HVAC - Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning

Even though HVAC systems for the most part are programmable at this time with the addition of a whole house automation system you can do even more. With programmable thermostats you can check on the status and temperature of your house even when you are away. With a zone controller system you can split your house into seperate heating/cooling areas allowing you to heat or cool those area's that are most important without having to run it throughout the whole house saving money on your energy bills. Below is a listing of some of the equipment used in the automated control of an HVAC system:

Programmable RS-485 Thermostat: This thermostat connects up to home automation networks like the one used by the Stargate system to control your home HVAC system as well as zone controllers. It delivers high performance with a dedicated connection to the control center of the system.

This model also comes as an X-10 compatible version usable with all X-10 systems.

RCS Zone Controller: This device is used to seperate control zones in your house for heating and cooling. You can have a 2 zone, 4 zone, or 6 zone controller allowing you multiple possibilities. For example, you could set up the bedrooms on 1 zone, the kitchen and TV room on a 2nd zone and the home theater on a 3rd zone. So, for example, in the winter you could heat the 1st zone which would include all of the bedrooms only throughout the night time while leaving the kitchen, tv room and home theater at a much lower temperature. This will save you tons on your utility bills. Then in the morning you can have the 2nd zone (the kitchen and tv room) slowly heat up to a normal level so that when you are ready to be downstairs these rooms will already be at an appropriate temperature. Then later that night you decide to watch a movie and you can heat up the 3rd zone (the home theater) which can be set to automatically go back to its original colder temperature after you leave the theater without even having to press any other buttons.

Duct Dampeners: An essential part of a zone controlled HVAC system are duct dampeners. These devices hook into your existing HVAC system and block different ducts allowing heat/cool air to be sent to those area's that are supposed to receive it rather than trying to heat or cool the entire house.