How Big Should a House Be To Need Separate HVAC Zones
Not every home needs a separate HVAC zone especially if you have standard HVAC equipment installed. Some houses can do with standard HVAC equipment and will not require variable setting HVAC equipment. On the other hand, having your house renovated to change the HVAC you have installed can also incur a pretty significant amount of time and money on your part. There are criteria that your home must meet for the variable setting HVAC equipment to be truly beneficial for you.
To know if your house is big enough to require separate HVAC zones, we first need to know what HVAC zones are. HVAC zones are areas in your house that have or you would like to have a different temperature setting than other parts or areas of your house. These zones each have their thermostat and their airflows and air ducts that run along with their ceiling or walls. A bypass duct or at least, dampers are needed to be installed for each HVAC zone. This is done to prevent an air current of different temperature settings from interfering with the rest.
The criteria for houses to have separate hvac zones are not set in stone and sometimes can be foregone altogether (although doing so would go against an HVAC technician’s advice). These criteria are the following:
- Does your house have a finished attic or basement?
– An attic or basement, aside from being an altogether separate room from your house, often acts as a storage area for your family. This storage area optimally needs to have a fairly stable temperature setting regardless of the seasons.
- Does your house have a vaulted or a high ceiling?
– Houses that have high ceilings need a separate HVAC zone due to different air temperature differences in differing altitudes.
- Does your house have large glass windows?
– Apart from the relative ease of outside temperature being able to affect the temperature in a room with large glass windows, these large glass windows are often prone to air leaks affecting the temperature.
- Rooms that are seldom occupied, like guest rooms and such
– Temperature settings for these rooms are rarely set since it is seldom occupied thus the need for it to have its HVAC zone.
By answering these questions you should be able to safely gauge how big should a house be to need separate HVAC zones. If you answered yes to all, if not most, to these questions then your house needs separate HVAC zones.