Hi How the Internet of Things is affecting the HVAC industry.

Hi How the Internet of Things is affecting the HVAC industry.

As the Internet of Things is changing every aspect of how we live today, Concirrus (http://www.concirrus.com) looked at how it’s affecting the HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) industry.

Concirrus looked at how consumers can control the heating in their own homes and how the Internet of Things is transforming the business models within the HVAC industry.

The Consumer;

Thanks to The Internet of Things, consumers are now consciously taking control of their heating and air conditioning.  

What was once something that was switched on and off when it was too hot or too cold is now something of the past. 

Consumers can now control their heating from their smartphones and can even install devices that know when they are on their way home and will switch it on for them.

Examples of some of these devices are…

HIVE.( http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/hive-active-heating/how-it-works.html)  British Gas, introduced Hive to UK homes in September 2013, it’s a device that lets users control their heating remotely from a smartphone. 

NEST. (https://nest.com/uk/) In 2014, Google bought Nest for £3.2bn – a learning thermostat that not only lets users control their heating remotely but it also learns their habits and builds a personalised schedule around them. 

tado. (https://www.tado.com/de-en/) A system that adjusts a homes heating automatically based on a users daily routine. It can also work out where users are, from location data in their smartphones, and will control the temperature of their house accordingly - if a user is on their way home the device can start to warm up the home for their arrival. It also takes current weather forecast data into account.

CoolNYC  (https://www.coolnycprogram.com/ ) ConEd and ThinkEco are on a mission with CoolNYC to ‘keep New York City cool’ while keeping costs and energy use down. Their device allows users to monitor and control their window air conditioning unit with their smartphone.

These are just some examples of how more and more consumers are welcoming IOT devices into their home.

They are transforming how their energy is consumed and as a result changing the cost of their bills; consumers have more control, what will be interesting to watch is how the energy companies embrace this change and begin to interact with their consumers.

The HVAC Industry;

As well as consumers, the HVAC industry is starting to adopt the Internet of Things and as a result gaining from the benefits.

Having IOT devices in different areas within the HVAC industry means that companies can collect real time data about their product and service.

Then by understanding and organising this information, it can and is, allowing companies to take a fresh look at their current practices, generate business change and create efficiencies.

The Internet of Things is allowing companies to:

·        Provide Proactive Maintenance;

With low cost sensors, wireless connectivity and larger data processing tools, it is easier for HVAC companies to collect real time performance data and monitor the condition of their equipment. For example Concirrus (http://www.concirrus.com) and Thermocable ( http://thermocable.com/), a British manufacturer of heating cables, created a remote monitoring solution for hard to reach areas and sites that can alert staff to a breakage in a cable, heat or water damage as well as triggering technology to step in and take action remotely. 

This technology means that IOT can help the HVAC industry improve their overall equipment effectiveness and save money by minimizing equipment failure.

As well as this IOT can aid in planned maintenance, Concirrus worked with company CHS and created a hardware and cloud service that monitors and predicts faults in the air conditioning units of critical equipment at Heathrow terminal 5. 

CHS were not only able to monitor their machines remotely but it also enabled them to administer ‘just in time’ maintenance rather than regular visits.

·        Saving Energy and Saving Money;

As with the consumer examples, IOT allows for HVAC systems to save energy and also money by understanding its usage from accessing real-time data and interpreting it correctly and introducing efficiencies. For example, Vickers Electronics saves it customers, on average a whopping 43% of their annual heating bill. Figures from GE says efficiency improvements of 5% in a small industrial power plant generating 15MW can save over $200,000 on average per year.

·        Changing Business Models;

The Internet of Things is changing business models in all sectors, for the HVAC industry it means that what was once an install and repair service can become an entire end-to-end solution.  

Imagine linking all IOT devices together and allowing them to talk to each other, it could completely change a HVAC offering, from a heating / cooling system to more of a smart building management solution. 

By operating ‘within’ the customers business, vendors can now offer a service and financial model that’s directly aligned to the customers business.

The question is that with all devices connected who ‘owns’ the customer? If it makes sense for an all-encompassing solution then there’s one ‘master’ solution and several ‘feeding’ system. 

This appears to be the Google Nest strategy however how this plays out in the commercial HVAC market is still to be determined.

HVAC INSTALLED.