STAY IN CONTROL

Dave Robinson, Managing Director of Sensible Heat Ltd, looks at recent developments in HVAC controls.

We have spoken in the past about how important it is to be able to analyse and diagnose problems with HVAC systems in a house. Notice that we refer to ‘HVAC systems’ – not just the ‘HVAC controls’. Surely, though, the ‘wet and dirty’ part of the HVAC system is someone else’s problem, isn’t it? Well, in theory, yes, but in practise the Custom Installer and/or HVAC controls specialist will often get dragged into an argument about HVAC performance – even if the problem turns out to have nothing to do with their scope of supply – perhaps air in pipes, faulty pumps and valves, underperforming plant etc. The problem is, when we install an AV touchscreen system, it becomes the client’s portal for all things technological; that is how they experience the building’s services. So if they have a problem with the heating or cooling, the client will tend to contact the Custom Installer first. This can be a huge irritant, of course, but we need to turn it into an opportunity, not a threat. We’re going to get the calls anyway, we may as well try and turn them into a revenue stream!

So the challenge now becomes identifying what the problem might be, quickly, spending the minimum time possible on the issue, whilst supporting the customer, and directing the issue to the correct contractor. Nothing irritates the customer more than all of his contractors pointing the finger at someone else, with nobody solving the problem. This is where we can all demonstrate our unique added value of being able to understand all of the services in the house (not just a narrow ‘silo’ of a particular specialism). Any tools that help us understand how a house is performing have to be an attractive addition to our armoury; we already carry many such tools – for instance, thermal imaging cameras, which have proven to be invaluable over the years.

The latest tool to be made available to us is Commander Hub, from our partners North Building Technologies. We’ve been using North products for 15 years now, using their excellent Commander products for integration (although they supply us via an OEM route, and we call the Commander platform our ‘Web Interface’), we’ve installed many hundreds of these products. Up until now, we’ve needed a VPN connection to support each site remotely, and sometimes this is difficult for the owner to provide.

Now, with Commander Hub, we can access the units remotely via a North cloud-based server. No dedicated VPN is needed, the only requirement is that the Commanders on site can access the internet; they then automatically contact the cloud server periodically to save data, and receive any changes to settings etc. Furthermore the cloud server records all of the data point values from the site (temperatures, setpoints, status of plant etc) and these can be viewed historically in graphical form. Of course, the data can be complex, and require some interpretation, but as a tool for professionals this is a powerful weapon indeed.

The good news is that not only can we roll out the new tool on new projects, any of our existing sites can be easily upgraded to use the Commander Hub service, in fact any site since 2015 needs only a firmware upgrade, whilst earlier sites may need some hardware changes too.

Such specialist knowledge, and the application of analysis tools like this, helps to add value to our overall package. Energy and CO2 reduction are bound to be more prominent in all our lives going forwards, as we de-carbonise the building stock. New technologies are appearing all the time, including heat pumps of course, and they often have attendant issues and complexities which we need to keep abreast of. We are often better placed to understand new issues like this, than some of the companies supplying them!

Commander Hub is a major new introduction for the sector