Energy management and home automation system
First Claim
1. A utility commodity load reduction system comprising:
- a plurality of controller means, each located within a different one of a plurality of facilities, for controlling the operation of various utility commodity consuming devices within said one facility;
central command means for providing general commands to each of said controllers, each controller responding to said general command by controlling the operation of those devices within the facility in which that controller is located; and
utility command means fbor causing selected utility commands to be provided to selected ones of said controllers for causing selected ones of the devices being controlled by said selected controllers to operate in a manner consuming less of said utility commodity.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An energy management and home automation system includes one or more controllers in each facility being managed and one or more energy consuming devices attached to each controller. Each controller responds to digital paging signals from a central command center which establish a schedule of event effecting the operation of each device and the controller schedules each device to be operated pursuant to the programmed schedule. The user of the system, by appropriate communication with the command center, may cause a paging message to be provided at any time changing the pre-programmed schedule. The heating/cooling system is controlled by set-point temperatures. for each of a plurality of different modes of occupancy, whereby the most energy is consumed when the facility is occupied and lesser amounts of energy are consumed when the facility is empty. Intermediate amounts of energy are consumed when the facility is not fully operational because people are asleep or maintenance or cleaning is being done. Prior to a mode change which demands more energy, the controller calculates the time required to bring the facility to the set-points for the new mode and operates the heating/cooling unit at the calculated time prior to the scheduled mode change. The calculation is based upon the time required for the heating/cooling being controlled to change the temperature in the facility being managed. The energy consumption of the facility may also be reduced by paging messages from the utility company as a part of an emergency load reduction program.
715 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A utility commodity load reduction system comprising:
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a plurality of controller means, each located within a different one of a plurality of facilities, for controlling the operation of various utility commodity consuming devices within said one facility; central command means for providing general commands to each of said controllers, each controller responding to said general command by controlling the operation of those devices within the facility in which that controller is located; and utility command means fbor causing selected utility commands to be provided to selected ones of said controllers for causing selected ones of the devices being controlled by said selected controllers to operate in a manner consuming less of said utility commodity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for reducing usage energy in participating facilities containing a heating/cooling unit in response to commands from a utility comprising:
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a controller in each participating facility for storing certain designated heating and cooling set-point temperatures used in controlling the temperature at which said heating/cooling device heats and cools said facility; said controller responding to commands provided thereto over a common communications link to effect the control of said heating cooling unit; and a utility central control center for providing utility commands over said link for causing said controller to lower the heating set-point temperature and to raise the cooling set-point temperature. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of energy consumption reduction over a wide area by reducing the energy consumption of selective energy consuming units within participating facilities, said method comprising the steps of:
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coupling each energy consuming unit to a common controller for a facility; operating said controller in a manner which enables each device coupled thereto to operate in accordance with a schedule programmed in said controller; communicating general commands from a central station to said controller to selectively program said schedule pursuant to the needs of the facility; and communicating a utility command from a utility company to said controller to cause said controller to selectively disable a subset of said devices for periods of time regardless of the prior communications or subsequent communications from said central station during a defined period of time following said utility command, wherein said step of communicating from said utility company includes disabling said subset of devices for portions of said defined Deriod of time. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification