Method and apparatus for adaptively optimizing climate control energy consumption in a building
First Claim
1. A thermostat assembly (10) for changing the output of a climate control system (18) for an enclosure (30) defining a conditioned space (28) having variable energy consumption and utilizing inside air and outside air, said assembly (10) comprising:
- input means (38) for inputting a schedule (39) having a plurality of transition domains (40) separating a plurality of quasi-steady state domains (42);
inside sensing means (34) for measuring the temperature of the inside air;
outside sensing means (36) for measuring the temperature of the outside air, said assembly (10) characterized byprocessing means (44) for storing a non-linear efficiency model and for receiving said temperatures of the inside air and the outside air and for changing at least one of said plurality of domains (40,
42) utilizing said non-linear efficiency model for optimizing the energy consumption as a function of said temperatures of the inside air and the outside air.
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Abstract
A computer (37) or microprocessor-based thermostat system (10) for automatically determining and implementing an optimum thermostat setback schedule (80) which, while maintaining a user-specified occupancy comfort schedule (39), minimizes the energy consumption of the climate control system (18) within an enclosure (30). The method of the thermostat assembly (10), using the continuous measurement of various air temperatures, fluid flows, and energy consumption rates includes the adaptive capability of indirectly learning the relevant thermal and thermodynamic characteristics of both the enclosure (30) and the climate control system (18), including such thermal parameters as the effective thermal capacitance of the internal walls and contents (53,55) of the enclosure (30), the effective internal heat transfer conductance between the thermal capacitance and the air within the conditioned space (28), the effective external heat transfer conductance between the inside air (28) and the outside air (36) and the efficiency of the climate control system (18), which includes the associated air distribution system (22, 32), as a function of its input energy rate.
The method also includes a non-linear efficiency model, using the aforementioned thermal parameters, which has the capability of predicting, in advance of implementation, the energy consumption of the climate control system (18) as a function of outside air temperature and the user-specified occupancy comfort schedule (39). An optimization scheme is then used to determine the most energy efficient thermostat setback schedule (80) for the current outdoor air temperature, while still satisfying the user-specified occupancy comfort schedule (39).
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A thermostat assembly (10) for changing the output of a climate control system (18) for an enclosure (30) defining a conditioned space (28) having variable energy consumption and utilizing inside air and outside air, said assembly (10) comprising:
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input means (38) for inputting a schedule (39) having a plurality of transition domains (40) separating a plurality of quasi-steady state domains (42); inside sensing means (34) for measuring the temperature of the inside air; outside sensing means (36) for measuring the temperature of the outside air, said assembly (10) characterized by processing means (44) for storing a non-linear efficiency model and for receiving said temperatures of the inside air and the outside air and for changing at least one of said plurality of domains (40,
42) utilizing said non-linear efficiency model for optimizing the energy consumption as a function of said temperatures of the inside air and the outside air. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for optimizing the energy consumption of a climate control system (18) of an enclosure (30) defining a condition space (28), the method comprising the steps of:
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establishing a schedule (39) defining predetermined temperatures of the condition space (28) at predetermined times; measuring the inside air temperature; measuring the outside air temperature; predicting energy consumption for the schedule (39,80) based on the inside and theoutside air temperatures, the method is characterized by non-linarly altering the schedule (80) to optimize energy consumption based on the inside and outside air temperatures. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification