Reference · built on requestOperator by FibricFacilities & comfort

Economizer Check

Compares outdoor conditions with damper and mixed-air readings and proposes repairs where free cooling is missed.

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About

An air-side economizer opens the outdoor-air damper when outside air is cooler than return air, so the air handler cools with fans instead of compressors. Dampers stick, actuators fail, and outdoor-air sensors drift, and the unit keeps running on mechanical cooling with no alarm raised.

Economizer Check reads each air handler's outdoor-air, mixed-air, return-air, and supply-air temperatures, damper command and position, and cooling stage over BACnet/IP or from a Niagara station, and compares them with the nearest National Weather Service observation. Its checks follow the five faults California's Title 24 lists for economizer fault detection: a failed air temperature sensor, not economizing when it should, economizing when it should not, a damper not modulating, and excess outdoor air. When the readings show one, it proposes a work order in your CMMS with the evidence attached. You approve the work order. It never moves a damper.

This is a reference listing. It documents what Fibric would read from Economizer Check and what it could propose, based on the vendor's published interfaces. Fibric builds it under a managed deployment when you request it; selecting it here installs nothing.

Inputs

  • Outdoor-air, mixed-air, return-air, and supply-air temperature points on each air handler, read over BACnet/IP or from a Niagara station
  • Outdoor-air damper command and position feedback, and the economizer enable or lockout state where the controller exposes it
  • Cooling stage or chilled-water valve position, so it knows when mechanical cooling runs while free cooling is available
  • The latest observation from the nearest NWS station: temperature, dewpoint, and relative humidity, with a timestamp
  • The hourly NWS forecast for the site, to time a check for the hours when outdoor air should be cooler than return air
  • Open work orders on the same asset in Fiix, MaintainX, UpKeep, or Limble, so a fault already in hand is not filed again

Proposed actions

  • Target capability: propose a work order for an air handler that runs mechanical cooling while outdoor air is cool enough to economize
  • Target capability: propose a work order when the damper command changes and the position feedback does not, with both series attached
  • Target capability: propose a sensor check when the unit's outdoor-air reading and the NWS observation disagree for hours at a time
  • Target capability: propose a work order when the damper stays open in weather that should lock the economizer out, with the readings that show it
  • Target capability: propose closing an open work order once the readings show the economizer cycling as expected, for the technician to confirm

Proposed actions are target capabilities. Every action runs propose-first and needs a validated deployment and the appropriate permissions.

What you can build

  • Find rooftop units that never economize

    Read each unit's damper position and cooling stage over BACnet/IP and compare with the NWS observation. Units that run compressors on cool mornings get a proposed MaintainX work order with the readings attached.

    With BACnet / IP, Weather & Severe Alerts, MaintainX

  • Catch a stuck damper before summer

    A damper commanded open that reports the same position all week is a stuck actuator. The operator proposes a Fiix work order on the unit, naming the point and the days it stayed put.

    With Tridium Niagara, Fiix

  • Reconcile outdoor-air sensors across a campus

    Every unit's outdoor-air reading should agree with the same NWS station. Ones that drift get a proposed UpKeep sensor check, batched per building so one visit covers them.

    With BACnet / IP, Weather & Severe Alerts, UpKeep

Requirements

  • A BACnet/IP connector or a Niagara station connector with read access to the air handlers' temperature, damper, and cooling points
  • The NWS weather signal, with each site's latitude and longitude so the nearest observation station can be found
  • A field service or CMMS connector such as Fiix, MaintainX, UpKeep, or Limble, with the air handlers listed as assets
  • A point map naming which objects are the outdoor-air, mixed-air, return-air, supply-air, and damper points on each unit
Authentication
Reads points through the read allow-list of your BACnet/IP or Niagara connector, reads NWS data with no key, and files work orders through the account your CMMS connector holds.

Limits

  • It works from temperatures and damper feedback. Units with no mixed-air sensor or no position feedback get fewer checks.
  • The nearest NWS station may sit some distance from a rooftop. The operator flags a disagreement; it does not decide which sensor is right.
  • It proposes repairs. It does not command dampers, change setpoints, or alter the economizer sequence in the controller.
  • Enthalpy-based economizers need a humidity reading at the unit. Where none exists it compares temperature only.

Access and pricing

Reference listing. Fibric builds the operator under a managed deployment when you request it. Your quote covers the build, capabilities, usage, and support.

Request Economizer Check ↗

Questions and answers

What do you approve before anything is filed?
Each work order. The proposal shows the unit, the fault it suspects, the readings and the NWS observation behind it, and the draft work order text. You can change the priority or the assignee, send it as written, or dismiss it.
What record does it leave?
One receipt per proposal, kept whether you approve or dismiss it: the readings used, the comparison made, the work order it filed and its id in your CMMS, who approved it, and how to cancel it. The work order carries the readings as a comment or attachment.
Will it move a damper or change a setpoint?
No. It reads points through the building connector's read allow-list and never writes to the controller. Its only outputs are proposed work orders, proposed closures, and the receipts behind them.
Ask about Economizer Check

Ask about the capabilities and requirements in this listing.

For project-specific requirements, contact Fibric.

This operator is developed, published, and supported by Fibric. Third-party names and logos identify the systems an integration connects to; they are the property of their respective owners, who are not affiliated with Fibric and do not sponsor or endorse this listing. Trademark policy