Matrix Total Home System Offers All-in-One Efficiency

When NTI founder Kevin Dennison visited western Canada in 1999, he found slab-on-grade houses with air conditioning and heat-recovery ventilation for the summer as well as radiant floor heating for the winter. Looking at all of the separate equipment and the space it required, Dennison wondered, “Why couldn’t we develop a unit that did everything in one cabinet?”

Designed for houses up to 3,500 ft2 (330 m2), NTI’s Matrix Total Home System does just that, incorporating a high-efficiency, gas-fired condensing boiler and furnace, condensing on-demand water heater, and heat-recovery ventilator into a single unit. Features include efficient, variable-speed, electronically commutated motors (ECM); a microprocessor that adjusts heat output based on actual loads and multiple zones; and a sealed-combustion burner that draws in outdoor air and directly vents exhaust. Because it comes with a 2" (50 mm) rather than 1" (25 mm) pleated filter, the system accommodates better air filtration than most residential-scale equipment. The system is designed for easy serviceability and access, and the boiler operates at a quiet 40 decibels. “You can’t hear them” except when they’re running in some cooling settings, said Derrick Trudgen of Trudgen Heating & Cooling.