Inverter Systems Just a few years ago I did a video talking about the advantages of installing an inverter HVAC system in your home and we talk about a lot of different things, but since then inverters are becoming more of a thing. They're becoming more of the standard, especially as efficiencies set by the government are starting to rise year after year. I Think there will be a day in the future where most systems sold are some type of inverter system, especially as we see heat pumps being introduced to more markets markets that would normally just use furnaces or some sort of fossil fuel to further. Heating And now they're being able to use a high efficiency inverter heat pump system to heat their homes.

But aside from all that, I Wanted to do a video talking about some of the newer Technologies of inverter systems and specifically talk about how non-communicating inverter systems stack up to the traditional communicating inverter systems that we're used to. I Remember when Bosch introduced their heat pump just a couple years ago I made a prediction in that video that we were going to see more companies come out with non-communicating inverter systems and that prediction came true. with products like Reflex and Allied's Lynx product, We're starting to see more. Brands Get into that game and if you're a homeowner trying to decide what's best for your home I Wanted to do a video talking about the two different types, what's the pros and cons of each, and what should you select for your home Before we go any further.

my name is Josh I Host the HVAC guide for homeowners YouTube Channel I'd Appreciate if you smash that like button and hit that subscribe button. It helps us out. So much so now let's get into it. non-communicating inverter systems versus communicating first.

What is the difference between the two? What does any of this even matter? Years ago, most systems were single stage systems. They would either turn on or off if you imagine a light switch. when you turn it on, the light turns on and then you turn it off and the light goes off. and then they started coming out with multi-stage systems compressor that could have a smaller capacity, use less energy, and they could be say a two-stage compressor.

maybe even a three-stage compressor and that would be as if you had one of those I Remember those lamps that you would kind of touch it and it would turn on at a low light and you touch it again and then it would glow a little brighter and of course you touch it again. it would turn off right. That would be sort of what a multi-stage or a two-stage three-stage type compressor type system would have. and then an inverter system would be more similar to like a dimmer switch on a light where there's a lot of in between, there's ramping up and down and imagine if that dimmer switch would automatically do that for you, you didn't have to control it and so on.

You could set the temperature and that system would determine whether it needed to ramp up and down based on your needs. That would be what an inverter system. And the biggest difference between a communicating inverter system versus a non-communicating inverter system is the way the equipment talks to one another. And that's important.

Important, We'll talk about why in just a second. but a non-communicating system would use a traditional type thermostat like you're used to. You could go to any hardware store and purchase a thermostat. It would use low Ac voltage with switches being able to open and close those switches based on what you tell it.

The thermostat itself. literally. If you set the temperature and it closes certain switches inside that thermostat, sending voltage on certain wires will affect how that system operates. The difference is a communicating system uses more of a technology similar to the internet or your telephone where it actually will talk to one another, sending DC voltage back and forth between the equipment, being able to tell each other different things like hey, I'm ramping up I'm ramping down Here's the temperatures I'm seeing and all kinds of other information that they can send to one another, making that system being able to operate as effectively as possible but still save energy because the system can tell one another in the thermostat.

Hey, it's not so hot out today. it's kind of mild. We don't really need to ramp all the way up today. We don't need to draw as much electricity.

So now that we've explained what the difference between the two are, let's talk about why you would select one or the other first on our plate is one of the things that I usually wait till the end to talk about. but I Thought it would be important to talk about this first because a lot of folks are concerned with pricing and in general. If you're comparing some of these non-communicating inverter systems across the board, most likely they're going to be less expensive than a communicating system. The technology just doesn't require a fancy thermostat, it doesn't require quite as many bells and whistles, and the equipment is typically less expensive than a communicating one.

So if you're concerned about price concerned about price alone, then most likely go with a non-communicating inverter system next. We already kind of touched on the thermostats and the type of controls that you could use. Communicating systems have usually proprietary technology that's exclusive to one brand only. Meaning, if you were to buy, say, a train system, you would need to use their train thermostat or their train zoning system.

Same with carrier. If you had a carrier communicating system, you're gonna have to use carriers communicating thermostat in their zoning module and so on. It does kind of narrow your options on what you're allowed to be able to select, but we're going to talk in just a moment how your options are a little limited by some of these non-communicating inverter systems as well. Now the next one is one reason why you would definitely want to go communicating, especially if you live in an area where humidity is a big deal like where I live I live on the coast of Virginia and in the summer times it can get quite humid and humidity is an enemy when you're talking about trying to have safe breathing air in your home.

But if you live out in the West in very dry areas, then they don't worry about this as much. In fact, I Talked to someone the other day about sizing of their heating and air system I was helping them with our new HVAC God and we were talking about heat load calculations and the pros and cons of having an oversized system. And one of the reasons that it's so important in my market is if you oversize the heating and air system, you can have humidity issues. Well, they don't worry about that.

in dry markets, it's not as big of a deal. Now let's talk about Energy Efficiency In general, if you're just looking at the sear or CR2 rating, then you might actually get non-communicating inverter systems that have just as high of sear ratings. The problem is because they don't have the capability of being able to ramp up and down using the communicating technology, then they aren't quite as efficient. now.

Do I have any clinical lab tests to be able to prove that? No. But this is just my real world experiences of being able to lay hands on them and work on them every day. That a non-communicating inverter system is just simply not as efficient as a communicating system, it's not going to ramp down as much. It's not going to be able to tell each other.

hey, it's Mile Day today. You know you don't need to ramp up and down quite as hard and have that capability of being able to understand that it doesn't need to work as hard when it comes to that Now I've get I'll probably get some comments on that I'll probably have folks telling me Oh you don't know what you're talking about inverter systems. Even on a mild day, they won't run as long and it'll pick up that it doesn't need to work as hard and so on. But another example I might use that is not arguable is the fact that if you have a thermostat controlling the backup heat that turns on when there's a two degree heat droop.

For a non-communicating inverter system, you're going to draw more energy than a communicating heating and air system being able to see that two degree heat droop, but also see, hey, it's kind of mild today. We don't need to bring on the heat strips at all. We're going to be able to heat this home just fine because of the communication technology. It has the ability to say to each other or communicate with the thermostat and say hey, we don't necessarily need to bring on backup heat and be less efficient here.

Another thing is Smart Technologies Today, so we're seeing these thermostats with Smart Technologies being able to be more efficient. We'll see thermostats that will notify the homeowner if it's been running backup auxiliary heat too long. We see them being able to do things like geofencing and knowing if the homeowner's home or not, and of course adaptive technology where it can learn how long it needs to run to reach a certain temperature. We have been told by multiple of these manufacturers that have these non-communicating inverter systems.

Now if you have been told something different or you know of a brand that is telling their installer something different I'd Love to hear about that comment down below, but I can only go off of what I've been told and what the experiences that we've had with this technology. and ultimately we're being told that they want thermostats that are not smart, that if they are paired with the thermostat that has Smart Technologies they want you to either turn that off or replace the thermostat entirely. And the reason is their reasoning for telling us is the system itself has Smart Technologies in it and the technology and the thermostat can actually work against it, causing the system to be less efficient or not learn the home properly. We were actually told by one of the manufacturers do not install Nest thermostats because they're learning.

smart technology works against ours and it actually makes our system less efficient. And so if you're talking about a communicating system, most of the communicating thermostats on the market do have. Smart Technologies They do have the capability of doing some of the things that we've already talked about and having the ability to run as efficiently as possible. Now let's talk about real quick certain applications because it's one thing for us to say.

Well, you know communicating systems are better in these areas and non-communicating systems are better in these areas. But there are going to be times when you simply can't use a communicating technology system. And so one example I can think of off the top of my head that we have used these non-communicating inverters for is when they're being paired with systems that are say in a mobile home. So if I have a mobile home electric downflow furnace meant for high static applications I can't just pull that furnace out of there.

Although we see people doing it and creating issues, you're actually not supposed to do that. If you pull that out of there and install a typical air handler meant for certain static pressures, they're going to have issues They're not meant to blow through those small mobile home. Ducks So in contrast, if we've got a homeowner that wants to save energy, they do want an inverter system, but they live in a mobile home or some other manufactured home with high static ductwork, then we can install that electric furnace, put a coil on top of it, and match it with a non-communicating inverter outdoor unit. They get the best of both worlds.

They still get their furnace that can work with their theft work, but then they also get that inverter system being able to help them save energy, and they were able to get a high sear high efficiency system when they would not have been able to with the communicating side of things. But in contrast, there are systems on the market that have multiple indoor units with one outdoor unit and typically you're not going to be able to do that with some sort of non-communicating inverter system. So one example might be Daikin's Vrv life system or some of these systems that Mitsubishi has where they can have say, a furnace or an air handler matched with an outdoor unit, but that same outdoor unit could also have a couple Mini Splits inside Coming off that same system, you're never going to be able to do that with a non-communicating system. So with all that said, I Want to leave you with this: I Think that more competition is better, right? With all these brands that are getting more and more expensive, they're coming out with these Technologies and the prices are going Sky High I Don't necessarily think it's a bad thing when you see companies like Gree coming out with degree Flex Telling the market hey, we've got another option here.

These other Jokers need to come out with some better products that can lower the prices here or they're going to price themselves out of the market. I Don't necessarily think that's such a bad thing and I Also think when you have more competition, you might see better Technologies coming out I Do think in the future you're probably going to see more Brands Get into the non-communicating inverter technology game, but hopefully the technology gets a little better. I foresee seeing something like a mini split has where you might have that non-communicating thermostat but have more capabilities between the indoor and outdoor units now. I Know some of them already have a little bit of that, but I mean more capabilities in the future where they can operate more like a communicating inverter system and have the advantages of that but maybe not the price tag of that if that makes sense.

I Think Ultimately, depending on your home, depending on your contractor, that's the other thing when I'm helping folks with our new HVAC guide across the country I'm noticing folks that will say hey, I can't find anybody in my market that will even install or service these types of systems and I think you need to keep That in mind as well just because there's this great new car out there that you know if Tesla comes out with a brand new car or Rolls-Royce or Bentley comes out with some great car, it's real expensive, but it's great, but then you don't have a local mechanic that even knows how to work on that stuff then it might not necessarily be a good idea to get one of them if that makes sense, even if you can afford it. So based on the knowledge, capabilities or the know-how of your a local technician base that might play a role on what you decide for your home. But I do think in years to come that you're going to see inverters being introduced into almost all markets I Think you're going to see more heating and air technicians. They're going to have to get with it in some way, shape or form.

We saw that with mini splits just a few years ago. More and more are hitting the market and technicians are having to learn the education side of things of being able to service those units when they may have put up that fight before and said you know I don't want this new technology I Like working on what I'm used to, but find a good contractor local to you, go with what they recommend. If they're recommending one of these newer non-communicating inverter systems versus a communicating one, ask them why or vice versa. They may have a reason why they're recommending one over the other I Hope that helps.

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