditioner, there are some drawbacks that you should be aware of. The most obvious is the upfront cost. Each zone will need dampers, electronics, and a dedicated thermostat. These costs can add up. Plus, with more system components, comes a higher likelihood for necessary repair service in the future.
Reliable HVAC Zoning Service
Childers Air Plumbing & Electric offers reliable HVAC zoning service for the Beckley, WV area. We can assist with all your electrical, plumbing, heating, cooling, ductless, indoor air quality, ductwork, and commercial HVAC needs. Book an appointment by phoning our office staff today.
