How Zone Control can Improve Your Summer AC Performance

We’re only a few weeks away from the hot months of summer, believe it or not. Before too long, you’re going to be relying on your air conditioner to keep your home cool and comfortable. If you’re using a centralized air conditioner, though, you should know that there are a few things you can do to improve your system performance this summer. Centralized systems have a number of inherent disadvantages, ones that can be effectively treated by installing a zone control system.

Centralized Inefficiencies

Don’t get us wrong, centralized system certainly have a lot to recommend them. However, they’re not perfect. A centralized air conditioner operates off the principle of applying the same level of output to the entire house. The system is either on or off, no in-between. That works well enough, but it does cause a couple of issues.

First of all, not every room in your home needs exactly the same level of cool air. Differences in size, insulation, sunlight exposure, and the like all make for differences in how much air conditioning each room needs. If you apply the same amount of output to all of these rooms at once, you end up with uncomfortable hot and cold spots. If you’ve ever been walking around your home with the air conditioning on, and moved from one comfortable room into one that feels like a walk-in freezer, then you know what we’re talking about.

The second problem is that a normal centralized air conditioner’s “one size fits all” solution actually wastes quite a bit of energy, which you have to pay for. Most of the time, you’re not going to have every room in the home occupied when you have the air conditioner running. Why bother wasting energy cooling rooms that no one is even using, then? Yet, that’s what a central air conditioner does, and it adds a fair bit to your annual energy costs.

The Benefits of Zone Control

Zone control aims to fix these two primary issues with normal centralized air conditioning systems. A zone control system uses a set of dampers, which are like large valves, to control the flow of air through the ducts in the home. The dampers are installed at key points in the ducts, splitting them up into zones. Each zone has its own thermostat installed in a nearby room. When the thermostat detects that it needs air conditioning, it opens the local dampers and activates the air conditioning system. The rest of the dampers stay closed, ensuring that only the area of the home that requested it actually gets the cool air.

This solves both the main issues with centralized AC. No more hot and cold spots, because you can set the ideal temperature for each room in the home. No more wasting energy on empty rooms, because the zone control system ensures that only rooms that require air conditioning actually get it.

Bell Plumbing and Heating offers comprehensive zone control installation services throughout Centennial, CO. If you’d like to know more about zone control, or would like to schedule an appointment, contact us today.