UFH / Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning

Under Floor Heating (UFH), Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) is a massive field where technology is changing all the time.  HVAC covers a wide range of equipment from Diesel Boilers, Electric Heating, Gas Heating, Water piping, air ducts, Heat Pumps, Solar Heating and lots of associated control equipment.

Once again Pathway utilises the standard off the shelf equipment that specialists supply and install, and manage it within the bounds of the house or building. 

Under Floor Heating is pretty much standard in larger houses these days and one of my favorite tricks is to monitor each slab temperature individually.  We use this data, combined with the room air temperature, and outside temperature to manage the house.

Interested? got an idea or question on automation? 

We're here to help - give us a call or drop us a line! :o)

Example : How Long does it take to heat the floor?

One of the automated functions that Pathway completes (over a period of time) is to measure the heating and cooling times associated with Under Floor Heating slab cycles.  Pathway records the time and current temperature when slab heating is turned on, and also records the time when the slab has reached the appropriate set point.  Pathway can calculate and store how much time to allow for heating process, so it has the ability to preempt the heating before it gets too cold.  Pathway will automatically figure in the external temperatures and ‘tweak’ the hysterisis curves of each room to make the heating process more efficient and smooth. 

Interested? got an idea or question on automation? 

We're here to help - give us a call or drop us a line! :o)

Example: What effect does the sun have on the buildings temperature?

 In one particular building, we looked at the effects the sun had on the overall buildings internal temperature.  What we found was quite surprising considering it is of solid concrete construction... With no HVAC management running, the inside temperature rose between 2 and 5 degrees approximately 4 hours after the sun passed.  It might not sound very significant, but when you provide Pathway with that type of information, it can lead to significant energy savings. It allows Pathway to pre-empt temperature changes outside.  If we know how long it takes the building to gain or shed heat, plus the length of time it takes to warm the slabs, Pathway can utilise a hysterisis curve to manage the heating.

Sadly I've been in buildings where the UFH is pumping energy into the floor, while the sun was beating through the open windows, and the air conditioning was straining to remove the heat.  Imagine the power bills!

Interested? got an idea or question on automation? 

We're here to help - give us a call or drop us a line! :o)

Domestic Hot Water Circ Pumps

Most large hoses utilise circulation pumps to provide almost instant Domestic hotwater (DHW) from a single source. Pathway knows when the building is occupied and manages the circ pumps based around usage.  Basically while the building is alive and being used Pathway runs the circ pumps.  After a period of time, Pathway will shut them down.  During the night when demand is minimum, Pathway will periodically start the pumps just to keep the water warm in the pipes, but as soon as somebody moves, the pumps will start up again.

Pathway is directly linked with the security system, so when the bulding is Armed intially, it'll go around and shut down all the non essential services such as circ pumps.

Interested? got an idea or question on automation? 

We're here to help - give us a call or drop us a line! :o)

Alarm Arming

Without turning this into a book, we need to make a quick mention of what happens when the alarm is armed.  Apart from dropping curtains, closing louvres and windows, Pathway keeps track of how long the alarm is armed for. 

• Air Conditioning is the first device that is wound back.  Air Con is quite fast to react so rather than keeping it running, the set points can be altered so that initially it switches to Fan, and stops heating and cooling.  The longer the alarm is armed, the wider the set points are altered, eventually the fan stops as well.  As soon as the alarm is disarmed, Pathway moves the set points back to where they should be and the air conditioning starts working again.
• As the 'Away days' clock up, Pathway alters the the UFH set points.  When you first arm the security system, Pathway waits for an hour or so, and drops the floor slab set points by 1deg.  It doesn't sound like much but that's 1 degree less energy that is required.  Each susquent 24hr period after that Pathway drops the Slab setpoints to the Away level.  This could be 2 or 3 degs less than the normal floor set point. 
• After 4 days, Pathway assumes you are away for more than just a weekend and changes the set points to the Holiday Levels.  The Holiday set points are usually set quite low and are mainly designed to keep the chill and damp out.  Basically the heating is off but if the temperature becomes too low say less than 10degs, Pathway will automatically tweek the set point levels to maintain them.
• Ok so the house has cooled down, what about waking it up?  Sadly Pathway still can't read minds so you have the following options;
• Firstly you can give Pathway a date that you'll be back.  Pathway will prepare the House for you and make sure it's warmed up, including hot water cylinders.
• Secondly, it'll automatically start up when you arive home.
• Thirdly, you have the option of sending Pathway a message to tell it your on the way. This can be in the form of Email, SMS, or DTMF.

Interested? got an idea or question on automation? 

We're here to help - give us a call or drop us a line! :o)