WiFi Thermostats

Almost 40% of ALL thermostats sold in 2014 which were WiFi capable. To me, that is an astounding figure. Around 10 million thermostats were sold and just shy of 4 million of those were WiFi capable. Of those, almost 800,000 were sold through HVAC dealers and the rest through DIY outlets such as Lowes or Home Depot. My numbers came from a session Tim Burke of Emerson presented at the recent Instructor’ Conference in Orlando. No matter your view of the utility or necessity of having thermostats connected to WiFi, CUSTOMERS have clearly spoken. The manufacturers are starting to listen and WiFi offerings abound. Just because a thermostat is WiFi capable does not mean it is necessarily a smart thermostat. The WiFi options might simply be to view and set your thermostat from your phone. There are WiFi thermostats selling at under $100. At any rate, our techs need to be up to speed with these devices. An HVAC Service Tech working on a system with a WiFi thermostat should be able to get the thermostat connected to the customer’s WiFi router. I can envision service calls that involve issues with WiFi connectivity, such as “My phone cannot find my thermostat,” or “I changed my router and now my thermostat won’t connect to it. Smart thermostats which “learn” your habits and program themselves can cause issues if the homeowner is not happy with what the thermostat has decided to do. Knowing how to make these behave can be valuable. I know a couple of contractors who have removed these for customers and replaced them with digital non-programmable thermostats at the customer’s request (and expense).

Many digital thermostats will run completely on batteries, allowing you time to play with the thermostat while reading the instructions.With all digital thermostats, I recommend to students that they install the batteries and make sure they can set up the thermostat before installing it.  If the thermostat is already on the customer’s system it can be a bit tougher. One thing to do is make yourself familiar with the most common types sold in big box stores in your area, such as the NEST or the LYRIC. You should also familiarize yourself with the apps these things use so you can show customers how to use them. If you want to offer an alternative to the big box stores, look for full featured thermostats at your local wholesaler, such as the Emerson Sensi or a WiFi Honeywell Focus Pro. Do you HAVE to do all this? No, you can let someone else make all the money that comes from servicing the large number of customers who want WiFi thermostats. Did I mention these also tend to be the customers with the most money?

Meet Me in Orlando!

I will be speaking in Orlando at the HVACR Educators & Trainers Conference. I will speak on Sunday, March 15 at 8:30 on “Using Social Media to Extend Your Reach.” I will speak again on Tuesday, March 17 at 8:30 on the same subject. Social media and the inter-connectivity of individuals through the internet has brought about many changes in the way people communicate and information is spread. Although the iPhone did not invent “smart phones” or social media, the explosion of internet connected devices and the effect on Social Media can be clearly seen. In just a few years smart phones went from a curiosity carried by executives and geeks, to something everybody felt they needed. The first generation iPhones were sold in June, 2007. In less than 8 years these types of devices have become so ubiquitous that it is truly unusual to meet someone who does not have one. Note that several large tool and equipment manufacturers now make devices which are specifically designed to take advantage of this technology. For example, the imanifold digital gauge set which has no screen, but uses your tablet or smart phone. Now Yellow Jacket is selling its Mantooth device- again a refrigeration gauge which depends on your phone for a display. Flit just released an infra-red thermal imaging camera that clips onto your i-phone. An infrared thermal imaging camera that fits in your pocket and costs under $1000! There are bore scopes that use the phone as the screen as well. Just the fact that these companies have invested their research time and money into these projects shows how commonplace hand held computers have become. Our challenge is to figure out how to use these ubiquitous personal communication devices and the net to advance education.

The Internet of Things

I read two statements in Kyle Gargaro’s HVACR News editorial that really jumped out at me. He said that 40% of the thermostats sold in 2014 had internet capability. Later he stated that in the coming years the number of devices connected to the internet would exceed the number of people. I found that a little unnerving. Then I thought, I am not connected to the internet, my computer is – and it is definitely a thing. So what is so weird about my thermostat being connected to the internet? Digital thermostats are really just small computers with a very specific task. The difference is just in the human interface and the much narrower scope of operation. However, the real idea of the internet of things is not so much to allow us to talk to our thermostat. There is not really a lot to say to your thermostat. It is the possibility of our things communicating with each other so they can accomplish their tasks cooperatively. For example, the alarm clock can tell the thermostat, coffee pot, hot water heater, and toaster when I plan to arise. They can all use that information to make sure they each perform their function in a timely manner, so I have warm water, a warm house, hot coffee, and toast all at the right time. Or an internet connected electric meter can tell the thermostat when electric rates will increase and decrease, allowing the thermostat to consider the ideal time to turn back my system. I heard a great use the other day on NPR. A cardiologist has his patients wear a bracelet that monitors their blood pressure. The wrist device is connected to their phones via Bluetooth and they can upload their blood pressure history to his office. He can see not just the blood pressure when they walk in, but what it has been for a week or a month. The connected things allow the doctor a much better view of their health, so he can make more informed decisions. Suppose you had all the system’s relevant voltages, pressures, and temperatures before you got in your truck? Or a tool that takes those readings, provides a diagnosis, and offers possible corrective actions? These actually exist now, but they are the exception rather than the rule. I think they may become commonplace when the internet of things takes off.