Shopping for New Thermostats? A Good HVAC Controls Company Should Ask You These Questions New smart thermostats for your property is an investment in time, labor and funds. Your time investment begins with researching your options. If you haven’t purchased HVAC controls within the past few years, it might be an eye-opener. Options have expanded …
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In a previous post we talked about incentives offered by utility companies, how they vary widely, and the kinds of equipment eligible for incentives, particularly rebates. Application process is becoming more cumbersome In the residential market, a homeowner might qualify for a $50 rebate on their $200 thermostat. They get their rebate with relatively little …
Why Rebates Should Interest You Energy efficient equipment that might otherwise be beyond your budget, might now be within reach thanks to rebates. (For example, instead of purchasing basic HVAC controllers, rebates might ultimately cover the cost of an energy management system in addition to the controllers.) If you are in the market for upgrades …
What is ZigBee and Why is it Called “ZigBee”? If you’ve been in the market for automation for your hotel, university housing or other multi-unit residence, you may have run across the goofy term, “ZigBee”. ZigBee is a communication protocol. It’s a way for devices to communicate with one another. Products communicate wirelessly via WiFi, …
The primary reason hoteliers invest in occupancy-based technology is to save energy — about 25-40% on their energy bills per guest room. But there are other reasons to look at occupancy-based technology, beyond energy savings. Increased Guest Delight Occupancy-based controls in hospitality environments can actually add to guest comfort if implemented correctly. Use occupancy sensors …
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Fresh outside air keeps a building and its occupants healthy. In fact, outside air ventilation is a code requirement in many cities, states, and municipalities. However, if the air outside is humid, then the air you’re bringing into your building is also humid. Excessive humidity indoors promotes invasive microbial growth in wall cavities, ceiling tiles, …
Light level sensors complement PIR sensors. Energy management systems rely on occupancy data to make the most of energy savings. In some environments like office buildings, the climate can be controlled based on “time of day” scheduling (using this logic: “We know that this office space will be occupied on weekdays, and unoccupied on weeknights …
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Comparing an EMS and a BMS is like trying to compare apples and oranges. Think of an EMS and a BMS as complementary ingredients in the same fruit salad. Will you still have a salad without one or the other? Sure. Is the salad better with both? Usually. From another perspective, think of the EMS …
Continue reading “Do I Need an Energy Management System or a Building Management System?”
State of the art energy management systems collect an immense cache of relevant, granular data. One of the countless ways to take advantage of this data avalanche is to set up alert triggers. From within your energy management platform, you can set up emails and text messages to warn you of potentially major events like …
State of the art energy management systems gather mountains of data so granular it can make your eyes cross…like these: for each HVAC system, the duty cycle while in heat mode and while in cool mode as a percentage of the day the amount of kilowatts saved per room per day in heat mode and …
Continue reading “Beyond Gathering Data, Your EMS Should Analyze the Data”
