World’s First Smart Fresh Outdoor Air Ventilation Fan

This project creates a modern, energy-efficient approach to keeping air fresh and temperate within a home. This smart window fan system includes an app that allows users to monitor parameters and set personal preferences for using filtered outside air to intelligently ventilate, cool and heat.

The design uses extremely low power in an idle state, but can still exceed 250 cubic feet per minute of air flow when turned to full. It employs the ESP32 WiFi-enabled microcontroller, known as a system on a chip. When the internal sensor detects the temperature outside is cooler than the temperature inside, the fan pumps outside air through a MERV-8 air filter until the user’s desired temperature is reached.

The team developed logic and firmware to ensure ventilation occurs when the outdoor air temperature is cool – normally in late evening and early morning – and heating ventilation takes place when it’s warmer, normally late afternoon.

The unit is also able to communicate with a WiFi-enabled air quality sensor, allowing the user to set a desired quality index without integrating costly components. Using the MQTT protocol, a standard messaging protocol for the Internet of Things, the ESP32 communicates with Amazon’s web servers to allow control from the user’s phone, including setting desired temperature and humidity levels. The user can also operate the fan through manual controls if desired.