With more and more different types of cooling solutions available, what are smart air conditioners and how do they differ from their polar opposite; “dumb AC’s?”
To get us started, I should probably point out that most air conditioning equipment currently available is of the non-smart variety, meaning it doesn’t have that special extra feature that makes some of the newer versions into smart ones.
So I guess the burning question of the moment, after having read the previous sentences, is, ″What is this special, clever feature and what does it mean if I buy an air conditioner that has it?″
What Makes an Air Conditioner Smart?
OK, I’ll end the big suspense and reveal the answer to the above searching questions.
The smart part is simply the ability to connect to a home or office WiFi network and to be programmed or controlled via a dedicated phone app.
Underwhelmed?
I hope not, because this is a feature that will really add a lot of zing to your home’s (or office’s) otherwise boring old cooling equipment. By that I mean it puts the system’s control right there in your hands whether you’re physically in the building or room itself, or out and about someplace else.
There’s the power in being smart!
You can leave your house in the morning after turning off the AC and be out all day, saving money because you’re not having to pay for the electricity to run the system to cool a house with nobody in it. Except maybe your cat, who will probably not much like your new smart AC from this point onward.
Then, as you are on your way home, you can literally turn your AC on remotely using your phone, so that your home will be nice and cool in readiness for your arrival. Now that is smart!
So you see there is no more wasting energy just to maintain a cool home all day long if nobody is occupying it.
How to Program a Smart Air Conditioning System
Just like other smart devices, such as a TV, a washing machine, curtains or blinds, lights, etc. that can be controlled from your home smart device like a Google Home or an Amazon Alexa for example, so can the cooling system if it’s also smart.
Programming your home’s cooling system becomes a really simple process when you can do it from your smart phone. Oh, there’s another one. Funny how all of a sudden all these smart devices are creeping into this conversation…
You simply download the manufacturer’s dedicated app (the store you buy the equipment from will generally help you with that) onto your phone. Then once installed, you can open the app and find all the programming functions inside the app.
Smart AC apps generally enable you to set program functions like the on/off timer, power settings, fan speed and temperature as well as initiate any of these functions manually at the tap of a button. So you can program your AC to turn on or off at certain times of the day, maybe with different settings for the weekend for instance, set the temperature for daytime and a different one for night time and whatever else the appliance allows you to do.
What Types of Smart AC Are There?
You can buy a variety of WiFi enabled AC equipment to suit your needs. The more popular types right now are smart portable air conditioners and smart window air conditioners, although you can also buy WiFi enabled mini-split units and controllers for central air systems.
All smart versions of existing AC types are much the same in that they still need to be vented to the outside and maintained the same. It’s just they are smarter!
The choice is yours as to which type of WiFi connectible cooling equipment you buy for your home. The next step is to visit a store that sells them either in the real world or online and take your new smarter cooling solution from there!
Cooled Air 