Carrier took home the Gold in the HVAC High Efficiency Residential Equipment category for its Infinity® 26 Air Conditioner and Infinity® 24 Heat Pump with Greenspeed® Intelligence. The units are designed to provide heating and cooling for single-family homes. They are related items, but one is an air conditioner and one is a heat pump. Product development and design began in 2016.
The Infinity 26 and Infinity 24 offer a number of benefits for technicians. Bluetooth technology is available on the outdoor unit, so it is not necessary to go inside the home to access outdoor unit diagnostic information. The equipment is compatible with an updated service tech app that includes the fault history of the unit, system parameters, and interactive fault trees. Over-the-air software updates are available, and technicians can assess over 130 diagnostic points. Plus, the equipment features two-wire installation, is self-configuring, and is Infinity® Zoning System-capable. Installations can use up to 250 equivalent feet of refrigerant line length.
“As we continue to battle the shortage of technicians in our industry, there is a premium placed on time, so we’ve leveraged technology to simplify installation and maintenance,” said Todd Nolte, Carrier’s senior director of product strategy and regulatory, HVAC - residential. “With our pinpoint accurate diagnostics, technicians can easily and quickly service these products and troubleshoot issues. Plus, we’ve tripled the number of diagnostics available to technicians and made Bluetooth® technology available on the outdoor unit, so they no longer need to access that information inside the home. With the Infinity 26 and 24, we’ve been able to truly highlight our role in helping to shape the industry with high-end equipment that is simple to service and maintain.”
The units provide homeowners with improved efficiency and sound ratings, as well as enhanced serviceability features for soothing home comfort.
“We’re proud of the Infinity® 26 and Infinity® 24 with Greenspeed® Intelligence, as these products truly showcase Carrier innovation,” Nolte said. “With this new equipment, we’ve broken through the ceiling of efficiency and through the floor of sound ratings for ducted systems.”
Jim Snyder, owner of Irish Air in Indianapolis, operates in a market with modest homes but owners who are looking at spending money on the houses as long-term investments. At the same time, Snyder said, these consumers don’t want to be the guinea pigs for new technology, but he explains this is the latest improvement on the Carrier technology they’ve been selling for years. Irish Air has put hundreds of inverters in homes in the Indianapolis area, and Carrier has only had one compressor go bad in that time.
Lennox earned the Silver award for its EL16XP1 High Efficiency Heat Pump featuring Quantum Coil. The EL16XP1 is a single-stage heat pump that features system ratings up to 17 SEER/13 EER and 9.8 HSPF. The EL16XP1 reaches 9.5 HSPF from 1.5 to 5 tons. These units capture a growing market segment that requires cost-effective, higher-efficiency equipment to qualify for utility rebates and new construction building requirements.
This heat pump has earned the Energy Star® certification, which means it meets or exceeds guidelines set forth by the U.S. Environmental Protection Act.
It has multiple system matches that exceed the tax credit qualifying threshold for heat pumps of 15 SEER/12.5 EER/8.5 HSPF, and with dual-fuel compatibility, it saves even more energy when paired with a Lennox gas furnace. The EL16XP1 incorporates the Lennox QuantumTM Coil technology featuring a proprietary aluminum alloy tube/fin coil for superior corrosion resistance and provides excellent heat transfer and low air resistance for maximum efficiency.
The EL16XP1 has sound levels as low as 71 dB. Contributing to the low sound is a compressor sound dampening system that uses a polyethylene compressor cover containing a 2-inch-thick batt of fiberglass insulation. Also, most tonnages have a variable-speed outdoor fan motor for quiet operation.
The total development included competitive benchmarking, VOC, and product testing to ensure these units capture a growing market segment that requires higher efficiency equipment to qualify for utility rebates and new construction building requirements of at least 16 SEER/13 EER and 9.5 HSPF.
Ecoer Inc. won the Bronze award for its EODA18H-2436 and EODA18H-48-60. These are two condensing units that provide 18-20 SEER comfort. The systems utilize Mitsubishi compressors, Panasonic brushless motor fans, and Sagonomiya EEV/4 way valves. The units achieve 100 percent heating down to 5°F, and also offer four air handler units that cover from two to five tons.
The EODA18H units have eight sensors fully integrated into the unit that send out 14 different performance/operational parameters, via a patented IoT gateway, to the company’s monitoring centers and ultimately to the installing contractor, who can see live data logging and receive notifications when an issue arises. The installing contractor can also make remote changes to the system.
“This is the direction where most residential HVAC manufacturers will be heading in the future,” stated a representative from the company. “IoT … saves time, allows for more functionality, and provides a platform from which the contractor can provide the best service possible to its customers.”
