System and method for monitoring and reducing energy usage in the home
First Claim
1. A system for detecting, monitoring, and reporting energy use in a home having an HVAC device, said system comprising:
- a thermal sensor device in communication with the HVAC device and operable to detect and collect run-time data indicative of an energy consumption event, said thermal sensor device having a processor and a non-volatile memory configured to store said collected run-time data;
wherein said collected run-time data includes;
real time data including a start time and an end time regarding said energy consumption event;
only non-quantifiable data unrelated to electrical current or voltage or volume of natural gas or propane;
wherein said thermal sensor device includes a run-time sensor and operable for detecting in real time when the HVAC switches on or off;
an application running on a local computing device in data communication with said thermal sensor device and configured to receive said collected run-time data;
a remote computing device located remote from and in electronic communication with said application so as to receive said collected run-time data from said application, said remote computing device including a remote processor and a non-volatile memory having data structures and programming;
programming in said remote memory that, when executed by said remote processor, causes said remote processor to derive an energy use profile based on said received collected run-time data and said associated real time data and to deliver said derived energy use profile to said application;
wherein said application is configured to actuate an output member of the local computing device to display said derived energy use profile;
programming in said remote memory that, when executed by said remote processor, causes said remote processor to derive a proposed reduction of said energy use profile;
wherein said application is configured to actuate an output member of the local computing device to display said derived proposed reduction of said energy use profile and to deliver said derived proposed reduction of said energy use profile to said application;
wherein said application is operable to cause said HVAC device to start and stop according to said proposed reduction of said energy use profile;
wherein;
said collected energy use data includes variation data of thermal step response data indicative of a variation in time from an end of a respective “
on period” and
a next start time relative to activation of the energy consuming device;
said programming causes said remote processor to determine targeted advice data from said recommendation data based on said variation data derived from said collected energy use data, said real time data, said thermal step response data.
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Abstract
A system for reporting energy use in a home having an energy consuming device includes an energy sensor device in communication with the energy consuming device and configured to collect energy use data indicative of an energy consumption event. The collected energy use data includes real time data associated with the collected energy use data, including a start time and an end time. An application running on a local computing device receives the collected energy use data. A remote computing device is in electronic communication with the application so as to receive the collected energy use data from the application. Specific programming causes the remote computing device to consider energy use data, real time data, and associated weather data to derive a baseline energy use profile, a proposed reduction in energy usage, tracks savings and makes recommendations, said derivations being displayed by the software application on a local computing device.
25 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A system for detecting, monitoring, and reporting energy use in a home having an HVAC device, said system comprising:
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a thermal sensor device in communication with the HVAC device and operable to detect and collect run-time data indicative of an energy consumption event, said thermal sensor device having a processor and a non-volatile memory configured to store said collected run-time data; wherein said collected run-time data includes; real time data including a start time and an end time regarding said energy consumption event; only non-quantifiable data unrelated to electrical current or voltage or volume of natural gas or propane; wherein said thermal sensor device includes a run-time sensor and operable for detecting in real time when the HVAC switches on or off; an application running on a local computing device in data communication with said thermal sensor device and configured to receive said collected run-time data; a remote computing device located remote from and in electronic communication with said application so as to receive said collected run-time data from said application, said remote computing device including a remote processor and a non-volatile memory having data structures and programming; programming in said remote memory that, when executed by said remote processor, causes said remote processor to derive an energy use profile based on said received collected run-time data and said associated real time data and to deliver said derived energy use profile to said application; wherein said application is configured to actuate an output member of the local computing device to display said derived energy use profile; programming in said remote memory that, when executed by said remote processor, causes said remote processor to derive a proposed reduction of said energy use profile; wherein said application is configured to actuate an output member of the local computing device to display said derived proposed reduction of said energy use profile and to deliver said derived proposed reduction of said energy use profile to said application; wherein said application is operable to cause said HVAC device to start and stop according to said proposed reduction of said energy use profile; wherein; said collected energy use data includes variation data of thermal step response data indicative of a variation in time from an end of a respective “
on period” and
a next start time relative to activation of the energy consuming device;said programming causes said remote processor to determine targeted advice data from said recommendation data based on said variation data derived from said collected energy use data, said real time data, said thermal step response data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for detecting, monitoring, and reporting energy use in a home having a HVAC device, said system comprising:
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detecting and collecting time data associated with the HVAC device and including only time data unrelated to electrical current or voltage using thermal sensor device that is configured to detect and collect a start time and a stop time associated with an energy consumption event of the HVAC device; wherein said time data includes real time data associated with said time data, said real time data including a start time and an end time; receiving said collected time data via an application running on a local computing device in data communication with said thermal sensor device; receiving said collected time data on a remote computing device located remotely from and in electronic communication with said application; said remote computing device deriving an energy use profile based on said received collected time data and said associated real time data and delivering said derived energy use profile to said application; displaying said derived energy use profile via an output member of the local computing device; deriving a proposed reduction of said energy use profile and delivering said derived proposed reduction to said application; causing the HVAC device to start and stop according to the derived proposed reduction of said energy use profile; determining targeted advice data from recommendation data available from said remote computing device based on said collected energy use data, said real time data, and said associated weather data; displaying said targeted advice data by actuating an output member of the local computing device; wherein; said collected time data includes variation data of thermal step response data indicative of a variation in time from an end of a respective “
on period” and
a next start time relative to activation of the energy consuming device;said method comprising determining targeted advice data from said recommendation data based on said variation data derived from said collected energy use data, said real time data, said thermal step response data, and said associated weather data. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification