Most San Francisco area homeowners spend more time in certain parts of their homes than they do in others. So it doesn’t make much sense to heat and cool every part of your house in the same way. An HVAC zoning system is the perfect solution to this problem.
What is HVAC zoning?
A zoning system for your air conditioner, furnace or heat pump allows you to have precise control over the temperature in different areas of your home. You can divide your home into different zones and set each zone to a designated temperature according to how often your family uses that part of your house.
Similar to the way a programmable thermostat adjusts temperatures according to when you’re at home or sleeping, a zoning system can focus your conditioned air on the rooms that you use the most.
How does HVAC zoning work?
Each zone that you designate in your home receives a damper either in the air duct that leads to the zone or near the air register in the zone. The damper opens and closes according to whether or not the zone calls for conditioned air. When the damper is open, air is allowed in to heat or cool the zone. When the damper is closed, the zone receives no conditioned air.
Each zone receives its own thermostat that you can set to your liking. When a thermostat detects that a zone needs to be heated or cooled, it sends a signal to a central control panel that asks for the HVAC unit to send conditioned air. Its damper is then opened to allow the air into the zone.
Once every zone in your home has reached its desired temperature, your HVAC unit shuts off and stops sending conditioned air.
What are the main advantages of HVAC zoning?
HVAC zoning comes with a few great benefits. For one, it allows you to have maximum control over the comfort levels in your home. You’ll experience much less hot and cold spots with a zoning system because your HVAC unit is able to give more attention to each separate part of your house.
HVAC zoning also saves energy because your heating and cooling units only work as hard as they need to in order to satisfy each zone. That means they won’t have to waste energy on conditioning rooms that you don’t spend a lot of time in.
If you have any questions about HVAC zoning, or if you’d like a zoning system installed in your home, contact Cabrillo, your San Francisco plumbing, heating and cooling company. We service the San Francisco area and surrounding cities like Lafayette, Menlo Park, Orinda and Pacifica.