A lot of times, there are rooms in your house that are always warmer or colder than others are. There can be many explanations for this. For one, heat rises, so rooms on second or third floors are often too warm. In turn, basement rooms are typically too cold. Rooms with vaulted ceilings have a difficult time retaining heat, while rooms that receive long hours of sunlight are often difficult to cool down. These are just a few reasons, but regardless of why a room's temperature is uncomfortable, there's only one surefire way to even out your house's temperature: system zoning. System zoning is pretty simple. It involves multiple thermostats that are wired to a control panel, which operates dampers within the ductwork of your forced-air system. The thermostats constantly read the temperature of their specific zone, then open or close the dampers within the ductwork according to the thermostat's settings. Not only is system zoning helpful for houses with inconsistent room temperatures, but it's also great for heating or cooling individual bedrooms based on the desired temperature setting.

If you have a usually empty guest room, just shut the door and close the damper. Gas vs. Electric Stoves: Which is really more efficient? Magnetic Air Conditioners: A High Tech Way Of Keeping Cool What natural gas home appliances are available? Should all of my appliances come from the same manufacturer? Is stainless steel on its way out? If used properly, system zoning can help you save money on your energy bills. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, system zoning can save homeowners up to 30 percent on a typical heating and cooling bill. Those savings can add up to quite a sum -- the Department of Energy also estimates that heating and cooling account for 40 percent of the average household's utility costs. Because guest rooms and other seldom-used rooms don't require constant heating or cooling, system zoning allows you to save money by running temperature-controlled air to those rooms only when it is necessary. Many homeowners are hesitant or unwilling to make the transition to programmable thermostats and system zoning because of the initial cost of installation.

This is an understandable concern for anyone who's not building a new home or replacing an old HVAC system, but there are other options available. Even though installing a typical zoned system is not a do-it-yourself project, the Department of Energy's Inventions and Innovation Program funded the development of a damper system that can be retrofitted to existing ductwork. The system combines RetroZone's flex damper air control inserts with an electronic controller and air pumping system. car air conditioner repair scarboroughThere are no heavy motors involved, so existing ductwork does not need to be altered or supported.mcquay ac unit The flex dampers, which come in circular and square duct models, fill with air to constrict or block the airflow within the duct. westinghouse air handling unit

They're resistant to heat, aging, moisture, airborne chemicals and ozone, and even if they're punctured, which is unlikely, most holes will not affect the performance. Flex dampers should be installed in steel or flexible ducts. The dampers can be serviced easily by gaining access through a register. Flex dampers also work with most brands of zone-control panels. If you're planning to install a retrofitted zone-control system, here's what you'll need to put on your shopping list: The number of zones your home needs will affect the way you set up the system. In a two-zone system, with the zones being fairly equal in size, each zone's ductwork must be capable of handling up to 70 percent of the total CFM (cubic feet per minute) of air produced by your HVAC system. In a three-zone system, the zones need to be as close in total area as possible. In this case, each zone's ductwork should be able to handle up to 50 percent of the total CFM. Installing a four-zone system requires a bit more work.

The ducts need to be enlarged by one inch, and they require a static pressure relief damper and high- and low-limit protection. To avoid major damage, be sure not to completely cut off the airflow over the heat exchanger or coil of your HVAC system. Now we'll look at another home-thermostat innovation -- the talking thermostat.How does multi-zone climate control work in a car? POSTED Jan 25, 2011 Believe it or not, there once was a time when everyone riding in a vehicle had to agree on a single temperature setting. And, of course, this inevitably led to some friction between travelers: Some preferred it cooler while the others rubbed their hands together and claimed to be freezing. Or maybe there was someone in the car who wanted it warmer while others were left sweating and sticking to the vinyl seats. Some compromise might be had by opening a window -- but that often led to other issues with wind and road noise. So what's the solution? Find a way to let each passenger select his or her own temperature.

But really, how practical is that? Well, if you haven't been new car shopping in a while, you might be surprised to find out that it's actually getting to the point where dual-zone climate control systems are simply passé. (Unless you're looking at a two-seater, in which case, a dual-zone system is perfectly acceptable.) In fact, it's not as uncommon as you might think to find as many as three or even four separate climate zones within the same vehicle. Each manufacturer has its own distinct method for delivering the perfect climate for individual passengers; however, they all rely on certain similar components, like additional controls in the driver's HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) control unit, an additional HVAC control unit in the rear seating area, individual temperature sensors for each zone, lots of extra hidden ducting to carry the air where it's needed and extra vents -- lots and lots of extra vents. For example, the Lexus LX570 has 28 of them. Here's how the BMW 5 Series Sedan handles it.