You may have already heard about smart air conditioners and how they have harnessed technology to provide users with a means to manage their units remotely via their phone or tablet.
Well, if you haven't or you're not really sure what these devices are or how they work, this page is for you!
I'll take a look at the various types of ″smart″ air conditioning device and provide you with as simple an explanation as I can as to what they are and how they work.
The work ″smart″ is used more and more these days to define a device or appliance that can be programmed or controlled remotely via your mobile phone or tablet.
Each appliance manufacturer has developed their own app to work in conjunction with their appliance via your mobile device to make things easy and accessible.
It doesn't matter whether the phone/tablet is an Apple iOS or a Google Android powered device. That's because there are apps available for both these major two providers as well as for some of the less popular ones too.
The appliance, in this case the air conditioner, is able to have its functions programmed and/or controlled from an app installed on your phone/tablet. That includes portable and window units as well as some mini-split and even central systems.
That creates a really convenient situation for owners of these coolers, as it means they can do all kinds of cool things.
How about setting the AC to turn itself on a half hour before you get home from work, so your home is nice and cool for you without wasting energy (and money) by having it running all day for an empty house!
I think you get the idea!
If you were wondering how to go about programming your particular smart AC unit or system, the answer is simple but at the same time can get complicated. That's because there is more than one manufacturer involved.
That means different apps for different brands of air conditioning equipment.
So in simple terms, after you buy your new Wi-Fi enabled air conditioner, you download the manufacturer's app to your phone or tablet (or both) and follow the instructions that come with it. Fortunately, there isn't too much to be programmed with an air conditioner, so it won't get too complicated and functions will be fairly standard across different manufacturers.
That means if you want to program the AC to turn on at a specific time and turn off however many hours later, you can enter that information into your app and the app will do the rest. The same goes for setting the temperature or any temperature difference depending on the time of day.
I want to butt-in here and point something out that could be important and save you some money at the same time. In my experience, it pays to set your AC thermostat temperature to one value that stays the same whether it's day or night.
The reasoning behind this is that the whole point of having air conditioning is not to make your home feel like the North Pole, but to have it at a comfortable temperature throughout the day or night. If you start fiddling with the temperature setting to get colder for some hours and not so cold for others, you don't really accomplish anything other than making your system work harder and use more energy, which costs more money!
A steady temperature that is comfortable a 6am will still be comfortable at 2pm!
Remember that simple idea and you'll be preventing yourself from wasting energy and money while still having a comfortable home environment during the hot weather.
There is a ton of useful information on the Internet about smart air conditioners, whether they are portable, window or other configuration. Here are some resources that you might find useful: