Air Conditioning

Home Comfort – AC Temperature Control

What is the main reason people have air conditioning in their homes or offices?

We install air conditioners and central air in our homes and offices to keep us comfortable throughout the day and night. Today, home comfort is becoming more efficient then every before. One way people are “going green” and saving energy is with zoning.

Forced air zoning allows you to keep your home cool during the summer without wasting air conditioning on rooms that are already cool or not being occupied.

Did you know that cooling your home in the summer months accounts for over 40% of your utility bill? That is more than your electric! Did you know that zoning can help you cut those costs by 15 – 30%!

When you walk into your home and turn the first light switch on does it turn every light on in your home? The answer is no. However, when you turn your AC on, your entire house starts to cool off. The most common problem here is that the downstairs normally stays nice and cool while the upstairs is warm. Some people will run their AC all day to cool their upstairs, which in the long run makes their downstairs too cold and uncomfortable.

This can be solved by adding just a 2 zone system onto your existing AC unit. By zoning off the upstairs and downstairs you can control each separate with its own thermostat. This can benefit you in the following ways:

– Increase comfort throughout the entire home
– Save money by not wasting energy cooling rooms already comfortable or not being used (up to 30% savings)
– Shut off the AC downstairs while you sleep during the night
– Shut off the AC upstairs during the day
– Having multiple thermostats is convenient
– Zoning can be added to any existing HVAC system! Here is what you need

This summer, stay comfortable and save on energy costs by installing a zoning system to your Air Conditioning unit.

ZoneFirst

April 24, 2013

Air Conditioning, Comfort, Energy Savings, Green Remodeling, Temperature Control

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Welcome to 2013, where “wireless” technology and smart devices rule the world.

Today, almost everything is controlled from your phone or tablet, including the comfort of your home. We are seeing more and more companies produce wireless, communicating, smart thermostats that allow you to control the temperature of your home from anywhere!

This is the same mindset and technology innovation that ZONEFIRST had back in the 1950’s when we invented zoning for forced air systems.

Take a thermostat such as the new NEST. Well, we did. We bought 3 of them and tested them with our control boards. Turns out, these “smart” thermostats are compatible with our panels. What does this mean? The complete home comfort solution!

By adding a wireless communicating thermostat to your home, it allows you to control your ENTIRE home. But, when you add zoning into the mix, you can control certain areas of your home from anywhere.

Let us paint a picture. You are on your way home from work, it’s hot and you don’t want to walk into a warm house. You take out your phone and set the temperature for 67 degrees. Your thermostat picks up the call and brings on your AC. Now your entire home will be nice and cool for your arrival. But, what is the benefit to adding zoning?

Let us paint another picture. You are on your way home from work, it’s hot and you don’t want to walk into a warm house. You take out your phone and set the temperature for 67 degrees on zone 1 (which is your downstairs). Your thermostat picks up the call and brings on your AC. Now your downstairs will be nice and cool for your arrival. By adding zoning to the mix, you can pinpoint what zones you want to cool because the panel will shut automatic dampers to the zones not calling for AC. This way you are not wasting energy cooling down rooms that you wont be occupying when you get home (like your bedroom for example). This mix of technology allows for extreme comfort, convenience and energy savings!

Take it form us, be a home comfort professional, not just another “HVAC Guy”

ZoneFirst

April 12, 2013

Air Conditioning, Comfort, Energy Savings, Green Remodeling, Home Improvement Tips, HVAC, Temperature Control, Wireless Comfort

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Our engineers at ZONEFIRST have been working hard to make installing zoning easier than ever before! We understand that time is money and we want to help. We came up with a series of control panels that on average takes half the time to install than our competitor’s systems. How?

Today, all of ZONEFIRST’s Zone Control Panels have EZ-Wiring. What is EZ Wiring?

PUSH-IN TERMINAL BLOCKS (no screwdriver required, just push in and it locks itself, equipped with release button)
COLOR-CODED (color-coded terminals to match up easily with both thermostat & equipment wire)
LED TROUBLESHOOTING (each zone control panel is equipped with LED’s that indicate system status & damper positions)
PLUG-IN (our Plug-In-Play zoning systems use modular cord to connect and power all the dampers)
MODULAR CORD (rj11 phone jacks, 25′ supplied with every damper, daisy chain up to 10 dampers per zone)
TEST BUTTONS (Plug-In-Play zone control panels are equipped with test buttons which allow you to test every damper connected)

Learn more about each of ZONEFIRST’s Control Panels

ZoneFirst

February 18, 2013

Air Conditioning, Comfort, Energy Savings, Heating, Home Improvement Tips, HVAC, Temperature Control

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More and more people are finding out about HVAC Zoning and are putting it on existing systems in both their homes and offices. Zoning allows you to precisely control the temperature in different areas of the home or office. It adds comfort, convenience and on average, can save up to 30% on your energy bill. It can be added to any forced air system.

Most people do not know just how easy it is to install zoning in their homes. Below is what you need to add HVAC Zoning to your home:

1. Zone Control Panel: The Zone Control Panel is the central control that will communicate between thermostats, dampers and your HVAC equipment. It is mounted by your equipment and is the brains of the entire zoning application.

2. Thermostats: Thermostats read the air temperature in each room (or zone) of your house. If the temperature is too cold or too hot for your liking, the thermostat will send a signal to the control panel to either bring on cool or warm air to that room or zone.

3. Zone Dampers: Dampers are placed in your ducts to control the airflow to certain rooms (or zones) of your home. The dampers are wired to a specific zone on the control panel, which is controlled by a specific thermostat in your home. Dampers automatically open and close depending on which thermostats are calling.

4. By-pass Damper: A by-pass damper is used to relieve air pressure in your duct work as certain zones close. However, a by-pass is not always needed.

*Depending on how many zones will be installed will dictate the amount of thermostats and dampers used. Every house will vary in regards to this.

Ask your HVAC contractor about zoning today and start enjoying the benefits of a more comfortable home!

ZoneFirst

February 04, 2013

Air Conditioning, Comfort, Energy Savings, Green Remodeling, Heating, Home Improvement Tips, Temperature Control

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When we talk about forced air zoning we typically tie it to our 4 C’s.

Comfort
Convenience
Conservation
Common Sense

Comfort is obviously number 1 here. What is the reason we put heating and air conditioning in our homes and offices in the first place? So people stay comfortable! Going back almost 50 years ago when ZONEFIRST invented HVAC Zoning, the main focus was how can we make it even more comfortable.

HVAC Zoning allows you to control your comfort in every room or “zone” of your home or office. If you’re too hot or too cold, just simply adjust the thermostat to your comfort level and everything else is automatic.

Convenience is our second C. Having a thermostat in every zone of your home or office is extremely convenient. Most houses that are not zoned will have a central thermostat located in a downstairs hallway. That’s great for the hallway, however what about the living areas that are occupied more often?

Some houses only have 1 thermostat all together. So in the middle of the night when you are cold, you might have to walk downstairs to change the temperature. You can throw convenience and comfort out the window if that’s the case.

Conservation. With energy bills on the rise, more homeowners are looking for ways to go “green” or save on energy. Zoning is a great way to decrease your monthly energy bills. Studies even show, adding zoning to your existing HVAC system can save you up to 30% on your monthly utility bill! How? With zoning you can shut off rooms that are not being occupied. This way you’re not wasting heat or AC on rooms that no one is in.

Common Sense is our last C and probably the one that is overlooked the most. We mention common sense for the simple fact that adding zoning to any HVAC system will increase your comfort, add convenience and save on energy bills.

Imagine being able to keep every employee in your office comfortable and happy. The less they complain about the temperature, the more work gets done. Think about it.

Most homes stay hot upstairs and cool downstairs. Wouldn’t you like to control the temperature upstairs and downstairs at the same time. Now you can by adding zoning without adding any other heating or cooling equipment.

ZoneFirst

February 01, 2013

Air Conditioning, Comfort, Energy Savings, Heating, HVAC, Temperature Control

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Home Comfort – AC Temperature Control

What is the main reason people have air conditioning in their homes or offices?

Home Comfort Technology

HVAC Zone Controls Made Easy

What You Need to Zone an Existing HVAC System

Benefits of HVAC Zoning

Install Guides & Troubleshooting Documentation.

How-to videos and product training tutorials.

Still can’t find the answers you're looking for? You can contact us directly.