Covid-19 Impact And Bipolar Ionization
This global pandemic will continue to impact our industry and economy throughout 2021. Residential air conditioning demand will remain high due to the massive shift to working from home, online classes, and homeowners investing in their homes.
Concerns about airborne transmission especially at home highlights the role of airconditioning systems to help minimize airborne disease transmission and ensure better indoor air quality. HVAC professionals continue to look for technological methods of controlling the disease’s spread inside homes and buildings. One of these technologies is bipolar ionization (BPI), also called needlepoint bipolar ionization.
According to Business Insider, “Bipolar ionization technology releases charged atoms that attach to and deactivate harmful substances like bacteria, mould, allergens, and viruses.” This means that it neutralizes the pathogen and remove it from the air via an electrostatic force. Furthermore, BPI enlargens these infectious particles that allow them to be easily caught by the air filter.
This technology has been around for years and this COVID-19 pandemic has gotten HVAC business rushing to integrate bipolar ionization technology into their airconditioning systems to keep their customers safe.
Green Solutions
Consumers and businesses are expressing greater desire and willingness to invest in more sustainable air-conditioning solutions. They are becoming aware of their carbon footprints and industry providers are responding with the creation of more sustainable and efficient products which enable customers to reduce their carbon footprints. With the growth in the green sector, the market for HVAC will have a big part to play in the rise of sustainable energy.
The trends that are expected for the upcoming year include heating and cooling systems that use cleaner sources of power, such as geothermal energy, rather than gas and other fossil fuels.
This geothermal technology uses energy stored in the ground to heat and cool your home. Aircon units that adopt this geothermal technology are 65% more efficient than traditional systems. Although they are several times more expensive, homeowners can make up those costs in less than 10 years with the sustainable energy savings they’ll recoup.
Since geothermal aircon systems don’t burn fossil fuels at all, there are no fumes or particulate matter that can pose any health hazards.
Smart Homes
One of the biggest technological advances at home has been the move towards smart integration like Alexa and Google Home. From an app on your phone allowing you to turn the lights on and set the temperature in your home at the click of a button (or even voice!), smart homes are paving the way to a more intelligent and environmentally friendly society.
More and more aircon companies and manufacturers are beginning to use the Internet of Things (IoT) to embed sensors and other technologies into their cooling equipment to monitor and collect data regarding the system’s performance and condition and allowing users to program their aircon units according to their needs.
Encompassing smart technology can improve efficiency, increase comfort, provide real-time monitoring of the aircon systems, and conduct predictive maintenance. These smart AC systems will be able to manage and control temperature and humidity levels through the use of sensors.
Conclusion and challenges
These trends demonstrate that there is a large opportunity for air-conditioning companies to develop more innovative technologies that could make residential developments more sustainable, smarter and cost-effective. Taking on the cost efficiency challenge will surely revolutionise the market and allow the variety of consumer to widen as connected living becomes the norm. In addition, these new technologies challenge the abilities of aircon repair and servicing companies to catch up with these trends to remain competitive in the market.
