Questions regarding zone dampers

[TXBevo]

The Pro has suggested Honeywell zone dampers. Just for knowledge sake.

How are these controlled? Do they have a controller that the Tstats connect through?

How about reliability?

Any impact on efficiency?

[karsthuntr]

The Pro has suggested Honeywell zone dampers. Just for knowledge sake.

How are these controlled? Do they have a controller that the Tstats connect through?

Yes

How about reliability?

Good

Any impact on efficiency?

If done properly you main gain a little.

[iraqveteran]

Honeywell makes quality products. We used to use them but now we use SmartZone systems. The only real difference b/t the two is the damper motors are a little different.

A zone system could improve efficiency, however, it must be installed properly. Am improperly installed zone system will only cause more problems that your experiencing without zones.

[Pascone10]

Zone dampers are great for comfort. Many customers i have like to have 2 zones separated 1st and 2nd floor. This way when they go to sleep at night they can turn the floor they are not on, temp down. that may help with the efficiency side. the zoning works by connecting the t-stats as well as the unit to a secondary board which controls the operations of the system. as far as reliability my company has installed they're fair share of zoning systems and being a service guy i have not had many calls because of the zoning controls. i will ad this bit of info. we started installing pneumatic (air) systems and they work great.

[TXBevo]

i will ad this bit of info. we started installing pneumatic (air) systems and they work great.

Who makes the pneumatic ones and what do they used for air source? Seems to me that creates a whole other layer of potential failure.

[Pascone10]

many different manufactures make this type of system. the system we install uses one small air compressor which is mounted in a box with the control board. you can control multiple zones with the one compressor. as far as the reliability there are a couple different ways to look at this. with motorized systems there is a motor at each damper with a couple of wires to it. so if you have 4 zones thats 4 motors with at least 2 wires to each. now the pneumatic system there is only 1 compressor (less working parts) and you have 1 hose going to each damper compared to multiple wires. all in all it is a matter of preference they all work similar and do the same task. the only difference is how they accomplish that task