Hello its me again, If i'm becoming a pain in the rear please let me know. After talking to you guys (thanks again) I think i'm going to go for the zoning. A couple more questions if you don't mind.I have 2 controllers in mind, the Zonex and the Smarthome. I kind of like the Smarthome better maybe because of the ease and info of the controller on their website. Anyone ever use this product or recommend any others. Is the short cycle protection for the a/c a standard in all controllers. Does that mean lets say if the therm only calls for 5 min of cooling, the controller will run it for 15min so it wont short cycle? And is a bypass damper important so there wont be a strain on the motor when only one zone is open? Am I correct in saying these are the 2 biggest problems with a zone retro? I do have a pretty decent unit ( from what i've been told) with a variable speed furnace and a two speed a/c. I am a little scared to go ahead because I do hear some negatives from people, but if I do my homework I should be fine. A friend of mine just put a large addition on his house and had his friend (the hvac guy) install a damper to zone the upstairs and downstairs. When I asked him if he had a dump zone or a bypass he kind of looked at me funny and said " naw you dont need that", could this shorten the life span of his equip?My wifes cousin is visiting from NY state tomorrow and he is an hvac guy, hopefully I can get his "blessing and get started". Thanks again for all the help.
A couple more zoning questions
- Thread starter broadway
- Start date
I don't have any particular experience w/ those controllers . . . I have hydronic radiant heat and use a Taco 6 zone for my pumps . . . but only because it's what my local HVAC supply house had . . .
. . . the short-cycle delay is a good idea (you've got the right idea) so I would be sure to check the specs of the controller you do decide on . . .
. . . the bypass zone might be . . . think about the size of your zones and the airflow your gona get . . . if only one or two registers are going to be flowing and the low speed on your blower will cause excessive pressure you might need it (in the commercial work I do, you never want to move paper on a desk) . . . but if your smallest zone will let enough air flow at low speed your OK . . .
just to give you more to think about
. . . one idea I like is to use a dump zone instead of a bypass . . . the trick is to dump to the right place . . . in the winter you could use the basement as a dump when only the small zone is calling for heat . . . it reduces equip fatigue without wasting the heat (it rises) . . . the summer dump zone might be an otherwise un-conditioned space that would benefit from the de-humidification (bounus room/crawl space), which also reduces the load on adjacent spaces . . .
your buddy's house has me concerned . . . a large addition and all he added was a damper ? no new equipment ? larger house = larger load . . . but us HVAC guys are kinda like doctors, although I will say what I recommend is right, I'm not going to say what your 'HVAC Guy' recommends is wrong . . .
I'll let you go ponder a while . . . don't hesitate if you think I can be of further assistance . . .
Pete C
I love my country, but fear my government.
. . . the short-cycle delay is a good idea (you've got the right idea) so I would be sure to check the specs of the controller you do decide on . . .
. . . the bypass zone might be . . . think about the size of your zones and the airflow your gona get . . . if only one or two registers are going to be flowing and the low speed on your blower will cause excessive pressure you might need it (in the commercial work I do, you never want to move paper on a desk) . . . but if your smallest zone will let enough air flow at low speed your OK . . .
just to give you more to think about
. . . one idea I like is to use a dump zone instead of a bypass . . . the trick is to dump to the right place . . . in the winter you could use the basement as a dump when only the small zone is calling for heat . . . it reduces equip fatigue without wasting the heat (it rises) . . . the summer dump zone might be an otherwise un-conditioned space that would benefit from the de-humidification (bounus room/crawl space), which also reduces the load on adjacent spaces . . . your buddy's house has me concerned . . . a large addition and all he added was a damper ? no new equipment ? larger house = larger load . . . but us HVAC guys are kinda like doctors, although I will say what I recommend is right, I'm not going to say what your 'HVAC Guy' recommends is wrong . . .
I'll let you go ponder a while . . . don't hesitate if you think I can be of further assistance . . .
Pete C
I love my country, but fear my government.
Black Magic
Member
I started a new thread on this topic. Feel free to send your unanswered questions over there.
http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=4150
http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=4150
