Imagine it: you are gathering up your things at your office and miles away at your home, the oven powers on to make dinner. The air conditioner is notified and lowers the temperature to deliver more cool air to balance out the oven’s added heat. When you come home the lights automatically turn on as you come in the door, dinner is made, and your home is at the perfect temperature.
That’s the ideal experience! And also the kind of advanced home interconnectivity that is available now and 2017 could be a crucial year for advancements in how your home’s HVAC system functions as part of the team.
“Smart phones transformed 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 predict that in 2017, developers will be focusing on more new apps that let all of your home’s systems and appliances interact versus being siloed, and this will result in breakout new advancements in how your home’s heating and air conditioning system work.”
Smart thermostats and newer, updated HVAC systems can already send notifications to you about energy use and regular maintenance such as when it’s time to change the air filter. Future systems might even be able to recognize a possible equipment failure before it occurs and send a message to your heating and air conditioning repair company to call you and schedule a technician’s visit. The technician will arrive with prior knowledge about the problem and the necessary parts to repair it.
Another on-the-drawing-board vision is the use of infrared heat sensing in the home that will decifer which rooms are in use by people in the home and actually direct heating and cooling specifically to those areas.
“Zoned heating and air conditioning systems have been one of the quickest growing parts of the heating and cooling industry for many years, and that will remain a large opportunity,” said Haines. “Furthermore, systems will focus on heating and cooling specific areas as needed to upgrade comfort and energy efficiency.”
And yes, Haines adds, the millennials are driving the trends for at-home connectivity and more efficient heating and cooling systems. “As millennials invest in their homes, they want their home systems like HVAC to not only do what they are told, but to monitor and adjust themselves and to proactively communicate with the homeowner. We also find that the millennials and Generation X are much more sophisticated about energy efficiency and those consequences of their heating and cooling systems.”
While early 2017 is the right time to look at trends for the year, it’s also a perfect 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 invest in an AC system. Seasonal tune-ups are also deeply discounted just in time for the coldest months of the year. Call Neal Harris Service Experts in Kansas City today to schedule a free in-home estimate or to set up a heating tune up to make sure your furnace is ready to keep you comfortable and safe all winter long.