Installation of a 5-head GREE FreeMatch R32 heat pump (GWHD(42)ND6MO) in Vaudreuil-Dorion

Five zones in one app: what that control connected control really does, and what it does not does not

Five wall-mounted heads are five infrared remote controls that get lost, five settings that no one coordinates, and a bill that no one understands. The question connected control is therefore not a gadget on a multi-zone system: it is the only practical answer to an operating problem of operation real. You still need to know what an the Wi-Fi module provides, what it does not does not replace, and what stops working work the day the customer changes routers.

Vaudreuil-Dorion: lots of recent construction, with few ducts

VVaudreuil-Dorion is the largest city most populous in the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, at the intersection of Highways 20 and 40, at the western entrance to the region metropolitan area, served by commuter rail of the suburbs. It is also one of the where suburban construction residential areas of the past twenty years has been the most sustained growth in the Montérégie.

This reality changes the work. A home a recent one has an envelope continuous, high-performance windows, and of the rooms modest dimensions. Its load per square meter has nothing to do with that of of a 1975 house with equivalent floor area, and the reflex sizing “by square foot” there systematically produces oversized units. In return, these buildings almost never have a duct network: heating is to the electric baseboard heaters and the air conditioning is absent. Hence the the use of a multi-zone system.

Configuration selected

Five zones require GWHD(42)ND6MO, the only unit in the range FreeMatch R32 connectable to five heads—the complete limit appears in our article on Sainte-Martine.

Distribution: 9,000 + 6,000 + 6,000 + 6,000 + 6,000 = 33,000 BTU/h, or 79 % of the nominal capacity in cooling. It is modest, and intentional: no room in this house exceeds the load of a 6-head 000, except for the living room. The reasoning full details on configurations undersized for five zones are found can be found in our article from Pointe-Fortune; we do not repeat it here not here.

The outdoor unit's data outdoor:

• 42,000 BTU/h nominal cooling (modulation from 8,870 to 44 300), 44,300 BTU/h in heating (modulation from 8,870 to 54,590)
• SEER2 21, HSPF2 10, EER2 12, COP 3.9, certified ENERGY STAR
• MCA 30 A / MOCP 45 A on a a single dedicated circuit
• R32, 2 700 g factory charge, 50 m precharge, maximum 100 m, elevation difference 25 m
• AHRI 214931590 (non-ducted), 214931596 and 214931600 for the variants ducted and mixed
• Heating range -30 °C to 24 °C, G10 inverter, intelligent defrost, detector A2L included

Five measured lines: 5 + 8 + 10 + 12 + 15 m, for a total of exactly 50 m of developed length. It is the only five-zone installation we have we documented where the total comes out exactly on the precharge: no additional refrigerant was added. It is not a coincidence; it is a design objective — keeping the run as as short as possible reduces the charge total, pressure loss, and risk of leakage, and it simplifies the minimum surface verification required by the refrigerant A2L.

A Wi-Fi module is not a smart thermostat

This is the confusion to clear up first, because it creates expectations that the unit cannot meet.

A module connectivity adds a remote control accessible over the Internet. It changes neither the sensor on which the unit regulates, nor its logic of modulation. The temperature of the reference remains the one read by the sensor of return, behind the grille of the enclosure, or that of the wall control if the the system is configured this way — the the limits of each option are detailed in our article on Saint-Amable. The phone displays a value; it does not measure it not.

What a module provides in reality:

• The setpoint and mode of each zone, remotely. Of five devices, this is the only way to notice that a bedroom has remained at 17 °C for three days.
• Schedules by room, when the app offers them, which conveniently replaces five programming done one by one on five remote controls.
• Status visibility : to know only one zone no longer responds, before discovering it in the middle of a heat wave.

What it does not provide not: no intelligence of learning, no trade-off between zones, and above all no workaround of the underlying constraint of a multi-zone system—the five heads share a single circuit and a single reversing valve, so they cannot cannot heat and cool at the same same time, regardless of the application. This point is discussed in our Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu article.

Uno honest precision in the documentation: the specification sheet commercial unit X610068B does not name any indoor unit and says nothing about connectivity. The module is integrated or optional according to the model of head actually installed, and this is confirmed on the specification sheet for this specific model, not on a product brochure range. We prefer to say so rather than to imply a feature universal.

The the home network is the first point of failure

On the systems connected systems that we commission, the almost all service calls related to the application do not concern the device.

• The 2.4 GHz band. The most modules of this type do not do not connect to 5 GHz. A router recent model that combines the two bands under a single network name can prevent pairing, and the solution is to a router configuration—not through a service call HVAC.
• Changing the password or router. He disconnects the five modules at once. The customer concludes that the system is malfunctioning even though no head has stopped function.
• Range. A head in a upstairs bedroom, behind two walls and a floor is often found at the end of the signal. We check the link quality from room to room at the commissioning, not from the living room where the router is located.

Point reassuring to know: a loss of Internet does not stop the heat pump. Each head retains its last instruction and continues to to function, and the remote control infrared continues to operate. The connectivity is a convenience, never a vital component—and we leave the five remote controls for the customer, in their wall mounts, for this specific reason.

Cloud, updates, and warranty

The remote control goes through an account and a cloud service from the manufacturer. Three consequences that we put forward by written:

1. An application can change. A an update sometimes changes the interface or the behavior of a function. This is not a failure of the unit.
2. The equipment warranty covers the equipment. The 10 years, carried to 12 years on file at the distributor with proof installation, cover the refrigeration and electronics control, not the availability of a online service or compatibility with a router.
3. The account survives the owner. To the sale of a house or upon moving out of a tenant, the account must be transferred or reset. A former occupant able to change the setpoint of a room remotely, it is a simple problem to avoid and embarrassing to discover.

Newwe recommend a separate password of the primary email address, and a note the account used in the file commissioning, next to the serial number of series of each head and its room.

The operating plan for the five zones

A multi-zone system delivered without an operating plan ends up always in the same way: two heads run continuously, two have been off since winter, and the fifth is set to a value that no one takes responsibility for. Here is what we leave in writing, and that the application finally makes it practical.

What can be scheduled, room by room

• Living room (9,000). Reference zone. Stable setpoint, without significant setback. A compressor with inverter is effective because it module continuously; restarting it several times a day cancels out its advantage, as explained in our Godmanchester article.
• Bedrooms (6,000). Setback moderate nighttime setback in winter, never a shutdown. In summer, a setpoint constant humidity control works better than a starting at 10 p.m.
• Office (6,000). The only schedule that really benefits from being scheduled, because that its occupancy is predictable and intermittent.
• Fifth, lightly occupied zone. It does not is not turned off for the season. A setpoint low is sufficient, and the technical reasons are discussed in our articles on Saint-Urbain-Premier and Saint-Stanislas-de-Kostka.

The three automations not to activate

1. Geolocation in winter. Turn off five zones because the house is empty, then restart everything upon return, does run the compressor exactly like a fixed-speed unit. The the theoretical gain is consumed by the restart.
2. Scenarios that switch the mode automatically. On a multizone system with single mode, a scenario that puts one zone into air conditioning affects the others. The mode is changed deliberately, by a person.
3. Deep setbacks. A setpoint lowered by 5°C at night forces the house to be brought back by the baseboard heaters in the morning, which costs more more expensive than what the setback saved saved.

Mistakes to avoid

• Thinking that a Wi-Fi module improves control accuracy control.
• Call HVAC service for a pairing problem network.
• Turn off a zone at the circuit breaker: the heads are powered by the outdoor unit, so everything stops.
• Remove the baseboard heaters electric the first year, especially with a 79% configuration.
• Schedule five different schedules from the first week, before having observed how the house behaves.
• Sell the house without transferring the the application account or submit the commissioning file.

Rebates, warranty and maintenance

The unit is certified ENERGY STAR and eligible for local rebates. For an electrically heated home for electricity, the programs to to validate are LogisVert from Hydro-Québec and Rénoclimat; Chauffez vert targets the replacement of a fossil-fuel heating and does not apply. The criteria confirm when the file is opened. The code AHRI reported must match exactly to the configuration installed.

Five zones represent five filters, five pans and five drains; the maintenance load increases with the number of heads, an issue developed in our article about Sainte-Martine. The application does not replaces any of these operations: it signals at best that a zone is behaving poorly, which is already useful when the the affected head is located in a room where no one enters.

Our coverage

At AirGreen, we we design, install and maintain of systems HVAC — wall-mounted heat pumps, multizone, air conditioners and central systems — to Montreal, Laval, Longueuil, on the North Shore and throughout the South Shore, including Vaudreuil-Dorion, Pincourt, Saint-Lazare and the entire Vaudreuil-Soulanges. On a project in five zones, we configure the connectivity and provide the plan operating the day of commissioning service, with the customer in front the application.