ENERGY CONSUMPTION MONITOR

• US 20120215464A1
• Filed: 02/18/2011
• Published: 08/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Utilivista Limited
• Original Assignee: Utilivista Limited
• Inventors: DAUBNEY, Stuart
• Application Number:
  US13/030,455
• Publication Number:
  US 20120215464A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/24
• CPC Class Codes: F24D 19/1048 Counting of energy consumption
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 17/06 Measuring quantity of heat conveyed by flowing media, e.g. in heating systems G01K17/02, G01K17/04 take precedencee.g. the quantity of heat in a transporting medium, delivered to or consumed in an expenditure device

Abstract

The apparatus and method of the present invention provides accurate consumption and efficiency data for a given system by taking into account many of the external factors described. The apparatus receives inputs from a number of different sources including environmental sensors, utility meters and other device sensors. The input data are transmitted to a central base-station that communicates the data to a remote server. The server uses the sensor data and calculates system performance values, for example energy consumption and cost, and compares these to a number of preset values, for example user defined targets or ‘Best-In-Class’ performance. The data are then available to a user online via a secure web-based interface.

Claims

1. Device performance monitoring apparatus for monitoring the performance of a device comprising:

performance measuring means for measuring actual performance data of the device;

parameter measuring means for measuring parameters influencing the performance of the device;

transmitting means for transmitting data from the performance measuring means and the parameter measuring means to a processor;

wherein the processor calculates the actual performance of the device and compares the actual performance data to optimal performance data based on the data obtained from the parameter measuring means.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the performance data comprises the fuel consumption of the device.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the performance data comprises the economic consumption (or cost) of the device.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the performance data comprises the CO₂ emissions of the device.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the optimal performance data comprise the optimal performance data for the specific device operating in the specific environment.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the parameter measuring means comprises load measuring means for measuring the load on the device.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the load measuring means measures and records the production rate of the device.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the load measuring means measures and records the heating and/or cooling requirements of the device.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the apparatus comprises display means to display the actual performance of the device in comparison with the optimal performance for the device.

10. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the apparatus comprises display means and the display means is arranged to display actual performance characteristics of the device in comparison with the performance characteristics of a second device.

11. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the apparatus comprises display means and the display means is arranged to display actual performance characteristics of the device in comparison with the device operating with different parameters.

12. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the device comprises display means to display the actual performance of the device in comparison with the performance of a second device wherein the performance of the second device is calculated from a database using the data recorded from the parameter measuring means.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12 in which the second device is a best in class device.

14. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the device comprises display means to display the actual performance of the device in comparison with the performance of the same device under design conditions.

15. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the parameter measuring means measures environmental factors which influence the performance of the device.

16. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the performance measuring means measures the actual energy consumption of the device.

17. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the performance measuring means measures the actual electrical consumption of the device.

18. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the performance measuring means measures the fuel consumption of the device.

19. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the performance measuring means measures the effluent produced by the device.

20. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the parameter measuring means comprises at least one sensor.

21. Apparatus according to claim 20 in which the parameter measuring means comprises a plurality of sensors.

22. Apparatus according to claim 20 in which the parameter measuring means comprises at least one environmental sensor.

23. Apparatus according to claim 20 in which the parameter measuring means comprises a temperature sensor which senses and records the temperature of the environment around the device.

24. Apparatus according to claim 20 in which the parameter measuring means comprises a sensor to sense the configuration of an enclosure in which the device is located.

25. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the apparatus comprises display means and the display means displays and compares cost data.

26. Apparatus according to claim 1 the apparatus comprises display means and in which the display means displays and compares CO₂ emission data.

27. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the apparatus comprises display means and the display means comprises internet based display means.

28. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the transmitting means is arranged to periodically transmit the data to the processor.

29. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the transmitting means comprises wireless data transmitting means.

30. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the device comprises a utility consumption device.

31. A device performance monitoring method for monitoring the performance of a device comprising:

measuring and recording data for the actual performance of the device;

measuring and recording parameter data influencing the performance of the device;

transmitting data from parameter measuring means and performance measuring means to a processor;

comparing the actual performance data of the device to optimal performance data.

32. A method according to claim 31 in which the method comprises measuring load parameters influencing the performance of the device.

33. A method according to claim 31 in which the method comprises measuring environmental parameters influencing the performance of the device.

34. A method according to claim 31 in which the method comprises measuring building or process parameters influencing the performance of the device.

35. A method according to claim 31 in which the method comprises measuring operating profile parameters of the device.