Zoning for The Trails' split-levels and Breakaway Trails' two-stories
Ormond Beach built split-levels in the 1970s and two-stories in the 1990s, and gave both one thermostat on the main floor. Zoning is what finally lets the rest of the house vote.
Two eras of Ormond Beach houses, one thermostat each
The Trails, laid out west of Nova Road in the 1970s, is full of split-levels and two-stories on wooded lots, with the air handler in the garage and a single thermostat in the main-floor hall. Breakaway Trails and Ormond Lakes added a second wave of two-stories in the 1990s and 2000s, with the air handler in the attic and the same single thermostat. In both eras the bedrooms are upstairs, the thermostat is downstairs, and the house’s one system cools the floor the thermostat lives on and lets the other floor fend for itself.
The result is familiar to anyone in those neighborhoods: upstairs runs six degrees warmer by evening, the family drops the thermostat to 70 so the bedrooms reach 76, and the main floor gets cold, damp and expensive. The 1950s and 1960s ranches in Ormond Terrace and Rio Vista have a horizontal version of the same problem, where a master-suite addition on the end of a long run never gets its share.
The problem zoning solves
Zoning divides the ductwork into sections with motorized dampers, puts a thermostat or sensor in each section, and lets a control panel open and close the dampers so the system sends cooling where it is being asked for. Upstairs calls for cooling at bedtime and gets it; the empty main floor does not. The house stops being dragged to 70 to make one floor livable, which in Ormond Beach’s nine-month cooling season shows on the FPL bill, and the humidity on the main floor comes down because the system is no longer over-cooling it.
Two kinds, without model numbers
- Zoning added to the existing system. Dampers, a control panel and zone thermostats fitted to a single-stage or two-stage system already in place. It needs a way to relieve pressure when only a small zone is open, a bypass damper or a dump zone, and it works well on a sound system with reasonable ducts. This is what most of The Trails and Breakaway Trails will buy.
- Communicating zoning on a variable-capacity system. When the system is being replaced anyway, Lennox’s zoning integrates with a variable-speed heat pump and thermostat so the equipment slows down rather than bypassing air. It is quieter, more efficient and more precise, and it is the version inside the Ultimate Comfort System.
Ask which version fits your system
Installation notes for Ormond Beach attics and garages
In a 1990s two-story the dampers go into the supply trunk in the attic, which in July is a 125-degree workspace, so the crew from our Palm Coast headquarters starts early. The upstairs and downstairs trunks are usually already separate, which makes two zones straightforward. In a 1970s split-level with the air handler in the garage, the supply trunk often has to be split and re-sealed where it branches, and the original flex duct is frequently replaced while it is exposed. Zone thermostats are placed where they represent the zone, not in a hallway that represents nothing. Every install is checked with the smallest zone open alone to be sure the coil cannot freeze and the ducts are not whistling.
Keeping the dampers moving
Zoning adds a few moving parts: dampers that should be exercised at each maintenance visit, a control panel that gets checked, and thermostats that need batteries or a wire check. We fold all of it into the spring and fall visits on a maintenance agreement, along with the filter and coil work the system needed anyway. If a damper fails, it fails open, so the house keeps cooling while we schedule the fix. Call 866-266-5709 and we will look at the ducts before we quote anything.
Zoning questions from two-story Ormond Beach homes
Would a second system be better than zoning for my Breakaway Trails two-story?
Sometimes, if the existing system is near the end anyway and the upstairs is large. For a sound system with decent ducts, zoning costs a fraction of a second system and solves the same complaint.
Can zoning go on the 2006 single-stage unit I already have?
Yes, with a bypass or a pressure-relief arrangement so the system is not pushing all its air through one small zone. It works; it is just not as elegant as zoning a variable-speed system that can simply slow down.
How many zones does a 1977 split-level in The Trails need?
Usually two: the bedroom level and everything else. Three if there is a converted garage or a Florida room on the slab that never cooled right.
Does closing supply vents by hand do the same thing?
No. Closing registers raises the pressure in the ducts, leaks more air into the attic and can freeze the coil. Zoning does it with dampers designed for it and a control that protects the equipment.
Upstairs hot, downstairs cold?
Free zoning estimate for your Ormond Beach two-story or split-level.