METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LIMITING CONSUMPTION

• US 20150167997A1
• Filed: 12/12/2013
• Published: 06/18/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC), Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, Khalifa University Of Science, Technology & Research
• Original Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC), Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, Khalifa University of Science and Technology
• Inventors: Saffre, Fabrice, Shackleton, Mark, Hildmann, Hanno, Nicolas, Sbastien Matthieu Ren
• Granted Patent: US 9,841,201 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 11/64 using pre-stored data

Abstract

This invention relates to methods and systems for limiting consumption, particularly power consumption, more particularly by appliances in a building, and is generally suitable for integration with building management systems. Embodiments of the invention provide arrangements in which the aggregated power load of a plurality of appliances is capped to a selected value (which may be arbitrary, or may be dictated by conditions) whilst seeking to minimize the deviation from target environmental conditions within the building through a combination of distributed decision making by the appliances themselves and centralized orchestration, which may be informed by real-time sensor readings and/or known properties of the building. The distributed decision-making by individual devices may be based on projected deviation from the target conditions after a period of activity or inactivity but with a central controller which determines which devices should be switched on.

Claims

1. A method of limiting power consumption in a plurality of climate control appliances, each of which is communicably coupled to a controller, the climate control appliances having a running cycle of predetermined length, the method including the steps of:

setting a cap for the total power consumption of the appliances;

setting a set point for a climate parameter for each climate control appliance; and

before the end of each running cycle, each climate control appliance;

measuring a climate parameter associated with the area around said climate control appliance;

predicting whether said appliance being active for the next running cycle will result in the climate parameter being closer to the set point for said appliance than if said appliance is inactive for the next running cycle; and

if it is predicted that said appliance being inactive results in the climate parameter being closer to the set point, maintaining said appliance in an inactive state for the next running cycle;

if it is predicted that said appliance being active results in the climate parameter being closer to the set point, said appliance communicating with the controller to request permission to be in an active state for the next running cycle;

the controller;

selecting some or all of said appliances which have requested permission to be active for the next running cycle such that said cap is not exceeded and taking account of the predicted deviation of each appliance from its set point if it is not activated; and

communicating with said selected appliances to cause them to be active for the next running cycle.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of selecting includes the sub-steps of:

determining the total number of said appliances requesting permission to be in an active state for the next running cycle and checking whether said cap is exceeded with all such appliances being in an active state; and

if it is not, communicating with each appliance requesting permission to cause said appliances to be active for the next running cycle;

if it is, determining a subset of said appliances which can be active such that the cap is not exceeded and the overall deviation of said climate parameters from said set points is minimized and communicating with said subset of appliances to cause the appliances in said subset to be active for the next running cycle.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the step determining a subset of said appliances includes the sub-steps of:

selecting, from the appliances requesting permission, the appliance whose predicted climate parameter at the end of the next running cycle if the appliance is inactive is furthest from the set point for said appliance, and adding said appliance to the subset; and

repeating said selection for the remaining appliances requesting permission until adding a further appliance to the said subset would cause the cap to be exceeded.

4. A method according to claim 1, further including the steps of:

determining the occupancy of an area served by at least one of said climate control appliances; and

either;

setting said set point for said appliance based on said determination of occupancy, or

taking said occupancy into account when selecting if said appliance is to be active for the next running cycle.

5. A method according to claim 1, further including the step of:

adjusting said cap or removing said cap by incrementally increasing said cap over a predetermined period of time.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the cap is dynamically adjusted to match the demand level of said plurality of climate control appliances to a time-varying power supply level.

7. A climate control appliance which is communicably coupled to a controller and has a running cycle of predetermined length, the climate control appliance having a processor which is arranged to:

store a set point for a climate parameter associated with said appliance;

before said climate control appliance reaches the end of each running cycle;

measure a climate parameter associated with the area around said climate control appliance;

predict whether said appliance being active for the next running cycle will result in the climate parameter being closer to the set point for said appliance than if said appliance is inactive for the next running cycle; and

if it is predicted that said appliance being inactive results in the climate parameter being closer to the set point, maintain said appliance in an inactive state for the next running cycle;

if it is predicted that said appliance being active results in the climate parameter being closer to the set point, communicate with the controller to request permission to be in an active state for the next running cycle and receive from the controller a communication regarding the activation of the appliance for the next running cycle and set the status of the appliance for that running cycle accordingly.

8. A climate control appliance according to claim 7, wherein the appliance further includes an occupancy determination sensor which is arranged to determine the occupancy of an area served by said climate control appliance, and wherein the processor is further arranged to set said set point for said appliance based on said determination of occupancy.

9. A building management system comprising a plurality of climate control appliances communicably coupled to a controller, each of the climate control appliances having a running cycle of predetermined length and a processor which is arranged to:

store a set point for a climate parameter associated with said appliance;

before said climate control appliance reaches the end of each running cycle;

measure a climate parameter associated with the area around said climate control appliance;

predict whether said appliance being active for the next running cycle will result in the climate parameter being closer to the set point for said appliance than if said appliance is inactive for the next running cycle; and

if it is predicted that said appliance being inactive results in the climate parameter being closer to the set point, maintain said appliance in an inactive state for the next running cycle;

if it is predicted that said appliance being active results in the climate parameter being closer to the set point, communicate with the controller to request permission to be in an active state for the next running cycle and receive from the controller a communication regarding the activation of the appliance for the next running cycle and set the status of the appliance for that running cycle accordingly,

and wherein the controller is arranged to;

store a cap for the total power consumption of the appliances;

select some or all of said appliances which have requested permission to be active for the next running cycle such that said cap is not exceeded and taking account of the predicted deviation of each appliance from its set point if it is not activated; and

communicate with said selected appliances to cause them to be active for the next running cycle.

10. A building management system according to claim 9, wherein the controller is further arranged to:

determine the total number of said appliances requesting permission to be in an active state for the next running cycle and check whether said cap is exceeded with all such appliances being in an active state;

if it is not, communicate with each appliance requesting permission to cause said appliances to be active for the next running cycle;

if it is, determine a subset of said appliances which can be active such that the cap is not exceeded and the overall deviation of said climate parameters from said set points is minimized and communicate with said subset of appliances to cause the appliances in said subset to be active for the next running cycle.

11. A building management system according to claim 10, wherein the controller is arranged to determine said subset by:

selecting, from the appliances requesting permission, the appliance whose predicted climate parameter at the end of the next running cycle if the appliance is inactive is furthest from the set point for said appliance, and adding said appliance to the subset; and

repeating said selection for the remaining appliances requesting permission until adding a further appliance to the said subset would cause the cap to be exceeded.

12. A building management system according to claim 9, wherein at least one of said appliances further includes an occupancy determination sensor which is arranged to determine the occupancy of an area served by said climate control appliance, and wherein either:

the processor is further arranged to set said set point for said appliance based on said determination of occupancy;

or the controller is arranged to take said occupancy into account when selecting if said appliance is to be active for the next running cycle.

13. A building management system according to claim 9, wherein the controller is further arranged to adjust said cap or remove said cap by incrementally increasing said cap over a predetermined period of time.

14. A building management system according to claim 9, wherein the cap is dynamically adjusted to match the demand level of said plurality of climate control appliances to a time-varying power supply level.