Zoned
Heating and Cooling Systems
From the first blast
of winter through the dog days of summer, it is a domestic
power struggle more fierce than the competition for the television remote
control. When one thermostat controls the temperature for an
entire house, it produces predictable results that pit husband
against wife and basement playroom against upstairs office
in "The Battle of the Thermostat".
The war begins when dad
turns the thermostat down because the family room is too warm.
A few minutes later mom turns up the thermostat because the bedroom
is too cold. Eventually, someone is opening a window or closing
a vent to get the temperature just right, and no one is really
comfortable. But there's a better solution than family feuds
or dressing in layers.
Zoned heating and cooling systems allow you to control the temperature
of each room individually. By using a series of motorized dampers
and thermostats that work independently, zoning can eliminate hot
or cold rooms found in almost every home, while cutting energy
by up to 25 percent, according to Anne Drake, a spokeswoman for
Honeywell's zone control systems.
"People like to save energy, but they don't like to sacrifice
comfort," said Drake. "Energy savings used to be the
key thing in people's minds when it came to air conditioning and
heating, now comfort is also a major consideration. When you sit
down and explain to people what zoning does from a cost efficiency
standpoint, you are basically offering them comfort in their home."
Simple laws of physics illustrate why it
is virtually impossible to keep an entire house at a consistent temperature
without zoning. Warm air rises while cold air sinks, leaving upstairs rooms six to ten degrees warmer and basements six to ten
degrees cooler than ground level rooms. A single thermostat keeps
the temperature balanced in the room where it is located, but can't
tell if the temperature has changed in other rooms of the house.
Zoning helps maintain a consistent temperature throughout the house
by providing different levels of air distribution to different
areas of the home.
Zone controlled systems
divide a home into areas with common heating and cooling needs
during specific parts of the day. Air flow is controlled in each
area by a separate thermostat. Instead of sending the same amount
of heated or cooled air into all rooms every time the furnace
or air conditioner is turned on, the system sends conditioned
air only to the zones that need it. Temperatures can be kept
at an ideal comfort level when the family is up and about, then
changed to an energy-saving temperature overnight or when the
family is away.
For example, in a typical
two-story house, the main floor with the living room, kitchen
and dining area, is usually occupied during the evenings. Bedrooms
are occupied mostly at night and in the early morning. With zoning,
you can cool or heat one area of the house at a time. You can
also select different temperature settings for each zone of the
house. In most homes, a two or three zone system is sufficient.
Rarely does a home require more than three zones.
Most homes can be zoned
according to room occupancy, but unique exposure factors may
require a different zoning strategy. A room with large amounts
of glass facing south or west will have more heat gain than other
rooms in the home. A separate zone might be required for that
room alone!
At an average price of
$1,200, zone control systems provide a cost efficient alternative
to dual air systems that require separate air conditioners and
furnaces for different areas of the house, according to Ron Reinhardt
of Research Products Corporation.
"It just makes sense. You become more comfortable in your
home, and you save money."
Zone control is especially
effective in homes that have multiple levels, sprawling designs,
large glass windows, or large open areas such as an atrium or
solarium. Existing homes with finished basements, attic spaces
and additions are also good candidates for zoning. Almost all
forced air systems can be converted for zone control, according
to Reinhardt. "A control panel, thermostats, dampers and
the proper duct work are all it takes."
Builders are still learning
about zone control systems, even though HVAC contractors have
been installing them for the last five years or more. Zoning
is still being introduced in some regions of the United States
and has been well received by the home-buying public.
While
still in it's infancy, zoning is to heating and cooling what the
light switch is to lighting. Virtually all homes come equipped
with more than one light switch, and one day soon, homes may
come with more than one thermostat.
Sharon Ray is a freelance writer based in
Atlanta, Ga.
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