9/4/2023 0 Comments Home control automation![]() The natural evolution from these earlier programmable thermostat is the smart thermostat. Today’s smart thermostats – the first generation of adaptive learning technology – feature powerful microcontrollers that make this possible. ![]() While these are technologically sophisticated and convenient, these devices are not smart nor adaptable to changing conditions. Consumer demand for better, smaller devices led to mass-market miniaturization of programmable thermostats, resulting in the products we see in homes and on store shelves today. Market adoption of these programmable thermostats was driven by homeowners who understood their heating and cooling habits and who wanted the opportunity to customize and automate their heating and cooling preferences. Smaller relays, previously not necessary, needed to be integrated in the designs to enable system switching. Suddenly, designers needed to add small board-level switches to accommodate the user interfaces as well as utilize miniature connectors for system wire terminations to the PCB. In the 1990s, as microcontroller costs dropped and processor capabilities increased, thermostat manufacturers began shifting from electrical devices in favor of electronic devices. For designers of thermostats, this electronification of thermostats posed new challenges. The inevitable result was that someone in the residence always felt either too hot or too cold since it was impossible to adapt temperature to specific rooms or adjust to suit individual preferences. Any adjustment was a one-size-fits-all solution, for the entire house – from the kitchen to the attic – and for all occupants. ![]() Manual changes – daily, weekly, seasonally – were the norm and since most homes only had one thermostat. If the one particular summer night became unexpectedly cold, the homeowner needed to manually adjust the device to warm the interior, and then in the morning switched the thermostat back to the preferred warm-weather setting. Summer meant manually sliding a switch from "heat" to "cool," which meant that for the next few months, the cooling system was either on or off relative to the thermostat setting for preferred temperature. At their basic level, these devices were simple thermo-electrical devices which utilized bi-metallic elements and mercury switches. For many decades, a change of seasons meant homeowners needed to their change thermostat settings. Homeowners worldwide are familiar with the thermostats that control home HVAC systems. These thermostats by themselves have become quite interesting and sophisticated over the past few years, morphing from a collection of electro-mechanical slide switches and push buttons to sleek, button-less units teeming with sensors and added functionality.
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