Driverless cars, 3D printing, augmented reality, and IoT are some of the names that will hit you right away when we bring up the word ‘advanced technologies.’ The goal of all these technologies is simple—to make our lives simpler.
One such technology that is making our lives effortless is Artificial Intelligence. Thanks to it, today, it’s not just humans who are being called ‘smart’; even appliances and electronic gadgets are getting tagged as smart.
Commercial HVAC controls are no exception. You would have seen small devices installed in your offices at various locations that enable you to control the thermostat from your smartphone. This is nothing but smart commercial HVAC controls at play. Upgrading to a smart commercial HVAC control has numerous benefits. Here are the top 6 of them –
Save on energy bills
Most commercial HVAC systems are usually owned by businesses. Now, if there is a common thread that links all these businesses, it is their wish to bring down the operation costs. Energy bills are one of the biggest contributors to operating costs for all businesses.
Having a regular HVAC system and thermostat might help in keeping your residents comfortable. All you have to do is set a temperature and forget about it. However, this will turn out to be quite expensive for you as it leads to a lot of wasted energy.
On the other hand, smart HVAC Controls and smart thermostats can do much more than just help set a temperature. These controls are also equipped with precise sensors that can send signals to the dampers and valves to control the airflow in the space based on factors like the number of residents, outside temperature, etc. This, in turn, would increase the energy efficiency of your system by 10% to 40%.
Smart HVAC controls also help limit the peak load by using soft starting. This way, the HVAC equipment starts up slowly and avoids the sudden surge of electricity. This greatly reduces your bill.
Scheduling
You can also take advantage of advanced scheduling options present in smart HVAC technology to keep the space more comfortable. For instance, you can automatically schedule the heating or cooling just before the start of the working hours and switch it off immediately after its end. This way, your residents are always comfortable throughout their stay on the premises.
With Smart scheduling and a smarter home guide, you can also program the system for multiple schedules. For instance, you can schedule the system to turn off completely during weekends or national holidays. The control can even automatically adjust itself according to daylight saving time.
Central monitoring and control
Controlling the temperature in various parts of the building can be quite daunting, especially if you have a huge space. There would be multiple zones, each with different cooling and heating requirements, based on its location, the number of residents, and the level of sunlight coming in. To complicate things, the number of residents will also vary based on the day of the week or just randomly. This is where smart HVAC controls help, as it is one centralized system through which you can control multiple zones in your workspace individually and manage the temperature.
Integration with other systems
Now that you have seen that smart controls can be used to control various aspects of your HVAC system and space, you would also want to integrate it with other systems of your building. Your wish is granted as it can be effortlessly integrated with systems like lights and biometric sensors. For instance, when it is connected with a biometric system, the HVAC system would be turned on when the first resident enters the premises by authenticating himself in the biometric system.
Similarly, the smart controls, when integrated with the light system, can detect the presence of light in a room and trigger the air conditioners ON. Similarly, it will turn off the HVAC system if there is no light in the room or when the last person swipes out of the building. This works best for offices that don’t follow predictable and regular working hours.
Prevents downtime
If an HVAC system breaks down in a commercial space, then all the work would go for a toss, leading to revenue loss. Take the case of a restaurant or a hotel whose business solely revolves around offering comfort to the customers. Its reputation and business would be badly affected when the HVAC system suddenly breaks down.
This is where smart controls can greatly help, as they would monitor the equipment operations closely and alert you if there are any possibilities of malfunctions in the future. This alarm is triggered when certain parameters in the HVAC control system are exceeded.
The system can even send automatic alerts to the HVAC technicians, who can instantly visit the premises and repair it before it worsens.
Better data and analytics
Most understand the power of data in this digital world. Data helps us make informed decisions in every walk of life, and this includes your HVAC systems. Smart HVAC controls monitor and keep track of various parameters like indoor air quality, usage over time, operation of equipment and change in energy consumption, etc. These data will help you understand various aspects of your HVAC system and call for maintenance if there is an anomaly.
Conclusion
As you can see, commercial HVAC systems are getting smarter with each passing day. If you have an HVAC system on your premises that is not smart, it is time to make the switch. It will be a very wise investment as the benefits outweigh the costs in the long run. In summary, the only way to truly transform your home or office into a smart office or smart home is by installing smart commercial HVAC controls.
