Zoning Systems: What to Consider

Particularly if you have a large house, making your home comfortable can be a difficult task. Upstairs is a sauna, while the basement is freezing. You may have thought about investing in a zoning system, to ensure each section gets the heating and cooling it needs. Here are some factors to consider.

What is a Zoning System?

The (simplified) reason why it’s so hard to get your entire home comfortable is because different areas of your home have different heating and cooling needs. Yet they’re all controlled by a single thermostat in a single room.

A zoning system divides your home into sections based on their differing needs, and puts a thermostat into each section. The first floor is too hot? Divert more cool air there. The second floor is getting too cold? Send less air to that section.

Pros of Zoning

The main benefit of zoned heating and cooling is that everyone can choose their own comfort level. This prevents “thermostat wars,” wherein people in different areas of the house keep adjusting the temperature back and forth, because one room is too hot while the other is too cold. These wars not only waste energy, they wear out your system more quickly.

Zoning systems also save energy another way: You can turn off zones if no one is occupying them. If the whole family is downstairs in the dining room for dinner, you don’t need to waste energy cooling the bedrooms upstairs.

Cons of Zoning

The main drawback to zoned heating and cooling is that it can cost a lot to install. There’s a lot of equipment involved, and it may involve restructuring your ductwork to divert air to one section or another. With the energy savings, you can eventually recover that cost, but depending on your current energy usage, that may take some time. In the end, you’ll have to decide for yourself whether the benefits of a zoning system are worth the cost.

To learn more about the benefits of a zoning system, contact us at Rinaldi’s Energy Solutions. We proudly serve all of Orlando’s HVAC needs.

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