Economizer: now at the console

[Vadim Tkachenko]

Hello lurkers,

The economizer season is ending soon here, but it may be just starting for some of you folks. One picture is worth a thousand words, so here's three: the first is the Swing Console, the second is the actual performance during the last 7 days, the third is power consumption for the devices used.

Those familiar with the console may notice that it looks a bit different now; there are two new items - ambient temperature, and economizer target temperature setpoint.

Here's what's on the chart (it is a small part of standard telemetry now produced by HCC):

• Red: ambient temperature
• Cyan, top: temperature in the economizer controlled room
• Purple: temperature in a room without the economizer, similar volume and occupancy
• Green: target temperature
• Cyan, bottom: demand (for this device - on/off)
• Blue: raw control signal

A few things to note:

• "Target temperature" is when the economizer decides it's cold (or warm) enough and stops working. Note the period around the green line change, that's how well the economizer controls the indoor temperature;
• Note the quite tangible difference between the temperature in two rooms - with and without the economizer. The price of this is - less than 20W consumed power, depending on the economizer fan speed (to save you a search, this particular device is AC Infinity S6, but S8 would be quieter - same CFM at lower speeds).

Down the road:

• Economizer will support variable speed units;
• Economizer and calendar integration is coming;
• Separate economizer console panel is coming.

This is the branch that supports this code: https://github.com/home-climate-control/dz/tree/reactive

Special note for those running the imperative branch - it is possible to use the economizer running a second, independent HCC instance, using the same sensor inputs but a null switch for the HVAC unit, and the actual switch for the economizer.

Enjoy.

--vt