Tag Archives: Zoned HVAC System

A Zoning System Can Save You Energy and Money

A Zoning System Can Save You Energy and MoneyIn the average household, heating and cooling accounts for approximately 40 percent of total annual energy consumption. If you currently have a single-zone HVAC system with one thermostat to control your furnace, heat pump or air conditioner, installing a zoning system can help you save energy and lower your annual operating costs.

How Zoned Systems Work

Zoned systems use motorized ductwork dampers to divide a home into multiple independent sections or zones. Each zone has a thermostat that’s wired to a central control panel. When one of the thermostats calls for heating or cooling, the control panel opens the damper for that zone and signals the HVAC equipment to cycle on.

Zoning is the ideal solution to control HVAC energy consumption in large or multi-story homes. It’s also well-suited for homes with features that make efficient heating and cooling more difficult, like numerous large windows, a loft, cathedral ceilings, a sunroom, or finished space over the garage or in the attic.

Benefits of a Zoning System

A well-designed and properly installed zoning system offers some significant benefits:

  • Energy savings. With the precise control you’ll gain from zoning, you won’t pay to heat and cool the whole house all the time. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a zoning system paired with programmable thermostats can lower yearly heating and cooling costs up to 30 percent. You can boost energy efficiency even more by upgrading to a variable-speed air handler.
  • Consistent comfort. With a single-zone system, is usually only the area closest to the thermostat that’s heated or cooled accurately, which can leave other areas too hot or too cold. A zoned system’s individual thermostats provide better temperature control and virtually eliminate uneven heating or cooling.
  • Extended equipment life. When you have a zoned system, your HVAC equipment doesn’t have to run at full capacity or cycle on and off as often to keep your home comfortable, so it won’t wear out as quickly.

To learn how a zoning system can help you save energy and money in your Peachtree City area home, contact us at Powers Heating & Air.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Peachtree City, Georgia and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about zoning systems and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 770-487-2040.

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How to Deal with Hot and Cold Spots Throughout Your Home

How to Deal with Hot and Cold Spots Throughout Your HomeIf your Peachtree City home has uneven heating or cooling, you may find certain parts of the house are predictably uncomfortable. Eliminate hot and cold spots and increase the efficiency of your system with these tips.

Check Your Vents

Go through your home and make sure there are no obstructions in front of your vents. If you have furniture placed over or in front of a vent, air won’t be able to circulate properly throughout the room, creating hot and cold spots. It’s also important to make sure your vents are all open. It’s a common myth that closing vents in parts of the house will help regulate temperature, but closing vents will actually increase pressure in the home and may damage your HVAC system.

Install a Zoned HVAC System

A zoned HVAC system allows you to safely turn heating and cooling on or off to various parts of the home. This is the ideal solution for a home with numerous hot and cold spots. A zoned system uses dampers in the ducts to separate different parts of the home. You can use this system to adjust temperatures independently for each part of the house.

Increase Circulation

Ceiling fans can increase circulation in the home to eliminate hot and cold spots and increase the efficiency of your HVAC system. Make sure your fan is set to rotate counterclockwise in summer and clockwise in winter.

Schedule Regular HVAC Maintenance

Regular HVAC maintenance is essential to keep your system operating efficiently. You should have your heating serviced each fall before you turn the system on for the first time in the year, and have your air conditioner serviced annually in early spring.

If you want to schedule your annual maintenance or talk about the options for a new zoned system, contact Powers Heating & Air. 

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Peachtree City, Georgia and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).

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Learn About the Great Benefits of Zoned HVAC Systems

Learn About the Great Benefits of Zoned HVAC SystemsFayette’s intense summers don’t make it easy to stay cool, and certain home designs further complicate the problem. Zoned HVAC systems can help by ensuring even, comfortable temperatures in every room.

Zoning for Comfort and Savings

A zoned heating and cooling system creates “zones” or parts of the house that can be cooled and heated independently from each other. To accomplish this, the system uses dampers in the ducts to direct airflow, a programmable thermostat for each zone and a control panel to manage the system. As a result, you’ll enjoy the following benefits.

  • More even temperatures – A zoned system solves the problem of rooms or parts of the house that are hard to cool or heat. You won’t have to over cool or over heat one part of the house to achieve a reasonable temperature in another.
  • Greater control – There may be times when you need a little extra cooling or heating in a certain part of the house. For instance, if you’re doing a lot of cooking, extra air conditioning near the kitchen can help you stay comfortable. Depending on its design, a zoned system can make this kind of control a reality.
  • Energy savings – When you no longer have to raise or lower your thermostat temperature just to accommodate for one part of the house, you can select more energy efficient temperatures and lower your energy bills.

When to Consider Zoning

Zoned HVAC systems are best suited to certain home designs and situations. These include:

  • Multi-story houses
  • Houses with multiple wings
  • Finished attics and basements
  • Cathedral, vaulted and other high ceilings
  • Picture windows, bay windows and other expanses of glass
  • Houses with little-used areas like formal dining rooms, guest rooms or spare bedrooms.

Zoning also makes it easier to keep a home addition comfortable. A room or group of rooms built on to an existing house often have different cooling and heating needs from the rest of the house. A zoned system lets you manage temperatures in these areas separately from each other.

To learn more about how zoned HVAC systems can keep your home in Peachtree City, Fayetteville, Tyrone or Brooks more comfortable, contact us at Powers Heating and Air.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Peachtree City, Georgia and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).

Credit/Copyright Attribution: “milo827/Shutterstock”