thermoSmart
Retrofit Multi-Zoning Heater
In 2012, Americans spent $94 billion [$300 per capita] and 1.2 quadrillion Watt/hour of energy for space heating around the home.[1,2] With energy prices on the rising trend, energy expenditures are predicted to increase over the years.
thermoSmart is an after-market home heating system that creates temperature zones in single zone homes. Our product frees homeowners from having to choose between comfort and wasteful heating in the unused parts of the house. Our heating algorithm helps to heat up the room 15% faster than existing heating system, thus conserving energy.
My role I was responsible for the design and user interface of the controllers as well as graphic representation. We refined the grip curvature and control command sequences with a group of test users and added visual installation guides, such as grooves for stand attachment and a small graphic for proper battery insertion. 3D printing faithfully reproduced our prototypes’ curvatures for our final products.
2.009 Product Engineering Process | 2008
MIT
Instructor: David Wallace
Collaborators P. Blascovich, J. Chan, S. Dave, R. Eisenberg, D. Lopez, C. Lenahan, J. Levinson, S. Segal, R. Smith, B. Syverud, T. Tseng, R. Utz, P. Wellings, C. Wallace, A. Yeh, S. Young
System Integration
Users can remotely change temperature settings of each room using the Coordinator.
Coordinator User Experience
Users can hang the controllers on the wall or place them on a table using slider attachment.
Coordinator Assembly
Two mounting options to fit user needs and visual guides for intuitive installation.
Grate actuation
The users’ desired temperature is achieved by adjusting the air flow into each room with our retrofit heat register. Our team member Peter is blowing air to the sensor for testing
Grate louver mechanism
Louvers change position to reduce airflow as the room approaches desired temperature
Regulated heating process
Our product distributes heated air according to each room's heating preferences to save energy.
References
[1] US Energy Information Administration, 2009
[2] US Department of Energy