Uses State-of-the-Art LinkLogic™ System, Powered by INSTEON™
Hartford, Wis., September 3, 2008 – The Broan® SmartSense® Ventilation System improves air quality throughout the home – automatically and efficiently. Now homeowners and contractors have an affordable, energy-efficient solution to meet the intermittent and continuous ventilation requirements of ASHRAE code 62.2, according to Tom Heidel, marketing manager, IAQ, Broan-NuTone. ASHRAE 62.2 is the baseline ventilation requirement for all major green building programs and many building codes.
"To maintain a healthy home, it is important to exhaust stale indoor air and minimize opportunities for mold and mildew growth with continuous ventilation throughout the day," says Heidel. "Pollutants such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and excess moisture are not removed by the filtration units and air cleaning machines that have become so popular today."
According to Heidel, this innovative breakthrough in ventilation technology has combined the patent-pending Broan SmartSense® technology with Broan Ultra Silent™ ventilation fans to create an integrated ventilation system in the home. Individual fans that once worked independently now work together to ensure fresh air throughout the day.
According to Heidel, it's easy to have intelligent ventilation in your home. The first step is to install Broan Ultra Silent fans throughout the home, wherever ventilation is needed, such as the master bathroom, laundry room, secondary bathrooms, workshop or recreation room. Then, a Broan SmartSense® control is connected to each fan. One control is designated as the master and, using the American Society for Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers' (ASHRAE) formula based on the home size and number of bedrooms, the ventilation rate is entered into this control. The remaining controls communicate with the master control through the use of Broan-NuTone's LinkLogic™ System, the INSTEON™-enabled residential communication technology that digitally communicates over the power lines already installed in the home. No control wires are needed.
The master control monitors the normal/manual usage of the fans in the home, such as during shower time. It calculates the volume of air ventilated and deducts this from the total ventilation required. If necessary, it will intermittently operate fans throughout the home to achieve optimal ventilation and superior distribution of fresh air. ASHRAE studies have shown that a single fan system does not provide effective continuous ventilation.1 "You wouldn't expect to be able to heat or cool an entire home from one room; the same concept holds true with ventilation," says Heidel.
"Another benefit of Broan SmartSense® is its efficient management of energy. Many ventilation strategies ventilate all the time, regardless of manual usage. This results in millions of cubic feet of excess ventilation per year and many energy dollars to heat or cool the replaced unneeded air. Since Broan Ultra Silent fans are ENERGY STAR® qualified, Broan SmartSense® uses less than 35 watts during ventilation cycles compared to others that can use up to 1,200 watts or more," says Heidel.
Heidel explains that the Broan SmartSense® system continually monitors and activates Broan Ultra Silent fans day and night, operating them only when necessary throughout the home to distribute fresh air. The fans operate at a barely audible 0.3 and 0.7 Sones. Even in a bedroom, in the middle of the night, homeowners will never know they're running.
The ASHRAE Standard 62.2, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Residential Buildings, is the nationally recognized indoor air quality standard for residential applications. Many code authorities use this standard to develop building codes for residential construction in their communities. An ASHRAE study recently conducted in Denmark shows that increasing ventilation in classrooms increases student performance by 10 to 20 percent.2
Additionally, the Broan SmartSense® Ventilation System provides valuable points towards indoor air quality and energy efficiency that are part of all three major environmental building programs: ENERGY STAR, U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Homes and the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Model Green Home Building Guidelines.
The Broan SmartSense® Ventilation System provides homeowners with an affordable, automatic ventilation solution that minimizes the presence of pollutants and maximizes energy savings. The system is available in single pack 80 CFM and 110 CFM fans that include controls. Broan SmartSense® fans can be used as a single fan solution for very small apartments or combined in any combination of up to ten 80 CFM or 110CFM fans to create an integrated ventilation system for larger homes. Broan SmartSense comes with a three-year warranty and can be purchased through your local kitchen and bath showroom or electrical/lighting retailer. Log on to www.Broan.com to locate a dealer. The new Broan SmartSense® Ventilation System... it just makes sense!
1. ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 103, Part 1: "Evaluation of five simple ventilation strategies suitable for houses without forced-air heating"
2. ASHRAE Press Release (September 27, 2006): "New Research from ASHRAE: Lower Temperatures, Increased Ventilation Boost Student Performance"
