Motors & Drives

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When Independence Day rolls around this year, many manufacturing leaders will fire up the grill with a sigh of relief. Not only will they have the day off, but they will enjoy the first day of freedom from what has been five years of preparations for the first national efficiency standards for furnace fans.

Energy represents the single fastest-growing operating cost in the lodging industry, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). Decisions on guest room equipment amplify by dozens or hundreds in a single property. The mechanical systems work on such a scale that any amount of waste can add up to a significant financial loss or missed opportunity while, on the other hand, minor savings in one area can accumulate to an appreciable gain.

Software Motor Co., the business atop the podium for commercial controls this year, is not like most other winners.

Carrier’s Toshiba Carrier Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) heating and cooling products can now connect seamlessly to the i-Vu building automation system (BAS), which allows building operators to manage their HVAC systems around the clock, from anywhere.

Motors and drives might be thought of as the elegant workhorses of HVAC and refrigeration systems. They combine old-school toughness and durability with the latest in Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity, and manufacturers are constantly striving to make them more efficient and versatile and easier to monitor and control.

Our look at the trends HVAC contractors should expect to see in the world of 2018 motors and drives includes products that will be increasingly flexible, adaptable, and connected.

Taco Comfort Solutions has added new features and capabilities to the 00e VR electronically commutated motor (ECM), wet rotor commercial circulator line designed for chilled and hot water applications. Available in four sizes (VR 15-3, 20-3, 25-3, and 30-3), the sensorless 00e VR line provides differential head pressures up to 42 feet and flows up to 360 gallons per minute.

When I met Thomas Engel in Sweden on Nov. 28, 1990, he said, “The paths of life are frequently this strange.” Afterward, he mentioned that if a shoe factory had been present in his vicinity at the time he invented PEX, we would perhaps be walking around today on shoe soles made of cross-linked polyethylene.

The Fluke 438-II Power Quality and Motor Analyzer analyzes three-phase power quality measurements and uses an innovative method developed by Veros to calculate motor output torque, speed, horsepower, and efficiency.