Zoning Systems Extend the Life of Your Heating and Cooling Equipment

A zoning system customizes heating and cooling to the individual temperature needs of diverse parts of your home. While upper levels or rooms with generous solar exposure may be uncomfortably toasty on a winter’s afternoon, occupants in a den at the shaded end of the house might be chilly at the same time. The overheating and overcooling that results from a single-thermostat approach keeps your furnace and air conditioner running overtime, stressing expensive components and reducing system service life.

A zoning system allows your single heating and cooling system to accommodate more than one interior climate and keep everyone comfortable. Because each zone is controlled by its own dedicated thermostat, the A/C or furnace doesn’t deliver heating or cooling to the zone until it’s actually required. This reduces wear and tear on HVAC equipment resulting from overcooling and overheating, as well as reducing energy costs as much as 30 percent.

A zoning system incorporates motorized dampers installed inside existing ductwork to open or close airflow to each zone independently. Operated by a central controller that receives thermostat signals from all zones, the system opens dampers to permit airflow to certain zones while closing dampers to zones that don’t require heating or cooling at that moment.

Here’s an example of a typical zoning sequence:

• The default damper position for all zones is open.

• If the thermostat in zone A calls for heating, the central controller closes dampers in all other zones, the furnace activates, and warm air is conveyed only into zone A.

• If zone B subsequently signals for heating also, the controller opens the dampers to zone B, as well. As thermostat settings in each zone are independently achieved, the dampers for that zone close.

• When all zones are at the desired thermostat settings, the furnace stops and the dampers in all zones revert to the default open position.

Sobieski Services offers creative technology like zoning systems to increase comfort and cut heating and cooling costs. Our goal is to help educate our customers in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC & plumbing systems).

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