Give Your Home the Gift of Year-Round Climate Control

Photo: unicosystem.com

Comfort and joy: That’s what the holidays are all about. If, however, your home fails to provide refuge from the wicked winter weather—if your heating system simply isn’t cutting it anymore, in other words—then you may find it challenging to embrace the festive spirit of the season. After all, the importance of reliable, effective, and efficient HVAC can’t be overstated. If you’re tired of your hit-or-miss heating system that costs a small fortune to run, the new year may be the ideal time to reassess your needs and your options. That’s especially true if your home lacks not only satisfactory heating, but also central air. Rather than shiver and sweat your way through another 12 months, consider giving your home (and everyone in it) the wonderful gift of year-round climate control.

You might think that such a gift would require a bit of shopping: The HVAC market offers a dizzying range of choices, and there are plenty of products capable of both heating and cooling. But perhaps no other technology delivers the best of modern climate control as unobtrusively as the Unico System. Engineered to be practically invisible, Unico installs easily and discreetly in any home, no matter its age, without the need for costly, disruptive remodeling—in fact, without forcing you to make sacrifices of any kind. What’s more: The innovative Unico System succeeds in avoiding the performance pitfalls of conventional systems, even while saving you significant sums on monthly utility bills. Want to learn more? For all the details on a solution that’s as popular and well suited for historic properties as for cutting-edge custom construction, continue reading below.

UNOBTRUSIVE INSTALLATION

Photo: unicosystem.com

When you install a climate-control system, you expect it to improve the way your home feels. You don’t expect it to change the way your home looks. But that’s very often what happens, at least if you opt for a traditional forced-air system. After all, a conventional system relies on ductwork. In retrofit applications, in the course of contain and conceal the ductwork, contractors often must build special accommodations—soffits, chases, and more—that hog space and fundamentally alter the home aesthetically. Indeed, many homeowners discover that to adopt a forced-air system would mean letting the desire for year-round at-home comfort take precedence over equally important concerns—namely, square footage and architectural design integrity.

Enter the Unico System. Rather than put you in the tough position of having to choose between comfort on the one hand, and space and style on the other, Unico enables you to enjoy modern comfort without giving anything up in return. In other words, while forced air dictates the terms of its installation, the versatile Unico System adapts to almost any circumstance. By and large, it’s able to do so by virtue of its special mini ducts. Measuring no wider than four inches, Unico ducts fit in the unseen places (behind walls, above ceilings) where rigid metal full-size ductwork cannot. Plus, Unico ducts are flexible enough to bend around studs, joists, and other structural elements that would act as impediments to regular ducts. In short, Unico doesn’t thrust its needs upon you; instead, it cleverly bends to meet yours.

PERFORMANCE

Photo: istockphoto.com

Another reason the Unico System stands out: It works to ensure that the temperature remains consistently comfortable throughout the home. Of course, that’s the goal of any climate-control technology, but not every system succeeds. Take forced air, for example. Designed to operate intermittently—to start and stop, start and stop, over and over again—forced-air HVAC often creates uncomfortable swings in temperature. Where forced air fails, Unico excels. How? It leverages a principle of air movement known as aspiration. That means when Unico introduces conditioned air to a room, it does so in a way that draws the ambient air into its stream. The result: From room to room and wall to wall, the temperature never strays more than a couple of degrees from the temperature you set on the thermostat.

While running, the Unico System makes almost zero noise. That’s in stark contrast to traditional HVAC systems, which, in the process of heating and cooling, tend to create a whole new problem—thought-distracting, conversation-interrupting noise. Unico, meanwhile, operates at an extremely low decibel level. How? For one thing, its signature mini ducts are encased in two layers of insulation, making the sound of air moving through the system no louder than a whisper—literally. In addition, besides being ultracompact—actually small enough to fit into a two-foot opening—the Unico air handler boasts its own sheath of closed-cell, sound-deadening insulation. In the end, with Unico heating and cooling, you get a solution that not only stays out of sight, but which also escapes notice due to its virtually silent operation.

EFFICIENCY

Photo: istockphoto.com

On average, climate control accounts for about 50 percent of monthly household utility costs. Under the circumstances, with homeowners walking a fine line between livability and affordability, Unico appeals for yet another reason—energy efficiency. That is, even while delivering an uncommon degree of comfort, the Unico System succeeds in keeping HVAC energy consumption to a minimum. In part, the technology does so by removing one of the main causes of the relative inefficiency of conventional systems—duct leaks. In a home with forced air, duct leaks can reduce overall system efficiency by 25 percent or more. With Unico, however, because its mini ducts are so heavily insulated, there’s no duct leakage and no wasted energy. You get all the heating and cooling you pay for.

Another key factor that impacts the efficiency of a system, at least during the cooling months, is how it manages humidity. Compared with conventional systems, Unico removes 30 percent more moisture from the air, thanks to its high-tech cooling coil. Of course, everyone knows that in summer, reducing humidity means boosting personal comfort. But believe it or not, lower humidity can also translate into lower energy costs. Simply put: Rooms feel cooler in the absence of humidity, so in homes cooled by the Unico System, it’s possible to set the thermostat a few degrees higher than normal. Since adjusting the thermostat even one degree typically reduces household energy consumption by about three percent, the Unico System enables you to achieve substantial savings over the years.

Technological advances have improved the performance of, and lent new capabilities to, the offerings in countless product categories, including HVAC. If it’s been years since you last surveyed the market, you may be pleasantly surprised by the range of new and compelling options. That said, no matter how much has changed, the landscape remains rife with technologies that force homeowners to accept frustrating trade-offs. Trusted in more than 500,000 homes nationwide, the Unico System stands apart from the rest, because unlike conventional systems, it enables you to enjoy effective and efficient climate control on your own terms, without compromising the architectural design and aesthetic charms that made you fall in love with your home in the first place.

Photo: unicosystem.com

This article has been brought to you by Unico. Its facts and opinions are those of BobVila.com.