Dual zone HVAC in a two story house....

[mrproc1]

Hey Ya'll....
Well this is the second winter on our new house we built. And for the second month in a row I got. $300 plus power bill (FML).
The house is 2313sqft, 2 story, 4 bedroom, all bedrooms are up stairs. We keep the house at 63 (well atleast I do when I'm home, I travel a lot for work) and keep the upstairs vents closed in the winter.
So... the question is, is dual zone system with it.. and how excatly do they work?

 

[printcraft]

Take your fan off auto and set it to on to run continually.
It distributes the heats better and your furnace will run less.
It helped me.
YMMV

 

[mrproc1]

I don't know if I have that option..

 

[Signal23]

Hey Ya'll....
Well this is the second winter on our new house we built. And for the second month in a row I got. $300 plus power bill (FML).
The house is 2313sqft, 2 story, 4 bedroom, all bedrooms are up stairs. We keep the house at 63 (well atleast I do when I'm home, I travel a lot for work) and keep the upstairs vents closed in the winter.
So... the question is, is dual zone system with it.. and how excatly do they work?

Is it an Arbor Home? PM me

 

[mrproc1]

Is it an Arbor Home? PM me

Sent

 

[scottka]

Take your fan off auto and set it to on to run continually.
It distributes the heats better and your furnace will run less.
It helped me.
YMMV

Hmm... Interesting. Never heard of this. Anyone else do this?

 

[hornadylnl]

My house is 4400 sf with an 1800sf basement, 1800sf first floor and 800sf second floor. With my open great room and foyer and 9' ceilings in the basement and first floor, I have about 35% more air volume than a conventional 4400sf house with 8' ceilings. It's energy star 5+. I keep it at 72 during the evenings and 71 at night. My highest winter bills are right around $300 in the winter.

I have a 2 zone system. My basement and first floor are on zone 1 and the upstairs on 2. In the summer, the upstairs zone runs much more than the first floor and in the winter, vice versa. I'm not sure the 2 zone really helps me all that much being that I have 2 story rooms. I'm sure the upstairs rooms are much cooler though in the summer.

What kind of heat do you have? I'm running a geothermal with a total electric house on REMC power that is about 20-30% higher than most other power companies. Depending on how your ductwork is laid out, it may be extremely costly to put in a second zone. Do you have 2 main trunks coming off of your furnace, one feeding the first floor and 1 feeding your second floor or do all ducts feed off of 1 main trunk? If you have 2 main trunks, you'd have to put in electronic gates tied to your thermostats so only that gate opens when you call for heat.

I also have my thermostats set so that the fans run all the time as well.

 

[mrproc1]

My house is 4400 sf with an 1800sf basement, 1800sf first floor and 800sf second floor. With my open great room and foyer and 9' ceilings in the basement and first floor, I have about 35% more air volume than a conventional 4400sf house with 8' ceilings. It's energy star 5+. I keep it at 72 during the evenings and 71 at night. My highest winter bills are right around $300 in the winter.

I have a 2 zone system. My basement and first floor are on zone 1 and the upstairs on 2. In the summer, the upstairs zone runs much more than the first floor and in the winter, vice versa. I'm not sure the 2 zone really helps me all that much being that I have 2 story rooms. I'm sure the upstairs rooms are much cooler though in the summer.

What kind of heat do you have? I'm running a geothermal with a total electric house on REMC power that is about 20-30% higher than most other power companies. Depending on how your ductwork is laid out, it may be extremely costly to put in a second zone. Do you have 2 main trunks coming off of your furnace, one feeding the first floor and 1 feeding your second floor or do all ducts feed off of 1 main trunk? If you have 2 main trunks, you'd have to put in electronic gates tied to your thermostats so only that gate opens when you call for heat.

I also have my thermostats set so that the fans run all the time as well.

Im pretty sure I have one heat trunk for he whole house. And im on electric heat.

 

[hornadylnl]

Im pretty sure I have one heat trunk for he whole house. And im on electric heat.

Where's your furnace located? Is it just an electric strip heater or is it a heat pump? My geo unit is in my basement. My plenum comes up with 2 horizontal trunks and one vertical trunk going upstairs. Are your first floor vents in the floor or ceiling?

 

[Signal23]

Hmm... Interesting. Never heard of this. Anyone else do this?

I am a home builder and yes this does move the air and make if feel more balanced, also a ceiling fan can help also, lofts, vaulted ceilings need the extra movement of the air.

 

[88GT]

Is your thermostat located in a thermally stable location?

 

[Signal23]

Is your thermostat located in a thermally stable location?

True ?, it should be in the interior of the house away from solar gain (east, south, west) so that sun rise and set doesn't come in the window and make the thermostat hotter than it really is.....

 

[miguel]

+1 for keeping the fan running. All my HVAC guys have told me that and we are comfortable with our system.

 

[Signal23]

You asked about 2 stats or zone system, that is more common with someone with a finished or open stair to the basement or just a little bit larger house. The idea with an open basement is that it is naturally cooler, so if you try to heat it to 72* a large portion of the energy will move from that floor, to the main floor and on to the second floor by convection, so by putting a zone in, you can controll what areas get so it is more balanced.

You can also put in dampers......not a zone system but it will controll by thermostat what is sent to a specific area......like a large MBR upstairs and you want it cooler, the thermostat in the MBR would control that duct and shut down a % to make it cooler or open a % to make it warmer.......not as controlled as zone but works good for specific comfort

 

[hornadylnl]

HVAC is now a science and unfortunately many contractors are still doing it the way they've always done it. Energy efficiency requires many different things. Good insulation, efficient heat source, etc. you can use tte best of everything but it won't matter if its improperly installed.

They're using computer models now to properly size furnaces and ductwork to get the most efficiency possible now. I forget what this testing is called now.

When my house was built, the hvac guy put my first floor thermostat in the master bedroom. I questioned them on it and they insisted that was the best place to put it. It made absolutely no sense to me as the master bedroom is the furthest room from my exterior doors. We keep the mb door closed all the time. The interior walls are all insulated for sound proofing. If I turn the tv on for a couple hours in my mb with no other lights on, temp will rise a couple degrees. The rest of my first floor would be 10 degrees colder. I finally moved it out into the hallway away from direct sunlight or air movement from exterior doors. The temp is now pretty even throughout the first floor.

I think nowadays, you'd be better off hiring a 30 year old contractor with 5-10 years in the business than the old timer. Many aren't embracing the new methodology.

 

[mrproc1]

The theromstate is in the center of the downstairs in the livingroom..
Sounds like I got some good ideas. Thank you all for hour help..

 

[tpntch]

HVAC is now a science and unfortunately many contractors are still doing it the way they've always done it. Energy efficiency requires many different things. Good insulation, efficient heat source, etc. you can use tte best of everything but it won't matter if its improperly installed.

They're using computer models now to properly size furnaces and ductwork to get the most efficiency possible now. I forget what this testing is called now.

When my house was built, the hvac guy put my first floor thermostat in the master bedroom. I questioned them on it and they insisted that was the best place to put it. It made absolutely no sense to me as the master bedroom is the furthest room from my exterior doors. We keep the mb door closed all the time. The interior walls are all insulated for sound proofing. If I turn the tv on for a couple hours in my mb with no other lights on, temp will rise a couple degrees. The rest of my first floor would be 10 degrees colder. I finally moved it out into the hallway away from direct sunlight or air movement from exterior doors. The temp is now pretty even throughout the first floor.

I think nowadays, you'd be better off hiring a 30 year old contractor with 5-10 years in the business than the old timer. Many aren't embracing the new methodology.

You are correct. I am a Certified Energy Auditor & Rater. The older contractors do not embrace building science.

Manual J & Manual D calculate furnace and ducts sizes

Using a computer to model a whole house for energy usage is most commonly associated with a Rating system such as, HERS, Energy Star, LEED, etc

pm me if you know anyone that would be interested in this type of service.

 

[pwoller]

I am a home builder and yes this does move the air and make if feel more balanced, also a ceiling fan can help also, lofts, vaulted ceilings need the extra movement of the air.

I don't understand this. If I go from auto to on for the fan doesn't the furnace run 24/7?

 

[Signal23]

I don't understand this. If I go from auto to on for the fan doesn't the furnace run 24/7?

Part of the furnace runs 24/7 the FAN.

The heating or cooling part only works when the thermostat tell it that its to hot or to cold and then it runs AS WELL , but only when needed

the fan is just like a fan in the room stirring up the air

 

[mrproc1]

I don't understand this. If I go from auto to on for the fan doesn't the furnace run 24/7?

I think what that will to is help keep the heat at a coherent temp..