How Zone Management Works
There is more to Ducted Reverse Cycle Air Conditioning than just the unit itself
Frequently Asked Questions
How Zone Management works to make your Ducted Air Conditioner run more efficiently and save energy.
A Zone Management System splits the airflow from the Air Conditioner up into (up to) 8 seperate zones, so that you can control the airflow into separate rooms. It doesn't affect the running of the Air Conditioning unit itself, it just manages the flow of air from the unit.
Roll your mouse over the links below to view the different states (Blue areas have active Air Conditioning, Red areas do not):
There is more to Ducted Reverse Cycle Air Conditioning than just the unit itself.
A basic ducted unit is installed with duct and outlets to all spaces requiring heating or cooling. The temperature will be regulated by the single temperature gauge in one spot in the building, usually the Kitchen or Hall. This doesn't take into account variables like:
- Rooms with a lot of glass that may be hotter than rooms with small windows.
- Rooms getting afternoon sun will be hotter than rooms on the shaded side of the house.
However any house, office or other space consisting of various rooms can, for the sake of Air Conditioning Efficiency be divided into sections or zones each controlled by a damper(s) to regulate air flow to better manage the temperature level. These could be:
- Day & Night Zones
- Separate Usage Zones (Kitchen & Lounge/Kitchen & Bedrooms/Kitchen & Dining/Games)
- Specific Work Usage (Offices/Boardroom)
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The air conditioned space can then be selectively regulated via the dampers so that only the spaces in use have airflow. For example:
- When there is little need to heat or cool bedrooms that are not in use during the day
- An office boardroom doesn't need continuous airflow when it may only be used once a week
By confining airflow to the spaces being occupied the Air Conditioning unit is allowed to work more efficiently and, because the whole volume of air is going into a smaller area, desired temperatures are reached quicker and maintained more easily.
The use of this principle can result in real savings. |
For example: If a large house is calculated to need a 20 Kilowatt Unit to heat and cool the entire structure, but further examination shows thaat any given time, only two thirds of the rooms/ space are in use, then with well-designed zoning it is possible for the house to be satisfactorily serviced by a much smaller unit, providing a major up-front cost saving and ongoing power saving through the life of the unit.
How well each zone can be regulated depends on the sophistication of the Damper control system being used. It could be:
- A simple manual open/ close system - Zonemaster RF
- A timer controlled open/ close system - UniPoint/MaxiPoint
- A more intuitive temperature sensitive variable flow system that reacts to the actual temperature in each room and/or timer controls - Zonemaster VAV
Frequently Asked Questions
Energy saving or not?
The fact that, with a properly set up Zone Management System, you are only ever feeding cool air into half the house makes it obvious that energy savings must be made. The Air Conditioning Unit is only having to cool half the volume it was before, and so must save energy in the process.
Is getting a Zone Management System worth it?
If you are having a Ducted Air Conditioning System installed, a basic Zonemaster System will add around 6-10% to the total price. Well worth the small increase and probably reclaimable in energy savings over the life of the system.
What is a Spill Zone?
Every Air Conditioning Zone Management System theoretically has the ability to turn off every outlet so no air can flow, even with the Air Conditioner Unit running at full capacity. This situation would, of course, create huge air pressure in the ducts finally causing one or more to blow off a fitting, or split the duct to relieve the pressure. This can be expensive to fix. A Spill Zone is the 'safety valve', a designated zone(s) in a house that won't turn off if all the other zones are already off. All Zonemaster Systems have this safety feature built in and adjustable for all house sizes.
© Copyright 2008 Polyaire™ Pty Ltd. All rights reserved
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