After partnering with Indiegogo to empower tech entrepreneurs, Arrow Electronics has been on a mission to flash fund Arrow-Certified campaigns to bring makers’ projects to life. One such recipient is Don Pancoe, director of connected devices at Noria Technologies. His startup company is responsible for creating Noria, the portable, lightweight air conditioner that syncs to your phone and installs into existing windows.
Designed to address the hassle of current window air conditioners, the idea for Noria came from chief engineer at Noria Technologies, Kurt Swanson. Along with Pancoe, they founded a design and engineering firm called Likuma Labs, and after being part of successful client projects, they became interested in developing products on their own. Noria was a natural product for the two to develop, what with Swanson’s interest in air flow and thermodynamics combined with Pancoe’s interest in designed connected devices. Lead designer Devin Sidell also got involved, and is credited with making the air conditioner look modern and sleek.
From its beautiful design to easy installation, remote connectivity, and schedule creation, Noria makes living with a window air conditioner a pain-free experience. The fresh air mode can bring in outside air on cool nights, which is a luxury not even central air can offer, and with a sound rating of 50 dBA at full fan speed, it’s very quiet. Thanks to its smart features, you can control Noria via Bluetooth and make energy saving schedules from your iPhone or Android device.
According to Pancoe, he and his team wanted to keep the front-panel control as simple as possible, since they believe many “smart” designs over-complicate the user experience. With that in mind, they looked at the interface of the smartphone as a way to offer advanced features such as the ability to create a schedule. For example, your air conditioner could turn on 30 minutes before you normally return home from work. The app also duplicates the front-panel controls so it can serve as a simple remote control as well.
At 5.8-inches, Noria weighs about 30 pounds, and is recommended to cool areas up to 160-square-feet. Although it may be a bit on the heavy side for some, the 5,000 BTU unit comes with a built-in carrying handle and a window-frame adapter.
“The 5,000 BTU unit is the only one presently available for pre-order, which we are planning to deliver next year, “said Pancoe. “We plan to follow that with larger window units up to about 8,000 BTU. Based on feedback from our crowd-funding backers, we are also investigating variants of our first unit, such as one that could mount vertically in a sliding window.”
To switch the compressor on and off, the team looked at a bevy of power relay options, and determined TE Connectivity offered the best solution — with 24 VDC, a contact current rating of 10 A, and through-hole technology, it was the component for the job, as less energy was lost in comparison to using a thyristor.
“We considered solid-state thyristor switching for the compressor to avoid the audible click as well as some potential failure modes of relays in general, but we found that there is greater energy lost in keeping the thyristor on versus keeping the relay on due to the voltage drop across the diode junction,” said Pancoe. “To meet US DOE EER standards, we are squeezing out every watt that we can, but if we have some margin left over, we may revisit the thyristor switching in the future.”
Pancoe credits Indiegogo for its “two-fold benefit.” With the platform’s support, the Noria team quickly reached its goal, saying it not only provided the funds needed to pursue full-time development, but it also provided market validation by showing that customers are willing to pay a premium price for a window air conditioner made to improve upon the pain points associated with the product category.
“The interaction with backers through updates and comments also provided valuable feedback that has influenced both our current and future designs,” said Pancoe. “After our initial, time-limited campaign on Kickstarter, the seamless transition to Indiegogo’s In Demand campaign allowed us to continue to take pre-orders through the heat of the summer.”
Beyond a simple front-panel interface and more advanced controls available through the app while within your home, Pancoe and team are hoping to provide cloud services that will allow use of the app while outside the home, eventually uniting a whole line of products. Having a cloud interface will also allow Noria’s products to work with third-party products and services such as Amazon Echo, Nest, and Google Home.
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Electronic Products is owned by AspenCore, a subsidiary of Arrow Electronics.
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