HVAC thermostat with fuel control

• US 10,461,951 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2016
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trane International Inc. (Trane Technologies plc)
• Original Assignee: Trane International Inc. (Trane Technologies plc)
• Inventors: Smith, Christopher Blake, Wiltzius, James Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Bradford, Jonathan
• Application Number:
  US15/288,054
• Publication Number:
  US 20170102723A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,117 Days
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/47 Responding to energy costs
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/52 Indication arrangements, e.g. displays
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2140/60 Energy consumption
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2614 HVAC, heating, ventillation, climate control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/28 characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks] wireless communication networks H04W ; arrangements for dividing the transmission path H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/6418 Hybrid transport

Abstract

Improvements to an HVAC thermostat include a fuel control module that estimates a rate of fuel usage by the HVAC system and issues a warning and optionally schedules a fuel delivery or solicits a fuel delivery bid when the on-site fuel supply drops beneath a predetermined level, a nightlight module that illuminates a touchscreen in accordance with at least one nightlight parameter, and a user interface mode control module that selects for display on the touchscreen display, a primary user interface from among a plurality of potential user interfaces based at least in part upon the frequency of use of each of the plurality of potential user interfaces.

Claims

1. An HVAC thermostat with fuel control for an HVAC system having an on-site fuel supply, comprising:

a touchscreen display; and

a processor and a memory unit; and

a database in communication with the HVAC system for storing information related to the on-site fuel supply;

wherein the memory unit stores a fuel control module, and

wherein the processor in communication with the memory unit and HVAC thermostat, is configured to cause the fuel control module to;

determine a time when the on-site fuel supply was refilled;

determine runtime data indicative of an aggregate runtime of the HVAC system since the time;

determine, as a function of the runtime data, an aggregate amount of fuel used since the time;

determine, as a function of the aggregate amount, a current fuel level of the on-site fuel supply; and

issue an alert when the current fuel level is below a predetermined level.

2. The HVAC thermostat with fuel control in accordance with claim 1, wherein the processor executing the fuel control module estimates a rate of fuel usage by performing a fuel calibration cycle to determine a fuel calibration constant.

3. The HVAC thermostat with fuel control in accordance with claim 2, wherein the fuel calibration constant is determined to represent an amount of fuel used per unit of run time.

4. The HVAC thermostat with fuel control in accordance with claim 2, wherein the fuel calibration constant is determined to represent an amount of fuel used per heating degree day.

5. The HVAC thermostat with fuel control in accordance with claim 1, wherein the processor executing the fuel control module is further configured to:

transmit a fuel delivery bid request to an online marketplace when the current fuel level is below the predetermined level;

receive at least one fuel delivery bid from a fuel delivery provider;

select a winning bid from among the at least one fuel delivery bid;

transmit a fuel delivery request to the fuel delivery provider corresponding to the winning bid, wherein the fuel delivery bid includes terms selected from a fuel price, a delivery time window, and a discount rate; and

receive a fuel delivery message that indicates a quantity of fuel added to the on-site fuel supply.

6. The HVAC thermostat with fuel control in accordance with claim 5, wherein the processor executing the fuel control module is further configured to receive the fuel delivery message from a user input indicative of a quantity of fuel added to the on-site fuel supply.

7. The HVAC thermostat with fuel control in accordance with claim 5, wherein the processor executing the fuel control module is further configured to receive the fuel delivery message from a fuel delivery provider that indicates a quantity of fuel added to the on-site fuel supply.

8. The HVAC thermostat with fuel control in accordance with claim 1, wherein the touchscreen display includes a fuel gauge indicative of the current level.

9. The HVAC thermostat with fuel control in accordance with claim 1, wherein the aggregate amount of fuel used since the time is determined as a function of the runtime data and a fuel calibration constant.

10. The HVAC thermostat with fuel control in accordance with claim 9, wherein the fuel calibration constant is determined as a function of a quantity of fuel used to refill the on-site fuel supply.