Transforma logo
Loading...

HVAC: 575 million connected devices by 2032, generating USD29 billion in revenue

  • HVAC
  • Air Conditioning
  • AC
  • Ventilation
  • Heating
  • Sustainability
  • Smart Thermostats
  • Heat pumps
  • Chillers
  • Smart Home
  • Building Automation
  • Suruchi Dhingra
  • Matt Arnott
This report provides Transforma Insights’ view on the connected HVAC market. This includes smart and connected heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment, in consumer as well as enterprise contexts. The smart HVAC market is expected to show strong growth over the coming years, majorly due to an increased focus on sustainability, and upcoming regulations focused on increasing energy efficiency and decreasing carbon emissions caused by buildings.

Report summary

This report provides Transforma Insights’ view on the connected HVAC market. This includes smart and connected heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment, in consumer as well as enterprise contexts. These systems are generally comprised of controllers and potentially smart peripheral devices. Devices such as thermostats and air conditioning units are not included unless these devices are themselves smart and connected.

The smart HVAC market is expected to show strong growth over the coming years, majorly due to an increased focus on sustainability and upcoming regulations focused on increasing energy efficiency and decreasing carbon emissions caused by buildings. The market will also benefit from a growing demand for cooling (and consequently air conditioners) in the world on account of global warming and increased consumer demand for connectivity amongst appliances. The USA, China, Japan, and South Korea lead the market with the highest number of HVAC systems, traditional as well as connected.

The most common connectivity technology used in HVAC is Short Range, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee. LoRa also seems to be promising in this application area, due to its ability to provide low power consumption, deeper penetration through building walls, and wide coverage for connecting IoT devices in homes and buildings.

The report provides a detailed definition of the sector, analysis of market development and profiles of the key vendors in the space. It also provides a summary of the current status of adoption and Transforma Insights’ ten-year forecasts for the market. The forecasts include analysis of the number of IoT connections by geography, the technologies used and revenue.

A full set of forecast data, including country-level forecasts, sector breakdowns and public/private network splits, is available through the IoT Forecast tool.

Key market developments in HVAC

The report examines key factors that are influencing the development of the market, including:

The growing need for energy efficiency in buildings

This section of the report discusses the reasons to optimise HVAC energy and the major benefits of IoT-enabled HVAC products such as minimising energy consumption in unoccupied building zones, reducing HVAC usage during peak times, and optimising the flow of conditioned air.

Retrofitting is a cost-effective option

This section of the report focuses on one of the major issues of introducing smart HVAC systems, i.e., upgradation in older buildings. The rest of the section focuses on the option of retrofitting, the complexities (such as lack of compatibility between legacy equipment and new technologies in modern equipment), and the advantages of this option (like being cost-effective and less capital intensive).

Commonly used connectivity technologies and communication protocols

This section charts the communication technologies that are most commonly used in HVAC devices (such as BACnet in the US and its rising prominence in Europe). It also talks about the technologies that were initially deployed across HVAC systems, how these technologies are expected to change in the upcoming time, and what their specific benefits will be. This section also discusses the challenge of interoperability (both in enterprise and consumer contexts), which can restrict the adoption of HVAC systems in large-scale projects and can slow down the penetration in the market.

Rising prices of energy and HVAC products

This section of the report discusses how the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and the rising electricity costs in many European countries are a few reasons behind the rapid adoption of smart HVAC systems. It also talks about factors such as the increasing cost of raw materials (such as copper) and the rising requirement to adhere to energy efficiency ratings and standards, which are increasing the cost of HVAC products.

It also comprises some examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application, such as Tuesday Morning (a US-based retail company) deploying a customised building automation system, eventually allowing it to save energy and enjoy better visibility and control over its stores.

Key vendors for HVAC

The key vendors section lists some of the main providers of products and services related to the HVAC market, such as Johnsons Controls, Danfoss, Daikin, Honeywell/Resideo, Tuya Smart, and Haier. The report provides profiles of the various vendors including aspects most relevant to this Application Group, such as product offerings, pricing, financial results, and technology.

Market forecasts for HVAC

In the market forecasts section, we provide a summary of the forecasts from the Transforma Insights IoT Forecast Database:

Devices

The report charts the growth in the number of HVAC devices, which will grow from 80 million in 2022 to 575 million in 2032.

Transforma Insights forecasts are compiled on a country-by-country basis. This report includes a regional summary, showing splits between Australasia, Greater China, North America, Europe, Japan, Latin America, MENA, Russia & Central Asia, South East Asia, South Korea, India & South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Technologies

Transforma Insights’ IoT forecasts include splits between the various connectivity technologies as follows: 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G mMTC, 5G non-mMTC, LPWA (non-mMTC), Satellite, Short Range, and Other. This section discusses which technologies will be used in the HVAC application group.

Revenue

This part of the report discusses the market growth in terms of revenue (module revenue, service wrap revenue, and VAC revenue). Transforma Insights estimates that the revenue in the HVAC Application Group will grow at a CAGR of 17%.

  • Daikin
  • Danfoss
  • Haier
  • Honeywell
  • Johnsons Controls
  • Tuya Smart
  • Internet of Things
  • Hyperconnectivity
    • Consumer