Have you ever battled with an out-of-sync temperature zone in your home? You know, the spot in your den that’s always cold, despite comfortably warm temperatures throughout the rest of the home. Or the bedroom that’s always inexplicably 10 degrees hotter than the others.

As a homeowner, you don’t have to fight this battle every winter! Nor should you think the only solution is to invest in an expensive new heating system.

In fact, one of the best solutions involves retrofitting your home’s furnace with a zoned HVAC system. It not only solves the hot-cold zone problem, it drives furnace efficiency up, too.

The problem may be your furnace

You don’t have to have an older furnace to suffer from hot and cold spots. Even a highly efficient furnace can’t solve the problem of poor home design.

If you own a two-story home, you’re already fighting an uphill battle. Warm air rises, so the second floor of an average two-story home is often hotter than the first. So when you set your home’s temperature to make the upper floor comfortable, the first floor will often be too cold.

The converse results in comfort issues, too. If you set your thermostat so the first floor is a comfortable temperature, you may find family members on the second floor spending their time dressed in shorts and a tank top because it’s way too hot.

How zoning systems work

The inherent design of a home — like in the two-story example above — often dictates efficiency and comfort. HVAC system zoning is specifically designed to attack these problems. Here’s how:

When you purchase a zoned system for your home, a technician first installs dampers in the ductwork that open and close. These dampers are controlled by several thermostats, one located in each “zone” of your home. If you group the bedrooms together, for example, the thermostat to this zone reads the temperature in that space only. Once it reaches the pre-set temperature, the dampers in those ducts close. However, other areas — or zones — of the home continue to receive warm air.

That’s the key to zoning success! You’ll lose hot and cold spots when the zoning system directs heated air to the spaces that need it, while shutting off access to spaces that don’t.

This approach can also help you save money on your energy bills. You’ll use less energy with a zoned heating system, because you won’t unnecessarily heat a space that’s already comfortable.

Determine if a zoned system is right for you

How do you know if your home needs a zoning system? Hot and cold spots are one obvious sign. However, you can look to your home’ s design, too. In addition to two-story homes, these other design factors also contribute to inefficient heating or discomfort:

  • Large great rooms
  • A room above a garage
  • High ceilings
  • A finished basement
  • Efficient building materials
  • A finished attic space

If your home has hot or cold zones, a zoned heating and cooling system installed by a certified HVAC technician may be the best way to resolve comfort problems and high energy costs.

New Berlin Heating is the leading heating and cooling company in New Berlin, WI and the surrounding area. If you have any questions please give us a call at (262) 784-8889. You can also check us out on Facebook or Twitter.