This guide introduces Smart Weather Compensation (SWC) in Leanheat® Monitor: what it does, what it needs to run, and where you find it.
What SWC does
Traditional weather compensation sets the flow temperature from the outdoor temperature alone. SWC improves on that by using advanced weather forecasts. Each compatible Danfoss ECL Comfort 310 in Leanheat® Monitor starts using local information about solar radiation, wind speed and humidity.
SWC works by applying an optimized offset to the flow temperature setpoint, so your controllers adjust to the outside weather much more precisely. This keeps energy use optimal while maintaining indoor comfort. SWC is fully automated and needs no manual configuration once your devices are enrolled.
SWC works per heating circuit, not per controller. When a device is enrolled, SWC reads the heating curve of every heating circuit that is in use, up to four circuits (HC1 to HC4), and optimizes each of them separately. Circuits marked as not in use are skipped. This is why the reports show a separate result for each circuit, and why two circuits on the same controller can achieve quite different savings.
What SWC changes, and what it leaves alone
SWC only adds an offset to the flow temperature setpoint for space heating. It does not affect domestic hot water or any other heat consumer.
SWC does not interfere with your other ECL settings. It works alongside your existing configuration, and you remain in charge of your controller: you can still change the heating curve, schedules and any other setting exactly as before.
How much it saves
Verified savings in space heating consumption are in the range of 5 to 15%. These savings have been confirmed in hundreds of buildings across Central and Northern Europe. For an individual building the result varies with the characteristics of the building, the local weather and the existing heating system configuration.
For the method behind the numbers, see How SWC savings are calculated.
SWC and radiator thermostats
Radiator thermostats (TRVs) maintain a good indoor climate, but even in optimal conditions they usually allow up to a 2°C increase in room temperature before fully closing. Rooms directly exposed to sunlight can become uncomfortably warm, especially in autumn and spring but also in winter.
SWC improves on this by adjusting the flow temperature proactively, based on the forecast, so overheating is prevented before it happens. The result is a more consistent indoor climate and lower heat losses in the distribution network.
What SWC needs
Each controller you want to enroll must meet all of the following:
It is an ECL Comfort 310 with an ECL connection type in Leanheat® Monitor.
Its software version is 1.42 or higher.
It is online and actively communicating.
It is located in Europe, and its address in Leanheat® Monitor is complete (country, city, street name and street number).
It has at least one heating circuit in use, and every circuit in use has a working flow temperature sensor.
Its heating curve settings are within the ranges SWC accepts.
Its application is one of the heating applications supported by SWC. If you are not sure, contact Danfoss support.
If a device does not meet these conditions, enrollment fails. The full checklist with the accepted value ranges is in Why SWC enrollment fails, and how to fix it.
SWC is also a separately purchased add-on, so it has to be enabled for your account before the SWC menu appears.
Who can see and manage SWC
The SWC Performance Report and the SWC Detailed Report are visible to all user roles once SWC is enabled for the account.
What you see inside those reports follows your device access. Administrators and designers see every device in the account. Users with assigned devices only, which covers the full, limited, basic and read-only roles, see only the devices assigned to them.
The savings figures are calculated from the devices you can see. Two people can therefore open the same report on the same day and read different totals, and neither of them is wrong.
The SWC Device Manager, where devices are enrolled, paused and removed, is available to administrators only.
The heating season
SWC is active during the heating season, which runs from 1 September to 31 May of the following year. Data outside this period is not collected and not displayed, and all reports are presented per heating season.
This period is fixed. It is not affected by the "Season Start" setting under "Admin" and "General settings", which applies to cumulative consumption reports only. Changing Season Start there does not move the SWC heating season.
Trial and subscription
SWC access comes in two forms. A limited trial runs until a set end date, and an unlimited subscription has no end date. This is why the button on the SWC start page differs between accounts: with a limited trial it starts your free trial, with unlimited access it takes you straight to enrolling devices.
When a limited trial expires, SWC becomes read only. All devices are paused, so the flow temperature offset stops, and your controllers continue on their own settings. Your historical SWC data remains viewable. A message in every SWC view tells you the trial has expired and asks you to contact your local Danfoss sales organization.
Where SWC appears in Leanheat® Monitor
SWC has its own SWC entry in the main navigation, with three tabs:
SWC Performance Report, the overview of savings across all enrolled devices. See Reading the SWC Performance Report.
SWC Detailed Report, the figures per device and heating circuit. See Reading the SWC Detailed Report.
SWC Device Manager, where devices are enrolled and managed. See How to enroll your devices in SWC.
Once at least one device is enrolled, SWC also becomes visible elsewhere in the application. An SWC icon is shown next to each enrolled device in the device list, and for any area that contains at least one enrolled device. A matching filter is available in both lists, and SWC markers can be shown on the devices map, the areas map and the map widgets on the dashboards.
One thing to be aware of: while a device is enrolled in SWC it cannot be deleted, disconnected, suspended, resumed or replaced. Leanheat® Monitor will ask you to remove it from SWC first and offers a link to the SWC Device Manager.