HVAC APPLICATIONS
HVAC APPLICATIONS
Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems are used in the summer and winter air
conditioning of buildings and in the production of domestic hot water. They are based on
the expansion of the refrigerant fluid that passes through the heat exchange terminals
(indoor units); in this way the transformations of the fluid (evaporation in cooling and
condensation in heating) take place directly in the room through the exchange coils.
Control with Ekinex
VRF systems generally have their own bus system for communication between the
various devices making up them; thanks to the EK-BQ1-TP gateway (G) it is possible
to interface Ekinex control devices, such as EK-TM1-TP (A) time / astronomic digital
switches, EK-EQ2-TP (C) or EK-E72-TP (D) room thermostats, EK-ET2-TP (E)
multisensors or EK-DF2-TP (F) presence sensors, to the communication bus dedicated
to air conditioning systems realised with VRF and split heat exchange terminals.
Among the controls* that the gateway (G) provides on the KNX side are for example:
- on / off
- mode (Cool, Heat, Auto, Fan)
- fan speed
- temperature setpoint
- feedback of room temperature
- error code
The device supports systems of the following manufacturers: Mitsubishi Electric, Daikin,
Toshiba, Panasonic, Sanyo, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, LG, Samsung, and
Gree.
*) Some control options may be restricted by manufacturers.
�
�
�
���
��
��
�
��
�
��
��
��
��
��
��������������������
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
���������������������
�
��������������
������������������
������������������
Interfacing VRF systems
Example
Ekinex devices
A) Time / astronomical digital switch EK-TM1-TP
B) GPS module EK-GPS-1
C) Room thermostat EK-E12-TP
D) Room thermostat EK-EP2-TP
E) Multisensor EK-ET2-TP
F) Presence sensor EK-DF2-TP
G) CoolMasterNet gateway EK-BQ1-TP
Other system components
1) Outdoor units (VRF system)
2) Indoor units (VRF system)
An increasing number of European and national measures require the provision of
timely and detailed information to end-users on the consumption of their buildings. This
corresponds to the need to make users more aware of their behaviour and to trigger a
virtuous process to reduce the waste of resources in buildings. The inspiring principle of
the European Union’s measures is that energy efficiency should be equated with a real
source of energy; in other words, increased energy efficiency and better management
of demand should be put on an equal footing with generation capacity.
As far as the thermal part is concerned, the measurement of consumption and local
energy production is particularly important, since in residential buildings space heating
and domestic hot water production account on average for about 80% of final energy
consumption.
Directive 2006/32/EC initially identified the widespread use of smart metering
systems as an essential action to improve energy efficiency. Directive 2012/27/EU
then required that final customers of electricity, natural gas, district heating, district
cooling and domestic hot water receive individual meters of actual consumption; its
transposition by Legislative Decree No. 102 of 2014 led in buildings with centralised
heating generation (or served by a district heating network) to the installation by the end
of 2016 of individual meters or heat energy meters. Finally, Directive 2018/2002/EU
requires newly installed heat meters and heat cost allocators to be remotely readable
from 2020. By 10 January 2027, already installed meters and heat meters that do not
have remote reading capability must also be equipped with remote reading capability
or replaced with devices that can be read remotely. To this end, it is advantageous to
exploit the infrastructure of the home automation system, where present, not only for
its numerous monitoring and visualisation possibilities, but also for its ability to control in
real time and intervene on all the system functions that may cause waste.
Consumption monitoring
Ekinex devices
A) Electricity meter with KNX communication module EK-MC1-TP
B) KNX / IP router EK-BC1-TP
C) Supervision software
Other system components
1) Solar panels
2) Heat meter (solar system)
3) Hot water storage tank
4) Thermal energy meter (domestic hot water)
5) Central heat energy meter (heating/cooling)
6) Domestic hot and cold water meters
7) M-Bus power supply
8) Photovoltaic solar panels
9) Photovoltaic inverter
10) Electricity meter (delivery point)
Example
2
4
1
Boiler room
EK-MC1-TP
POWER
STATUS
PROG
R
EK-ME1-06T
3
A
Reception
bus
status
traffic
GA
function
PA
R EK-BC1-TP
IP router
IP
TP
B
RS485
CO
CON
CONTECA
EASY
T
T
RS485
EASY
CONTECA
EASY
M07 1259
07185865
T
T
T
T
1
5
9
6
RS485
USB
5
RS485
EASY
CONTECA
EASY
T
T
������������������
Utilities����
5
RS485
EASY
CONTECA
EASY
T
T
AFS
ACS
AFS
ACS
�������������
��������������������
A
7
8
=
~
9
��������������
EK-MC1-TP
POWER
STATUS
PROG
R
EK-ME1-06T
��������������������
�������
EK-MC1-TP
POWER
STATUS
PROG
R
EK-ME1-06T
EK-MC1-TP
POWER
STATUS
PROG
R
EK-ME1-06T
A
A
10
6
6
C
10
Heating and cooling
���������
����������
�������
Heating and cooling
��������������������
�������
����������������
����������
30
31
