Why don’t “smart dampers” exist?
Looking to add automatic dampers to zone control my home. My air handler is in the garage with easy access to the main trunk lines that run to the first and second floor. I live in the mid Atlantic, so the shoulder months are long and we are constantly swapping back and forth between heating and cooling.
I have been looking for something that meets the description below, that after some searching doesn’t seem to exist. It is very similar to the Flair smart vent setup, which I had at an old home.
Setup:
- one smart thermostat with sensors (such as ecobee, ecobee doesn’t need to know the sensors are in zones it just needs to integrate with ecobee)
- you tag one or multiple sensors to a particular zone.
- On the duct is an electronic damper with onboard controls that can connect to WiFi. The only wires fed to the damper is 120v (or shoot even a rechargeable battery), no separate low voltage damper control, no additional thermostats.
- according to the parameters you set on the dampers app, when the zone tied to this damper needs heating or cooling, as defined by the temp reading on the sensor, the hvac is kicked on and the damper is opened. If the sensor(s) do not need heating or cooling, the damper stays closed, even if the thermostat has turned on the system for other areas.
The only solution I can find are what feels like an antiquated setup; a damper, a control board, and a thermostat. A lot what feels like too much wiring in today’s wireless marketplace.
Am I missing something? Are dampers just not considered “DIY” so no one has bothered?