What Is HVAC Zoning and Why Is It Important?
Regulating the temperature of large commercial buildings can be challenging, given employees have varying preferences. Considering that pumping hot or cold air through multiple levels using a single system can drastically dull the effects, achieving optimal temperatures is even more difficult, leading to uncomfortable work environments and wasted energy. With commercial HVAC zoning, however, you can alter the temperatures of specific spaces to accommodate everyone’s needs and reduce the cost of your electric bill.
But what exactly is HVAC zoning?
Continue reading to learn more about commercial HVAC zoning systems and why you may want to invest in them for your business. This article highlights the following topics:
- What is HVAC zoning?
- How does HVAC zoning work?
- Why use HVAC zoning?
- The benefits of HVAC zoning
- How A&G Services can assist you
What Is HVAC Zoning?
HVAC zoning is a method of heating and cooling either residential or commercial spaces, similar to standard commercial systems, with the added benefit of regulating the temperatures of multiple sections within a building. Instead of relying on one temperature throughout a facility or home, users can control how hot or cold each room is based on personal preferences, occupancy, and desired energy expenditure. With HVAC zoning, one area of your home or business can stay cool and refreshing while the space on the other side of the wall is warm and cozy.
How Does HVAC Zoning Work?
While standard commercial HVAC systems can only control facility temperatures as a whole, zoning systems can regulate multiple sections within a given space. This heightened level of control is achieved using various thermostats and motorized dampers inside the ductwork that can open and close depending on specified inputs, which blocks or diverts airflow accordingly.
Why Use HVAC Zoning?
There are many reasons you may want to utilize HVAC zoning, especially if your commercial building contains multiple floors. The more rooms your building has, the harder it is to control a singular temperature, and installing a zoning system is the best way to ensure that your employees can work comfortably while avoiding hot and cold spots. Alternatively, suppose your facility contains many unoccupied rooms that are wasting energy by being heated or cooled. Zoning can help save energy and reduce costs by shutting off the air conditioner or heat to these spacers.
Some environments where you may find an HVAC zoning system helpful include:
- Buildings that contain many windows
- Commercial buildings or residential homes with several floors or closed spaces
- Buildings with expansive open rooms and tall ceilings
- Areas that are heated to by amounts of natural light
- Gyms that are constantly trying to keep large areas cool
The Benefits of HVAC Zoning
Installing an HVAC zoning system into your commercial building can drastically improve working conditions and provide additional cost savings for your business with the following benefits:
Reduces Energy Expenditure
The amount of energy a commercial HVAC system uses is massive, especially during the winter and summer seasons when the temperatures are at their most extreme. However, HVAC zoning allows users to control the temperatures of specific spaces using multiple thermostats, as opposed to the entire building or floor compiling with a single setting. Instead of pumping air conditioning or heat to vacant rooms, you can achieve better energy savings—and money—with controlled zoning.
Increases Comfort
Nobody is happy when some employees are sweating and others are shivering. Uncomfortable employees have a more challenging time focusing on tasks and are generally less motivated. Luckily, HVAC zoning accommodates the needs of everyone by giving employees the option to set temperatures that suit their preferences. Additionally, indoor air quality is improved by reducing the spread of pollen, dirt, dust, and mold that cause allergies and other health risks.
Equipment Longevity
Standard HVAC systems that continuously pump hot or cold air throughout the year tend to break down fast and require frequent repairs to remain functional. By limiting the strain put on your heating and cooling systems, HVAC zoning increases the longevity of your equipment and cuts maintenance costs dramatically.
Extending the life of your HVAC equipment can be achieved with proper preventative maintenance. Learn more about preventative HVAC services and how they can keep your equipment functioning for years.
Customizable
Having the ability to set the specific temperatures of individual spaces within a building is invaluable. No other type of HVAC system allows you to tailor the temperature of each room to your liking without impacting other spaces, giving employees the highest level of customization when it comes to creating a comfortable environment.
Simple to Use
HVAC zoning allows you to completely customize the temperature settings of specific rooms within commercial buildings and is extremely simple to use. You don’t have to be a professional to operate zoning systems, as they are just as simple to use as traditional cooling equipment. Thanks to the integration of smart technology, using HVAC zoning is easy and accessible.
Noise Reduction
Because commercial heating and cooling need to work hard to pump air throughout entire buildings, it tends to produce a fair amount of noise. Continued rumbling and rattling can distract employees and prevent them from focusing on their work. However, HVAC zoning systems don’t need to work as hard to heat and cool spaces, significantly reducing noise while in use.
Benefits the Environment
While HVAC zoning offers many cost-savings and quality-of-life improvements, it also provides a secondary environmental benefit. By consuming less energy to reach desirable temperatures, units produce less carbon dioxide that contributes to greenhouse gases. HVAC zoning systems are energy efficient and less environmentally harmful than standard heating and cooling.
After learning more about commercial HVAC zoning systems, you may be tempted to install them in your own facility, but to do that, you’re going to need a professional that’s not only capable of doing the job, but doing it efficiently. If that’s the case, consider turning to A&G Piping.
Learn More About Commercial HVAC Zoning With A&G Services
If you’re looking for a certified commercial HVAC contractor in Dallas, TX, there’s no better service provider to work with than A&G. We’ve been in the business for nearly four decades. With no signs of slowing down, we’re prepared to handle any HVAC questions you may have—zoning or otherwise.
We provide HVAC installation, repair, and routine maintenance services that ensure your building is kept cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Contact us today to set up a meeting and learn more about how we can benefit your business.