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Heating & Air Conditioning

2-zone heating system.

16 years ago

Our construction of a addition was supposed to have a 2 zone heating/cooling system. However, this did not happen (a story for another time). What, if any, solution is there to this? The ductwork is all enclosed, so all the walls and ceilings would have to be broken down if a 2 zone system was to be installed now. The addition was 2 stories and the thermostat for the furnace is downstairs. Right now, the upstairs gets much warmer than downstairs. I was wondering if there was such a thing as register covers that would close automatically when a desired temperature is reached...at least thats what I could think of. Any other things I could try?

Thanks.

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Comments (3)

tigerdunes
16 years ago
Not real clear about what you have with your addition and why HVAC was not properly planned for. You will never achieve satisfactory heating/cooling without a separate system for each story or a properly zoned system for the two stories. Any bandaid approach will be a waste of money and leave you with poor comfort and disappointment. I would first start with an HVAC pro experienced in zoning and have him survey your addition and make recommendations. Your contractor for the addition obviously did you a disservice as far as HVAC.

IMO
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joeplumb
16 years ago
If you have access to the separate ductwork that each floor serves, you or your friendly contractor could add dampers to control the flow between the two floors, If not, then your idea of closing off some of the upstair registers might work to a point, since closing off registers will restrict the total airflow thru the furnace and might cause temperature overlimit shutdown of the furnace. However, if that happens, I would go to the highest RPM of the blower ( usually used for A/C) and if the furnace is oversized as they usually are, reduce the size of the nozzle (for oil heat) or the gas flow ( for gas). It is however, unlikely that you could get zoning out of this, only an improvement of the balance.
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gk245
Original Author
16 years ago
Well, as it is now, the rooms upstairs get hotter and the only way to control the heat there is to shut off the register with hand. So, I was thinking maybe there was a way to shut the register off automatically or even something of this sort exists.
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