Control Talk Now For the Week Ending May 19, 2013

May 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment

The sponsors for this week’s ControlTalk NOW are Easy IO, featuring the FG-32 “Beast from the East Controller”, and DG Logik’s DG BOX,Visualizing the Internet of Things. The CTA Awards Committee thanks these two Platinum Sponsors for their continued support.

Are You Playing Russian Roulette in Your Boiler Room? FACT: Rebuilt controls rarely meet industry safety standards.FACT: Rebuilt controls rarely meet industry safety standards. “The use of rebuilt or remanufactured flame safeguard equipment shall not be allowed. All boiler controls [Read more...]

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Get Ready for Next Tax Season NOW! Appliance Upgrades to Consider from US Department of Energy

May 18, 2013 by 2 Comments

EnergyStarIf you missed the energy efficiency and renewable energy tax credits for 2012, fortunately, you can still take advantage of them in 2013. According to the recent energy.gov blog on the Extended Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency, the majority of the appliance upgrade tax credits were continued through the end of 2013 or 2016.

The list below specifies the energy efficient home improvement and appliance additions you can make to your home in 2013 to save money on your next tax return. Application instructions for all of the Federal Tax Credits listed can be found on the ENERGY STAR® website.

Water Heaters

Hot water is an expensive commodity, and your old water heater may be racking up your electric or gas bill on a daily basis. Heating water accounts for 14-25% of your home’s energy consumption, so a highly-efficient electric or gas water heater can save a lot of money. A new ENERGY STAR®-qualified water heater (look for the label) is eligible for a tax credit of $300, a hefty savings. [Read more...]

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ControlTalk NOW for Week Ending May 12, 2013

May 13, 2013 by 2 Comments

Easy IO and DG Logik are the sponsors for this week’s ControlTalk NOW. CTA Awards Committee thanks these two Platinum Sponsors for their continued support.

Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., a member of the OpenADR Alliance, is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit product information from manufactures and technology providers for equipment and services. Hawaiian Electric is pursuing a Demand Response operational strategy [Read more...]

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Hawaiian Electric Company RFI for Automated Demand Response

May 6, 2013 by 1 Comment

ControlTrends Update!

Dear OpenADR Stakeholder,

Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., a member of the OpenADR Alliance, is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit product information from manufactures and technology providers for equipment and services. Hawaiian Electric is pursuing a Demand Response operational strategy that will expand the company’s existing Residential Direct Load Control (RDLC) and Small Business Direct Load Control (SBDLC) Programs. Hawaiian Electric is exploring two-way communicating technologies (Virtual End Node (VEN) and Virtual Top Node (VTN))1 for residential and small business sector end-uses such as; air conditioners, electric resistance water heaters, lighting and other plug loads.

If your company is interested in obtaining a copy of the RFI, [Read more...]

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ControlTalk Now for the Week Ending May 5, 2013

May 6, 2013 by 1 Comment

Haystack Connect 2013 is once again this week’s ControlTalk NOW sponsor. Congratulations to Haystack Connect for an outstanding networking extravaganza and industry first. Industry Evolution and the impact of nHaystack, Big Data, Network Security, Lighting Solutions, ADR, Powerful Controllers, and much more to follow.

Pick Siemens for PIC Valves: Siemens’ unique design integrates three functions into one single device: control valve, adjustable flow limiter and automatic pressure regulator. [Read more...]

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Energy 101: Lighting Choices — and the Continuous Effort to End LightLitter

May 3, 2013 by 3 Comments

Lighting your household represents about 10% of your monthly energy bill. Using energy saving incandescent bulbs, or light emitting diodes (LED), or compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) not only provide you the same level of light that you’re used to, but they will use 75% less energy. If you change 15 old-style bulbs in your house to these energy saving bulbs, you would save around $50.00 a year.

LightLitter1On the other hand, we are losing ground to LightLitter, the term used to cite the wanton waste of energy caused by lights left on when there is no need for them to be on, especially outside building lights, parking lot lights, and street and highway lights. [Read more...]

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Live from Chattanooga, TN — Haystack Connect 2013

May 1, 2013 by 1 Comment

Haystack1The Haystack Connect 2013 Day One’s General Session opened with two dynamic Keynote Speakers: DOE’s George Hernandez’s: Sensors and Controls — How Smart is Smart Enough, followed by eRupublic’s Marina Leight, GOVERNING’S Associate Publisher for Infrastructure’s presentation: There’s Something Happening Here: Creating Great Places to Live for the People Who Live There.

Hosted by the top experts and solution providers in their respective fields, the First Day Sessions focused on: Data Modeling, Light Control Technologies, Data Visualization, [Read more...]

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Honeywell and Nest: Two Smart Thermostats — Some More of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

April 27, 2013 by 1 Comment

Clint 2 We thought it fair and appropriate that the last two comments (see below) on this blog string, originally posted June 5, 2012, scores one for Honeywell and one for Nest.

We are really getting excited about the thermostat story again, but it’s not only about the thermostat. The goal is to get smart thermostats on the wall as fast as possible and save energy-grief and money. The utilities need the information from as many residential thermostats as possible, as quickly as possible, and the incentives being offered are real motivation. Both Honeywell and Nest, as well as a few others, are doing a great job enabling the process — and making some smart money while they’re at it. Now that the Department of Energy is ready to go door-to-door and give free energy audits, which will (or should) undoubtedly recommend a smart grid-talking thermostat (with rebate coupon), this thermostat race is just heating up!

But who will connect all the smarts dots the soonest? [Read more...]

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DOE’s Cathy Zoi — New Home Energy Score Pilot Program

April 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment

As ControlTrends continues to track and connect the dots — of the hottest topics shaping the HVAC Industry: Big Data, Data Visualization, Demand Response, Automated Demand Response, and of course, one of the greatest linking pieces — the thermostat, it is important to get in synch with the other forces and programs of greatest impact, one of which, is certainly the Department of Energy.

The Home Energy Score Program will be available to household in the USA. To put it in perspective, most of you know what the mileage your car gets – or should get. And that the higher the MPG rating, the less you’re going to spend on gasoline. Watch a video about the Home Energy Score, which helps homeowners understand how home energy systems perform on a simple 10-point scale, handing the HVAC players implicit and significant market opportunities.

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DOE Challenges ControlTrends Community

April 23, 2013 by 1 Comment

ControlTrends supports DOE in Meter Challenge:

DOE challenges Metering System Manufacturers and the Commercial Sector with its new program: DOE Low-cost Wireless Meter Challenge

A webinar to present the revised specification and discuss frequently asked questions is scheduled for April 30, 2013 from 2-4pm ET. Register for the webinar.

Background:

Following the model of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Better Buildings Alliance Rooftop Unit Challenge, DOE’s Better Buildings Alliance Technology Solutions Team will soon be issuing the Low-cost Wireless Meter Challenge to industry to produce a cost-effective, wireless metering system capable of electrical energy measurement at various locations in a building and wireless communication to a remote data collection point within the building complex. The primary goal of the program is to catalyze the development of low cost panel-level metering solutions. Selected devices may, in some cases, also be applicable to a whole-building application, but that application is outside the scope of this challenge. In developing the specifications for this challenge, DOE considered input from federal agencies and members of the Better Buildings Alliance (BBA).

The performance specification PDF for the Wireless Metering Challenge is now available for review and comment. The goal of the challenge is to develop a wireless metering system that contains the following attributes: [Read more...]

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