We have talked before on this blog about zoning systems and the improved comfort and temperature control they can bring to your Long Island home. If you are considering getting a zoning system installed, there are six important design elements that you need to keep in mind.
- Different floors should be in different zones. This is because cold air tends to sink to the first floor, while warm air rises to the top floor. Since they therefore have different heating and cooling needs, they should be in different zones.
- Interior rooms should be zoned differently than exterior rooms. If a room does not touch an exterior wall, it will not lose heat to the outdoor air, or gain heat from the sunshine. So, as above, it should be zoned separately due to its different heating and cooling needs.
- Rooms with different solar heating loads should be in different zones. Rooms that are heated by the sun in the afternoon should ideally not be combined with rooms that are heated by the morning sun, or which receive no sunlight at all.
- Additions that are a different construction type than the rest of the house should have their own zone. Different construction materials or standards mean that the rooms will likely have different insulating properties than the original structure.
- Install the thermostats in the rooms that are occupied the most. In a zoning system, each zone gets its own thermostat, and those thermostats should be placed where it is most important to get the temperature right. Plus, you should choose programmable thermostats for any zones that might sit empty for long stretches of the day.
- Have more than one air register in each zone. That strategy helps provide even heating and cooling throughout the zone, and ensures that airflow will not be cut off completely by a stray object or a napping pet covering a solo air register.
At T.F. O’Brien Cooling & Heating, we have years of experience in designing quality zoning systems throughout Long Island. Contact us today if you have any questions, or would like a free quote.