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How to Make Your Furnace Smarter

Economizer controls such as Intellidyne's can help save on heating, air-conditioning

House Doctor | Gary Dymski

February 20, 2003

To David Smollett, the pitch sounded as if it were coming from a snake-oil salesman. Or a late-night TV infomercial.

The product's promise sounded a bit too good to be true. "Skeptical," says Smollett, the utilities administrator for the Village of Lynbrook, of his reaction. "That's it exactly. I wanted proof."

The folks at Intellidyne LLC, a Glen Cove-based manufacturer of energy- conservation products, were only too happy to oblige.

Intellidyne's sales pitch to Smollett was for IntelliCon, a line of microprocessors that enables heating and cooling equipment to run more efficiently. To prove its point, Intellidyne installed two IntelliCon electrical economizer units on cooling equipment at the village library last summer.

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"The results were excellent," Smollett says. "We achieved a reduction of 13.2 percent [in electrical consumption] on one unit and 18 percent on the second.... In a test period from June 4 to July 10, we saved $198 on our electric bill."

After getting the OK from the mayor and the village board, Smollett purchased 10 more IntelliCon units for installation on heating and cooling equipment at the village hall and a recreation center. "It was almost a no- brainer after studying the results," Smollett says.

Like Smollett, Philip Ferrante, the director of operations for Key Foods, a supermarket chain with stores in metropolitan New York, had his doubts. But after a test period showed similar savings in electrical consumption, Ferrante purchased several IntelliCon microprocessors for his company's food refrigeration equipment. "I'm not a technical guy," Ferrante says, "but I see the bills, and the bills are lower. We're saving money."

LIPA knows about Intellidyne's success in commercial applications and is studying the IntelliCon line of products. "We're still in the process of evaluating the equipment," says LIPA spokesman Michael Lowndes.

Meanwhile, Intellidyne is making a move to the residential market. IntelliCon products for residential heating and cooling - with the exception of forced-air furnaces - are now available. For about $250 per unit and $80 for installation, a microprocessor is wired to either the furnace or central air conditioner - each unit needs its own IntelliCon microprocessor. The residential line costs considerably less than the commercial line, where microprocessors range from $450 to $2,900. Residential payback time is anywhere from 6 to 12 months, say Intellidyne officials. An IntelliCon microprocessor for forced-air heating systems is in the developmental stages and should be out next year, according to Intellidyne.

"We're excited," says Jack Hammer, Intellidyne's chief operating officer. "We've been testing products since 1996, and we've showed we can reduce energy consumption for businesses. We think homeowners will experience the same benefits."

Hammer says IntelliCon devices will reduce annual electric and fuel consumption by a minimum of 10 percent. If customers don't see that result, the company will refund their money, Hammer says.

"Often, the savings are greater," says Intellidyne vice president Mike Ruff, who bases his prediction on the nearly 100 residential devices that have been installed in the metropolitan New York area and selected states during the past year or so.

Without being too technical, here's how the devices work:

Heating and cooling equipment, Hammer says, is designed to operate most efficiently on the worst of days. On ice-cold winter days, a homeowner's furnace runs under optimum conditions. The same with an air-conditioning unit on a sticky summer day. "But on other days, this equipment is running under less than optimum conditions," Hammer says. Units click off and on, run for short periods of time - it's like stop-and-go driving for the car.

IntelliCon devices delay startups and allow for longer run cycles. "The cycles are longer, more efficient, and there are fewer startups," Hammer says. Like a car driving on the highway, the heating and cooling equipment runs more smoothly, more efficiently.

Comparable energy-saving devices for heating equipment include outdoor reset controls for hot-water systems, Hammer says. These energy-saving controls also affect the startup and run cycles of the boilers. But the difference is that the outdoor reset controls interfere or alter the performance of the boiler. IntelliCon devices work before the equipment cycles on, he says. Another benefit is less wear and tear on furnaces and air-conditioning units, which can lead to a longer life span.

Intellidyne says its focus on home heating and cooling comes with support. Area installers are trained by Intellidyne staff, and on-site technical support is provided. Also, IntelliCon microprocessors are pre-wired to accommodate three different voltage control systems - 24, 110 and 220 volt - so installation generally takes less than an hour.

Besides ease of installation, other selling points are that microprocessors need no programming, no maintenance. "It's like that line from the infomercial about the rotisserie oven," Hammer says, "Just set it and forget it."

For more information on Intellidyne products, including a list of IntelliCon installers, call 516-676-0777, 866-216-0777 (toll free) or visit the Intellidyne Web site (www.intellidynellc .com).