Damper Question and Sensor Placement Question

[yossarian]

We have a Carrier MVB furnace with the Infinity zoning system, with 3 zones (2 downstairs and one upstairs). The upstairs zone has 2 bedrooms and one bathroom. We have installed the sensor in the hallway, where there is no register, but at the most distant point from the stairway so as to prevent it from receiving too much downstairs heat.

My question regards how open I should keep the dampers. Right now, both bedrooms and the bathroom have very good airflow through the registers. Should I keep all of the dampers wide open or is there a reason to close them partially?

Also, is it a mistake to keep the sensor in the hallway? We did not want to put the sensor in one of the bedrooms as we wanted to be able to adjust the temperature from the hallway. But it seems that it will be much more difficult to set the thermostat by keeping it in the hallway as opposed to one of the bedrooms.

[driftamile]

Didn't look like you were getting a quick response. Sorry not familiar with the infinity design, but I am thinking that the sensor that you are talking about is for the thermostat? If so...If it is near a return,that would be ideal as long as it is not exposed to sunlight, which would throw the sensor off. As far as the registers go, I think it would be wise to have a technician come over and advise you. If you close off too many and too much it may harm your system. A tech may be helpful in advising you on balancing your house for the greatest comfort.

[yossarian]

Thanks for the thoughts. I am planning on keeping the registers open. I was not sure how I should set the dampers in the basement. Right now, I have them wide open.

The sensor is a sensor for the thermostat. There is no return in the hallway, but then there are no registers nearby either. The airflow is what comes out of the upstairs bedrooms and the downstairs.

[cem-bsee]

ask the system designer!

each should have a stop to prevent complete closing.

[dash]

The dampers in the zoning system will modulate as needed ,no "stop" or "setting" needed.



Do you have manual dampers for each zone or branch as well,that you are asking about??


Your up stairs will be a challange.

1.Heat may rise in the stairwell,turning off the zone in heating and bringing it on in cooling,without regard to the temperature in the bedrooms.
2.If the stat is in a bedroom,the stairwell may be too warm.


How has it done during heating so far?Doors to bedrooms open or closed most of the time?


We are doing a home with an open staircase to a landing ,then a door to the master suite,we made that area it's own zone,to maintain the temoerature there and in the master.

[yossarian]

Sorry, when I was talking about dampers, I meant the manual dampers on the branches. I know better than to touch the zone dampers.

So far, the heating appears to be ok, although we set the stat for a much lower temp than that desired in the bedrooms. The bathroom is between the 2 bedrooms. So we leave a bathroom door open to provide the heat for the thermostat. It seems a little inefficient since we don't care that much about heating the hallway, but it appears to work.

During the day, the bedroom doors are open. At night, they are closed. Neither is that big, so they heat up very fast. I don't know about cooling yet.

My thought is that, since we don't care too much about heating the hallway. And since there is not a functioning register there, why not just move the sensor to a bedroom?

My understanding is that there is a way with the Infinity sensors to put a remote sensor in a room and keep the Smart Sensor where it is.

[dash]

If you are not concerned about the temperature in the hallway,then a remote sensor,would be a good solution.I think you can add one ,but I'm not positive.



A return from the downstairs zone ,in or near the stairwell/hallway ,would be a good idea too.

[yossarian]

Thaks. If I can't add a remote sensor, we'll just have to move the Smart Sensor.

Is there any reason not to keep the manual dampers wide open if the rooms seem to heat pretty evenly when open?

[dash]

Open to start with,closing only as needed to reduce air flow for temperature differences between rooms in the same zone.

So if one BR is too warm compared to the other ,in the same zone,close the branch damper to that room,a little at a time ,until the tempertures are near equal.This can be different for heating than cooling.So mark the position ,for each season,then you know where to set it when the season changes.

[yossarian]

Thanks. I just checked the installation manual for the Infinity zoning system. It appears that you can mount a remote sensor to determine temperature, while still using the Smart Sensor elsewhere to control the adjustments. In fact, you can use 4 sensors to average out the temperature reading.