Keeping your home warm during the winter can be a hit or miss, especially with the Minneapolis weather. One room gets warmer faster than another so that your basement is freezing while you’re sweating in the upstairs bathroom. It can be a real juggle with the thermostat to get the room you’re in to be the perfect temperature. If there is a struggle for the temperature of your home to be perfect, there are ways to set the amount of heat going into each room. This is called HVAC zoning.
What is zoning?
Zoning is a way to set up your furnace or air conditioner to separate the flow of air to different parts of your home. This allows each area, or zone, to be set at a different temperature. In a non-zoned HVAC system, the air is forced out one path into the air ducts to go into each path that the ducts take it. That is why it is called a forced system. The zoned system has different paths from the start of your HVAC system. It creates a way to get your heated or cooled air to the places you need it most.
How does zoning work?
As mentioned before, zoning starts with different paths at your HVAC unit. From there, there are dampeners in each section connected to its own control panel. The control panels are synced to the thermostats placed in each zone of your home. The dampeners open and close automatically depending on the signals from the assigned thermostat to the zone. If you would like to learn more about how zoning works with your home, contact your HVAC professionals to take a look at where your zones are.
What are the pros and cons of zoning?
There are some pros and cons to zoning your HVAC unit. Initially, the cost of getting your home zoned can take a hit to your finances. Additionally, zoning can be difficult to set up correctly, so you will want to make sure the HVAC team setting up zoning knows what they are doing. However, the benefits of zoning can outweigh the disadvantages. Zoning significantly lowers your energy bills because the energy used is focused to specific rooms. It also adds personalized comfort to your home making the temperature in the room you’re in to what you want. Zoning also helps the temperatures in your home feel more even. Traditionally, heat rises, so the upstairs is warmer than the basement. With zoning, more heat can be brought back to the basement to keep it the same temperature as the rest of your home.
Getting the right temperature of your home is a lot easier with HVAC zoning. If you would like to learn more about zoning for your home, give us a call! We can help you determine the best way to zone your home and find the right HVAC system to get the most out of your furnace.
