Just bought a newer 2 story 2000 sqft house (built in 2013) with single zone HVAC, looking to add zones.

Hi /r HVAC, As the title says i just bought a newer home and after being here a month it's becoming a chore to keep a consistent temperature. Thermostat (Nest Gen 2) is on the main floor and At night we have to crank the A/C to keep it comfortable for my family (me, wife, and baby). When we wake up in the morning and come downstairs it's freezing so we have to turn down the A/C and sometimes even open the doors to warm up! Clearly this isn't efficient. My wife and baby are home all day on the main floor and i work from home in the partially finished basement.

I was thinking the best way to go about fixing this is to add a 2nd zone to the 2nd floor with a retro fit damper and it looks like i have easy access to that main duct in which to do that. I also plan to finish the basement this fall and will want to add a zone down there as well, looking to leverage the existing main ducts that supply the main floor to just add flex duct off of for the basement.

So i was thinking a single damper on the main supply duct to create the 2nd floor zone, and then 5 round dampers in each supply duct tied into the same zone to create 1st floor zone. I have access to each of these ducts to install dampers since the basement isn't finished yet. My thought to damper each supply duct was that later when i add 2 more supply ducts off the 1st floor main as part of the basement finishing i can add 2 dampers in those to create the separate basement zone. This will prevent me from having to run a new main duct for this small zone.

I like the nest thermostat and wish to continue to use those in the new zones so would like a zone controller that will work with it. can anyone recommend a damper solution/zone controller for this project? Is it better to use air pump dampers or mechanical motor dampers?

relevant facts I've seen asked in other posts:

• Location: Western MA

• System: HEIL Propane Fired Heat and 13 SEER Central Air (can't find a ton number on the condenser)

• Usage: House is occupied all day mostly on main floor and basement. At night all bedrooms (4) are on the 2nd floor.

• Additional Heat loads: none besides normal household appliances.

• Door usage: occasional open / close of exterior doors.

• House Type: Colonial, attack has over a foot thick of blown insulation and walls appear to be well insulated with rock wool insulation. (based on what i see in the partially finished basement that has insulation up but no drywall or ceiling yet).

Thanks in advance for any help / suggestions.

-Edited for Formatting-

submitted by /u/beholder95
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