How an HVAC Zone Control System Can Save You Money This Summer

Does your family fight the Thermostat Wars? One side thinks it's too hot and turns down the thermostat. The other thinks it's too cold and turns it up again. It's a long, drawn-out battle that can last all summer — and drive your energy bills up in the process. Fortunately, HVAC zone control lets everyone in the house have their ideal temperature without disturbing anyone else or wasting energy.

What Is HVAC Zone Control?

There are several reasons for Thermostat Wars. The first is biology. On average, women prefer temperatures around 77 degrees, while men prefer temperatures around 71 degrees. The other reason is physics. Heat rises, so if you have multiple stories, the top floors will be hotter than the ground level. Likewise, if one side of the house gets direct sunlight, there will be a significant temperature difference.

HVAC zone control splits the house into zones according to their individual temperature needs. Then, each zone gets its own thermostat that the occupant of that zone can set to his or her preference. If one zone is warmer, the system sends more air there. If another is cooler, air is diverted from that zone. This way, everybody's happy and comfortable.

How HVAC Zone Control Saves Money

While a regular HVAC unit blows full blast all the time, your HVAC zone control system uses a variable-speed air handlerto control the amount of air each room gets. Only giving each area what it needs ensures no air or energy is wasted.

You can also set which rooms are occupied at any given time. If the whole family is downstairs, you can turn off the upstairs zones, saving air and money. You can even program the thermostat according to your sleep schedule. The living room gets more air during the day, but at night, that zone turns off and the bedrooms get the air instead, thus saving money and bringing a peaceful end to the Thermostat Wars once and for all.

To install an HVAC zone control system in your home, contact us at Air Assurance. We provide energy-efficient home-comfort solutions to the Broken Arrow area.

How Can a Zoning System Benefit You?

If you live in a home with more than one level, odds are you could benefit from a zoning system. Other special circumstances in a home also make HVAC zoning a good idea.

With a zoning system, the home is divided into two or more separate areas, in which the rooms share climate conditions. Using separate thermostats and automated duct dampers, the homeowner can control temperatures (and sometimes the humidity) in the separate zones. The dampers open when the thermostat calls for more heating or cooling, and close when the set temperature has been achieved.

In a home with just one thermostat, temperatures throughout the house are affected, for better or worse, by climate conditions or comfort preferences in the room where the thermostat is located. This is usually a living room or hallway on the main floor.

In a multi-floor home, this means a finished basement will stay chilly in the winter, since the thermostat in the living room shuts down the heat long before the basement is comfortable. Likewise, in the summer, upstairs and loft bedrooms never cool off since the A/C shuts down when the desired temperature is reached on the main floor. Homeowners resort to unsatisfactory solutions such as loud and clanky room air conditioners and energy-sucking space heaters.

Other situations that result in variable temperatures in a home include rooms or sections made with different building materials, more or fewer windows, orientation to the sun, and vaulted ceilings, among many others.Following are some basic benefits of a zoning system:

• You'll save energy (and money at the end of the month) by not heating or cooling unoccupied areas.

• Family harmony will prevail when different family members aren't arguing over the thermostat. If they don't like the temperature in one area in the house, they can move to another.

• You shouldn't have to tolerate a home where some rooms or areas are uncomfortable without space heating or cooling. Whole-house comfort should be a given.

To talk to an expert about a zoning system for your Broken Arrow area home, please contact us at Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Credit/Copyright Attribution: “geralt/Pixabay”

Could a Zoning System Save Energy in Your Home?

If you're using just one thermostat to regulate temperatures in your Oklahoma home, you're likely losing energy. Your house also isn't as comfortable throughout its interior as it would be with a zoning system. This is particularly the case with larger homes or those with more than one level.

How Does a Zoning System Work?

First, the house is divided into separate climate zones. This might be as simple as creating a separate zone for each floor of the house. This is usually a good plan, since upper floors tend to heat quicker than the main floor or a finished basement. For example, in the summer, while the basement family room is cool and comfortable, the bedrooms upstairs will likely need extra cooling due to heat rising. On the other hand, in the winter, the finished basement will need more heat than elsewhere in the house, while upper floors will warm up relatively easily. Other good reasons for separate zones include rooms with lots of windows or southern exposure, or rooms added onto a house. It's virtually impossible to effectively heat and cool all parts of a larger or multi-story house with just one thermostat.After the zones are established, a programmable thermostat and controllable duct dampers are installed in each zone, so that if one zone requires heating or cooling, the HVAC system will direct conditioning to that zone without affecting the heating or cooling in any other zone.

Benefits of a Zoning System

You'll save energy with a zoning system, since it guarantees that only parts of the house that need conditioning will receive it. In a single-thermostat house, the whole house receives cooled or heated air, regardless of whether all rooms need it.Comfort and convenience also will be served, since a family member in one room can set the temperature to his or her preference without affecting the temperature in other rooms, where a family member there might have different ideas about comfort.

To discuss adding an energy-saving zoning system in your Broken Arrow area home, please contact us at Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Angela Waye/Shutterstock”

Zoned Systems Deliver Cool Air, Warmth As Needed

Have you ever found a room's perfect temperature, only to have the heating system suddenly switched off by someone else? This is one reason why zoning systems have become increasingly popular over the years. By allowing separate temperature controls in your Greater Tulsa Metropolitan area home, you'll have greater control over your comfort level.Physics makes a whole-house approach impracticalDue to the basic laws of physics, it is not possible to maintain the temperature of an entire home by using a whole-house heating or cooling system. Why? For the simple fact that heat rises, which means that the upper levels of your home will always be warmer than the lower levels. This is especially prevalent if you have a multi-story house with a basement. All you have to do is walk from your second floor down to the basement, and the difference will hit you like a cold slap in the face.Zoning systems solve the physics problemIt isn't good enough to set a temperature for your entire household. Your thermostat will turn on and off depending on the temperature in the room it's installed in, but won't adjust for any of the other areas of the house. Zoning systems work by the utilization of multiple thermostats, each assigned to a "zone." By dividing certain areas of your home into zones, you can easily maintain the desired temperature in each room.Zoning systems also solve the "people problem"Each person has a different idea of the ideal temperature. Some may like a constant feeling of warmth, while others might prefer that the heat goes off for a bit so they can cool off. No matter the preference, a zoning system will provide each member of your household with much better control over their individual comfort level. This means that one spouse can be just as comfortable reading a book upstairs as the one watching TV downstairs.For more expert advice about zoning systems, or for questions relating to home comfort, please contact the friendly professionals at Air Assurance Heating, Air Conditioning & Geothermal. We have been servicing the Greater Tulsa Metropolitan area since 1985.Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Image courtesy of Shutterstock

The Well-Designed Zoning System: Key Principles

Homeowners with multiple-story or larger houses can benefit greatly from a well-designed zoning system. These sophisticated home temperature-control systems allow you to divide your home into separate areas, or zones, that are controlled by individual thermostats. A series of motorized dampers in the ductwork system opens or closes the ducts to provide heating or cooling as desired within each zone.Here are some key principles for designing and implementing a well-designed zoning system in your home:

• Keep zones to an area no larger than a single floor: Zoning systems work best in smaller areas such as individual rooms. If you put more than one floor of your home in a single zone, you'll lose the primary benefit of the zoning system as rising warm air and sinking cool air will continue to cause inconsistent temperatures.

• Put newly constructed or remodeled rooms in the same zone: Newly constructed or remodeled rooms will probably have better levels of insulation and other thermal characteristics than older rooms, so keep them within the same zone.

• Put zone thermostats in the room that is used most often: It makes sense to keep a zone's most-used room comfortable and to install the temperature controller there. Thermostats in hallways won't always give the best level of temperature control since they might be affected by factors such as sunshine or extreme outdoor temperatures.

• Put rooms with outer perimeter walls in separate zones: Rooms with walls that make contact with the outdoor environment are more likely to be affected by exterior temperatures, resulting in inconsistent heating and cooling.

• Combine rooms with similar heating loads within the same zone: Rooms with different heating and cooling loads will still have inconsistent temperatures if they are placed within the same zone. Keep rooms with similar thermal characteristics in the same zone as much as possible.

Air Assurance has been a professional heating and air conditioning services provider in the Tulsa area for more than three decades. Contact us today for more information on well-designed zoning systems and the many benefits they can provide.Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Control Your Home's Cool Air With A Zoning System

When you turn the air conditioning on, do you feel comfortable in every room? If you don’t have a zoning system, chances are each room is a different temperature. Rooms on the sunny side of the house are warm, rooms on the shady side are cool and rooms on the second floor are downright hot.This doesn’t mean your HVAC system is broken. Actually, it’s probably doing the best it can under the circumstances. Like most houses, yours probably has only one thermostat. When your system is operating with a single thermostat, it can’t detect the temperature in rooms without one. Meanwhile, family members are suffering in rooms that are either too hot or too cold.With a zoning system, your home is divided into zones where rooms with similar cooling needs are grouped onto the same thermostat. By using as many zones and thermostats as needed, along with motorized dampers, your HVAC system now has the ability to balance temperature and airflow to keep the entire house comfortable when the Oklahoma sun beats down.A zoning system puts you in control of your home’s cool air. Each thermostat can be set at a different temperature to make sure that everybody is comfortable. If certain areas of the home are unoccupied, those thermostats can be set to minimize the amount of A/C used there.With a zoning system, your HVAC system works more efficiently and runs less. This combination will give you more comfort for your money, lower your energy bills and decrease the need for maintenance and service calls for your equipment.For more information, contact the professionals at Air Assurance. We've been providing comprehensive heating and air conditioning, refrigeration and air quality services to customers throughout the Broken Arrow/Tulsa area since 1985.Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Air Assurance services Tulsa, Broken Arrow and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our current promotions and get started today

Zoned Temperature Control -- Would It Be Beneficial In Your Home?

Zoned temperature control is a unique solution to home heating and cooling problems. By dividing your home into zones, and with dampers installed in ductwork that are controlled by a series of corresponding thermostats, you can better manage not only energy costs, but home comfort, too.Home comfort problemsTwo homes with the same square footage can differ dramatically in design; however, they might utilize the same-sized capacity air conditioner. Certain design features can greatly inhibit the ability of any one system to effectively cool a home, including:

• Rooms with cathedral ceilings

• Great rooms

• Two-story homes

• Rooms with large windows

• Additions over a garage or in an attic space

The problem with these types of features is that they often require more cooling than traditional spaces. But with just one thermostat monitoring your home’s temperature, it can be difficult to accomplish whole-house comfort. Further, if you were to turn up the thermostat to provide additional cooling to a great room, the rest of the home would become too cold—and you’d waste energy dollars.With zoned temperature control, you can achieve both goals: better comfort and decreased energy costs. By designating your great room as one zone, you can set the temperature for that space, and then the dampers to that zone’s ductwork will stay open until it reaches the pre-set temperature. With each zone independently controlled, the dampers will close once each space is appropriately cooled, limiting your energy costs.Zoned temperature control is convenient, too. It’s particularly useful when family members have differing ideas about what constitutes a comfortable temperature. You can set one temperature in the space you’re occupying, and another family member can set their zone to what they think is a comfortable setting. Zoned temperature control puts an end to thermostat wars!Consider how zoned temperature control can solve your home comfort problems and help you to manage energy costs at the same time. For more information, or to schedule a free consultation, contact Air Assurance Heating, Cooling & Air Quality today!  We've been serving homeowners in the greater Broken Arrow area for more than 30 years.Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Air Assurance services Tulsa, Broken Arrow and the surrounding areas. Visit our websiteto see our current promotionsand get started today!     

A Zoning System Gives You More Control Over The Heating And Cooling In Your Home

Your house doesn’t use one light switch to control all the lighting in your home does it? Then why would you use just one thermostat to control your heating and cooling systems? Zoning systems give you much more control over how you use your conditioned air, and provide you with a number of other benefits as well. By installing multiple thermostats in your house, each in control of a different zone, you are able to circumvent constructional features that would otherwise be creating inconsistencies in your home’s temperature. In a single-thermostat system, things like windows and cathedral ceilings can allow for heat to transfer in and out of your house or prevent air from circulating, creating warm or cool patches. When each thermostat is in control of a smaller, more manageable area, it prevents this from happening. Each zone gets the appropriate amount of air needed rather than air just being dispersed evenly.In order to obtain a steady temperature throughout your house, all you have to do is set all the thermostats to the same temperature. Certain zones will get more air than others to compensate for their needs, but you won’t feel those annoying warm or cool patches.However, one of the greatest benefits of zoning systems is the fact that you can intentionally set different temperatures in different parts of the house. This is convenient because various occupants of a house often disagree on what the temperature should be, an event so common it is referred to as the “battle of the thermostat”. For example, Mom can have the study a few degrees cooler than the living room that Dad is in without either person disrupting the other's comfort.Your HVAC technician will help you develop a zoning strategy that will help you get the most energy savings possible. By planning zones based on what rooms are used more often than others, you can set zones to energy-efficient modes to save more money.For more information on zoning systems, contact Air Assurancetoday. We proudly serve the Tulsa and Broken Arrow regions.Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  Air Assurance services Tulsa, Broken Arrow and the surrounding areas. Visit our websiteto see our current promotionsand get started today!      Photo courtesy ofShutterstock.

Zoning Systems -- Put Your Family Back In the Comfort Zone

Does the temperature never seem right in your Broken Arrow home? Do some of the rooms seem impossible to heat? Do others rooms never seem to get quite cool enough? Are your family members battling over the thermostat, with each member complaining that he or she is too warm or cold? Zoning systems can put your family back in the comfort zone, and save you money in the process.What are zoning systems?Zoning systems divide your home into different zones, enabling your HVAC system to meet the heating and cooling needs of each zone. The zones may range in size from one large room to multiple rooms. Zoning systems allow you to set the temperature lower in some parts of your home and higher in others. You can also turn off the heating or cooling in select rooms.Why zoning systems?If your home can be described by any of the following, zoning systems may be necessary to keep the temperature regulated:

• Multi-level house

• Large open areas with vaulted ceilings, lofts or atriums

• Rooms with large windows

• Temperature patterns vary according to the time of the day

• Finished rooms in the basement or attic

• Extra rooms over the garage

• House has wings that extend from the main living area

Why do zoning systems make sense for whole-home comfort?

• Zoning systems regulate the temperature throughout the house, putting an end to the hot room/cold room phenomenon, and creating an overall level of comfort.

• Rooms with more people, such as the living room or kitchen, can be kept cooler. This is particularly ideal if you enjoy hosting social gatherings or parties.

• Thermostat can be programmed to cool or heat at particular times in particular rooms.

• Zoning systems help you save money by allowing you to not pay to heat or cool rooms you do not use.

• Each family member can adjust the temperature in his/her zone to his/her comfort level, leading to fewer fights between family members and increased comfort.

If you are interested in having a zoning system installed in your Broken Arrow-area home, contact Air Assurance today.Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Air Assurance services Tulsa, Broken Arrow and the surrounding areas. Visit our websiteto see our current promotionsand get started today!      Photo courtesy ofShutterstock.