Fixing Temperature Variations in Your Home
by Kent Warden
Do you have one side of your house that gets warmer than the other? Have you ever wished you could make your bedroom a little cooler in the summer or your finished basement warmer in the winter? Have you ever thought to yourself, “I wish I could just keep part of the house warm instead of heating the entire house when I am the only one home”? If you can relate to these statements, I have good news for you. Your wishes can come true.
The solution is probably simpler than you might think, and in most cases, can be accomplished by “zoning” your existing heating and cooling system. Most homes can be divided into areas, or zones, according to the floor plan. A typical two-story home has three zones: the basement, the first floor, and the second floor. If your home is more stretched out, you may want to have separate zones for the master suite, kids’ rooms, living space, and rec room, for example. However you divide the house into zones, installing motorized dampers and new thermostats in each area will allow for individual control of that zone.
Three components make up the zone system. First, motorized dampers control the airflow to each zone in the house. Depending on the existing ductwork, it may take one or several dampers for each zone. Second, a zone control board is installed and acts as the brain of the system, controlling the dampers and heating/cooling equipment. Finally, new thermostats are installed in each zone. This may be a good time to upgrade to programmable thermostats if you don’t already have one. With a programmable thermostat in each zone, you can have different heat and cool set points throughout the day. At night you can keep your bedrooms warm or cool while letting the rest of the house set back automatically. In the morning the thermostat will warm up parts of the house as needed. The key is that you can control the comfort level of your home, and save energy at the same time by heating or cooling the parts of your home that need it.
One of our customers stated that he appreciates being able to maximize comfort around the occupied portion of the house while saving money not heating or cooling the empty parts of the house.
Another customer went down to work in his basement and was pleasantly surprised at how quickly his basement zone warmed up when it was turned on.
Are you interested? Call Kent at 913-593-5074 and find out if a zone system is right for your home.