Does your home require two air conditioners? It’s a common question that our customers ask – particularly those with two-story homes. If you’ve asked yourself this question, we’ve broken down the advantages and disadvantages of having a two-unit system for your home.

The Advantages

Energy Savings

With one air conditioning unit, your entire home must be cooled to obtain an ideal temperature. With two units, you can control how much energy is being used to keep a room or space comfortable. This means that your system doesn’t have to work as hard to cool your entire home. To put it another way, decreasing the square footage being cooled will lower your energy costs.

Temperature Balance

Two units also enable you to balance the desired temperature in your home. Often, one area of your home will be warmer or more difficult to keep cool than another. If you have a two-story home, you’ve probably noticed that it’s warmer upstairs. Yes, warm air rises.

By having two air conditioning units as part of your HVAC system, you can select different temperatures. For example, you may want to have a cooler temperature upstairs than downstairs.

Backup Protection

While consistent HVAC maintenance can go a long way towards preventing a system failure, they can still happen. With two units, you can rely on one to keep your home cool while the other is being repaired. In Arizona, this means not having to struggle with sweltering heat if you ever have a summer breakdown.

The Disadvantages

Two air conditioning units simply cost more to install and maintain. However, the cost difference is often not as much as you think. Because each unit is cooling a smaller amount of square footage, its size can be smaller. You’ll also offset the additional costs by adapting your heating and cooling habits to having two units.

What About a Single-Unit Zoned System?

If you’re considering the addition of a new air conditioner, another alternative is a single-unit zoned system. A zoned system controls the temperature differently in specific areas of your home. This enhanced control is managed through dampers inside your ductwork which can change the flow of cool or warm air to different areas of your home. The cost of a single-unit zoned system is more than a standard non-zoned system, but it can significantly decrease your energy costs in the long run.

Want to learn more about the advantages of two-unit and single-unit zoned systems? Call Bruce’s today for a free quote at 480-968-5652.