Arzel Zoning
Any HVAC professional will tell you that multi-stage equipment is great. These powerful air conditioning machines can achieve better comfort and better energy efficiency. We wanted to take a moment to explain why HVAC zoning makes multi-stage equipment even better. Here’s how we’re optimizing multi-stage equipment with Arzel Zoning.
Multi-stage equipment is a game-changer because the equipment doesn’t have to run at full capacity all the time. When you zone a multi-stage system, you’ll get even more benefit from its ability to run in a lower stage. Why? Picture a two-story house on a hot summer day. The air conditioner will be running a lot. However, the second story will need much more conditioning than the first story.
If the two-story house is divided into zones, then the equipment can spend some time only cooling the upstairs. It may be able to do this at a lower stage. So instead of flooding the whole home with second-stage air conditioning, the equipment can provide first-stage A/C to the upstairs only. When the first floor calls for conditioning, the equipment can stage up to second stage just long enough to cool the first floor.
Multi-stage equipment does a lot to increase energy efficiency, but it does not give homeowners much control over specific areas. Whether it’s in first stage or second stage, the equipment is still conditioning the entire home. In many buildings, this results in areas of over-conditioning and areas of under-conditioning.
Imagine a home with a large great room that has big glass windows. It’s a cold winter day with a strong wind. Those big windows are going to be a problem, right? The great room will need a lot of conditioning. So the homeowners will turn the thermostat way up to be comfortable. With multi-stage equipment, they will probably get the temperature they want in the great room. However, other rooms of the home will get too hot in the process. All of that conditioned air will flow through the whole home, even though it’s needed most in the great room.
With zoning, the great room could be its own zone. When the rest of the house is warm enough, the dampers will close and direct all of the conditioned air to the great room. This will heat up the great room faster, while also avoiding over-conditioning in other areas. It’s a win-win!
Many clients’ first question is how they can save money on energy costs. When you zone multi-stage equipment, you’ll give them the best opportunity to conserve energy and reduce their costs.
Just think of a home with an open kitchen/living room setup and 3 bedrooms. With multi-stage zoning, this home can get the comfort the homeowners want and better energy efficiency. The zoning system allows the bedrooms and kitchen/living room to get conditioning only when they need it. Occupants can set back the temperature in zones they aren’t using. The system will automatically avoid sending conditioned air when it’s not needed. All of that means less conditioned air is needed. With multi-stage equipment, that means you’ll spend less time in second stage. This home will get better comfort while they save energy.
If you’re optimizing multi-stage equipment with Arzel Zoning, you will almost always want to use the HeatPumPro. Yes, it’s great with heat pumps, but the HeatPumPro is the best zoning option for most multi-stage applications no matter what type of equipment you have.
Fair question. We originally designed the HeatPumPro for heat pumps. But soon we realized its ability to handle backup heat for heat pumps also made it a great option for handling multi-stage equipment. With a few changes, it became our universal zoning panel.
The HeatPumPro zone control panel coordinates all of the staging for you. You can use conventional thermostats on all of your zones, and depend on HeatPumPro to decide when to stage up or down. The zone weighting feature lets you configure how much ductwork needs to be open to allow second-stage operation.
When you’re optimizing multi-stage equipment with zoning, the first step is to use the zone weighting feature. When you configure the HeatPumPro, you’ll set a zone weight for each of the zones. The zone weight is basically the percentage of ductwork in the zone. This doesn’t need to be an exact number, just an estimate. It’s also ok for the percentages of all zones to add up to more than 100%.
After you assign a zone weight for each zone, you’ll set the air handler threshold. The air handler threshold is the percentage of ductwork that needs to be calling to engage second stage. If the zones calling add up to less than the air handler threshold, then second-stage will be locked out.
This two-story home has four zones. The easiest way to estimate zone weights is to divide the number of runs in each zone by the total number of runs in the system.
Then we’ll set the air handler stage threshold. The HeatPumPro will allow second-stage operation anytime the weight of the zones calling is equal to or greater than the air handler stage threshold. Here are some possible air handler stage thresholds you could set, along with what each one will do:
How you choose will vary based on your application. The result will be better comfort and more efficient multi-stage operation. The equipment will spend more time in first stage, resulting in energy savings. At the same time, the areas that need conditioning will get adequate airflow when they need it.
For more information on optimizing multi-stage equipment, take a look at our multi-stage zoning case study. Or watch our zone weighting virtual training for more details on how to configure multi-stage zoning. For an in-depth look at optimizing multi-stage equipment, see our webinar on multi-stage equipment and zoning. Finally, just give us a call at (800) 611-8312 and we’ll be happy to explain more.
Any HVAC professional will tell you that multi-stage equipment is great. These powerful air conditioning machines can achieve better comfort and better energy efficiency. We wanted to take a moment to explain why HVAC zoning makes multi-stage equipment even better. Here’s how we’re optimizing multi-stage equipment with Arzel Zoning. Why would you zone multi-stage equipment? […]
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