Thanks to the IoT, you’ll never have to wait for the heating technician again

Reflex Winkelmann, experts in modern building technology, are launching Reflex Control Remote, a solution that makes it possible to monitor heating systems remotely. Simple maintenance tasks can also be carried out remotely via the internet, without physically accessing the site – a great relief to technicians and customers alike. The underlying IoT platform, created by Munich-based IoT specialists Device Insight, is called CENTERSIGHT.

Reflex Control Remote

Heating systems are made up of many parts. This makes maintaining them complicated, especially in large residential buildings. Heating system outages or leaks can cause tremendous costs, so rapid action is required: technicians have to be notified, travel to site, identify the problem and fix it – and hope they have all the parts they need with them.

In times of the IoT, there has to be a simpler way

Together with IoT specialists Device Insight, Reflex Winkelmann GmbH developed Reflex Control Remote, a solution custom-made for its Reflex pressure controls: pumps, valves and condensation chambers are monitored and analyzed through an IoT portal. Whenever there is a malfunction or when a component is expected to fail soon, the plant autonomously notifies a technician, an approach known as “predictive maintenance”. The system’s sensors give technicians a complete overview of the plant, which they can access via an encrypted connection by entering the corresponding login details on any PC or smartphone web browser. The solution allows technicians to run all of the diagnostics needed to simplify maintenance, efficiently and comfortably. Reflex Control Remote even enables remote access for maintenance: for example, technicians can send online commands for water to be refilled or for the system to be bled, or the system can be programmed to do so by itself. This means that site visits are no longer always necessary.

Reflex Control Remote

“Reflex Control Remote is just one area of application of our CENTERSIGHT IoT platform,” says Paul Martin Halm, Head of Product Management at Device Insight. “All of our customers care about availability and security. We can therefore run CENTERSIGHT on a proprietary, highly secure private cloud. In addition, we use proven software and system components already deployed on other IoT projects, and rely on a ‘security by design’ philosophy. This includes using standardized IoT protocols such as OPC UA, MQTT or CoAP as well as end-to-end encrypted communications. Our approach is designed to guarantee availability, security and quick market readiness.”

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2017/03/01
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