Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
mark3316_gw

Zoned heat and AC in new home

Mark3316
10 years ago

We are building a new home with approximately 1500 sq ft per level - main floor, second floor, walkout basement. There are three of us; my wife, who has had her thyroid removed and is either freezing cold or sweaty hot, our adult son who is on the autism spectrum and runs very hot (shorts and T-shirt in 50 degree weather), and myself. We want to zone the house's heating and cooling to the greatest extent possible. I can easily foresee situations where some zones will be on cooling and some on heating. Looking for advice on manufacturers and systems. The only one I am aware of is the Mitsubishi City system, but I am sure there are others. We live in Southern Indiana, where temperatures in the last few years have ranged from 100+ to the low 20's. Although we don't have money to burn, expense is secondary to having the system work the way we want it to do. As an added consideration, we are considering geothermal systems.
Thanks for any and all advice.

This post was edited by Mark3316 on Sun, May 12, 13 at 15:02

Comments (5)

  • tigerdunes
    10 years ago

    What is fuel source for heating?

    If nat gas, Infinity furnace and AC with Infinity zoning controls.

    If all electric weigh the cost difference and payback between Infinity GreenSpeed HP versus geothermal HP.

    IMO

  • Mark3316
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Natural gas isn't available; it will have to be electric or propane.

  • tigerdunes
    10 years ago

    I might consider propane backup in a Carrier GreenSpeed DF system but only if I was going to add a propane fired backup generator.

    IMO

  • mike_home
    10 years ago

    "I can easily foresee situations where some zones will be on cooling and some on heating."

    I recommend each floor should have its own system. The basement could be a zone of the first floor since the heating and cooling requirements are relatively low. You may be able to set up each floor as two independent zones, but each floor would be either heating or cooling.

    If a floor has to both heat and cool at the same time, then I think the only viable solution is installing mini-split systems.

  • fsq4cw
    10 years ago

    Your situation is rather unique and presents many challenges. The biggest being simultaneous heating and cooling where any one zone may have to switch back and forth quite rapidly. There are also the challenges of cost, utility, esthetics and efficiency.

    There are in fact several, if not many choices available. You may want to consult with a professional HVAC designer (PE), as this is more of a commercial than residential design project albeit on a small scale.

    Some of the choices could be mini-splits, however this would also mean 1-condenser per head due to the simultaneous need to heat or cool over different zones. Another choice could be electric resistance heating for each room with zoned central air-conditioning.

    The Mitsubishi City Multi system is more suited to commercial applications with the smallest capacity being 6-tons. However, being inverter controlled, it may be able to slow down sufficiently to meet your demand.

    Another possibility would be a geothermal liquid-to-water heat pump with 4-pipe water supplied fan coil units. This configuration could allow true heating or cooling in all zones simultaneously with the ability to switch modes in all zones quite quickly. It also requires no ducts and no visible outdoor equipment such as multiple condenser units.

    Other possibilities with geothermal could include in-floor radiant with either thin slab (concrete) or tubing set closer to the surface of a thicker slab for a faster thermal response time and accompanied by forced air ducted, zoned cooling. In-floor geothermal cooling is also possible but requires careful management of humidity and airflow so as to avoid floors that sweat.

    All these solutions run from the very expensive to extremely expensive but can achieve your heating, cooling and comfort objectives. I canâÂÂt stress strongly enough the need to hire the experienced, accredited professional to design and oversee the installation of your system. This is not the job for an HVAC contractor whose office is a cell phone and the front seat of his truck!

    IMO

    SR