PORTABLE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING REFRIGERANT-CYCLE SYSTEMS
First Claim
1. A monitoring system for monitoring the operation of a refrigerant-cycle system, comprising:
- a monitoring unit comprising a processing system, a display, and one or more user input devices;
an airflow sensor provided to said monitoring unit;
a power sensor provided to said monitoring unit;
a temperature sensor provided to said monitoring unit; and
a network interface provided to said monitoring units, said monitoring unit using said network interface to query and receive performance information regarding an HVAC unit identified by a model number, said performance information comprising information related to an expected efficiency of said HVAC unit as a function of ambient temperature, said monitoring unit using airflow data received from said airflow sensor, power data received from said power sensor, and temperature data received from said temperature sensor to compute a current efficiency of said HVAC unit, said monitoring unit using said display to display a relationship between said current efficiency and said expected efficiency.
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Abstract
A portable monitoring system that monitors various aspects of the operation of a refrigerant-cycle system is described. In one embodiment, the system includes a processor that measures power provided to the refrigerant-cycle system and gathers data from one or more sensors and uses the sensor data to calculate a figure of merit related to the efficiency of the system. In one embodiment, the measurements performed by the monitoring system include one or more of: an evaporator input air temperature, an evaporator output air temperature, evaporator air flow, evaporator air humidity, condenser air input temperature, condenser air output temperature sensor, electrical power. In one embodiment, the portable monitoring system receives information about the refrigerant-cycle system from either the system itself or from a computer network.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A monitoring system for monitoring the operation of a refrigerant-cycle system, comprising:
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a monitoring unit comprising a processing system, a display, and one or more user input devices; an airflow sensor provided to said monitoring unit; a power sensor provided to said monitoring unit; a temperature sensor provided to said monitoring unit; and a network interface provided to said monitoring units, said monitoring unit using said network interface to query and receive performance information regarding an HVAC unit identified by a model number, said performance information comprising information related to an expected efficiency of said HVAC unit as a function of ambient temperature, said monitoring unit using airflow data received from said airflow sensor, power data received from said power sensor, and temperature data received from said temperature sensor to compute a current efficiency of said HVAC unit, said monitoring unit using said display to display a relationship between said current efficiency and said expected efficiency. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification