Over a year of research and design went into the 2018 Dealer Design Awards gold-winning product in the Residential Controls category. After listening to feedback from both contractors and consumers for a more basic, easy-to-use, and cost-effective thermostat, Nest created the Nest Thermostat E.
Connected thermostats entered the market around 10 years ago, coinciding with the rise of in-home Wi-Fi, smartphones with apps to control Wi-Fi enabled technology, and — within the past two years — voice-controlled AI like Google Home, Apple HomePod, and Amazon Alexa and Echo. Per a 2017 report by Juniper Research, an estimated 55 percent of U.S. households will have at least one smart speaker by 2022, for a total of 175 million.
Fujitsu released this thermostat converter for its high-efficiency Halcyon mini-split and Airstage VRF heating and cooling systems, which allows the Fujitsu system to be controlled by a third-party thermostat.
Honeywell Intl. Inc. honed in on the connected home during the 2018 AHR Expo while also expanding its already broad portfolio in a number of different market segments, including hydronics, potable water systems, humidification, and IAQ.
Panasonic Corp. of North America is honing in on its focus to make it easier for both residential and commercial building owners to control the temperature and comfort level within the space. The company hit its targets with the introduction of two new products — the ECONAVI air conditioner and the Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) Smart Connectivity Controller.
The RS7210 Color Touchscreen, Wi-Fi® thermostat was designed for the professional installer to regain and maintain thermostatic controls business with their customers.
While smart thermostats are certainly on the rise for the residential market, the commercial side has experienced a much slower adoption rate. While a residential building has fewer people to heat or cool and a smaller space, commercial buildings aren’t as simple. Larger spaces and more people can make for a difficult heating and cooling process.