CHICAGO— There remains a growing focus on smart home technology within the home environment category, and this year Friedrich highlighted its emphasis on the segment at the recent International Home + Housewares Show, here.
At the show, the company featured its full Kühl line of WiFi-enabled air conditioners with smart grid connectivity, in addition to a variety of other home comfort appliances.
The entire Kühl line features the company’s ThinkEco smartAC platform, which makes it possible for utilities to connect, monitor and control the units during times of high energy use and strain on the power grid.
The company noted that the feature is growing in importance as more utilities, such as Con Edison in New York, are beginning to offer smart air conditioning programs that give their customers incentives for enrolling.
With the company’s FriedrichLink WiFi connectivity, homeowners can remotely control the Kühl units via computer or smart phone to set a desired comfort level.
“Choosing the right air conditioning unit can have a significant impact on a homeowner’s daily life,” said TJ Wheeler, VP of marketing and product management. “The ability to consistently regulate temperature, energy use and money savings through innovative smart technology is essential, but we also pay special attention to things like noise control and improving indoor air quality, which can impact overall comfort and even sleep.”
When it comes to noise control, the company said the Kühl line features extra thick rubber grommets said to absorb vibration and reduce noise, while steel inner walls and extra dense insulation block outdoor sounds.
In addition, Kühl’s air path is more streamlined, drawing air away from moving parts and allowing for smoother airflow, delivering maximum conditioned air quality, the company said.
The largest Kühl unit can produce up to 36,000 BTU’s, and Energy Star qualified models are available in a variety of different sizes, starting at 6,000 BTU’s. The Kühl series has cooling-only models and models with heat in a full range of capacities so they can operate as year-round central-like systems.
Also at the Home + Housewares Show, the company featured its line of air purifiers, the ZoneAire portable series and dehumidifiers at the show.
The AP260 air purifiers feature 5-stage filtration, including an enhanced HEPA filter said to capture up to 99.97% of particles down to 0.3 microns. The appliances also feature Intelligent Auto Operation, said to automatically sense changes in air quality and adjust cleaning level accordingly.
The units are said to be ultra-quiet and easy to operate, featuring an LED air quality display. The units are also Energy Star qualified and AHAM (Association of Home Appliance Manufacturer) tested, according to the company.
The ZoneAire portable series is a dual hose, 4-in-1 system said to offer up to 40% faster cooling, plus dehumidifying capabilities and a fan. It also features “bonus heat,” allowing homeowners to turn the unit around and use an exclusive heat transfer clip to provide heat when desired.
For compact spot cooling the series is suitable for areas such as home offices, workshops or bedrooms.
When it comes to dehumidifying, the company offers 25, 50 and 70-pint options, suitable for both small and large spaces. All models come equipped with easy to operate digital touch controls, customizable humidity level settings and continuous-drainage operation.
Larger 50 and 70-pint Energy Star qualified models have built-in drain pumps to remove condensation up to 15 feet in any direction.
