EMERGING REQUIREMENTS FOR RESIDENTIAL THERMOSTATS IN NORTH AMERICA

The requirements for thermostats are increasing in the U.S. for a combination of reasons. Firstly,energy conservation and Demand Response programs are requiring thermostats to have morecomplex controls that can communicate with electric utilities. Other pressures are caused by theincreasing sophistication in U.S. homes such as systems for mechanical ventilation, economizers andventilation cooling that interact with operation of heating and cooling systems via thermostat controls.In order to meet these challenges, U.S. thermostat manufacturers and regulators are focusing onimproving user interfaces, developing standardized communication protocols and meeting therequirements of pending legislation