Last updated on February 28th, 2019 at 05:24 pm

The introduction of digital controllers in Wattco heating devices has brought about revolutionary changes. Digital controllers have made Wattco heating devices highly reliable and secure. They have improved the efficiency of the device and provided flexibility and greater visibility into the operation of the heating device.

With a digital controller, it becomes easy to keep the internal temperature of a heating device at required levels. Digital controllers are useful in various other electrical devices in addition to heating devices.

An Overview of a Digital Controller

A digital controller is a micro-processor-based environmental control unit. It uses control loops to read the environmental values and generate signals to keep the object at the target temperature, regardless of the changing environmental conditions around it.

A digital controller uses a closed control loop to perform its work. For instance, the control loop in the Wattco electric heater controls the heat flow mechanism in the device. It turns the heating mechanism on and off based on the input data.

Different Components of a Digital Controller

There are three important components in a Wattco digital controller: sensor, controller and controlled unit. Sensor: The first important component is an environmental sensor. This sensor has the ability to measure certain environmental factors like temperature, pressure, humidity, and airflow. In addition, you can measure other impacting factors like the temperature at a particular time of the day or the current demand conditions.

The sensor also measures the factors that influence the control logic like: water flow, air flow, current, fire, and smoke. The input signal is sometimes referred to as the process value and the target parameter is referred to as the setpoint value. The process value is sampled many times, depending on the controller. This data is sent to the controller for analysis and for further action.

Controller

The second element in the Wattco digital controller is the controller itself. It receives data from the environmental sensor and processes it. This processed data is then compared with setpoint values. Based on this comparison, the controller applies logic to generate an action on the output device. Normally, the controller sends a signal directly to the output device to perform a certain action. At times, there are other logical control functions that would process the data and send a signal to generate an action. These controlled logic functions are specific to each device.

The control action varies with the type of controller. Especially in a Wattco heater, the controller works as an On/Off control. Based on the input data, it decides whether to turn the device on, off, or keep it in its present state.

Controlled or Output Device

The third element of the digital controller is the controlled device or the output device. It is the device that responds to the signals sent by the controller. When the sensor reads the temperature value and sends the data to the controller, it compares this data with the threshold setpoints. When the temperature is equal to the threshold point, the controller sends a signal to the controlled device to turn the heating mechanism off.

Alternatively, the device turns the heating mechanism on when the temperature is below the required value. Depending on the signal from the controller, the controlled device changes its condition or state.