(NAPS) - Just as you can turn on and off the lights depending on what room of the house you're in, you can use zoning systems to adjust the temperature in different areas of the home. This works to eliminate the hot and cold spots typically found from room to room and helps maintain a more consistent temperature throughout the home. A zoning system provides the same kind of flexibility in controlling heating and cooling that homeowners have with electricity, so comfort can be increased while saving on energy bills.

With a zoning system, the home can be divided into two, three or four separate areas (or "zones") with similar heating or cooling needs. A system of thermostats and dampers automatically adjusts the level of comfort in each zone.

Many homeowners confuse a zoning system with having multiple independent heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units. Individual units on each floor of the house, however, is not the same as zoning.

Zoning uses dampers to direct heating and cooling from a single HVAC system to more than one area. For example, a two-zone system will have two dampers with each one controlling the airflow to a zone. In addition, the zoning system will have a controller that adjusts the dampers and HVAC system to heat and cool each zone. A zone controller simply connects multiple thermostats to a single HVAC system.

According to the heating and cooling experts at York®, a brand of Johnson Controls, zoning is especially beneficial if you have certain rooms or areas that are always warmer or cooler than the rest of the home. Zoning lets homeowners direct the system to automatically provide more heating or cooling to a specific area, without wasting energy to heat or cool the entire home.

In many cases, proper zoning can result in operating cost savings of as much as 30 percent. While zoning does not actually increase the efficiency of your furnace, heat pump or air conditioner, it does increase the overall efficiency of the HVAC system by directing heating or cooling only where needed.

To learn more about energy efficient HVAC products and how to install a zoning system in your home, visit www.yorkupg.com or call (800) 910-YORK.

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