How do I commission a PEARL for proper ventilation?

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Configurations and Options

There are two items to answer before commissioning a Pelican PEARL for proper ventilation:

1. Does the HVAC unit’s supply fan have one speed or multiple speeds?

2. Does the Pelican thermostat connected to the PEARL have a CO2 sensor?

The below steps will explain how to configure the PEARL so it is always providing proper ventilation rates. As you read through the commissioning process, you will see references to the questions above and how those affect the next steps.

Note: To commission a Pelican PEARL, you will need access to the Pelican Climate Management App for the site you are commissioning. To gain access, please have a Pelican Site Administrator add you to the App.

Setting the Minimum Ventilation Rate:

Login to the Pelican Climate Management App for the site you are commissioning.
Select Admin.
Select Thermostat Configuration.
Find the thermostat wired to the HVAC unit you are commissioning and select that thermostat.
Scroll down to Economizer. This should be set to ON.
- NOTE: If the Economizer section is not showing up under that thermostat’s configurations, there is either no Pelican PEARL wired to this thermostat OR the PEARL is not wired correctly to the thermostat.
Under the Economizer section, Set Auto Configure to NO.
With Auto Configure set to NO, more configuration options will appear under the Economizer configuration section. Scroll down this section until you see Minimum Damper Position.
- If you do not see Minimum Damper Position, make sure Variable Damper is set to ON.
Set an initial Minimum Damper Position. The default is 10% open.
Scroll to the top of the Thermostat Configuration screen and note the group the thermostat is in.
Hit the back button in the upper left hand corner of the app until you are on the Main screen of the app.
Find the group the thermostat is in and select that group.
Find the thermostat and select the thermostat to go into its climate control page.
Select System and set to OFF. Select Fan and set to ON. Make sure Outside Ventilation is set to ON.
- The thermostat will turn on the supply fan and open the damper to the Minimum Damper Position.
Take a reading of how much CFM the outside damper is pulling in.
If there is not enough ventilation: follow steps 2 to 8 and change the Minimum Damper Position to a higher percentage. If there is too much ventilation: follow steps 2 to 8 and change the Minimum Damper Position to a lower percentage. If the outside damper did not move, is at 0% open or is at 100% open then either the Variable Damper configurations are incorrect and the PEARL is not wired to the outside damper correctly.
- As you adjust the Minimum Damper Position percentage in the thermostat configuration, it will automatically be pushed to the thermostat and the PEARL will adjust the outside damper accordingly. Because the configuration push to the thermostat is based on the health of the Pelican wireless network at the facility, always give the PEARL 5-10 minutes to receive the percentage change.
Once you are done adjusting the Minimum Damper Position, you can either hit the back button in the upper left hand corner of the Thermostat Configuration page to exit and save your configurations.
If you are commissioning a thermostat with a CO2 sensor for Demand Ventilation, go to the next section called Maximum Damper Position.
If you have multiple fan speeds, go to the section below Setting Ventilation Rates for a Multi-Speed Fan HVAC unit.

Setting the Maximum Ventilation Rate (for Demand Ventilation Only):

Follow the steps above under Setting the Minimum Damper Position first.
Under the Thermostat Configuration page for the thermostat you are commissioning, scroll down to Economizer configuration section. This should already be set for the Minimum Damper Position.
- NOTE: The outside damper will be placed at the Minimum Damper Position anytime the room is normally occupied, the supply fan is enabled, and the CO2 levels are below the CO2 Ventilation setting.
Under the Economizer section, scroll down to Demand Ventilation and make sure it is set to ON.
The Maximum Ventilation Position sets the furthest open position the PEARL will place the outside damper for a Demand Ventilation Cycle. To find what position this needs to be set to, we are going to temporarily use the Minimum Damper Position configuration.
- NOTE: The Maximum Ventilation Position only restricts the outside damper for Demand Ventilation sequences and does NOT restrict an economizer sequence.
Record your Minimum Damper Position setting so you do not forget it. Then adjust the Minimum Damper Position configuration to what you believe the Maximum Ventilation Position should be.
Scroll to the top of the Thermostat Configuration screen and note the group the thermostat is in.
Hit the back button in the upper left hand corner of the app until you are on the Main screen of the app.
Find the group the thermostat is in and select that group.
Find the thermostat and select the thermostat to go into its climate control page.
Select System and set to OFF. Select Fan and set to ON. Make sure Outside Ventilation is set to ON.
- The thermostat will turn on the supply fan and open the damper to the new Minimum Damper Position.
Take a reading of how much CFM the outside damper is pulling in.
If there is not enough ventilation: change the Minimum Damper Position to a higher percentage. If there is too much ventilation: change the Minimum Damper Position to a lower percentage.
- As you adjust the Minimum Damper Position percentage in the thermostat configuration, it will automatically be pushed to the thermostat and the PEARL will adjust the outside damper accordingly. Because the configuration push to the thermostat is based on the health of the Pelican wireless network at the facility, always give the PEARL 5-10 minutes to receive the percentage change.
Once you are done adjusting the Minimum Damper Position: copy the percentage into the Maximum Ventilation Position configuration and change the Minimum Damper Position configuration back to your original percentage.
To set the CO2 Ventilation configuration, under the Thermostat Configuration page you scroll up to the configuration section called Temperature Settings.
Find the configuration called CO2 Ventilation.
This configuration sets to CO2 level for when the PEARL will BEGIN to increase the ventilation rate into the room. It is not a set-point, it is the point at which more ventilation begins to occur. Pelican recommends setting this to 800 PPM if the local code requires you to maintain 1000 PPM. The lower you set the CO2 Ventilation configuration the quicker the sooner the PEARL will begin to increase the ventilation rate.
- NOTE: The PEARL will never increase the ventilation rate further than the Maximum Ventilation Position percentage configured for the thermostat.
Once you are done with the configurations, select the back button in the upper left hand corner of the Thermostat Configuration page to exit and save your configurations. OR you can move on to configuring the Maximum Damper Position (only required if the thermostat has a CO2 sensor).

Setting the Ventilation Rates for a Multi-Speed Fan HVAC Unit:

First follow the steps above under Setting the Minimum Damper Position and Setting the Maximum Ventilation Position before following these steps. If Variable Speed Fan is set for ON before you follows the above steps, set Variable Speed Fan to OFF, go through the above steps, and then come back to this section at the end.
With you Minimum Damper Position and Maximum Ventilation Position set, if you have a multi-speed fan unit: under the Thermostat Configuration, scroll down to the Variable Speed Fan configuration section and set this configuration to ON.
Set the fan speed percentage for each stage.
- NOTE: You will only see the number of stages the thermostat is set to control. The stage configurations can be found at the top of the Thermostat Configuration page under the configuration section Thermostat Settings.
Once you have the fan speeds set, you are done.
The PEARL will place the outside damper at the configured Minimum Damper Position when the fan is at the Highest Speed. It will automatically calculate and adjust the outside damper position further open as the fan speed slows down to continue to provide the minimum ventilation rate.
- NOTE: The PEARL will never open the outside damper beyond the Maximum Ventilation Position configuration.