New room controller helps reduce hotel energy use

Thursday, 11 June 2009

Mitsubishi Electric has launched a unique new control system for the hotel sector to bring complete automatic control to individual rooms and help reduce energy costs.

The Melcotel controller works with both key card and non-key card systems to ensure that air conditioning is not working needlessly when rooms are empty or if guests decide to open a window.

Specifically designed for the hotel sector, the controller is an evolution in Mitsubishi Electric’s PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) and can be retrofitted as well as being ideal for new builds.

Once activated, Melcotel will reset the air conditioning to a predetermined setting and constantly monitors the temperatures of any unoccupied rooms. The air conditioning in these empty rooms will only come on to keep the temperature within a set range, which has the double advantage of conserving energy whilst ensuring that the room reaches the desired temperature quicker when a guest enters the room.

“We have developed this after working with customers in the hotel sector and it addresses the needs to allow hotel guests to control the temperature in their own room, whilst keeping energy consumption, and therefore running costs, to an absolute minimum,” explained Mitsubishi Electric’s Seb Desmottes
 
Temperatures are recorded by a sensor within the controller and windows can also be connected to the system so that when they are opened, the air conditioning switches off to conserve energy.

Melcotel works with Mitsubishi Electric’s advanced City Multi systems and one unit is able to control up to 250 indoor units.  Wireless technology allows the Melcotel to be accessed remotely when used in conjunction with a Mini M2M offering further control and monitoring facilities to hoteliers.

Every time the room is activated the system automatically switches the air conditioning to a pre-set 21ºC, or whatever temperature the building’s owner determines. Both the key card and non-key card systems have a built-in automatic switch off, with the non-key card option switching the air conditioning off after a pre-defined time to stop the unit running when a customer has left the room.

During any unoccupied hours, the system works in a reduced state and will control the temperature of the room within preset conditions – changeable to suit the seasons – so that the desired comfort level for each guest can be reached quickly once they have entered the room, whatever the outdoor temperature.