Control System Components 209

Humidistat
Humidistats are similar in appearance to thermostats; how-
ever, instead of using a bimetal strip as the sensor, humidity is
sensed by a hygroscopic, or water absorbing, material such as
human hair, nylon, silk, wood or leather. Nylon is generally used.
Humidistats may be direct acting or reverse acting. For example,
a reverse acting humidistat controls a normally closed two-way
steam valve. As the room’s relative humidity drops the pressure
to the valve is increased, opening the valve and allowing steam to
enter the humidifier.

Master/Submaster Controller
A master controller is one which transmits its output signal to
another controller. The second controller is called the submaster.
The submaster’s setpoint will change as the signal from the master
controller changes. This is a reset type of control. For example, a
space thermostat is the master controller. The branch output signal
from the master controller is piped to the reset port on the
submaster controller. The branch output from the submaster is
piped to a two-way normally open hot water valve. The remote
sensing element for the submaster is located in the discharge air
duct. Both master and submaster are piped with main air. As the
space thermostat (master controller) senses an increase in room
temperature, an increased pressure is sent to the submaster con-
troller to reset its set point lower. The submaster then senses dis-
charge temperature and sends a signal to the valve to close down.
Another application is to reset the hot water or hot deck discharge
air temperature submaster controller from the outside air tempera-
ture master controller. For example, a master controller in the out-
side air is set for 70°F. The submaster controller operates the
heating valve in the piping from the boiler. The setpoint on the
submaster is 80°F. As the outside air temperature falls, the
submaster setpoint is reset upwards and the hot water temperature
is increased. The relation between the master and submaster in this
example is 1 to 2, i.e., for every one degree the outside air tempera-
ture drops, the water temperature is reset upwards by two degrees.
210 HVAC Fundamentals

The reset schedule is:

OA Water Controller
Temp. Temp. Output
70°F 80°F 3 psig
40°F 140°F 9 psig
10°F 200°F 15 psig

Receiver-controller and Transmitter

The receiver-controller and transmitter is the controlling de-
vice used most often in present day pneumatic HVAC control sys-
tems. The receiver-controller, like the other controllers, receives a
signal from a sensor and then varies its branch output pressure to
the controlled device. The sensing device for receiver-controllers
is the transmitter. Transmitters are one-pipe, direct acting, bleed-
type devices which use a restrictor in the supply line to help
maintain the proper volume of compressed air between the trans-
mitter and the receiver-controller. The transmitter sends a varying
pneumatic signal back to the receiver-controller. Transmitters are
used to sense temperature, pressure or humidity. All transmitters
have an pressure output span of 12 psig (15 minus 3). However,
they come in a variety of transmitter spans such as 0 to 100°F (100
degree span), 25 degrees to 125°F (150 degree span), 30% RH to
80% RH (50% relative humidity span), 0 inches to 7 inches (7
inches water column air pressure span), etc. The transmitter’s out-
put span divided by its transmitter span is called the sensitivity
of the transmitter. For example, a transmitter that has a 100 degree
span would have a sensitivity of 0.12 psig per degree (12 psig
divided by 100 degrees).

CONTROLLED DEVICES

A controlled device is a fluid flow control device such as a

damper for air control or a valve for water or steam control. It is
the final component in the control system. Attached to the con-