A zoning system gives you the power to precisely control the temperature in each area or zone that you establish in your home, while also saving power by reducing your home’s energy usage. Of course, having the right zoning system design is essential. To help you determine the ideal set-up for your Georgia home, here are some tips on zoning-system design:

• Do have a separate zone or zones for upstairs rooms. In a multilevel house, the hotter air rises to the top floor, and can result in upstairs rooms being several degrees hotter than the first floor. A good zoning system design can correct this problem, as long as you make sure each level has its own distinct zones.
• Don’t put two rooms with different heating and cooling loads into the same zone. A room with large west-facing windows will need more air conditioning in the late afternoon hours because of sunlight shining through the glass. The same room on the east side of the house, though, would need more air conditioning in the morning. If you put them into the same zone, one or the other would always be either too hot or too cold.
• Do have a separate zone for any home additions. Building materials and standards change over time, so an add-on to your house may have better — or possibly worse — insulation than the rest of the structure. Either way, the different insulation means it should be in a different zone.
• Don’t put bedrooms and living rooms into the same zone. By keeping your nighttime rooms separate from the rooms you use during the day, you can set the zoning system to only cool or heat half of the house at a time.
• Do have more than one air vent per zone. Having at least two vents provides you with better airflow and temperature stability.
• Don’t locate thermostats in the hallway. Zoning system designs use a different thermostat for each zone, so they should be placed in the rooms where you spend most of your time. Also, if you don’t already use programmable thermostats, now’s a good time to consider upgrading to these energy-efficient ways to control your home’s temperature easily.

If you have any questions about zoning system design, please contact us at Powers Heating & Air. We proudly serve residential and commercial customers in the Peachtree City, Newnan, or Sharpsburg area.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Peachtree, GA and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about zoning system design and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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