How to Make Your HVAC System Smart: A Comprehensive Guide

Tired of having a basic HVAC system you have to manually control? It really is a bummer.

How about an HVAC system you can control through your smartphone or voice assistant?

It’s time to transform your heating, cooling, and ventilation setup into a smart HVAC system.

With a smart system, you’ll be able to manage the energy performance and functionality of your HVAC, ensuring a more comfortable, energy-efficient, and convenient home environment.

While it might sound daunting – it’s the HVAC system, after all, and most of us aren’t heating and cooling experts – upgrading your HVAC system doesn’t have to be a complicated task.

Many relatively simple solutions are available to implement and integrate into a wide range of existing smart home setups.

So, let’s cool down a bit and see if we’ve can’t turn up the heat on our current HVAC systems.

HVAC Basics

When dealing with HVAC systems, it’s important to understand some fundamentals to make your setup smart.

In a nutshell, an HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system controls your home’s indoor climate by heating, cooling, and managing airflow.

The main components in HVAC systems are furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps, ventilation systems, and ducts.

Furnaces generate heat, usually through burning fuel, and distribute it through your home’s duct system.

Air conditioners and heat pumps cool your space by moving heat from the indoor to the outdoor unit.

The indoor unit houses the evaporator coil, which absorbs heat from the surrounding air, while the outdoor unit contains the compressor to pump refrigerant between the coils.

Ventilation systems help maintain proper airflow within your home, as proper circulation is vital for good indoor air quality.

Ducts are the conduits that carry the air from your HVAC equipment throughout your home.

In ductless systems, air handlers are installed in each room to blow conditioned air directly into the space, eliminating the need for ducts.

These components have traditionally worked together to generate the airflow we’re used to in our homes.

To control them, we’ve had two main options – traditional manual thermostats and programmable thermostats.

Now, we have a third option – smart thermostats, which can take your home’s heating and cooling game to a whole new level.

Why Convert Your HVAC Into a Smart System

A smart HVAC system has a many benefits, but the one that will likely appeal to most people is the potential for financial savings.

A smart HVAC system can help you save up to 25% on your energy bills.

How do they do this?

Smart systems save energy by intelligently controlling air conditioning and heating, giving you smart usage alerts, and keeping track of energy audits.

These systems also adapt the temperature throughout your home based on demand, so you’re not wasting energy heating or cooling empty rooms.

Plus, many smart thermostats come with Energy Star certifications, meaning they’re super energy-efficient.

Convenience

Along with energy savings, a smart HVAC system increases convenience.

With its smart features, you can remote control your system no matter where you are.

Just grab your smartphone and tell your HVAC what to do from afar.

Or connect with your smart voice assistant to control your HVAC through voice commands.

Occupancy Tracking

Another huge advantage of a smart HVAC is occupancy tracking.

If you hate the idea of wasting money by forgetting to turn off the AC before you leave the house, occupancy tracking is a huge advantage.

A smart system can detect when you’re not home or when you’re sleeping and adjust the temperature accordingly, so you’re never wasting energy.

So, what do we have here?

• Energy Efficiency: Save up to 25% on your energy bills.
• Convenience: Control your system remotely using your smartphone or through voice commands.
• Occupancy Tracking: The system adjusts the temperature when you’re not home or when you’re sleeping.

So far, so good.

Basic Components of Smart HVAC Systems

Okay, so we’ve been over the components of a regular HVAC system.

Now, let’s talk the components of a smart HVAC system. These are the key elements to consider for a smart HVAC system. K

eep in mind, you don’t need them all, but they do work in conjunction, so the more of these you have the smarter you’re system will be.

Smart thermostat: A smart thermostat is the core component in a smart HVAC system. It allows you to remotely control the temperature and climate settings in your home using your smart devices (like your phone or tablet). Some thermostats even learn your schedule and preferences, making adjustments automatically for optimal comfort and energy efficiency.

Sensors: Temperature sensors, occupancy sensors, and humidity sensors play crucial roles in a smart HVAC system. Temperature sensors monitor the ambient temperature in different areas throughout your home. Occupancy sensors detect whether people are present in a room, allowing the system to adjust the temperature accordingly. Humidity sensors measure the moisture levels in the air, allowing your smart HVAC system to maintain optimal humidity levels for comfort and indoor air quality.

Smart vents: These vents can open and close automatically based on data from your sensors and smart thermostat. They work in tandem with zoning, a method that divides your home into separate areas with specific temperature controls. By controlling airflow, smart vents help maintain a consistent temperature and reduce energy consumption in rooms that aren’t in use.

Smart humidifiers and air purifiers: These devices connect to your smart HVAC system and work together to improve overall air quality in your home. Smart humidifiers regulate the moisture levels in your home, while air purifiers remove allergens, odors, and other particles from the air.

Internet of Things (IoT): The IoT is the network that connects your smart devices and allows them to communicate with each other. This connectivity enables your smart thermostat, sensors, and other components to work together in coordinating your home’s heating and cooling needs, creating an efficient and comfortable living environment.

So, to make your HVAC system smart, you’ll need a smart thermostat that can connect to your current smart home ecosystem.

But if you want your HVAC system to be a genius, you’ll need smart sensors, smart vents, smart humidifiers and smart air purifiers, connected through the IoT.

Choosing the Right Smart Thermostat

The key component of a smart HVAC control system is a smart thermostat.

With so many options out there, you’ll probably be feeling a bit overwhelmed when you first start to look, but, once you get into the features of smart thermostats, you’ll narrow your options down pretty quickly.

Compatibility

When it comes to a smart thermostat, compatibility is absolutely crucial.

Make sure the smart thermostat you’re checking out is compatible with your HVAC system and your smart home ecosystem.

Once you start doing this, you’ll see there are a limited number of smart thermostats that will actually work with your system.

Wiring

You’ll also want to take a peek at your current thermostat’s wiring before getting your wallet out.

Some smart thermostats require specific wiring, like a C-wire, to function properly.

If you don’t have a C-wire, you’ll likely need to hire a professional to upgrade your wiring, which will mean the additional cost of hiring a pro.

Features

Most smart thermostats have similar features, but not all smart thermostats do all things.

So, you’ll want to dig into the features of any smart thermostat to see if it will do what you what you want it to do.

If the ability to detect when you’re home or away and adjust the temperature accordingly is important to you, for instance, make sure your chosen smart thermostat has geofencing.

How to Use Smart Devices with HVAC

Once you have all the components of your smart HVAC system properly installed, you can incorporate your HVAC system with your other smart devices.

Here’s how:

App Control

You can control your smart HVAC system with your smartphone.

Most smart thermostats have a corresponding mobile app, letting you adjust the temperature and settings from anywhere.

Voice Assistant Control

Love your voice assistants? Here’s some good news.

Many smart thermostats are compatible with Apple HomeKit, Alexa, and other voice-controlled platforms.

Once connected, you can ask Siri or Alexa to set the temperature, turn your HVAC on or off, or check current conditions.

Automation

Home automation is where a smart HVAC system gets really interesting.

With a smart home hub or automation platform, you can create scenarios that connect multiple devices.

Imagine your thermostat adjusting the temperature when you leave or return home, based on readings from the smart lock on your front door. Pretty cool, right?

Timers

A smart system also gives you a timer function.

Set your HVAC system to follow a schedule, turning on or off at certain times throughout the day.

This is a great way to save energy and make sure your home is comfortable when you need it.