Reliable Heating Services for Consistent Indoor Comfort

Zoned heating and cooling

Zoning is one of the services the Flow Tech team provides. A zone system divides a house into two or more areas, each with its own thermostat, and dampers in the ductwork send the air where it is asked for instead of one thermostat deciding for every room. It is still one furnace and one heat pump, not a second system.

What installing a zone system actually involves

Real design work, not a swap. Much of the job is ductwork: a new trunk line or new runs, dampers fitted into the ducts where they can be reached when they need service, and a zone control board wired into the equipment. It is simplest while a system is already being replaced, because the trunk line is open and the crew is already in the ductwork. On a recent install in Eatonville, our team ran a new round trunk line and set up zoning from one new heat pump and furnace.

Why the quote is often higher than people expect

The call we get most often sounds like this: the upstairs is hot, the downstairs is freezing, the system went in a couple of years ago or it was like that when they moved in, and can someone come out and see what is wrong. Usually the ducts underneath were undersized or laid out poorly to begin with, and hanging dampers on ducts that cannot carry the air will not fix the rooms. The honest fix means changing ductwork, and that is where the cost is. We would rather explain that before we quote than sell a small job that leaves the house the way it was.

Will zoning fix my hot upstairs, and will it lower my bills

It helps most when the same rooms are off by the same amount every summer, usually a second floor or an addition. It is less help when one room is the problem, because a crushed duct, a blocked return or a big sunny window has its own cause. It will not heat one room while cooling another, because the system runs in one mode at a time. And it usually will not cut your bills much. Zoning is for comfort, and a zone system that is designed badly can use more energy, not less.

What we check before quoting a zone system

The ducts, first. If rooms are already uneven, we look at airflow, duct sizing and how the returns are run, because a zone system on top of undersized ducts will not deliver even temperatures. If zoning is not right for your house, we will tell you instead of selling you one.

Ask us about zoning for your home  |  Duct repair and design