System for monitoring energy consumption of an electrical appliance
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring energy consumption of a home appliance, the method comprising:
- sensing, employing a wireless sensing device that is in sufficient proximity to the appliance being monitored, when the appliance comes on and when it is turned off and assembling an appliance usage data;
measuring, employing the wireless sensing device, at least one of humidity, temperature, vibration and ambient light and assembling a measurement data; and
communicating an appliance usage data and measurement data to a data collection gateway by the wireless sensing device employing wireless communication means.
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Abstract
A system for monitoring energy consumption of an electrical appliance. The present invention provides an elegant means of monitoring energy consumption by legacy appliances such as a HVAC system. The energy consumption is monitored by the use of new and innovative wireless sensing device that is placed adjacent to or in contact with the appliance while it is operational. Appliance usage pattern information and power consumption information is communicated by the wireless sensing device and is collected by a gateway (and in some embodiments, an energy pump device, an intelligent power meter or a collector device). User behavior is modified by recommending approaches to cut energy consumption by the appliances thereby providing savings and reducing the cost of operation.
46 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring energy consumption of a home appliance, the method comprising:
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sensing, employing a wireless sensing device that is in sufficient proximity to the appliance being monitored, when the appliance comes on and when it is turned off and assembling an appliance usage data; measuring, employing the wireless sensing device, at least one of humidity, temperature, vibration and ambient light and assembling a measurement data; and communicating an appliance usage data and measurement data to a data collection gateway by the wireless sensing device employing wireless communication means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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3. The method of claim 3 wherein the wireless sensing device comprises a microphone to hear a constant flow of air, the sensing operation comprising:
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employing the microphone to determine if air is flowing thereby determining if the HVAC is turned on; using the microphone to determine if air has stopped flowing thereby determining if the HVAC is turned off; and monitoring the microphone to determine changes in the state of operation of the HVAC. - View Dependent Claims (4)
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10. A system for monitoring energy consumption of an appliance, the system comprising:
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a wireless sensing device that is located in physical contact with or in sufficient proximity to the appliance being monitored; a data collection gateway that collects data from the wireless sensing device and manages its operation; the wireless sensing device sensing when the appliance comes on and when it is turned off and assembling an appliance usage data; the wireless sensing device measuring at least one of humidity, temperature and ambient light and assembling a measurement data; and the wireless sensing device communicating an appliance usage data and measurement data to the data collection gateway employing wireless communication means. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for sensing operational states of an appliance, the system comprising:
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a wireless sensing device comprising; a light sensor to sense light changes; a temperature sensor to sense temperature changes; and an infra red (IR) sensor to sense motion; a vibration sensor to detect vibrations and movement; a gateway communicatively coupled to the wireless sensing device; rules configured in the wireless sensing device; and the wireless sensing device monitoring changes in light, temperature or motion and reporting it to the gateway based on the rules. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification