AUTO-CONFIGURING TIME-OF DAY FOR BUILDING CONTROL UNIT
First Claim
1. A thermostat, comprising:
- a power source;
a housing;
a clock function for tracking time-of-day;
a sensor configured to read environmental conditions that vary with time-of-day;
a processor configured to;
receive input from the sensor,estimate time-of-day using the sensor, andprogram the clock function using the estimated time-of-day;
an electronic display configured to display information to a user; and
a plurality of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) wire connectors coupled to the processing system and configured control an HVAC system as a function of the estimated time-of-day.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Provided according to some embodiments is a thermostat is capable of discerning the time-of-day without external input. Should the user fail to set the time, the thermostat uses one or more sensors to determine the time-of-day through a variety of techniques. In one example, a light sensor can monitor natural light to understand the cycle of sun with respect to the installation location. From the cycle of natural light a latitude, time-of-year, time-of-day, etc. can be estimated through processing sensor information over time. Should the thermostat have its time manually set or gathered from the network, it would override the estimated time-of-day. Techniques can be used filter input from the one or more sensors to avoid confusion from other inputs, for example, man-made lighting.
30 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A thermostat, comprising:
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a power source; a housing; a clock function for tracking time-of-day; a sensor configured to read environmental conditions that vary with time-of-day; a processor configured to; receive input from the sensor, estimate time-of-day using the sensor, and program the clock function using the estimated time-of-day; an electronic display configured to display information to a user; and a plurality of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) wire connectors coupled to the processing system and configured control an HVAC system as a function of the estimated time-of-day. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 7)
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6. The thermostat of claim 6, wherein the estimated time-of-day is a function of the zip code and the sensor.
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8. A method for operating a thermostat, the method comprising:
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loading sensor readings of environmental conditions; processing the sensor readings of environmental conditions using the thermostat;
wherein the environmental conditions correlate with time-of-day;estimating time-of-day from the environmental conditions; tracking the estimated time-of-day within the thermostat; controlling heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) wire connectors coupled to the thermostat, wherein the HVAC wired connectors are configured to control an HVAC system as a function of the estimated time-of-day. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A device for governing and/or facilitating the governance of a resource consuming system, comprising:
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a power input; a housing; a clock function for tracking time-of-day; a sensor input configured to receive environmental conditions that vary with time-of-day; a learning function configured to; estimate time-of-day using the sensor input readings of the environmental conditions, and program the clock function using the estimated time-of-day; at least one output that provides at least one output signal that is used in governance of the resource-consuming system, wherein said output signal is at least in part a function of the estimated time-of-day. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification