EMAIL INTERVIEW Paul Balazovjech & Ken Sinclair

Paul Balazovjech, President, Spartan Peripheral Devices

Another modulating thermostat?

With some clever engineering solutions each product is ready to be shipped to any country in the world and is complete with a mounting plate that will mount on all Asian, European or North American standard electric boxes. 

Sinclair:  Why does Spartan need to offer another modulating thermostat in a seemingly saturated market?

Balazovjech:  That is a very good question and one that we asked ourselves at the beginning of our engineering appraisal of the market, and existing products. The biggest factor that influenced us was our customers were consistently asking us for this type of product and in particular for specific flexible features that were not, and are still not, found in some of the competitive products available today. So our engineering team surveyed the top 100 of our best customers to see exactly what they wanted. This was a true ‘customer driven’ project and the range of products that we now deliver to the market is a reflection of our customer’s requirements together with the features they thought were important.

Sinclair:  What was the most requested feature?

Balazovjech:  There were two things in our engineering survey that kept being repeated time after time. The first was simplicity, closely followed by low-cost. Simplicity was asked for on a number of levels including requests that the thermostats be simple to install as well as having a selection of features that were easy to understand and operate from the users point of view. The costs and low cost of ownership were also highly desired which is not too surprising in a world of cost-conscious customers. 

Another high-ranking request was design. Our customers thought that this was important without having the end product 'over-designed'. Our engineering team looked at bringing a fresh new look to the product range whilst keeping the cost in-line with the expectations that were asked for. 

Also high on the list was reliability that is a feature our team are used to designing into our products. Having a slogan of 'Controls without Compromise' drives our company to deliver the best quality product with reliability as a priority so our customers can be confident of the quality. 

Sinclair:  How did you achieve meeting your customer’s requests?

Balazovjech:  First and foremost we are an engineering driven company focusing on delivering customer satisfaction through innovative and cost-effective solutions, so the challenge was readily embraced by our team who were instantly engaged in delivering a unique product to our customers. 

After many hours of development these features were assessed to be the most desirable and could be easily selectable via an on/off dipswitch position.

• ºF or ºC set point and display scale.
• Direct or Reverse output action
• External or Internal 10K sensor.
• 2-10Vdc or 0-10Vdc output
• Full or Limited set-point scale (great for public areas not requiring guards)
• Single or Dual output
• 2 Heating or 2 cooling or 1 heating /1 Cooling sequence.

The team then added other features through the use of internal terminals that can be wired to accept a heating to cooling changeover as well as an economy mode, by introducing a common contact from an outside source.  

Sinclair:  Is the thermostat designed for a specific geographical market?

Balazovjech:  It was decided very early on in the product development to ensure that this product range would be ‘world-wide deliverable’. With some clever engineering solutions each product is ready to be shipped to any country in the world and is complete with a mounting plate that will mount on all Asian, European or North American standard electric boxes. 

Sinclair:  What are the main applications for TE150? 

Balazovjech:  The applications and situations that the TE150 can be used is comprehensive and the Spartan team is always talking to and advising new customers in new markets but the original design was particularly aimed at stand-alone individual modulating zone control of heating or cooling in Condominiums, Retirement Residences and Offices.

For more information contact Paul Balazovjech
Spartan Peripheral Devices
187 Joseph Carrier
Vaudreuil Quebec J7V5V5
450-424-6067
1-888-554-4465
www.spartan-pd.com

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