An HVAC Company Goes Wireless

August 2, 2001
by Derek Kerton

It's always refreshing to see on old-school company catch on to how new technology can contribute to the value of their products. This time it's Carrier, the HVAC equipment manufacturer and service company. They have released a new line of equipment controls which connect air conditioning hardware to the Internet. From there, they can be monitored, switched, and controlled from both a Browser, and WAP phones.

One of the cool aspects of this is that the HVAC equipment is connected via a GSM cellular module, which communicates securely with the Carrier servers. Thus, the service can only be accessed through Carriers web and WAP sites (http://myappliance.com). The back-end technology is being
provided by IBM. I've been using some IBM technology called HomeDirector myself for remote controlling of lights and appliances, but that is using X10 technology and short-range wireless. I love the idea of being en-route to Tahoe for a ski weekend, and using my WAP phone to turn up the heat in the cabin two hours before arriving. A frivolous use of technology, perhaps, but the Green party would have to approve.

Part of the benefit of the service is expected to be that Carrier's system will be able to monitor and receive status updates from the myriad HVAC units installed on customer sites, and detect problems early. This will allow them to pro-actively maintain the units, supporting customer loyalty, generate service revenues, and increase customer satisfaction.

This service is being rolled out in Europe this summer, and will be expanded the following year.

Personally, I'm concerned about the privacy aspects of this service. I'm not sure I want to have someone able to detect my HVAC settings. They may be able to determine exactly when it's "Jungle Fever Night", or "Dark Side of the Moon" night at the homestead. Somebody call the ACLU.