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In today’s economy, Consumers are better educated and have quick access to referrals by friends and neighbors when considering standard heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) products. We want to furnish information on products that will enhance comfort in the living space and save money on utility bills as well.
Our list of installing contractors can be used with the standard HVAC systems as well as our products. We work with contractors that specialize in zoning, computer-controlled thermostats, zoning with IAQ (indoor air quality) plenums, radiant InFloor as well as patio heating and high pressure misting systems for outdoor patios.
Comfort Solution, Inc. will work very closely with your installing contractor so that he feels comfortable that he will do the best job and do it the first time. No one likes a call-back. This is the difference between our products and the competition; the support to do it right. This allows the contractor to give you his best price, not a safe price.
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HVAC Zone Controls by  |
Residential Applications
Thirty years ago our daily routine consisted of ‘out the door’ by 7:30am, back home by 5:30pm. Had dinner at 7:00pm, in bed by 10:00pm watched news, weather and a little of the Johnny Carson Show. We had a three bedroom house with two bathrooms, a two car garage. We had 8 foot tall ceilings, 3’0” x 6’0” windows...one in each room, except the master bedroom and the living room...they had two. Back then we were excited just to have “refrigerated air”. It was new and could conveniently cool the whole house… ah - yes “central air conditioning”. But, we did notice our electric meter was spinning much faster.
 Fast forward to the present and consider the changes in our lifestyle, our home designs and the fact that we are much more educated on what is available thanks in large part to the Internet. We now know the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) industry has matured so that controlling humidity and indoor air quality are important as well as controlling the temperature...let’s define all of those as Comfort.
Comfort is the goal for sure, but there is that one nagging problem with the electric meter spinning wildly that is beginning to get our attention. Comfort is the goal, but how can we do it economically? HVAC zone control is a good answer, so let’s define it. Zoning is using multiple thermostats placed throughout your home to control motorized dampers in the air ducts. Using each thermostat to apply different temperatures, rooms may be operated at different temperatures. Large homes with high ceilings and large windows use zoned thermostats so that they could actually maintain the same temperatures throughout their home. The whole system is controlled electronically so that the HVAC equipment operates in heating or cooling according to the majority thermostats’ requests.
At night, would you like to sleep at a different temperature than you operate your bedroom during the daytime? Consider a thermostat in the Master Bedroom Suite so that you condition that zone when you are sleeping or save energy by allowing the thermostat to operate at an unoccupied temperature when you’re not using it. What other parts of your home could you control separately? Do you need to heat or cool your kitchen at 3:00am in the morning? Do the kids sleep at a different temperature than Mom and Dad? Are there rooms that are hardly ever used, maybe the formal living or dining room? Consider how much could be saved if you were operating only half of your home at a time.
Two story homes with one system can be as much as fifteen degrees apart from top to bottom. It’s almost impossible to control upstairs and downstairs with one HVAC system. Where do you locate the thermostat? If you put it upstairs, the downstairs is too cold. If you put it downstairs, the upstairs is too hot and this is amplified in extreme weather conditions. The solution is a thermostat up and a thermostat down. Control these areas independently . And put an extra zone in the master bedroom suite while you’re doing it.
Homes owners that are considering replacing their old heating and cooling systems should ask for a price to include zoning. During this replacement, you will get the best price since you are doing most of the work anyway. The XCI SmartZone™ system will give you reliability and good service. These two items are usually assumed by customers. Here are several reasons to request the XCI SmartZone system:
• 5 year warranty includes all dampers, thermostats and zone controllers
• Easy to operate. You control your thermostats, the XCI SmartZone does the rest.
• Works exceptionally well on single speed or two speed equipment (including heat pumps) using our exceptional
bypass damper and fully adjustable supply air sensor with ELC (Electronic Limit Control).
• XCI SmartZone™ works well with Gas, oil, electric furnaces or heat pumps in the heating season and electric
cooling or heat pumps in the cooling season.
• XCI Controls is the contractors’ choice because its easy to install and easy to service. Lights and temperature
displays give the contractor diagnostic information so as to maintain peak equipment performance.
Authorized XCI Controls zoning contractors offer zoning because zoning offers comfort that is affordable
to install and offers cost savings during operation. Take some time to consider areas in your home that
you would like to control separately. Call an Authorized XCI Zoning Contractor from our list and you can expect
comfort without paying more than necessary to maintain comfort the way you define it.
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Commercial Applications
Commercial buildings are commonly uncomfortable. The American Commercial Building Consortium survey of 7400 office workers stated that inadequate temperature control was the number one office building complaint in the United States by 24.3%. Untrustworthy elevators was number two. Number three was indoor air quality with 12.7%. Two of the top three complaints relate to comfort in today’s commercial buildings. There is much room for improvement and over the last several years building owners, driven by law suits, are demanding that the correct amount of dehumidified, cool, clean, temperature-controlled and fresh air be placed into the workplace.
By contrast, XCI Controls offers SmartZonePLUS™ that is LEED POINTS compatible. 3 points are available as follows:
1. 1 point is available for individual room by room temperature control.
1. 1 point is available when individual control is automatically based on occupancy or unoccupancy of the room.
2. 1 point is available as excess supply air is circulated back into the return air plenum.
Commercial contractors and engineers understand that temperature is only one part of the equation.
XCI Controls offers SmartZonePLUS for light commercial roof top and split system applications where all supply
air is pressure dependant on the indoor blower motor for operating pressure at the zone outlet. We control single
and two stage machines as well as humidification or de-humidification. Our fresh our controller will allow outdoor
temperature set-up so that only suitable air is allowed as fresh air. SmartZonePLUS is feature rich as listed
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- Up to 33 zones may be applied to one HVAC system.
- XCI exclusive - Economy/Comfort switch automatically applies energy savings to unoccupied zones.
- SmartZonePLUS™ is configurable for both centralized installations and distributed installations.
- Controls up to 3 stages of heating (heat pump application) and 2 stages of cooling,
- Controls staging based on supply air temperature called Electronic Limit Control (ELC).
- Optionally controls largest or most important zone with two stage space temperature control.
- Heat pump balance points may be controlled by outdoor temperature.
- Fresh air intake may be controlled by outdoor temperature.
- All connections are screwless terminals for easy wiring.
- Equipment control board displays supply air temperature and operating mode automatically.
- Scroll - thru applications for easy set-up and equipment operation.
- All thermostat connections are 24 volts ac.
- All dampers are 24 volts tri-state control.
- Adjustable staging controls supply air temperature for maximum de-humidification.
- Modulating bypass damper does control excess pressure in supply plenum.
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Contractors and Engineers are welcome to contact Comfort Solution, Inc. to initiate visits to support projects
that are in the design phase or in the construction phase. Email, phone, and/or person to person conversation
is welcome and suggested with every product we represent. |
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Computer Controlled Thermostats by  |
Save Time. Save Energy. Save Money. Simple to install, easy to manage and effortless to save energy and gain control of your home or building. The Network Thermostat™ engineers have been making network and Internet thermostats for more than a decade. In fact, they pioneered the industry and have led the industry from the start. They hold the exclusive on Net/X™ technology with energy saving solutions.
What type of buildings are ideal? With Net/X™ building block structure, no building is too large or too small. All types of buildings with standard HVAC systems can be controlled, although houses of worship and schools are our largest market. Here are other examples: Residential (from cozy to mansions), retail stores, office buildings, warehouses, grocery stores, restaurants, banks, apartment complexes, high-rise condominiums, and
on and on...
What are some of the benefits with Net/X™ energy controls? |
- Simple User Controls - the thermostat is completely controllable at the thermostat as well as at the
computer. If the temperature needs to be changed, it’s as easy as pushing a button once for each degree. Heating and cooling are both available. If the cooling is set for 75, cooling will operate above 75...if heating is set for 70, heating will operate when them room temperature goes below 70. Optionally, each thermostat has the ablility to be restricted to + or - three degrees from your favorite temperature, and the change in temperature last for one hour. Its called an override and it is very helpful in saving money.
- Internet and Local Area Network Access - thermostats are controllable over the Internet, over the Local
Area Network (LAN) or directly from the controller to a single computer. Set termperatures, set schedules
and monitor all aspects of the thermostat network through the computer whether on-site or across the
world.
- Au
 tomation System Interfaces - Net/X™ thrermostats communicate using the univeral American
Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) protocol. Most other building automation systems can integrate with this protocol.
- Rock-Solid Communications, both wired and wireless - means reliability that is always assumed by consumers, yet can be the irritating issue that is best addressed with simple and quality design.
- Industrial Quality - is assured with ISO9000 manufacturing and several backwards compatable updates over fourteen years. Our first thermostat built 14 years ago still communicates with the latest version of our applications software.
- A w a r d - W i n n i n g Software - Over years of inovation in operations software (Windows™), applications have also made outstanding strides t o a c c o m m o d a t e consumer requests. After only a few minutes with the software, temperature changes, weekly schedules and single event scheduling are a few clicks away. Other features like data collection and and simplle alarming are included.
- Proven Savings Up To 25% - of your HVAC bill with payback well under a year in most case.
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Thermostats - Wire the thermostats or Wirelessly connect to the network.
When installing in new construction buildings, use cat5e wire to connect all thermostats to the network and save money. If retrofitting your home, church or office building, replace your current thermostats with Net/X™ wireless thermostats and be communicating with the entire system in usually 1 day for as many as 32 thermostats.
Net/X provides an entilre family of remote sensing products.
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- NT-IDS Remote Indoor Sensor is the indoor temperature model that allows remote sensing of temperature in the space while the actual thermostat will be located away from the space being sensed. As many as 6 NT-IDS can be daisy-chained for averaging large areas. This average will be reported back to the thermostat as the space temperature.
- NT-FS is an external 10K sensor probe may be connected for complete versatility of the space. This sensor is a flush-mounted disk that is screwed into a wall and can be textured and painted. This allows the actual thermostat it be located in an area that is unobjectionable to the building owner.
- NT-DUCT will incorporate an 8” stainless steel probe and box for use as a return air duct probe. The sensor may be place in the return air duct so as to control the space based on the return air temperature. It is advised to maintain the equipment fan in the ON position so that constant mixed room air temperture is measured across the sensor
- NT-ODT is the outdoor temperature sensor, allowing monitoring of the ambient outside temperature.
- NT-SUPPLY can be used in place of the outdoor sensor, allowing monitoring of the HVAC system’s supply air temperature. This sensor provides information only. The operation of the thermostat is not affected by the NTSUPPLY or NT-ODT.
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Integration with the Net/X™ thermostats is a simple three wire bus supplying power and data to the sensor. When
indoor remote sensors are used, the intelligence of the network automatically removes the temperature sensor internal to the thermostat from the calculations.
Network Controller - is the heart of the computer-controlled thermostat’s network. The network controller enables
simple integration of any control system or personal computer. Simple ASCII commands using this published protocol, other automation systems can seamlessly offer the thermostat information.
All network controllers are commercial grade and provide high reliability. The controllers include a real-time clock/
calendar. It allows the Net/X™ system to run in a ‘stand alone’ mode, where no other controller, PC or automation
system is required for scheduling setpoints and modes of operation.
There are two versions of the controllers, NT-SSA16 for 16 or less thermostats and NT-SSA32 for 32 of less thermostats. In addition, the Net/X™ Command Center software allows you to monitor and control as many Net/X™ Network Controllers as needed for the site, no matter how large.
Contractors and Engineers are welcome to contact Comfort Solution, Inc. to initiate visits to support projects that
are in the design phase or in the construction phase. Email, phone, and/or person to person conversation is welcome and suggested with every product we represent.
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Comfort Plenum  |
Sealed, Compact, Reliable Zone Dampers included with Comfort Plenum
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Zone dampers and multiple thermostats are a wonderful way to control comfort in each room and control energy dollars that need not be wasted on rooms that are regularly unoccupied. However, the opportunity for comfort and energy savings can be lost when damper leakage and reliability are in question. The solution is ComfortPLENUM.
 Standard zone dampers can often leak conditioned air. Several connections per damper must be sealed with duct tape and/or mastic sealer . Over time the connections break their seals and begin to leak. ComfortPLENUM™ eliminates ALL extra connections created with standard damper installations. Only the damper motor is exposed as it should be. Also, standard dampers must be insulated with quality duct insulation. Failure to do this will insure that warm, moist attic air will come in contact with cold ducts allowing water to condense and drip on sheetrock ceilings (in attic installations). These issues can be eliminated when standard dampers placed outside the plenum are eliminated. ComfortPLE-NUM™ has dampers placed inside the insulation of the plenum. This insures that the damper cannot create moisture from condensation because the damper is not exposed (see below).
ComfortPLENUM™ dampers are reliable because contractors demand it. Each damper is gear driven and the blades oppose each other as they close. This insures that air is pressurized into all open zones uniformly. Damper motor shafts are made of strong polystyrene that will not conduct cold temperature inside the plenum and transfer it to the outside motor assembly. This means no condensation around the motor/shaft connections. ComfortPLENUM™ requires less space in the attic, crawl space or closet because the dampers are not mounted outside the plenum.
 ComfortPLENUM™ is made of 24 gauge galvanized sheetmetal. The interior perimeter of the plenum is insulated
with 1-1/2 inch thick duct insulation (called duct liner) supported with duct liner glue and spotter pins. The patent pending assembly includes a cutting guide on the outside of the plenum that shows where the damper assembly is located on the inside. Next, cut round or rectangular holes for ductwork that delivers conditioned air to particular zones. Round or rectangular starting collars are mounted into the holes and sealed. This is a step that is done with or without zoning, so once this connection is sealed and the ductwork is connected, no other connections are added for zoning and fewer connections are much preferred.
ComfortPLENUM™ is available in 2 zones, 3 zones or 4 zones. Each will include a bypass damper if required. Contractors can consult with ComfortPLENUM™ technicians for design support.
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Radiant Floor Heating  |
Warm Floors, Comfortable Rooms, Incredible Savings
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An idea whose time has come. Northern climates have proven that radiant floor heat is absolutely the most comfortable heating system in the market today. Walking bare-foot on 83 degree floors is another outstanding side benefit. Floor heating is 30% to 40% more energy efficient than forced air convective heating with gas, oil or
 electric furnaces. Savings can also be had when buildings are zoned, using radiant floor heating, so that unoccupied rooms are not heating to an occupied temperature.
What is InFloor Heating? Electric wires that warm or tubing that circulates warm water can be installed in the floor below the finished floor in homes and businesses. This installation will warm the floor to a slightly elevated temperature. This warm floor can be designed to maintain a very even and comfortable temperature in the space by radiating warmth without blowing warm air into the space.
There are three types of heat transfer; conduction is heat that moves through a conductor. This type of heat is used in process heating and manufacturing. Convection, on the other hand is the idea that we can warm the air that is blown into a room. This air mixes with the air that’s in the room so the room is heated by introducing heat with convective air movement. This type of heating allows heated air to rise and cool air to stay low. This is a negative issue especially in two story homes and loft areas. This stratification is not an issue when using radiant heating. Radiant heating is the warming effect one feels when you back up to a glowing fire. This effect can be used to maintain a room’s temperature within three degrees from floor to ceiling. Yet, no air is blowing warm or cool. The air is not actually what is being warmed. Radiant floors heated to between 80°F and 85°F radiate warmth to all the furniture and items in a room evenly without convective air current or blower noise...It’s completely silent.
 As we warm floors there are many variables to consider:
1. Each room as well as the total building needs a load calculation from an authorized heating and cooling contractor. This tells us the amount of heat that will be supplied by the system in each area.
2. Next, the type of heating source must be decided. Electric systems are available in kit form for small areas such as bathroom floors, kitchen floors, garage and shop applications as well as sidewalk and driveway snow melt applications. If the total building will be heated, specialized tubing with circulated warm water is most efficient. This system can be heated with high efficiency boilers using natural gas, heating oil, or solar thermally heated water. High efficiency tankless water heaters have been introduced with great success.
3. Also, we must choose the type of installation that will best fit your project. Whether in the foundation concrete, a thin slab on top of the subfloor, InfloorBoard, InfloorBoard 2, WarmBoard or under-subfloor with Radiant Trak. Your authorized heating and cooling contractor should be consulted. His expertise will guide you through these decisions. He knows that ComfortSolution, Inc. will be available to support this decision-making process.
4. The tubing or wiring layout is accomplished with all zones being controlled independent of each other. This allows the floor to warm separate rooms so as to maintain separate and different temperatures. Also, this system can maintain the same temperature throughout the building with multiple thermostats monitoring each
space.
 Solar water heating has come a long way since its early introduction. Kingspan solar evacuated tubes have a glass enclosure around the solar collector inside the tube. The volume in between the tube and collector is at a very high vacuum, creating a barrier between the collector (which gets hot) and the cold air on the outside. Much like a Thermos, this does not allow convective heat transfer from the hot collector to the cold weather outside. The heat created is used to boil water inside the capillary tube of the collector which rises to the top of the condenser head. A water antifreeze mixture flows around the condenser head at the top of the tubes, transferring the heat from the hot collector to the hot water system. The hot water from the collectors is then stored in a tank and can then be used fro either heating the house or for domestic hot water. Because of the unique technology in Kingspan solar tubes, they produce hot water on sunny days, cloudy days, and even in extreme cold. Other types of solar collectors produce little heat on cloudy days and even less when it is very cold outside. 2,000,000 Kingspan solar tubes are currently in use in over 40 countries, some of which have operated for over 20 years.
 For many years, typical applications for radiant systems involved embedding tubing in concrete slabs or pouring “lightweight concrete” over tubing stapled to subfloors. The lack of good alternatives to these types of systems permitted designers to overlook the limitations and disadvantages of concrete systems.
Infloorboard™ and Infloorboard II™ has been developed to manage and eliminate some of the drawbacks of radiant floor heating in concrete. These systems allow a more responsive heat and is more compatible with standard construction practices of today. High efficiency, low profile, light weight, quick installation and cost-effectiveness are all accomplished with the Infloorboard™ products.
Acceleration is a measure of how fast a radiant heating system responds. Aluminum is approximately 1000 times more conductive than wood. The layer of  aluminum on Infloorboard™ and in the groove significantly enhances both the transfer of heat and the evenness of heat distribution of the board. Also, the Warmcoat aluminum layer is moisture resistant. When the edges and grooves are sealed using silicone caulking, it provides significant moisture protection for the board. And it provides a barrier to the transmission of any outgassing from the board.
Electric InFloor heating is generally designed to accommodate small areas such as bathrooms, kitchens, laundry
rooms, shops or craft rooms where supplemental heat is required in very cold weather or it can be the primary heating system in the specific area. Remodelers often install electric floor heat because its ease of installation. The benefit of warm floors is how comfortable it is on bare feet, especially in cold weather around the perimeter of buildings. Things to remember about electric floor heating include using only very thin area rugs, no carpet, no area rugs with rubber backing as this may not react positively to the warm floor.
Infloor electric cable or mat systems are available in a variety of sizes. Floor areas may be warmed with a single  cable or by using a combination of cables, provided the area to be heated is equal to the sum of the coverage area of the individual cables. Infloor electric cable or mat systems are normally installed using a 3” spacing between cable runs. However, for rooms located above unheated areas, including concrete slabs on grade, the recommended spacing is 3” - 1 1/2” - 3” - 1 1/2”, etc., between cable runs. The SAME spacing should be used over the entire installation, as non-uniform spacing will result in areas that are either significantly cooler or warmer than other areas.
When installing electric floor heating in areas routinely expected to be wet, such as tiled showers, it is recommended that a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI), or equivalent, be installed, in addition to a suitable water impermeable covering. Consult your local electrical and/or building authorities for more local information.
Once the cables have been installed on the floor, apply a scratch coat of cement-based mortar  uniformly over the entire floor area, such that the heating cables are completely embedded. Self-leveling cement based mortar compounds may be most appropriate for this procedure. Consult your local flooring supplier for easy options. After mortar is dry, the tile can be set in the usual manner. Floors with heating cables installed are typically about 3/16” higher than those without heating cables. The illustration below shows each of the sublayers of a finished floor when tile and laminate/ engineered wood are used as the floor finishing materials.
Comfort Solution, Inc. offers to consult with homeowners to discover their level of interest in InFloor Heating. We will offer the names of the authorized contractors in your area. So, email or call us and you can learn the benefits
of warm floors and cool comfort.
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