Central forced air heating is great for a lot of reasons, but it also has a number of drawbacks. Chief among these drawbacks is the system’s inability to modulate its output to meet the changing needs of the people in the home. Fortunately, you don’t have to install an entirely new heating system to solve this problem. Read on to find out more about how a zone control system can improve your heating situation.
The Problem of Central Forced Air Heating
Central heating has two modes: on and off. When the system is on, it serves the entire house. This is all well and good most of the time, but it does open the door to some issues. First and foremost, it creates hot and cold spots throughout the house. This is because each room is insulated slightly differently, and requires slightly different amounts of heat to keep it comfortable. Second, this wastes a lot of energy on rooms that do not require heating. You don’t normally have the option of avoiding heating empty rooms, for example. Zone control helps to remedy these issues.
Zone Control
A zone control system is a series of large dampers, which are installed at regular intervals throughout the ductwork in the home. Each damper has its own thermostat, which is installed in the closest room. When one of those thermostats detects that a zone needs heat, it opens the appropriate damper and activates the heating system. Zone control allows you to set the ideal temperature for different areas of your house. This can eliminate hot and cold spots, and ensure that you don’t waste any energy on empty rooms.