Uneven heating and cooling is very common in homes here in California and Nevada, especially in homes with a lot of windows and a southern exposure. As a side effect of these temperature problems, energy is wasted and utility bills may soar — without ever making your home really comfortable.

Some homeowners actually close off these difficult-to-manage rooms at certain times during the day or year. The good news is that a  zoning system can be the solution to uneven heating and cooling, allowing you to enjoy all the rooms in your home and lower your utilities – without sacrificing comfort.

With a zoning system, the house is divided into zones, and you can set a unique temperature for each zone at any time. To accomplish this level of control, a damper system is added to your home’s ductwork and thermostats are installed in each zone, so that cooled or heated (conditioned) air is easily directed to each zone as needed.

A zoning system is specially designed to deal with these challenges:

• Two-story (or more) homes
• Vaulted ceilings, lofts or other large open spaces
• Large glass doors or window space
• Finished basement or attic spaces
• Concrete-slab floors
• Complicated or extended home layouts
• Extra room additions in back of your home or over your garage
• And even family members with different temperature preferences

To learn more about zoning systems, contact us at AC Pro. We’re happy to answer your questions and help you find a certified local contractor from our network — or get quotes to compare. Please visit our website to learn more about our services or call our toll-free number.

Our goal is to help inform our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Zoning system image via Shutterstock

AC Pro Home Comfort Blog

Do you control all the lights in your house with a single light switch? Of course not! So why control the comfort levels in every room with a single thermostat? Zoning systems make it possible to designate different temperatures for different parts of the house.

Zoning systems send conditioned airflow to “zones” that need it, while closing dampers on zones that don’t. They prevent unnecessary energy use and save money, like keeping lights and fans off in empty rooms.

Some parts of your home are naturally warmer, and some are cooler. For instance, the basement may be hard to keep warm. A bedroom on the top level, facing south, may be difficult to keep cool.

Likewise, some architectural issues can make certain parts of the house uncomfortable. Zoning systems may benefit:

• Buildings with two or more stories.
• Buildings with a single, sprawling level.
• Large open spaces, such as foyers, lofts or vaulted ceilings.
• Newly constructed additions.
• Finished attics or basements.
• Rooms that have many windows, glass doors or glass walls.
• Rooms that are often empty, such as guest rooms.
• Rooms built on top of concrete slabs.

Your thermostat only senses the temperature in its immediate vicinity, not in the basement or upstairs bedrooms. With a zoning system, a thermostat is placed in each zone, and your system will only send conditioned air to the required locations.

You can cluster different rooms of your home together to create your zones. For instance, bedrooms could represent one zone, the kitchen could be in another, and a living room could be in a third. With a zoning system, you can program the bedrooms and kitchen to heat up in the morning, and close the dampers on them while everyone’s out and about.

If you’d like to learn more about how you could increase your savings and comfort with a zoning system, contact a contractor in the AC Pro network. Serving residents in Southern California and Nevada, we’re always happy to answer questions.

Our goal is to help inform our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about zoning systems and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

AC PRO services the Southwestern United States including Southern California and Nevada.  Visit our website to see our special offers to get started today!

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

AC Pro Home Comfort Blog

Here’s a way to make your home more comfortable while reducing your utility bills: Install zone control as part of your heating and cooling system. Zoning systems let you precisely control the temperature at any time of day in any part of your home.

In the past, homeowners tried to achieve the same results by manually closing dampers, registers and doors at various times of the day. It’s an impractical plan, and often ineffective. It also risks the effectiveness of your air conditioning system, as it minimizes airflow. A zoning system means no more shutting off rooms because they are on the sunny side of the house. No more freezing the entire house, wasting energy and sacrificing comfort just to get the bedroom cool enough for proper sleep.

Zoning makes it easier to save energy by only heating or cooling rooms the rooms you need when you need them. Maybe, for instance, you rarely use your top floor. You’d designate that floor as a “zone” and set its thermostat so that it rarely calls for warmed or cooled air. You also can designate individual rooms or a series of rooms as a zone.

How does it work? A zoning system consists of a damper and thermostat for each room or zone. These thermostats are wired to a central panel that controls the dampers as well as your heating and cooling equipment.

A programmable zoned system lets many homeowners maximize energy efficiency. You can program all your zones to return to a set-back point to save energy while the house is empty or you’re sleeping. You can also set the program to warm or cool parts of the house to your desired temperature by the time you plan to arrive home. Some allow different schedules for each day of the week, while others offer one weekday program and one for the weekend, or other options.

To learn more, visit AC Pro and select from a list of qualified air conditioner contractors near you. Our contractors are happy to offer advice on any home comfort issue.

Our goal is to help inform our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about zoning systems and other HVAC topics, click here to download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

AC PRO services the Southwestern United States including Southern California and Nevada.  To get started, check out our website or see our special offers.

AC Pro Home Comfort Blog

If the home you live in suffers from uneven temperature levels that are either too warm or too cool, you may want to consider installing a zoning system to assist your air conditioning and heating units. Zoning systems allow you to manage the comfort levels in specific areas of your house. This enables you to receive the optimal temperature levels in your living space. These systems are a great way to improve your house’s energy efficiency, which will also assist you in reducing the cost of your monthly utility bills.

Zoning systems provide you with the ability to divide your home into set “zones.” The temperature of each zone can be regulated by a programmable thermostat. The thermostat helps your air conditioning and heating system by controlling dampers that direct the airflow to the zone you want it to go.

With a zoning system, you will be able to take the energy that is wasted on zones in your house that aren’t being used and redirect that energy to the area or zone that you are using. The correct use of a zoning system can lower your utility bills up to 30 percent.

Zoning systems increase the effectiveness of your air conditioning and heating system by allowing you to dictate where the warm/cool air will flow. Since some areas of your house won’t need to be as cool or as warm, a correctly managed zoning system can enable you to use lower priced air conditioning and heating equipment that would typically be used for a smaller space. Since units that are designed for smaller areas costs less, and are easier to install and maintain, you can save even more money while you increase the comfort level of your home.

Zoning systems provide homeowners with an excellent option to reduce the cost of utility bills and increase the comfort level in their homes. For more advice on zoning systems and how to improve the comfort levels in your house, contact AC Pro to find a qualified air conditioner contractor near you.

Our goal is to help inform our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about zoning systems and other HVAC topics, click here to download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

AC PRO services the Southwestern United States including Southern California and Nevada.  To get started, check out our website or see our special offers.

AC Pro Home Comfort Blog