Along with providing premium comfort and higher efficiencies, homeowners want their high-end heating and cooling systems to be smart. That sentiment is reflected in a recent MarketsandMarkets study that showed the $20.38 billion global smart homes market is forecast to reach $58.68 billion by 2020. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are responding to this trend by offering their own smart energy management systems that they say satisfy this demand by offering the ultimate in convenience, comfort, and energy savings.
There are numerous third-party smart controls available — including the Nest thermostat, which some feel initiated the trend toward smart controls — but control platforms offered by OEMs can often lead to more robust system performance. As Scott Evans, EcoNet product manager, Rheem Mfg. Co., noted: “OEMs have a deeper knowledge of low-level functions and fully understand the role of the equipment within an ecosystem. For example, our Control Center operates both air and water systems and provides diagnostic information that’s unique to us, making it difficult for a third party to connect and make that information available to homeowners.”