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What is
Zone Control?
Zone Control refers to regulating the temperature in one single room in your
home by means of shutting air supply to that room via the ductwork ON or OFF
using a wall thermostat in that room combined with a motorized damper in the
duct supplying air to that room.
Why do I want to control the
temperature in a single room?
To save significantly on home heating and cooling cost.
Give me an example of how I would
save money:
O.K. Let us say you have a room in your home that is used only occasionally,
like a guest room.
Why heat that room to 70°F all winter long, or cool it to 76°F all summer.
Keep it at 55°F in the winter and 85°F in the summer. Same story for a
bedroom. Like to sleep in a 64°F bedroom and keep the rest of the house at
70°F? During the cooling season you may want the room for the baby a little
bit warmer than the rest of the house. The possibilities are endless.
What are we speaking of in dollars
and cents?
Roughly speaking, if you control two rooms in your home during the winter
heating season as follows:
The unused guest room you keep at 55°F.
The bedroom you keep at 64°F.
The square feet of those two rooms is about 15% of the total square feet of
your home.
Expect to save between 4% and 8% on your utility bills during the heating
season.
During the cooling season the savings will be even higher since cooling
costs are greater than heating costs.
Cool. How does it work?
A Suncourt® Pro™ Motorized Damper system consists of several elements
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A motorized, low voltage, damper that installs in the duct
supplying air to the room you want to 'zone'.
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A safe, low voltage transformer to supply power for the
damper electric motor. (Not included.)
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A standard heat-cool wall thermostat you install in the
room you want to 'zone' (This thermostat is not supplied and must
be obtained separately at your favorite home center).
What wiring is required?
You will need to install a transformer on the cover of an existing
electrical junction box in your home. The Suncourt® Pro™ Motorized Damper
installs in the target duct, similar to the installation of an Suncourt®
In-Line Duct Booster Fan™. A thermostat is mounted on the wall in the target
room.You run low voltage wires from a transformer to the thermostat and on
to the Suncourt® Pro™ Motorized Damper drive motor. This is safe low voltage
wiring. View Suncourt® Pro™ Motorized Damper
Installation Page.
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Is that room going to get stuffy if I shut off the
air supply?
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The ZoneMaster™, with 100% airflow shut-off, can be used
in dry climates and in rooms where some air exchange is present through
air leakage via the windows or under the door. If you find the room
getting stuffy, a small portion of the damper sealing gasket can be
removed from the damper to allow some air supply.
How many rooms can I 'zone' in my
house?
Do not use more than twoSuncourt® Pro™ Motorized Damper dampers per 10 heat
registers. If you use more, chances are that the furnace blower will build
up too much pressure. This may upset the balance of heat delivery in your
home and create noise from heat outlets because the air velocity will be
higher. (Same amount of air coming out of fewer registers). Computerized
whole house zone control systems are available, but they are rather
expensive. |
