AUTOMATED ENERGY-CONSCIOUS ADJUSTMENTS THAT ARE RESPONSIVE TO USER-FEEDBACK

• US 20150066221A1
• Filed: 11/14/2014
• Published: 03/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Weaver, Jason C., Kayton, Bradley A.
• Application Number:
  US14/542,252
• Publication Number:
  US 20150066221A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/276
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/46 Improving electric energy efficiency or saving
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/52 Indication arrangements, e.g. displays
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/63 Electronic processing
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/64 using pre-stored data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/10 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/12 of the outside air
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/20 Humidity
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2130/00 Control inputs relating to environmental factors not covered by group F24F2110/00
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2130/10 Weather information or forecasts
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2130/20 Sunlight
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2140/60 Energy consumption
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/34306 Power down, energy saving
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1917 using digital means
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1927 using a plurality of sensors G05D23/1902, G05D23/1917, and G05D23/1919 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05F 1/66 Regulating electric power
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06314 Calendaring for a resource
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0257 : User requested
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 : Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/00 : Teaching not covered by other main groups of this subclass teaching or practice apparatus for gun-aiming or gun-laying F41G3/26
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/02 : with visual presentation of the material to be studied, e.g. using film strip
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/14 : The load or loads being home appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/00 : Circuit arrangements for ac mains or ac distribution networks
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/14 : by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/12 : Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2816 : Controlling appliance services of a home automation network by calling their functionalities arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station; in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom H04Q9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2827 : Reporting to a device within the home network; wherein the reception of the information reported automatically triggers the execution of a home appliance functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2829 : involving user profiles according to which the execution of a home appliance functionality is automatically triggered
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 : comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/30 : using a wired architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/43 : using wireless personal area networks [WPAN], e.g. 802.15, 802.15.1, 802.15.4, Bluetooth or ZigBee
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/60 : for transmitting utility meters data, i.e. transmission of data from the reader of the utility meter
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 : Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 : Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/00 : Wireless channel access
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/30 : Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/82 : Energy audits or management systems therefor
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/20 : End-user application control systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 50/14 : Marketing, i.e. market research and analysis, surveying, promotions, advertising, buyer profiling, customer management or rewards

Abstract

Accessing an energy management policy for a plurality of devices is described, wherein the devices are coupled with a first structure. The energy usage of the devices is monitored. An energy usage rule and energy usage is then compared. The energy management policy and energy usage is also compared. Based on the comparing, an instruction is generated to modify an energy usage profile of said device to correlate with the energy usage rule associated with the devices and the energy management policy, thereby enabling efficient energy management.

Claims

1. A system for conserving energy consumption of an energy consuming module, comprising:

an energy measurement module configured to;

monitor an energy consumption amount indicative of an amount of energy consumed by the energy consuming module, and

transmit energy consumption information indicative of the energy consumption amount to an energy management module;

the energy management module being coupled to the energy measurement module and configured to;

receive the energy consumption information from the energy measurement module,

calculate an adjustment to an operation of the energy consuming module, the adjustment being operable to reduce the amount of energy consumed by the energy consuming module,

generate a signal to make the adjustment to the operation of the energy consuming module, and

transmit the signal to a control module;

the control module being operatively coupled to the energy consuming module, coupled to the energy management module, and configured to;

receive the signal from the energy management module, and

in response to receiving the signal, operate the energy consuming module in accordance with the adjustment; and

a user interface coupled to the energy management module and configured to;

receive user input indicating acceptability of the adjustment, and

transmit the user input to the energy management module,

wherein the energy management module is further configured to modify a set of rules based on the user input, the set of rules being specific to the energy consuming module and controlling the operation of the energy consuming module.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface is further configured to generate a query for user feedback regarding the adjustment, and wherein the received user input is a response to the query.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a temperature sensor communicatively coupled to the energy management module and configured to;

measure a temperature of an enclosure, and

transmit the temperature of the enclosure to the energy management module,

wherein the energy management module generates the signal to make the adjustment to the operation of the energy consuming module based on the temperature of the enclosure, and

wherein the energy consuming module is a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface is a voice user interface.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface is a graphical user interface.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a messaging server system configured to;

generate a notification indicating the adjustment has been made, the notification being at least one of an email message and a short message service (SMS) message, and

transmit the notification to a user account.

7. A method for conserving energy consumption of an energy consuming device, comprising:

monitoring an energy consumption amount indicative of an amount of energy consumed by the energy consuming device;

calculating an adjustment to an operation of the energy consuming device, the adjustment being operable to reduce the amount of energy consumed by the energy consuming device;

operating the energy consuming device in accordance with the calculated adjustment;

receiving user input indicating acceptability of the adjustment; and

modifying a set of rules based on the user input, the set of rules being specific to the energy consuming device and controlling the operation of the energy consuming device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the received user input is a second adjustment to the operation of the energy consuming device that affects the calculated adjustment.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

generating a notification indicating the adjustment has been made; and

communicating the notification to a user.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein communicating the notification includes transmitting the notification to a mobile device of the user via a wireless communication link.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

calculating a cost savings amount resulting from making the adjustment to the operation of the energy consuming device; and

communicating the cost savings amount to a user.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

storing a history of energy consumption information for the energy consuming device;

determining an energy consumption trend based on the history of energy consumption information for the energy consuming device; and

comparing the energy consumption trend to a desired energy usage profile for the energy consuming device,

wherein the adjustment to the operation of the energy consuming device is calculated based on the comparing.

13. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving a user defined energy expense budget; and

comparing the energy consumption information to the user defined energy expense budget,

wherein the adjustment to the operation of the energy consuming device is calculated based on the comparing.

14. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving a rate schedule including a plurality of time periods and a per unit energy price associated with each time period,

wherein the adjustment to the operation of the energy consuming device is calculated based on the rate schedule, and

wherein the adjustment to the operation of the energy consuming device adjusts a time that the energy consuming device is in operation.

15. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving a rate schedule including a plurality of time periods and a per unit energy price associated with each time period,

wherein the adjustment to the operation of the energy consuming device is calculated based on the rate schedule, and

wherein the adjustment to the operation of the energy consuming device adjusts a time that the energy consuming device is in operation.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

means for comparing the energy consumption information to a desired energy usage profile for the energy consuming device,

wherein the adjustment to the operation of the energy consuming device is calculated based on the comparing.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

means for storing a history of energy consumption for the energy consuming device; and

means for generating the desired energy usage profile based on the history of energy consumption.

18. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

means for receiving a device identification of the energy consuming device; and

means for retrieving device information for the energy consuming device using the device identification,

wherein the adjustment to the operation of the energy consuming device is calculated based on the device information.

19. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

means for storing a history of user inputs;

means for associating a time of day with each stored user input; and

means for determining a daily preference trend indicating a user'"'"'s preference for the operation of the energy consuming device on a daily basis,

wherein the adjustment to the operation of the energy consuming device is calculated based on the daily preference trend.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

means for associating a season of year with each stored user input; and

means for determining a seasonal preference trend indicating the user'"'"'s preference for the operation of the energy consuming device on a seasonal basis,

wherein the adjustment to the operation of the energy consuming device is calculated further based on the seasonal preference trend.