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Automation and the Heating and Air Conditioning System
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Jerry Tartaglino is the President of Enerzone Systems Corp., OEM supplier of communicating thermostats and control systems to AMX, Phast, and other leading automation companies. |
How can the heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC for short)
system not be automated? After all, the HVAC system is the
single system in a home most responsible for for the homeowners comfort, and health. Not
to mention 70 percent of the total utility bill. Automating the HVAC can have fantastic
benefits to the homeowner, and in many ways is very simple to do.
So what does the hardware look like on a “smart” HVAC system, and what can be
done to automate that hardware? First, the thermostat is the most obvious choice, and
several choices are now on the market that will work with virtually any type or brand of
HVAC system. Whether Serial Port, X-10, or contact closure driven, these automated
thermostats can deliver the goods, including one very important feature - If the
automation system has a problem, this new breed of communicating thermostat will continue
to operate the HVAC in a stand alone fashion. A communicating thermostat has some obvious
benefits -call ahead and warm the place up, not to mention more powerful and easier to use
scheduling capabilities. Conventional programmable thermostats are like VCR’s -no fun
to program. But put that programming schedule on a 15 inch color monitor with fill in the
blank software, and scheduling, even for the multiple thermostat home, becomes fun. And
fun, easy to use scheduling for thermostats usually mean thermostats that get scheduled,
and not forgotten, translating into big energy savings.
More importantly, and not as obvious, are the interactive thermostat
control possibilities that computer and communications power bring to the scene-arm the
security system in the “away” mode, and have all the thermostats go to any
energy saving temperature. Program through software that anyone can make a change at a
thermostat-but only plus or minus a few degrees, and only for an hour-so that thermostats
always go back to the energy saving mode. As more and more homes get zoning systems,
hydronic heating zones, and other systems that require multiple thermostats, the potential
control problems-and solutions-grow. Communicating thermostats meet that challenge, and
provide new opportunities in comfort and savings.
High efficiency air filtration can benefit from automation, which can
operate as a run time accumulator and alert the user when cleaning or servicing is needed.
Humidifiers can easily be automated, since inside humidity levels can be raised as outdoor
temperature rises. In the winter, the more humidity in the air, the better, but damaging
condensation can accumulate on windows as outdoor temperature drops. A “smart”
HVAC control system, monitoring inside humidity and outside temperature, and controlling a
single relay output , can automatically change humidity levels at all times for maximum
comfort, while avoiding moisture problems.
Energy Recovery Ventilators, or ERV’s, pull polluted inside air out of a home, while
bringing fresh air in, but first running that air through a heat exchanger-recovering most
of the energy content of the outgoing air at the same time. But the non-smart ERV runs all
the time, even when its least efficient, during the freezing cold or even when its raining
outside. An ERV under the control of an automation system knows the outside temperature
and humidity, as well as conditions inside, and can run the ERV at full tilt when it makes
sense, and not at all when outside air is undesirable.
Even safety comes into play, when one considers an HVAC duct mounted smoke detector can be
used to swiftly turn all thermostats off in the event of fire-preventing the deadly spread
of smoke.
Automation for the HVAC system makes a huge amount of sense, and like most technology, the
price is coming down while the level of technology heads up. Like most home automation
products, technical support is everything. Choose well, and enjoy the many energy and
comfort benefits. Pick communicating thermostats, systems, and hardware that fail in a
stand alone mode, and can be serviced by HVAC contractors. Stay away from systems that are
communication dependent, meaning that if you lose communications, you lose heating and
cooling. Modern HVAC automation controls can provide these features, combining the best of
safety and control.
