We all love aircon – doubly so if you’re in a hot and humid climate. But, it can also prove expensive and even annoying at times. That’s because most air conditioning units are unsophisticated in that that they’ll seek to achieve the temperature setting on your remote, as quickly as possible, using lots of power and this can result in you having a blast of cold air dumped on you. After a while you may realize that the resulting climate bears little resemblance to your expectations too – the sensor is in the wrong place. If any of this sounds familiar, you need to add AI to your AC with a smart air conditioner controller.
What’s a smart air conditioner controller?
A smart air conditioner controller transforms regular ‘dumb’ aircon into intelligent AC. It does this by using AI to make subtle adjustments according to the outside weather, internal temperature and humidity, amount of sunshine, time of year and personal preferences. In doing so it reduces power consumption and lowers electricity bills.
How does AI work with a smart air conditioner controller work?
Smart controllers used for air conditioning are small, third-party, external boxes with sensors for measuring surrounding environment, communication technology (Wi-Fi and infra-red) plus technology for internal smarts.
The smart air conditioner controller can be placed near to you in a room so that the temperature and humidity that you are experiencing is what the air conditioning unit will actually try and deliver. Normally, the AC unit will have sensors on its chassis which is located in another part of the room where the internal climate is different. So, until that sensor is satisfied that the settings on the remote have been sated, it will huff and puff, adding cold (or hot) air as required.
However, the AI within the smart air conditioner controller can interact with you via an app on your phone, or via a smart home speaker. All you need to do is tell the smart AC whether you’re too hot or too cold (or to adjust the temperature one way or another) to the point where it learns your preference and dials in the settings for you – you won’t have to adjust anything!
If you’re in a shared office or share your living space, you can even get your friends to sign-up for the app and set their preferences too. While you all might not agree on what the perfect definition of comfortable aircon is, an AI-based smart air conditioner controller will be able to see everyone’s preferences and provide an environment that best suits everyone – no more arguments on whether it’s too hot or too cold!
The way it works is that the smart AC controller will connect to your Wi-Fi network where it can then communicate with an app on your phone. This lets you communicate with it both across local Wi-Fi and also the internet! Wherever you are, you can see what the micro-climate is like in the room with AC and adjust the temperature, turn it on or turn it off. The latter is great if you forgot to turn the AC off when leaving the home or office – especially at the weekend – that can get expensive!
What other AI benefits can an AI-based smart aircon controller provide?
There are numerous benefits of smart AC but core ones involving AI include:
- 1) Because the AI in a smart air conditioner controller knows where your phone is located it can set-up something called a Geofence. This means that it knows when you’re, say, on the way home from the office and when you’re a few blocks away it will activate the aircon so everything is perfect when you open the front door. It can also do this when the last person leaves for the day.
- 2) The AI in a smart AC knows where in the world it is, what the weather is, what the humidity is and what the internal climate is like. This means it can monitor your home when you’re not there. This is great if you have pets at home that struggle in warm or cold weather – your aircon can suddenly look after them without staying on all day... which can get expensive.
The AI can also help prevent problems that are common in hot or cold countries – especially if you are away for extended periods. In cold countries, there’s often a fear of frozen pipes and the catastrophic consequences they can cause. In hot and humid countries, mold becomes a serious issue if the inside climate isn’t continuously managed. A smart air conditioner controller can handle all of this for you.
- 3) Regular AC typically adjusts the temperature buy dumping (for example) cold air into a room periodically until its sensor tells it that a target temperature has been reached. This uses a huge amount of power (and leaves those inside, uncomfortable). However, the AI in a smart air conditioner controller will incrementally adjust settings to avoid wasting power and keeping you comfortable. With power crises occurring globally and with the cost of electricity skyrocketing in many locales, this can be a significant saving.
- 4) AI can also help you get some sleep! It’s common to be hot when you go to bed, so you leave the air conditioning on when you fall asleep. If you set a timer, you then wake up when the room heats up again. If you don’t set a timer, you’ll wake up freezing! However, by allowing an AI-enabled smart air conditioner controller to manage the temperature, you’ll get a better night’s sleep!
If the above sounds attractive, then you need the only smart air conditioner controller with AI built-in. These are made by Ambi Climate and you can check out the latest models, here.
