Jenny Smith, marketing manager at Vent-Axia, explains how cutting-edge ventilation is now app controlled, bringing new business opportunities to installers. This also fits in well with smart homes and the fast expanding Internet of Things (IoT):
The nation has fallen in love... 24/7 access to smart phones has brought with it the benefit of access to a raft of useful apps to help with both our home and work lives. In-line with this, ventilation has become smarter.
With the latest fan design developments accelerating in line with advances in other technologies, app-controlled unitary fans are bringing new connectivity to the HEVAC sector - and with it a host of exciting benefits and business opportunities for installers.
This next generation of ventilation offers fantastic benefits for both installers and householders. The option of controlling ventilation via an app has simplified set-up for installers while enabling households to control their ventilation via a smart phone to fit with their lifestyles. Vent-Axia is leading the way in app-controlled ventilation, with its new Bluetooth-enabled Svara fan, the first available in the UK.
Opportunity knocks
This new breed of fan is offering a range of benefits for electricians, not least the opportunity to expand their business and enter the world of smart technology with a product they are familiar with. As homes become increasingly connected, there are huge opportunities for installers to offer smart technology to customers that are both affordable and beneficial. App-controlled fans are an ideal starting point for both businesses and households.
App-controlled fans are also the ideal opportunity for installers to upsell to customers. Alongside simplified app control, the latest fans offer a range of benefits for households that are a great selling point, including improved indoor air quality, aesthetics, silence and energy efficiency.
Ease of installation
Leading ventilation manufacturers, like Vent-Axia, have thought long and hard about how to make installation easier for electrical contractors. For example with Svara, set-up is made simple and quick with no need to adjust fiddly switches or jumpers. Through its app, Svara can offer the choice of intermittent or continuous ventilation; whether the humidistat triggers operation or not; and whether the fan should be controlled via a switch or a pull cord. Furthermore, once the fan is set up at installation, all the sensors and speeds can be altered via the app to change the level of sensitivity that triggers them and the speed of the fan.
Offering installation flexibility, the highly intelligent Svara has just one model with three speeds, including a boost. Intermittent or continuous operation can be selected, making it suitable for the majority of residential installations. This 100mm fan is also ideal for retrofitting since it comes with a convertor up to 160mm and can be installed on the ceiling or wall in place of existing fans.
Once the fan is set up at installation all sensors and speeds can be altered via the App within set parameters. Meanwhile, the Svara’s clever light sensor also acts as an overrun timer, without having to be controlled through the light switch. This means in houses where there was only a basic fan before, the homeowner can upgrade to a timer fan without having to rewire.
Simple control
The latest unitary fans also offer a whole range of different functions to allow households to take control of their indoor air quality from their sofa via a smart phone – a great selling point for installers. This enables households to adapt their ventilation to suit their lifestyle meaning improved effectiveness and control over their indoor air quality (IAQ), bringing with it a raft of health benefits.
Good IAQ in the home is essential and consumers will have an increasing awareness of research pointing out the health risks of poor IAQ. As new and refurbished homes become ever more air tight to improve efficiency, there is an increase in the number of homes with insufficient ventilation. As a result condensation and mould are able to thrive and it is estimated the number of people suffering with asthma could almost double by 2050.
Light sensor
Leading the way in unitary fan design, the highly sophisticated Svara senses when someone is in the room and then activates. It achieves this through a sophisticated light sensor that is triggered by its ability to recognise room occupancy through light movement and shadows.
Not only that, but to avoid waking the household in the middle of the night it is also possible to set a delay-on so the fan is not triggered by the light during quick night time bathroom visits. The light sensor is so intelligent it can also distinguish between headlight flashes from cars and room occupancy, so it is not triggered by passing cars, which stops nuisance running.
Humidity sensor
Humidity levels are a key factor in indoor air quality since high levels of humidity can lead to condensation and mould. The Svara therefore features an effective humidity sensor, which reacts to sharp changes in humidity, for instance when someone is taking a shower.
When set to continuous running, once the humidity sensor is activated the fan runs at 30l/s until humidity returns to normal levels then the fan powers down to the trickle speed.
To avoid nuisance running, the Svara does not trigger at ambient humidity changes that can occur at night. Although it is possible to change the sensitivity of the humidity sensor within its parameters via the app it is not possible to alter the overrun – thus protecting the households’ indoor air quality.
Silent efficiency
When selecting unitary fans, both sound and efficiency are both key drivers for electricians when it comes to specifying ventilation and attractive features for households. The Svara operates at just 17dBA on low trickle and boasts low power consumption at only 4W.
Also useful is scheduling control, which allows homeowners to programme a fan via its app to ensure it doesn’t boost at certain times. This is particularly helpful overnight or if there is a sleeping baby nearby.
Scheduling control also allows users to activate the fan on particular days via the app, for instance during a holiday period it can be turned off or to an airing mode with a purge function. Consumers will also be attracted to the new sleek design of the latest fans with a modern Scandinavian feel.
The future of connectivity
So now is the time for electricians to switch on to app connectivity. Not only is it an attractive option for customers, it also makes installation easier. As a result app connectivity saves time and, importantly, helps homeowners have a healthy, comfortable indoor environment.
But there is still more to come. App control heralds the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the HEVAC sector as the app market matures. The concept behind IoT is that products can talk to each other and react based on a set of inputs. As an example, if your fire alarm is triggered, it could send a message to your fan to shut down – and therefore reduce the airflow that could feed a fire.
The Svara has been future proofed to be able to take advantage of these types of features as products develop over time. So the Svara is paving the way for other app controlled HEVAC products and looking to the future to join the Internet of Things.
For further information on all products and services offered by Vent-Axia telephone 0844 856 0590 or visit www.vent-axia.com.