e-dronic

Integrated communication between chillers and fan coils is an increasingly important requirement for manufacturers of these air-conditioning units. Carel has taken up the challenge of joining and combining these two different elements, offering its customers a solution that is easy to manage, ensures increased indoor comfort and considerable energy saving.

e-dronic is a system of user interfaces, I/O boards and accessories for managing and controlling chiller/fan coil systems. e-dronic is compatible with the already established pCO platform, and exploits its advantages in terms of flexibility.

Hardware architecture

Zone Broadcast

Zone broadcast is the typical solution for single offices and small shops that require a limited number of fan coils per zone, and where the zones do not necessarily need to communicate with one another or with a centralised supervisory system. The communication protocol used is based on a broadcast approach, therefore all the slave units follow control on the master.

The fact that unit addresses do not need to be set makes installation particularly simple.

e-drobus

e-drobus is a master/slave system that is ideal for installations that require a master in every zone, connected to a number of slaves to support the temperature control action of the master. 

Typical applications are in the homes in which the different zones (living room, bedroom, kitchen) are managed by different master/slave systems. The integrated hybrid e-drobus system uses the CANbus protocol for connection between the master fan coils and tLAN for the master/slave connection.

This means that the optional CANbus card only needs to be installed where needed. 

The pCO controller manages both the chiller/HP and the fan coils, optimising comfort and running costs. In this way, the chiller user terminal also acts as an interface for the hydronic system.

Multimaster e-drobus
One special application of the e-drobus system uses the CANbus network to connect the master fan coils and the slaves on the same communication line. The fan coils must be configured as master or slave via software. This type of configuration is used to effectively and competitively manage flexible spaces, allowing the layout of the network and the relationships between master and slaves to be configured simply via software.

µe-dronic
µe-dronic is the typical solution for small installations (homes, shops, offices) where the chiller/HP can be controlled by a µC2 SE controller. Up to 10 master fan coils can be connected, each with a maximum of 5 slaves, on a RS485 network managed by a simple zone controller. The new µAM controller coordinates the small hydronic installation using a common reference set point, defining the operating time bands and coordinating the heating/cooling requests.

System design

Carel presents e-droCAD, the software used to design, check and cost an air-conditioning system communication network based on the e-dronic product line, allowing the user to fully exploit Carel's wealth of experience and technologica innovation. The e-droCAD software is essentially designed for technical personnel (designers, electricians, plumbers, installers, ect.) and purchaseing and/or sales personnel.