Will HVAC Zoning Work for My Home?

Does your family ever experience thermostat wars? We wouldn’t be surprised if you did. That’s because not everyone in the family has the same temperature preferences. Some want the room warmer while others like it cooler. So, how do you deal with this dilemma?

Four Seasons Air Specialists is your trusted HVAC company in Dellwood MN. We are in the business of helping families establish comfortable homes and making them happier.

What is HVAC Zoning?

A system designed to divide your home into multiple zones, HVAC zoning is a revolutionary way of providing customized temperature settings in your home. Each “zone” is being controlled by its own thermostat, allowing you to set each room to the ideal temperature for you. This setup enables you to save energy because instead of having to heat or cool the entire home, you can send heated or cooled air only in areas where you need it. Such a system gives you more control over your comfort, provides energy savings—that goes without saying the end of daily thermostat battles in your home!

How Does it Work?

The system is rather simple. First, we divide your home into zones. Then, a thermostat will be installed within each of those zones. While each thermostat manages its own zone, they’re all linked to one central control panel in your home, making things less complicated for you.

What comes next are the dampers, which are valves or plates that control the airflow inside a duct. These valves will be installed in the ducts of your home. If you have a multi-zone ductless cooling system instead of central air conditioning, dampers will be set up at the air outlet directly on each system. These dampers open and close, depending on your thermostat setting. When a certain zone demands air flow, the dampers will open and let cool or hot air to pass through. When the zone has reached your set temperature, the dampers will shut and stop air flow.

When is HVAC Zoning Helpful?

New homes are the easiest to have HVAC zoning because the system can be integrated within the building blueprint. On the other hand, an existing home may require more provisions to make adjustments to the existing duct network.

Does your home have tall ceilings? If so, you will notice that heat rises and gets trapped all the way at the top, leaving you blistering cold at the ground level. A zoned HVAC system fixes this problem by raising the room’s temperature more frequently, so heat can circulate more, making the room warmer overall. By establishing a separate zone in a room with high ceilings, you will enjoy greater comfort while making sure you have consistent temperatures elsewhere.

Areas such as the attic, a guest room, a library or a basement are probably not always occupied. There is no need for you to spend on heating and cooling these rooms like you would pay to heat or cool the commonly occupied such as your bedroom or kitchen. Zoning enables you to divide your home into different sections and have individual thermostats for each room. This way, you no longer have to consume energy to keep those areas at the same temperature as the rest of the house unless you have to.

Do you have any kind of large windows, such as picture windows, bay windows, or floor-to-ceiling windows? If so, the increased amount of sunlight is probably getting in your home, making it much warmer than you want it to. HVAC zoning enables you create specific zones for these rooms, so you can lower the temperature in those spaces without having to change the temperature in the entire house.

How Do I Get Started with HVAC Zoning?

The best way to determine whether you need HVAC zoning is to consult an HVAC professional, like our guys here at Four Seasons Air Specialists. With extensive knowledge in HVAC zoning, we can tell which particular approach is needed to address your heating or cooling issues at home. As your friendly White Bear Lake heating and air conditioning company, we aim to provide you with the best solutions possible. Since 1974, we have been helping homeowners like you make their families happier by solving their home comfort problems — and eliminating thermostat wars.