Sensors are an integral part of most heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration systems — helping to not only maintain a comfortable indoor climate, but also to enable the system to perform properly. Sensors provide diagnostics that can help identify system or equipment issues that can reduce efficiencies or cause major breakdowns occur.
The HVAC industry is driving improvements in sensor technology in a number of key areas including improved durability to withstand harsh HVAC environments, digital communication capabilities, the ability to monitor multiple physical parameters with a single sensor, lower power sensors, wireless capabilities with a variety of communication protocol options, and smaller sensors to take up less space. TE Connectivity manufactures a wide range of rugged and reliable sensors for HVAC applications to meet these industry demands that sense pressure, temperature, humidity, vibration, position, force, speed and more. These sensors play a critical role in improving the efficiency, performance, and reliability of HVAC systems.
Air Conditioning
Inefficient HVAC systems lead to higher building operation costs and can reduce worker productivity. For air conditioning systems, pressure, temperature, humidity, and other sensors provide data that help air conditioning systems run more efficiently and reliably while enhancing occupant comfort. TE provides ruggedized pressure transducers and temperature probes that are designed specifically for air conditioning environments and deliver designs that are easy to install and are very reliable. To simplify system integration TE offers a range of analog output signals as well as several products with I2C digital output and some that support popular wireless communication protocols.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESSURE SENSORS IN HVACR SYSTEMS
Building Automation Systems
Building automation integrates heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), with control interfaces as well as monitoring and diagnostic systems – all with the help of sensors. Sensors provide data to one or more processing units that use that information to drive heating and cooling equipment as well as actuators, dampers, fans and other components to control a building's operation. TE manufactures sensing products that are key components to several building automation systems. Some of these technologies include pressure, temperature, humidity, vibration, position and more. Applications include rugged, reliable, board mount differential pressure sensors that can be used to monitor air flow and filters, maintain duct pressure levels, and improve the efficiency of heating and cooling systems. These sensors deliver long-term stability, high accuracy, and excellent reliability.
Furnaces & Boilers
Boiler and furnaces, like other HVAC equipment, continue to evolve and OEMs continue to add features like improved zoning control, self-diagnostics and much more while also improving system efficiencies. For furnaces, TE’s pressure sensors provide feedback and control for air movement for combustion, zoning, and filter monitoring while temperature sensors monitor actual air temperature both inside and outside, as well as gas temperature. Humidity sensors monitor humidity for indoor and outdoor air as well as for exhaust air. Boilers have a similar array of sensors for monitoring and control but utilize pressure transducers for system pressure and different configurations of temperature probes to monitor and control water and/or steam temperature.
CONTROLLING HUMIDITY IN COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENTS
Fire Suppression Systems
Sensors are on the front lines of fire suppression system management. They require stability and robust designs to endure over time and in case of unexpected harsh environments such as fumes, smoke, dust, or fire. TE’s sensors monitor these data points and help alert maintenance to potential environmental conditions that may damage inventory, impact workers’ health, or even increase fire risks. Our board mount differential and board mount microflow pressure sensors are immune to dust and fumes and are known for long-term stability. Our thermistors deliver operating temperatures of -40°C to 300°C, ±1% tolerance, and are RoHS compliant. Our sensors interface conveniently with other digital or analog monitoring and diagnostic systems. Paired with microprocessors, TE sensors supply continuous monitoring with analog and digital outputs in extreme environments for safe, reliable, and efficient HVAC systems.
Heat Pumps
Creating comfortable indoor spaces while maintaining a cost-effective building is a common challenge for modern HVAC systems. A heat pump is one cost-effective, and energy-efficient solution to provide heating and cooling in a single unit. Sensors for pressure, temperature, flow, and humidity are making these systems smarter and more robust. TE’s pressure sensors are used to monitor air flow or water pressure and humidity is typically monitored indoors as well as outdoors. TE’s sensor data is used to optimize a heat pump’s operations and, additionally, sensor data can help monitor system efficiency and determiner maintenance needs. With enough data, a smart HVAC system can automate and manage the flow and direction of fluid through a heat pump as demands change.
Mechanical Ventilation
Ventilation is required for both HVAC comfort and good air quality. Mechanical ventilation uses ducts and fans to draw in and distribute fresh air throughout a space, and sometimes to exhaust air from specific areas. To accomplish this level of control and efficiency, mechanical ventilation requires sensor data to determine what vents to open or close, and what direction to move the air. These systems utilize an array of TE sensors to ensure proper levels of airflow and the accurate temperature and humidity control. TE’s board mount differential pressure sensors are crucial to monitoring and maintaining proper airflow for each zone and to ensure that system filters are not blocked. Duct mount and averaging temperature sensors are used to help monitor and control temperatures in each zone. To monitor both temperature and humidity, TE manufactures the HTU series of sensors which provide accuracies of ±2%RH for humidity and ±0.2°C for temperature.
Variable Air Volume
As technology advances and the costs of heating and cooling increase, innovative solutions are necessary to improve HVAC efficiency. Today, TE’s accurate and reliable sensor technology provides data for increased building efficiency and control with variable air volume (VAV) systems. VAVs require temperature, and pressure sensors to monitor air flow, filter performance, and damper control. TE offers temperature probes and flange mount stainless steel (GA10K3D536) temperature sensors that are cost-effective and easy to install. If closing a damper creates back pressure, TE’s pressure sensors will detect small changes and reduce motor and blower speeds. TE delivers long lasting stable designs with multiple ways to connect, to promote ease of implementation, greater control, and efficiency in HVAC systems.