Remote Monitoring of Refrigerant Systems Using the CirrusSense™ Solution Now Possible

Updated: October 8, 2020
Monitoring of refrigerant pressures and temperatures in air conditioning units, chillers, and refrigeration systems is a key component to building management and equipment efficiency. Up to now, there was not a wireless solution suitable for permanent installations with remote monitoring capability. The need for this information remotely was met with wired sensors and the high cost of wiring and additional hardware/software and was dependent on a controller that offered remote monitoring capability, done at the OEM level in new equipment. That meant there was no way to economically provide the massive installed base of AC and refrigeration systems the ability for remote communication of system pressures and temperatures—until now!

cirrusense-catTransducers Direct’s wireless CirrusSense™ family of products has revolutionized the way companies monitor their refrigerant pressures and temperatures. When first released, pressures and temperatures from the TDWLB wireless sensors were read locally on the user’s smart device. Free Apps were available on both the Apple and Android platforms, making it incredibly easy to name the sensors, set alarms, and read the data.

However, very quickly the market demanded the ability to remote monitor the sensors. Because Transducers Direct offered the only solution with battery life suitable for permanent installations, this demand could be met. Transducers Direct released the CirrusSense™ Router and Data Portal allowing for 24/7 remote monitoring of sensors. No longer did you have to be within range of the sensors with your smart device. Now the sensors data could be viewed anywhere in the world an internet connection is available. Additional features of this system included email/text alerts when alarm levels are met, as well as data logging and reporting capability.

Adoption of this technology happened rapidly in the HVAC/R industry, so it’s understandable that now the building automation industry wants the sensors’ data available to them directly in their building automation and control systems. To meet this need, Transducers Direct partnered with the connectivity experts at Real Time Automation (RTA). Using the TDWLB wireless sensors, RTA developed a “BACnet Interface” which transparently resides on the network allowing the TDWLB wireless pressure and temperature transducers to appear as sensor nodes. Data from the sensors (device, pressure, temperature, and battery life) is now available to the building controller across the network.