CLIMATE CONTROL SYSTEM INCLUDING RESPONSIVE CONTROLLERS

• US 20080054082A1
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Published: 03/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Copeland Comfort Control LP (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: Emerson Electric Company
• Inventors: Sartain, John, Evans, Edward, Subhash, Baviskar, Donnelly, Donald, Butler, William, Miles, Ron, Carey, Steven
• Granted Patent: US 8,689,572 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 236/91D
• CPC Class Codes: F24D 12/02 having more than one heat source using heat pumps, in water central heating systems F24D3/18; in air central heating systems F24D5/12; in systems using heat storage masses F24D11/02
• CPC Class Codes: F24D 19/1039 the system uses a heat pump
• CPC Class Codes: F24D 2200/04 Gas or oil fired boiler
• CPC Class Codes: F24D 2200/08 Electric heater
• CPC Class Codes: F24D 2200/12 Heat pump
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1905 associated with tele control
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 30/00 Energy efficient heating, ventilation or air conditioning [HVAC]

Abstract

A thermostat is provided that receives one or more inputs from at least one heating system of a climate control system, and initiates an appropriate action in response to the input. The thermostat can turn off a heat pump providing substandard heat and responsively turn on a fuel-fired auxiliary furnace. The thermostat may discontinue further operation of the auxiliary furnace upon receiving an operating error signal associated with the auxiliary furnace, and responsively turn on the heat pump to provide for continued heating. The thermostat may also discontinue operation of the fuel-fired furnace and turn on a circulating fan in response to an input signal indicating a furnace high-temperature or a carbon monoxide presence.

Claims

1. A system for controlling the operation of an HVAC system, comprising:

a network for providing communication with at least one of a furnace controller, indoor blower controller, or a unitary controller;

a thermostat capable of receiving signals via the network, and of sending signals to both a furnace controller, indoor blower controller, and a unitary controller via the network, the thermostat having a color display, where upon receiving a signal from either a furnace controller, indoor blower controller, or a unitary controller, the thermostat is configured to respond by displaying information associated with the signal received from either the furnace controller or unitary controller.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the signal received by the thermostat is an HVAC system fault selected from the group consisting of a furnace system lock-out, a flame sense failure, a heat pump system lock-out, a low refrigerant charge, a low pressure limit switch, a compressor lock-out, a high blower motor current, a blower motor high temperature switch, or combinations thereof.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the thermostat is further configured to display any HVAC operation action initiated by the thermostat in response to the signal received via the network.

4. The system of claim 1 where upon receiving a signal indicating a heat pump system lockout, the thermostat is configured to initiate operation of an auxiliary heating system, and also configured to display a message indicating that the heat pump system lock-out and a message indicating that the auxiliary heating system is enabled.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the thermostat is configured to display a message against a background consisting of contrasting colors for alerting an occupant of the information being displayed.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the thermostat is configured to display a background of a particular color for indicating a particular mode of operation or in-operation of the HVAC system.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the thermostat may be prompted by a user or technician to communicate a signal for requesting a history of fault information from a particular controller.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the thermostat may be configured through a user-selected setting of the thermostat'"'"'s program to request a history of fault information from a particular controller upon receipt of a fault signal from a particular controller.

9. The system of claim 7 wherein the thermostat is configured to communicate a signal to at least one of a furnace controller, indoor blower controller, or a unitary controller requesting a history of fault information, subsequent to which the signaled furnace controller, indoor blower controller, or unitary controller responds by recalling one or more faults stored in a memory of the controller for transmission of one or more signals of a number of HVAC system faults to the thermostat.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the one or more signals comprise any number of HVAC system faults selected from the group consisting of a furnace system lock-out, a flame sense failure, a heat pump system lock-out, a low refrigerant charge, a low pressure limit switch, a compressor lock-out, a high blower motor current, a blower motor high temperature switch, or combinations thereof.

11. The system of claim 7 further comprising a two-wire network that the unitary controller and thermostat are connected to, wherein the unitary controller is configured to transmit signals after the last transmission and a fixed time period that is unique to the unitary controller, and the thermostat is configured to transmit signals after the last transmission and a fixed time period that is unique to the thermostat.

12. A system for controlling the operation of a heat pump and auxiliary heating system, comprising:

a unitary controller for establishing and monitoring the operation of at least a compressor of an outside condenser unit of a heat pump system;

a thermostat configured to send signals to the unitary controller for requesting operation of at least the compressor, wherein the unitary controller is configured to detect when the outside ambient temperature is below a balance point and to responsively communicate a signal to the auxiliary heating system to initiate auxiliary heating operation during any time period in which the outside ambient temperature is below the balance point and the thermostat communicates a request to the unitary controller for heating operation.

13. The system of claim 12 where upon initiation of a defrost cycle for the heat pump, the unitary controller communicates a signal to the auxiliary heating system requesting auxiliary heating operation during the defrost cycle to provide a source of supplemental heating during the defrost cycle.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the auxiliary heating system is an electric heat source disposed within an indoor air circulator unit, which indoor air circulator unit includes a controller that selectively operates the auxiliary heating system upon receiving a signal from the unitary controller requesting auxiliary heating operation during the defrost cycle.

15. The system of claim 12 further comprising a two-wire network that the unitary controller and thermostat are connected to, wherein the unitary controller is configured to transmit signals after the last transmission and a fixed time period that is unique to the unitary controller, and the thermostat is configured to transmit signals after the last transmission and a fixed time period that is unique to the thermostat.

16. A thermostat for controlling the operation of a heat pump or heating system, comprising:

a network connection connected to a communication system in connection with at least one external device consisting of an outdoor temperature sensor, a heat pump, and a furnace, for enabling communication of signals to the thermostat;

a display device; and

a controller for controlling the display device and thermostat operation, the controller being configured to receive signals via the communication means, wherein response to an input signal from an external device controller is configured to respond by displaying information associated with the input signal on the display device.

17. The thermostat of claim 16 where the thermostat controller is configured to display on the display device information indicating the heat pump is disabled in response to receiving a signal from a heat pump identifying a lockout of the heat pump, and to display on the display device information indicating the furnace is disabled in response to receiving a signal from a furnace identifying a lockout of the furnace.

18. The thermostat of claim 16 where the controller is further configured to display on the display device any corrective action initiated by the thermostat in response to the signal received from an external device.

19. The thermostat of claim 16 further comprising an input means, which when selected, prompts the controller to display on the display device signal information received by the controller from a particular external device, for providing a history of fault information relating to the particular external device for aiding in troubleshooting.

20. The thermostat of claim 19 wherein the controller is configured to display on the display device a description of the information associated with the signal received from the external device, and the time of the signal.