When talking about thermostats or controls, Karl Mutchnik, portfolio manager at Tyler, Texas-based Trane, a business of Ingersoll Rand, cited recent growth in the market. Thermostats, while still ubiquitous in homes, are often characterized by a simple on-and-off switch. But a switch, or more accurately a shift from those legacy 24-volt thermostat controls, is experiencing “tremendous growth,” as it continues to move to connected Wi-Fi, cloud-based platforms designed for residential and light commercial applications. Using an additional RF radio-embedded electronic device such as Z-Wave technology, these enable control of a variety of household devices, including appliances.
Mutchnik describes the integrated and greater choice trends that are available because of a “higher level of technology” in products that allow homeowners to control more devices. An example is the Trane XL824 Smart Control, a built-in home automation gateway that is a part of the Nexia Home Intelligence system and is capable of communicating with more than 200 Z-Wave products throughout the home. The new touchscreen thermostat works on all standard HVAC systems and can alert homeowners and dealers if the system is not working properly.