Quote:
Originally Posted by launboy
Interesting concept indeed! They have solutions for this already though. They make modulating furnaces, where both the blower and the gas valve can run though a range of speeds. Zoning works very well with these because if only one room calls for heat, that damper opens, and the furnace runs on a low fire and blower speed.
The Carrier Infity system is one that comes to mind as being very popular.
Adam
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That would make a forced air furnace solution feasible. The trick would be making the furnace modulate heat and blower settings based on how many thermostats are calling for heat, not just the temperature differential. Then motorized dampers would work. But from what I understand, these furnaces are designed to operate with only one thermostat, I don't think they support zoning very well. A separate (expensive) controller might be required.
Ideally, I would want to go with a geothermal heat pump system. I still don't think it would be very easy to modulate central heating/cooling with automatic dampers, though. In this case, a desuperheater/desupercooler with a hydronic system and zone valves would work quite well. The heat pump would run as required to maintain water temp in the tank. This system could also be used for DHW heating as well.