HVAC equipment can fail in the most interesting ways, but fortunately SiteSage delivers the data to help understand equipment issues, and allows you to make remote adjustments to help negate their impact and compensate with other units. The first chart shown here features data from a Heat Pump installed at a California retailer. With the room temperature below the heating target, the thermostat calls for heating, and the compressor starts to run (using energy that you see on the green line), but instead of delivering hot air, the supply temperature dives in to 40’s! After “fighting” the other HVAC units for the better part of the day (the other units were all delivering hot air, as intended), the facilities manager used the SiteSage internet-connected thermostat to shut the problem unit down remotely; thus saving energy and avoiding comfort issues till an HVAC tech could be dispatched.

The tech found the reversing valve stuck on the Heat Pump (a fairly common failure), so the refrigeration cycle was running in reverse, thus the cold air. The unit was repaired, and started delivering hot air; all of which was confirmed with SiteSage and visible in the second chart.

Want more tips for reducing energy spend in retail stores?