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ControlTrends thanks Neptronic, this week’s ControlTalk NOW Platinum sponsor. Founded in 1976, Neptronic has a rich history of HVAC industry firsts, beginning with the earliest adoption and advancement of the direct coupled actuator (DCA) conversion in the North American market. Neptronic continued its industry innovation with the introduction of the ball valve and the capacitance fail safe feature (1996 Patent) — and more recently, won a coveted 2014 AHR Expo Innovative Award for their SKD Humidifier. Neptronic is a private corporation that designs, manufactures and distributes products for the HVAC industry, whose product line includes intelligent controllers, electronic actuators, actuated valves, humidifiers and electric heaters.

U.S. Department of Energy Webinar on Smart Grid Data Privacy: A Voluntary Code of Conduct. ControlTrends Community, here it is. Participation is requested (and important)! DOE information release, November 17, 2014: On Wednesday, December 11, 2014 the Energy Department’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability in coordination with the Federal Smart Grid Task Force will conduct a webinar to conclude the development phase of a Voluntary Code of Conduct (VCC) related to privacy of customer energy usage data for utilities and third parties.

ControlTrends Training: High Pressure Refrigeration Controls: A special thanks to Mike Glenn from Johnson Controls for putting this training video on High Pressure Refrigeration controls together. You can also check out Mike’s video on low pressure refrigeration controls by clicking here. These switches regulate critical functions within a refrigeration system and are essential to its proper operation. Low-pressure switches are commonly used to control compressor operation or act as a low-limit control.

We Need to Talk: Intel’s MICA — My Intelligent Communications Accessory. Okay, this version is a limited featured, fashion accessory for stylish women, but a few beefed-up wearable siblings, with shock-proof and waterproof features, can’t be far behind. This is the CONTEXTUALIZATION PRINCIPAL’s best example so far — that has figured out, “INTELigently,” how to claim enough wearable body real estate without significant negative consequence, and takes the lead as the Star-Trecky IoT game-changer that will link every aspect of your life to a connected device worn on your wrist. Get your VISAs out, it’ll probably be ready for your holiday purchases. Read more on Intel’s website!

GC Valves TIP: Solenoid Valves for Oil & Gas Burner Pilot Applications: GC Valves offers very competitive, high-quality solenoid valve solutions for general purpose, oil and natural gas burner, and custom-solenoid valve applications. Now that the cold weather has arrived, here is a reminder that GC Valves manufactures some of the most popular pilot valves for oil and natural gas burners.

Introducing 2014 Residential Thermostat of The Year Nominee: Honeywell Lyric Round is cool again! Round is cool again! Honeywell introduced the T87 Round thermostats when Ken Smyers, the man, the myth, the legend was but a mere tike. Round gave way to rectangular shaped thermostats and round stats got lost in the thermostatic style wars. It took a guy from Apple, Tony Fadell, to make round cool again when he introduced the Nest thermostat a couple of years ago. Not to be out done, Honeywell, the original purveyors of round, packed over 100 years of Honeywell control know-how into the ultra cool Honeywell Lyric.

How a VFD Pays for Itself:This week Stromquist hosted a Drive to Savings Day with Siemens and GA Power to educate our customers on the benefits of Variable Frequency Drives and GA Power’s current rebate programs for VFDs and other HVAC equipment. Most people already know that installing a VFD can save money by cutting back on the energy it takes to run equipment, but not everyone is aware that there are additional savings to reap by taking advantage of GA Power’s rebate opportunity. For any NEW drive installed on existing equipment, GA Power will issue a $50 per HP rebate. So a 20 HP drive will bring a $1000 rebate. Add that to the money saved in energy costs, and the new drive will pay for itself very quickly!

Smart Meters and Big Brother Video Editorial. Check out this video from Minivan Jack! Is he just being paranoid or does he have a point? If not through a smart meter, what about through a Nest thermostat collecting your information? Let me know what you think in comments.

Contemporary Controls’ Modbus Profile Builder Software for the BASgatewayLX is Now Available! November 2014 — The BASgatewayLX uses a csv (comma separated value) file that is uploaded to it to provide the modbus point list that will be polled. Contemporary Controls builds these Modbus maps and posts them on our BASgatewayLX profile page. If you need a Modbus that is not currently on line please contact us, and we will enjoy creating it for you.