Soberly called “Smart air conditioner control”, Netatmo’s new connected object is intended for people who want to control their air conditioners with an application or their voice, without having to change everything. Its main advantage over the competition: an omnidirectional infrared transmitter.
Summer is coming, a new product from Netatmo too. The French company, owned by the Legrand group, is best known for its connected thermostat today. Tomorrow, she hopes that the French will trust her to refresh their apartment or their house.
At 119.99 euros per unit or 199.99 euros per pair, Netatmo is launching this May 11, 2023 the “Smart Air Conditioner Control”, or “Smart AC Controller” in English. This new connected object is able to imitate the remote control of your air conditioner to control it, while measuring the temperature of a room to automatically adapt the controls of the air conditioner. The objective is of course to optimize its energy consumption, while reducing the risk of air that is too cold or not cold enough.
How does Netatmo’s smart air conditioner control work?
Netatmo’s object takes the form of a small box. It must be permanently connected to the current (via a Micro USB cable), while being within a radius of 10 meters around the air conditioner that it must control (one is required per air conditioner).
During the first configuration, Netatmo asks its user to press the buttons on his remote control. This allows the product to identify the model of air conditioner it needs to control in order to mimic the infrared signals from its remote control. Then hung on the wall or placed on a table, Netatmo’s smart air conditioner control can send instructions to the air conditioner.
From the Legrand Home+Control application, but also Apple Home, Google Home and Amazon Alexa, it is possible to choose a temperature, vary the intensity of the ventilation, oscillate the device or consult the history of the room’s temperature and humidity, measured using the sensor. Everything is obviously controllable by voice, to ask Siri to turn off the air conditioner for example.
Obviously, the other interest of the product is to create automations. Automatic switching off when there is no one at home, starting the air conditioning when leaving work, less power at night… The Netatmo application, as with its thermostat, allows you to create a tailor-made program.
A 360-degree infrared transmitter: Netatmo’s good idea
Netatmo’s idea is not new. To tell the truth, on paper, it is substantially identical to what the German Tado offers, which offers a connected object under 100 euros.
However, the Netatmo controller stands out in several aspects:
- He is French.
- He is smaller.
- It does not have a screen, which can be an advantage or a disadvantage. The controls necessarily go through the application, the voice or the basic remote control. Tado allows you to manage the temperature directly from the product, but the responsiveness is not very good.
- It uses an omnidirectional infrared emitter, with 6 LEDs. This is a huge advantage over the Tado, which must be placed in front of the air conditioner’s infrared receiver to work.
As with Tado, all air conditioners, including portable ones, are compatible with the Netatmo Smart AC Controller. The only condition to be eligible: to have a remote control with a screen displaying information other than the temperature (power, mode, etc.). The others do not send enough information by infrared for the Netatmo connected object to imitate them.
At 120 euros, Netatmo takes the risk of being more expensive than the competition. Distributed by Leroy Merlin, Castorama, Amazon and professional installers, the intelligent air conditioner control nevertheless has a chance of success. In particular because Netatmo/Legrand is probably less geeky than Tado, and the installation can be done by anyone.
If you liked this article, you will like the following ones: do not miss them by subscribing to Numerama on Google News.