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Old 11-15-10, 07:28 AM   #5
mrd
Apprentice EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Milford, DE
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Zones

If you look at the design for the duct system, one blower's return air comes from the rear of the house, and supplies air to the front. The other blower's return air comes from the front of the house, and supplies air to the rear.

In a zoned system, the supply and return air should both run to the same zone. Obviously, my design isn't zoned. The indoor blowers can be configured as a single zone, controlled at a single wall-mounted controller. I chose this design mainly because it allows a more direct path of airflow (air likes to go straight.)

I also hope this will allow a more even distribution of conditioned air. Typically, heating/cooling loads on a house change throughout the day, mostly affected by the orientation of the sun. The front of my house is due west, so as the sun travels its daily east-to-west path, the loads on the front and rear of the house will change. If the front and rear were zoned separately, then each blower would need to meet the brunt of the load on the house at some point during the day.

While the combination of blowers meet the peak design loads of the home, an individual unit only meets half that load. By mixing the blowers in a single zone, I hope they'll better cope with a load that's concentrated at one end of the house, as the air mixes back & forth from front to back.
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