Zoning streamlines HVAC systems for custom air delivery. While standard, central HVAC systems heat and cool homes uniformly, zoning divides buildings into two or more service areas. Each service area is equipped with its own smart thermostat, and building residents can control the temperatures in individual zones independently. Currently ranked among the most popular efficiency upgrades available, HVAC zoning is an excellent way to cut the costs of temperature control in your Anaheim, CA home.
Why Zone Your HVAC System?
If you have a large household, there’s a good chance that some residents have vastly different temperature preferences from others. There’s also a good chance that residents have vastly different heating and cooling needs. For instance, you probably don’t need to heat or cool the rooms of people who are away at school, off to work, or on extended vacations. Zoning makes it possible for homeowners to selectively raise or lower temperatures in specific areas.
If most of your home’s bedrooms are upstairs and the first floor is empty when everyone goes to sleep, zoning will eliminate the need to use energy and spend money on downstairs temperature control overnight. With zoning, people can create the conditions they want right where they are while eliminating the flow of air into unoccupied spaces.
HVAC Air Vent Closures for Customized Air Delivery
For many years, people simply closed their HVAC air vents when they wanted to direct conditioned air away from their immediate locations. Although closing air vents certainly seems effective enough, this isn’t what these features are made for. Instead, in addition to distributing air, air vents allow for system-wide air balancing. This prevents hot and cold spots in remote rooms and supports optimum airflow. HVAC technicians strategically adjust air vents when performing air balancing services or correcting airflow obstructions.
Closing a vent entirely disrupts air balancing throughout the entire HVAC system. It also places a tremendous amount of stress on heaters and air conditioners by inhibiting airflow and triggering a build-up of static pressure in HVAC ductwork. Closing vents as a means for customizing air delivery can lead to problems like overheating, short cycling, icing, and premature equipment failure. It can also drive your energy bills up by making your heating and cooling equipment work much harder. Comparatively, zoning allows for customized comfort without harming HVAC systems.
How HVAC Companies Zone HVAC Systems
Zoning divides homes into separate service areas or zones according to building layouts, household sizes, and residents’ needs among other factors. Once indoor zones are established, our technicians section off HVAC ductwork to reflect new air delivery requirements. We install motorized duct dampers at each zone juncture. When these dampers close, they route air away from rooms or spaces where it’s no longer wanted.
Bypass Ducts and Other Pressure Relief Techniques
Bypass ducts are an integral part of many HVAC zoning systems. Bypass ducts are secondary ducts that accept unwanted airflow after duct dampers have closed. These ducts prevent the build-up of static pressure that occurs with vent closures and ensure that heating and cooling equipment never experience undue stress.
Bypass ducts are but one of several strategies that our team can use to regulate pressure within your ducting. For instance, we can also install oversized HVAC air ducts at select junctures to create additional space for unwanted air.
Central Zone Control Systems
The movements of bypass ducts and duct dampers in zoned HVAC systems are governed by central zone control units. These units receive signals from each of the thermostats that are installed throughout homes. When zones are under or over the temperature that’s set at their thermostats, zone control units open dampers and bypass ducts until the desired temperature is achieved.
Smart Thermostats
All zoned HVAC systems require smart thermostats. Smart thermostats are compatible with the zone control technologies that drive these systems. They also offer many cutting-edge features and functions that add to the already impressive efficiency of zoning:
- Energy tracking and reporting
- Geofencing
- Remote temperature management
- Timely reminders for HVAC maintenance
When installing a zoned HVAC system in your Anaheim home, you also have the option of integrating your new equipment with all of your other smart home features.
How Many Service Areas Can a Zoned HVAC System Have?
Central HVAC zoning models the efficiency and convenience of ductless mini-split systems without the need to replace central heating and cooling equipment. Often used in older homes that lack the ductwork for supporting central HVAC, ductless mini-splits can have up to eight separate zones. To ensure the ideal balance between convenience and overall HVAC performance, zoned central HVAC systems can only accommodate up to four zones.
Many homeowners create just two zones: one upstairs and one downstairs. However, if you want to separate your gaming room or theater room from your bedrooms, living room, or kitchen, you can. This way, you can keep temperatures in select areas sufficiently cool to protect costly electronics while maintaining a warm, cozy environment everywhere else.
Explore the Lesser-Known Benefits of HVAC Zoning
Homeowners throughout California are increasingly looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprints and lower their energy costs. With natural gas and electricity rates on the rise, zoning your home is an excellent way to lower your monthly spending while still maintaining a safe, healthy, and all-around comfortable living environment.
Benefits like these are incredibly appealing to prospective home buyers as well. Thus, even if you’re planning on listing your property soon, zoning could still be a worthwhile improvement. With savvy buyers increasingly looking for efficiency upgrades, zoning could mean finding qualified prospects much sooner and being able to command a higher asking price.
According to ENERGY STAR, the move to smart thermostats alone could help homeowners shave as much as 8% off their heating and cooling costs each year. Not only does zoning instantly transition consumers to these innovative temperature control devices, but it also provides many other efficiency gains by eliminating the need to cool or heat unoccupied spaces and allowing residents to customize temperatures in their immediate areas.
Over the long term, a properly zoned HVAC system can also enjoy a longer lifespan. When they’re no longer responsible for heating or cooling entire homes all of the time, furnaces, air conditioners, and heat pumps sustain far less wear. Not only do these appliances often last longer with zoning, but they also experience fewer stress- and wear-related breakdowns along the way.
Is Zoning Right for Your Anaheim Home?
If you’re tired of hearing family members argue over the thermostat, dealing with the HVAC damages caused by extended vent closures, or simply ready to cut your energy use and your spending, zoning is right for you. A zoned HVAC system will keep your home on par with both current market standards and the increasingly stringent efficiency expectations of the state.
We help residents of Anaheim, CA reduce their carbon footprints without compromising their comfort. We offer exceptional heating, cooling, and indoor air quality services. You can also count on us for top-notch zoning systems, heat pumps, and ductwork installation, maintenance, and repairs. To find out about our preventative maintenance plans or schedule an appointment for zoning, contact Sano Heating & Air Conditioning today.
