USA – Lennox Commercial has announced that it has expanded its Energence line of rooftop units to include 15- and 20-ton ultra-high-efficiency (UHE) models, complete with the intelligence of the Prodigy 2.0 unit controller.
The decision to expand the Energence line to include the 15- and 20-ton units was taken directly from customer feedback. “We listen to our customers,” declared the vice president of marketing and product management for Lennox, Cindy Sparrow. “Their feedback and needs help direct the development of our products, which are designed to meet the most requested benefits, but also to adhere to and exceed industry standards for energy efficiency, sound and weight. Once we developed the industry-leading Energence UHE models in 7.5, 10, and 12.5 tons, our customers asked for additional, larger tonnages and we responded.” The company claims that their Energence UHE line offers IEER leadership in 7.5- to 20-ton units (21.5 IEER) and offers IEER’s of 20 or higher in four of the five models available.
Lennox further claim that their new 15- and 20-ton models can offer EERs as high as 12.7, and IEERs up to 20.2, while the SunSource commercial energy system should be able to deliver efficiency levels be as high as 43 IEER and beyond. The new Energence models feature four stages of cooling and four stages of heating, which the compoany hopes will provide better comfort and improved energy efficiency. The company expect that efficiency on the 15- and 20-ton models will increase by as much as 52%. In addition to these improvements, Lennox are also offering SCR electric heat for their electric/electric models.
“The Prodigy 2.0 unit controller is a key reason the Energence rooftop units are a top choice among businesses,” stated the senior product manager of controls for Lennox, Farhad Abrishamkar. “The combination of efficiency and intelligent controls provides a low total c ost of ownership and savings over the lifetime of the unit.”
The Prodigy 2.0 unit controller has more than 250 adjustable parameters which should correspond to almost any design specification and which should ensure that controlling the Energence UHE rooftop unit is now easier than ever. Lennox hope that the enhanced display and simplified navigation of the unit controller will result in easier installation, operation, troubleshooting, unit monitoring, and servicing.
The Energence UHE units have been designed with the stated aim of offering customers ultimate energy savings with innovative features such as the Advanced Cooling System and MSAV (Multi-stage Air Volume.)
Energence UHE models can operate using either the DirectPlus blower system, available for 7.5 to 12.5-ton models, or the belt-drive blower system, which is available for all 7.5- to 20-ton models. The DirectPlus blower system is a patent-pending design that features the motor and electronics combined within one unit and uses fewer components, the company claims. The DirectPlus and belt drive blower options both feature slide-out access which should help reduce maintenance time and costs.
The Energence UHE units have been built to suit a variety of sizes and applications and are backwards compatible with similar tonnage existing Lennox rooftops. The new rooftop units have been designed to offer a simple solution for replacement applications. In many replacement applications, the new units eliminate the need for adapter curbs, which should result in a reduction of the overall weight. An additional feature is that the Energence UHE units, with outdoor sound levels as low as 81 dBA, which are up to 11 dBA quieter than competing units in the UHE category, can help eliminate costs associated with reducing outdoor sound.