#zoning system

Within the domain of heating and air conditioning, the concept of a zoning system has gained significant recognition for its ability to enhance both comfort and energy efficiency in buildings. This article aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of zoning systems, highlighting their advantages

Defining the Zoning System

A zoning system is a sophisticated mechanism designed to regulate temperature variations within a building by dividing it into distinct zones. Each zone is equipped with an individualized thermostat, granting occupants precise control over the temperature within their designated area. By incorporating specialized dampers into the ductwork, a zoning system enables the precise distribution of conditioned air, preventing energy waste and ensuring optimal comfort throughout the premises.

Advantages of Zoning Systems

Personalized Comfort: Zoning systems empower individuals to customize the temperature according to their preferences. For example, in a multi-story building, the upper floors can be effectively cooled during hot summer months while maintaining a more moderate temperature on lower levels.

Energy Efficiency: By directing conditioned air solely to occupied areas, a zoning system minimizes energy consumption. Rather than cooling or heating the entire building, only the zones in use receive the necessary conditioning, resulting in significant energy savings.

Cost Savings: Zoning systems contribute to lower utility bills by reducing energy consumption. By optimizing temperature control, occupants can avoid wasting energy on unoccupied or rarely used areas, simultaneously reducing their carbon footprint and expenses.

Enhanced Air Quality: Zoning systems also contribute to improved indoor air quality. By regulating air circulation within each zone, these systems effectively prevent the spread of allergens, dust, and other contaminants throughout the building.

As Pasadena's Best HVAC Services Pioneers Heating and Air has earned a reputation for its exemplary services. Committed to customer satisfaction and technical excellence, Pioneers Heating and Air offers a wide range of services, including the installation, maintenance, and repair of zoning systems.

Backed by a team of highly skilled technicians, Pioneers Heating and Air ensures that zoning systems are meticulously designed and installed to meet the unique requirements of each property. Their expertise extends to providing regular maintenance and prompt repairs, guaranteeing uninterrupted functionality and optimal performance of the zoning system.

Equally as your household has specific members with different needs, various locations around your home have differing temperatures. You do not have a one switch that controls all the lights in your entire residence. Each area has its very own light along with its very own switch. Many homes have areas that suffer due to the fact that they just have one thermostat situated in one location as well as anticipate it to manage the temperature level in all parts of the residence.

A trusted heating business, such as Coverall Heating and Air Conditioning , can aid you make your house a whole lot more comfy, offering your household tranquility as well as relaxation. Our group of highly-trained service technicians can determine the very best zoning system to offer you the most effective results.

To give your family members with absolute comfort, you may require to think about zoning to manage the temperature throughout your whole home. With a zoning system, each area of your house is given a special home heating as well as cooling control.

What Is Temperature Zoning?

An HVAC zoning system (likewise described as "zoned HVAC") is a cooling and heating system that uses dampers in the ductwork to regulate and also redirect air to details areas of the residence. This allows for the development of personalized temperature level zones throughout the house for boosted comfort and effectiveness.

When is Zoning Needed?

While many homes will certainly take advantage of HEATING AND COOLING zoning, there are specific situations where zoning is called for to enhance the general convenience of your home. That's because many houses have a room that's constantly hot or too chilly, as well as family members usually have different temperature level preferences. Zoning systems enable you to accommodate these different requirements, while also aiding you reduce your energy expenses.

Several Stories

There is an usual obstacle for most property owners with multiple stories experience. It is called air stratification. The warm air accelerates and also the cooler air decreases in your house. With just one main thermostat, your greater floorings will be warmer; while the reduced ones are cooler.

High Ceilings

With high ceilings, there will certainly be irregular air circulation leading to irregular temperatures. This can put a stress on your heating & cooling system as well as create higher power intake, resulting in higher utility bills.

House Improvements

When you decide to make enhancements to your residence, such as an additional room, a sun parlor or an extension to your living-room, you will certainly be faced with a new collection of heating as well as cooling down challenges. New rooms often tend to be much better shielded than the older ones, which leads to much more air being trapped that ends up being dormant.

 Exposure to the Sunlight

Depending upon your house's layout, your heating and cooling can be substantially influenced by its exposure to the sun. When the sun actions, the parts of your house that are revealed to the sun obtain warmed up while the various other components remain cooler. Likewise, the quantity, positioning and also size of your home windows can affect the temperature throughout your house. These situations can cause irregular space temperature levels.

The Positive aspects of Zoning

Lower power expenses

An even more comfy indoor environment

Quieter operation of cooling and heating devices

Very little HVAC system maintenance

Included comfort

Call Coverall Heating and Air Conditioning for your HEATING AND COOLING zoning system; we will respond to all inquiries you might have, and also give you with the best options.

COVERALL HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING

Daytona beach & Volusia county

During the cold days winter it's nice to get cozy by the fireplace or curl up under a warm blanket.. or in the summer you might find yourself standing in front of the air conditioner vents or a fan for a little relief from the heat.   Is this because it's just not possible for your entire home to be comfortable?  It may be because you are concerned with the energy use or $$ being spent to keep the home cool/warm OR it may be that certain areas of your home just never seem to be comfortable.  If one or more rooms in your home seem to ALWAYS be outside your "comfort zone", Ecojay's SmartZone may be able to help.  Directing airflow (heat/cool) to the rooms that you want, can make rooms in your home comfortable when you want them to be.

Although SmartZone does not have any built-in capabilities for controlling DE-humidification (DH) or Humidification, some applications are possible by using a thermostat on ZONE 1 that does have the capability to control DH.

"DE-humidification, in most residential systems, is simply running the equipment in COOLING with LOW speed fan instead of HI speed fan."

Before we get to zoning, the equipment being used must have the capability to control humidity.  This usually means it has a terminal (DH/BK/DS) that is energized or DE-energized by a thermostat to control fan speed of the equipment.  Controlling fan speed allows the equipment to DE-humidify the air when the fan is running in low speed.

Back to zoning, using zone 1 thermostat to control DH is not as simple as wiring directly from the thermostat to the equipment.  PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS.  The equipment and the zone thermostats are running on different transformers and this will case problems and potentially damage to some components.  You could isolate the output from the thermostat with a relay to get around this issue of different transformers but you would still have an issue with this method of wiring "around" the zone controller.  The issue can arise when zone 1 calls for DH but the equipment is already running in heat, this mixed signal might just be ignored by the equipment but we cannot take that for granted... all equipment works differently.

The best way to control DH using SmartZone on single stage equipment is by using the method below.  It may seem a little UN-orthidoxed but it is a valid APP note from the engineer at Ecojay (It's intended to work this way).

Select a DH enabled thermostat of your choice

Connect Y2/ECO on SmartZone Zone 1 to Zone 1 Thermostat DH/DS/BK

Connect Y2 on SmartZone Equipment toEquipment DH/DS/BK

Set Zone 1 "STAT TYPE" to G2

Set DIP switch #4 to "LOCKOUT"

Zone 1 thermostat will now enable and disable DE-humidification any time the equipment is running in the cooling mode. NOTE: When starting cooling from OFF state, 90 second delay will occur before HIGH speed fan will energize.

Using this method we are assuming that the equipment is expecting DS/BK/DH input terminal to be ENERGIZED for high speed fan and DE-ENERGIZED for low speed fan.  This method should not be used for more than 3 zones or with multi-stage compressor equipment.

Just a few short years ago, WiFi thermostats were only made by a very few companies starting with Ecobee and RadioThermostat, followed by Nest.  A couple of years pass and big names in the HVAC industry (Honeywell, Emerson, Venstar, etc) join the WiFi thermostat party.  In 2017 we have more to chose from than can easily be kept up with.  Note: All prices as of this article publish date.

All of the WiFi thermostats listed below will work with any SmartZone

I am sure there will be even more on the market in 2018, we will keep watching the WiFi thermostat bubble grow!  More than 15 are listed here (and I know they are not all listed).  If you know of any more, comment or tweet to us @zoning_supply

Bosch - $ 170, 4-Heat, 2-Cool, GE/HP, Hum, deHum, Color: White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073XHD8BB

Ecobee Si - $ 145, 2-Heat, 2-Cool, Color: White https://www.amazon.com/ecobee-Thermostat-Heat-2-NON-Touch-Screen/dp/B008F40R4C/

TOP PICK

*Ecobee 3 - $ 169, 3-Heat, 2-Cool, Best for zoning in our opinion. https://www.amazon.com/ecobee3-Smart-Thermostat-Works-Amazon/dp/B06W56TBLN/

PREMIUM CHOICE

Ecobee 4 - $ 247, 3-Heat, 2-Cool, Alexa-Enabled https://www.amazon.com/ecobee4-Alexa-Enabled-Thermostat-Sensor-Amazon/dp/B06W2LQY6L/

Emerson Sensi Color Touch - $ 169, 2 Heat, 2 Cool, GE/HP https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N3CEUDH?psc=1

Emerson Sensi - $ 99, 1 Heat, 1 Cool, GE/HP https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HHE6CW2?psc=1

Nest - $ 249, 3-Heat, 2-Cool https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0131RG6VK/

Honeywell Color Touch - $ 190 https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-TH9320WF5003-Touchscreen-Thermostat-Amazon/dp/B00G4CIG7M/

Honeywell Lyric T5 - $ 110 https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-RCHT8610WF2006-Programmable-Touchscreen-Thermostat/dp/B01LTHM8LG/

Honeywell Lyric Round - $ 170, Geofencing https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-Thermostat-Contractor-Version-Amazon/dp/B00KX3M1LA/

Honeywell Basic 7-day - $ 90, 1-Heat, 1-Cool, GE, Color: White (Yes this is WiFi--even though it doesn't look like anything other than an inexpensive thermostat) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Y6M2OUC/

Honeywell B&W Touch - $ 118 https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-Wi-Fi-Programmable-Touchscreen-Thermostat/dp/B00EP6C8UA/

iDevices Thermostat - $ 112 https://www.amazon.com/iDevices-Thermostat-Wi-Fi-Works-Amazon/dp/B019GQM6LY/

VALUE CHOICE #1

Lux PRO GEO - $ 115, Geofencing, Mount Vertical or Horizontal, Color: Black or White https://www.amazon.com/Lux-Products-GEO-WH-Thermostat-Amazon/dp/B010PTKWW6/

RadioThermostat - $ 99, 2-Heat, 2-Cool, GE/HP, Modules for Zigbee & Z-Wave https://www.amazon.com/Radio-Thermostat-Programmable-Enabled-Controls/dp/B00KQS35XA/

VALUE CHOICE #2

*Vine - $ 99, Settings Knob, Color Screen & Night-Light https://www.amazon.com/Vine-Programmable-Thermostat-Touchscreen-Nightlight/dp/B01JU1DZN8/

Vine Touch - $ 129 Color Touch Screen, https://www.amazon.com/Vine-Smart-Wi-Fi-Thermostat-TJ-919/dp/B01N7UNSAP/

Any information in this article should be verified with the manufacturer of each product listed.  Specifications, prices & availability are all subject to change and will not be kept current on this post.  Please email us if you have any questions.

With warmer weather approaching, upstairs or certain areas of your home can become uncomfortably warm without SmartZone. HVAC zone control can make the entire home more comfortable in the hottest Summer months. 

Most homes with a single thermostat have some issues with keeping everyone, everywhere in the house comfortable.  With SmartZone, thermostats are places throughout the home to achieve comfort everywhere... and if you choose to turn off some of the areas (zones), you can even save energy.  Most importantly, however, SmartZone can make your home more comfortable than it is now.  See the slides below for how it works.

How it works...

SmartZone is connected to several Thermostats placed in "zones" throughout the home or building.

SmartZone is connected to the Air Conditioning (AC) and Heating equipment.

Dampers (air valves) are installed in the existing ducts that connect to room vents in the "zones."

SmartZone controls the AC & Heating equipment AND opens/closes dampers to control air to the zones based on the thermostats.

Most people enjoy a good crackling fireplace when it's cold and snowy during the winter months even it isn't the primary source of heat for our homes these days... at least for most of us.  One problem that is common with homes that only have a single thermostat (no zoning), is that the rooms far away from the fireplace can end up colder than where that one thermostat is located.  The result is that you have a nice cozy warm area in your home around the fireplace but the back bedroom is cold.  The solution, SmartZone.  If there is a thermostat placed in the area that gets cooler and another one in the area that gets warmer, the dampers can direct more heat from the central furnace to the places that need it and away from the places that don't.  The prevents your heater from dumping more warm air in to the areas that don't need it and keeps the areas that do nice and toasty.  Plus, it does all this with less run-time so you are not wasting the fireplace heating savings.

Fireplaces might not be efficient in some cases, but they are still nice to have at least once in a while.  With SmartZone, you can more comfortably enjoy your fireplace and improve it's efficiency.

QUESTION: I have two 9580 thermostats one in the office, the other in the main hangar bay (two zones).  When heating both zones or only the hangar, I need the furnace to go full blower with normal scheduling through stages 1 and 2.  When servicing only the small office area, I don't want the system to advance from stage 1.  Unfortunately, the office is so small and the modulating schedule of the furnace is still too much airflow for the office (the zone bypass when servicing the office is the main hangar modulating damper that is controlled via SPC (excess dumps into hangar)).  This damper will be wide open during call for hangar heat.  The main damper control logic is managed through a 3PDT  24 Vac relay. So, I need to block out stage 2 from only 1 zone (office).  The zone ramping schedule of the 9580 works well with the 100k modulating furnace control board, and would like to keep that capability. 

ANSWER: Configure the zone 1 thermostat connector STAT TYPE to G2 (conventional gas/electric) or H2 (heat pump) to allow the thermostat to control staging and use the hangar thermostat on zone 1. Wire only the stage 1 circuits (Y1 and W1) on the office thermostat to the zone 2 thermostat connector (Also connect R, C and G wires). Set dipswitch 4 to the LOCKOUT position. This will configure the zone controller to allow 2nd stage only when the hangar thermostat calls for 2nd stage regardless of whether the office thermostat is calling. When the office thermostat is calling and the hangar thermostat is not, SmartZone will not allow 2nd stage to operate.

"I called last week to inquire about using this zone controller in a hangar that had a small office area and a large bay. I advised the call taker that I had Honeywell 9580. I also asked about the capability of the zone controller to handle the smaller office area's lower CFM requirement and whether or not I could defeat the step-up from W1/Y1 to W2/Y2. I was told that the controller can be set up to defeat the stage step-ups. After reading the manual, I found that there are no multi-stage inputs on the controller board from thermostats. So, basically, the capabilities of the Honeywell 9580 are wasted. Also, the stage defeat is for the whole system, not zone-specific as I need. It would be pointless to defeat stage increases while heating/cooling a large hangar space"

ANSWER: The SmartZone controller typically controls staging based on the total system conditions which is the most efficient way to operate a multi-zoned multi-staged hvac system. However, the zone1 thermostat connector on SmartZone can be configured to allow the thermostat to control staging (refer to the top of page 10 of the installation manual). When the zone1 thermostat is configured for staging the ability to lockout 2nd stage with only 1 zone calling is disabled. With the thermostat controlling staging your ability to limit staging will be determined by the features of your Honeywell 9580 instead of the SmartZone control.

"I have a honeywell mastertrol2 mm2, i wanted to update my thermostats but my zone controller has separate b and o wires going to thermostats . Will updating my zone controller to a smart zone 2 help this problem?"

ANSWER: Updating your zone controller to a SmartZone 2 zone controller will allow you to use any 24VAC thermostat. SmartZone controls are designed to be universally compatible with 24VAC thermostats including WI-FI models used to control your thermostat remotely through the internet on your smart phone or tablet. You should be able to connect any 24VAC thermostat to a SmartZone control without any problems.

"Do you have a digital thermostat that you recommend or sell to go with SmartZone?"