By Nigel F. Maynard
HVAC zone dampening and equipment products manufacturer ZoneFirst has introduced what the company is calling the world’s first and only wireless multifunction combination light switch that also controls a house’s thermostat.
Introduced at the International Builders’ Show, Invis-A-Stat is a Wi-Fi-enabled, multi-function combination light switch and thermostat that allows homeowners to control room temperature wherever there’s a light switch or outlet. The light switch thermostat, aka LST, eliminates wiring thermostats and uses the power at the light switch to provide wireless communication to the HVAC system.
Company founder Richard Foster explained that his company had the problem of making it easy to install zone damper systems into existing homes. “The problem is getting wires to remote zones for thermostats, so HVAC Systems can have remote thermostats throughout the house, vs. only one, often in a central hall,” Foster says.
Sure there are wireless thermostats available, but wireless thermostats require batteries, and they need to be changed frequently, Foster continues. “Battery stats also do not have enough power for Wi-Fi,” the company says. “However, every room has an electrical outlet for a light switch and therein is a source of power. Why not build a thermostat in with a light switch?” As the company sees it, a house has a light switch for every room, but for heating and cooling, there’s only one thermostat for the whole house. It only made sense to combine the two. Which is what the company did.
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Invis-A-Stat fits into a standard outlet and becomes virtually invisible as a flush light switch versus a “bulky and often ugly wall box that most homeowners can’t figure out how to use.” The light switch thermostat app will control the temperatures in each zone throughout the home.
At the moment, the LST does not support dimmable lights or multi-way switch applications. Instead, it’s designed for standard light switches and offers integrated thermostat control.
ZoneFirst says the Invis-a-Stat is one part of its state-of-the-art HVAC zoning system called BLISS, the first wireless zoning and lighting system that allows for room-by-room temperature control and lighting management through an app or wall plate.
“Bliss solves the problem of rooms that are too hot or too cold because the thermostat is in the wrong place,” the company says. “Bliss also provides for the ultimate in room-by-room temperature control and the obstacle of running wires for thermostats because Wi-Fi stats need power and sensors need battery changes. The IoZ app not only controls your temperature but your lights as well and fits in a standard 2×4 junction box with a standard rocker switch plate.”
Bliss System includes one Gateway (used for wireless internet communication to/from BLISS components that control your zoned HVAC system); one Heat-Cool Module (which controls HVAC units and provides power for zone sensors and dampers); Wired Damper Sensors (which inserts into each zone duct near each damper and senses duct pressure and temperature) and the Light Switch/Thermostats (which installs at the light switch box in each room/zone and wirelessly communicates with BLISS system devices to control the HVAC and zone dampers).
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