SMART SEAL: Aeroseal’s HomeSeal Xpress (HSX) is Aeroseal's first airless adaptation and fifth product innovation. (Courtesy of Aeroseal)
Taking Gold for the HVAC High-Efficiency Residential Equipment category is HomeSeal Xpress (HSX) from air- and duct-sealing company Aeroseal. HSX — engineered with residential new construction in mind — is Aeroseal’s first airless adaptation and fifth product innovation. It is also the latest and lightest iteration of the technology. Instead of incorporating an air compressor to seal structures, it sprays the sealant with the new airless pump. It also has a new compact box, making it more mobile for transportation in addition to lending it a smaller footprint.
“Aeroseal addresses a serious home weakness,” said Bethany Sersion, PR associate at Aeroseal. “Leaks lower the energy efficiency and performance of the overall system and its HVAC components. If it goes unaddressed, this sacrifices the safety of the indoor environment.”
What’s worse, the smallest leaks can create the biggest problems, impacting the indoor environment. Those are the leaks Aeroseal targets.
“HSX is helping builders take air sealing from unpredictable and invasive to reliable and verifiable,” Sersion said. “This is assisting with code compliance as building and construction codes tighten while extending the life of the HVAC system overall.”
Aeroseal increases a home’s energy efficiency by sealing undetectable, unreachable leaks from the inside of the ductwork. First, an aerosol mist of sealant is injected into pressurized ductwork, suspending the microscopic particles in an air stream. Sealant is distributed as it travels through the ductwork, seeking and sealing leaks located throughout it. As the air tries to escape through a leak, the sealant particles are attracted to that leak point and accumulate at that leak site until it is sealed.
HSX is computer-controlled, and its software measures leakage before and after the seal, allowing builders to achieve airtightness in real-time and dial in any number for code fulfillment. The unitary system has a “SmartSeal” software that controls the machine and provides a user-friendly interface for monitoring sealing, measuring pre- and post-seal leakages, and printing certificates. On the physical application side, an update to the internal layout of the boxes streamlines installment.
“HSX is up to four times faster than sealing the home by hand,” Sersion said. “Since a single technician can complete the job with HSX, the contracting company can send out a smaller crew without the need for two [workers] to operate it, meaning less labor necessary.”
Aeroseal’s product development process for HSX included rigorous field testing during a BETA phase with a select group of 10 Aeroseal dealers.
Dan Rollie, owner of New York-based Aeroseal of Rochester, has been involved with Aeroseal for almost nine years, and he said HSX addresses a lot of things he and other contractors have talked about for that entire time.
“Reducing that overspray, which reduces our prep time … we don’t have to worry about it as much, we don’t have to warn homeowners about as many things,” he said. “It reduces costs, essentially, in the long run.”
While he uses HSX primarily for new construction, he recently used it on an existing house and was pleased with the performance.
“We used to have a lot of issues with all the old generations of equipment — that’s nonexistent for us now,” he said. “It’s fantastic.”
“I truly love this product and wish it had wider adoption,” commented one of the DDA judges. “While plumbers must have no leaks in their plumbing, we as HVAC contractors are allowed to leak energy. I believe there is more room to save energy fixing ductwork than in high-efficiency equipment, and this should be done before any high-efficiency equipment is installed.”
PEACE OF MIND: When installed as a digitally enabled system and paired with the Lennox S30 or S40 Smart Thermostat, the EL22XPV enables remote troubleshooting anytime and from anywhere in the world. (Courtesy of Lennox)
Taking Silver is the Lennox EL22XPV, an inverter-driven, high-efficiency heat pump (up to 22 SEER2/14 EER2/9.0 HSPF2) that has the flexibility to be installed as part of a communicating or non-communicating system while still providing variable-capacity operation.
The EL22XPV heat pump can be used with the Lennox S30 or S40 Smart Thermostat as well as any Lennox digitally enabled furnace and/or air handler for communicating operation. The unit can sense changes in outdoor conditions and responds with variable-capacity operations based on the selected comfort modes.
“The unit stays finely tuned to your home by using sensors to react, diagnose, and troubleshoot — all while remaining in constant contact with the installing [contractor] to ensure proactive responses,” said Emily Young, senior product marketing manager – cooling, Lennox. “Geofencing technology ensures the air turns on and off as you come and go, and the system can also respond to outdoor environments by adjusting operations to account for factors like pollen and outdoor air quality.”
The EL22XPV is ideal for replacement in single-family homes but well suited for other applications such as new construction, multifamily, or even light commercial applications where efficiency and comfort is sought out. It can also be installed as a dual-fuel system or even a solely electric heat pump/air handler system. Only four standard thermostat wires are required, facilitating upgrades from old single-stage equipment to multistage or variable-capacity equipment. Plus, the EL22XPV comes equipped with SmartHinge Louver panels for quick and easy access to the coil surface for cleaning and maintenance.
Lennox’s research indicated that contractors and end users alike wanted peace of mind that the system was installed correctly and would notify them of a potential problem before it was catastrophic. When installed as a digitally enabled system and paired with the Lennox S30 or S40 Smart Thermostat, the EL22XPV provides real-time readings and performance reports, visible (with permission) anytime and anywhere on the Service Dashboard on lennoxpros.com.
“This concept is nothing short of amazing,” commented a DDA judge. “By allowing the retail contractor to determine the end user degree of complexity, they can offer a whole world of design choices and price points to the consumer.”
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