Imagine it: you are collecting your things at work and miles away at your home, the oven kicks on to make dinner. The air conditioning system is notified and lowers the temperature to deliver more cool air to offset the oven’s added heat. When you get home the lights automatically turn on as you enter, dinner is made, and your home is at a comfortable temperature.
That’s the goal! And also the kind of advanced home interconnectivity that is available now and 2017 could be a pivotal year for advancements in how your home’s HVAC system functions as part of the team.
“Smart phones radically changed our lives in part because they permitted numerous apps to make our lives simpler and richer,” said Rob Haines, Marketing Manager for Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning. “We forecast that in 2017, developers will be centering on more new apps that allow all your home’s systems and appliances to interact versus being siloed, and this will include breakout new advancements in how your home’s heating and cooling systems work.”
Smart thermostats and newer, updated HVAC systems can already send notifications to you about energy usage and standard maintenance such as when it’s time to change the air filter. Future systems might even be able to determine a likely equipment failure before it occurs and notify your heating and cooling repair company to contact you and arrange a technician’s visit. The technician will come with prior knowledge about the problem and the required parts to repair it.
Another on-the-drawing-board vision is the use of infrared heat sensing within the home that will conclude which rooms are in use by family and guests and actually send heating and cooling specifically to those areas.
“Zoned heating and cooling systems have been one of the fastest growing parts of the HVAC industry for quite a few years, and that will remain a large opportunity,” said Haines. “Increasingly, systems will focus on heating and cooling specific areas as needed to improve comfort and energy efficiency.”
And yes, Haines adds, the millennials are helping to drive the trends for at-home connectivity and more efficient heating and air conditioning systems. “As millennials purchase their homes, they want their home systems like HVAC to not only do what they are told, but to observe and adjust themselves and to proactively send notifications to the homeowner. We also see that the millennials and Generation X are much more conscience about energy efficiency and those consequences of their heating and cooling systems.”
While early 2017 is an ideal time to look at trends for the year, it’s also a good time to benefit from savings that will pay off in the coming months. For the next several weeks many Service Experts centers are offering free or deeply discounted equipment when you purchase a qualifying item, such as a free furnace when you buy an air conditioning system. Heating tune-ups are also deeply discounted just in time for the coldest months of the year. Call Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning in Ocala today to schedule a complimentary in-home estimate or to set up a furnace tune up to make sure your system is ready to keep you warm and cozy all winter long.