Environmental condition control and energy management system and method

• US 5,924,486 A
• Filed: 10/29/1997
• Issued: 07/20/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Elutions, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Tecom Company Limited
• Inventors: Ehlers, Gregory A., Silva, Richard M.
• Primary Examiner(s): WAYNER, WILLIAM E
• Application Number:
  US08/960,748
• Time in Patent Office: 629 Days
• Field of Search: 165/255, 165/238, 236/46 R, 236/47, 364/492, 364/557, 307/39
• US Class Current: 165/238
• 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 11/62 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 11/74 for controlling air flow rate or air velocity
• 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: G05D 23/1923 using thermal energy, the cost of which varies in function of time

Abstract

An indoor environmental condition control and energy management system includes a plurality of inputs. A user input receives user input parameters including a desired indoor environmental condition range for at least one energy unit price point. An indoor environmental condition input receives a sensed indoor environmental condition. An energy price input receives a schedule of projected energy unit prices per time periods. A processor, coupled to the inputs, computes an environmental condition deadband range for multiple energy unit price points based on the user input parameters and controls at least one energy-consuming load device to maintain the indoor environmental condition within the computed deadband range for a then-current energy unit price point. In an embodiment, the environmental condition includes at least temperature and the at least one load device includes a heating and cooling system. The processor, in one embodiment, communicates through a communications link with at least one energy supply company and selects one energy supply company for a premise to minimize energy consumption cost.

Claims

1. An indoor environmental condition control and energy management system comprising:

a user input that receives user input parameters including a desired indoor environmental condition range for at least one energy unit price point;

an indoor environmental condition input that receives a sensed indoor environmental condition;

an energy price input that receives a schedule of projected energy unit prices per time periods;

a processor, coupled to the inputs, that computes an environmental condition deadband range for multiple energy unit price points based on the user input parameters, and that controls at least one energy-consuming load device to maintain the indoor environmental condition within the computed deadband range for a then-current energy unit price point.

2. The system claimed in claim 1 wherein the environmental condition includes at least temperature, the at least one load device includes a heating and cooling system.

3. The system claimed in claim 2 wherein the processor controls the heating and cooling system to ramp up or down indoor temperature during certain time periods to reduce energy consumption cost.

4. The system claimed in claim 1 wherein multiple deadband ranges may be selected by a user for different time periods.

5. The system claimed in claim 1 further including a communications link through which the process communicates with at least one energy supply company and wherein the processor selects one energy supply company to minimize energy consumption cost.

6. The system claimed in claim 5 wherein the processor may select between suppliers of different types of energy.

7. The system claimed in claim 5 wherein the processor communicates information to at least one energy supply company.

8. The system claimed in claim 7 wherein the information includes at least one of energy consumption data, energy usage schedule, cost information and account information.

9. The system claimed in claim 1 further including an outdoor environmental condition input that receives a sensed outdoor environmental condition and wherein the processor controls the at least one energy-consuming load device based in part on the sensed outdoor environmental condition.

10. The system claimed in claim 1 wherein the processor controls operation of the at least one load device to repeat a pattern of usage by the user over a time period.

11. The system claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least one load device includes a plurality of energy-consuming load devices.

12. The system claimed in claim 11 wherein the processor monitors energy consumption by each load device.

13. The system claimed in claim 1 wherein the processor monitors and controls each of a plurality of energy-consuming load devices based on user input parameters relating to usage of the energy-consuming load devices.

14. The system claimed in claim 1 further includes means, coupled to processor, for controlling an on-premise energy-generating device to operate during periods of higher cost from an energy supplier.

15. The system claimed in claim 1 further including a central processor, coupled to the local processor over a communications channel, for monitoring energy consumption at a plurality of premises.

16. The system claimed in claim 1 further including means for receiving an indication of premise occupancy and wherein the processor computes a vacancy deadband range and an occupied deadband range.

17. The system claimed in claim 1 further including means for activating an alarm when an extreme environmental condition is sensed.

18. An energy consumption management and environmental condition control system comprising:

a user input for receiving user input parameters including at least an energy unit price cutoff point and a desired environmental condition comfort range;

an environmental condition input for receiving information relating to a sensed environmental condition;

an energy supply company input for receiving energy supply company pricing information; and

a local processor, coupled to the inputs, that controls operation of at least one energy-utilizing load on a premise to optimize an indoor environmental condition and minimize energy consumption cost, based on the user input parameters, the at least one load including an indoor environmental condition control device.

19. The system claimed in claim 18 wherein the at least one load includes a plurality of loads, the environmental condition includes temperature and the environmental condition control device includes a heating and cooling system.

20. The system claimed in claim 19 wherein the local processor analyzes energy supply company pricing information and selects between multiple energy supply companies to minimize cost.

21. The system claimed in claim 19 wherein the local processor monitors total energy consumption per a time period by all of the loads of the premise and by each load individually.

22. The system claimed in claim 21 wherein the local processor records historical load energy usage and computes projected estimated energy consumption for at least one load based on the historical usage and the inputs.

23. The system claimed in claim 22 wherein the local processor selects an energy supply company based on projected estimated energy consumption to minimize future energy consumption cost.

24. The system claimed in claim 22 wherein the processor compares historical energy consumption with current energy consumption for at least one load and monitors differences.

25. The system claimed in claim 21 further including a central processor, coupled to at least one local processor through a communication channel, for monitoring and controlling energy consumption and cost for each premise including a local processor.

26. The system claimed in claim 19 wherein the local processor controls operation of each load individually based on user input and energy supply company input to minimize energy consumption cost.

27. The system claimed in claim 26 wherein the user input includes an energy cost cutoff point for each of a plurality of loads and wherein the processor will control each load to operate only until the energy cost cutoff point is reached for that load.

28. The system claimed in claim 19 further including a communication channel, coupled to the local processor, through which the local processor and at least one energy supply company communicate.

29. The system claimed in claim 19 wherein the user input parameters include a desired temperature and minimum and maximum temperature levels for at least one energy price point, wherein the processor computes a deadband temperature range for available energy price levels and wherein the processor controls the heating and cooling system to maintain an indoor temperature within the deadband range at a then-current energy price level.

30. The system claimed in claim 29 wherein the user input parameters include multiple deadband temperature ranges for different time periods.

31. The system claimed in claim 19 wherein the processor controls operation of the heating and cooling system to repeat a pattern of usage by the user over a time period.

32. An energy management system comprising:

a plurality of local load controlling processors, each local processor monitors energy consumption and controls operation of at least one energy-utilizing load to optimize an indoor environmental condition and minimize energy consumption cost, based at least on user input parameters relating to desired energy cost information and an environmental condition comfort range, the at least one load including an indoor environmental condition control device; and

a central processor, communicating with each local processor over a bus system, and communicating over a communications channel with at least one energy supply company, that analyzes energy consumption and cost for each local processor and that selects an energy supply company for each local processor.

33. The system claimed in claim 32 wherein at least some of the local processors are located on different premises.

34. The system claimed in claim 33 wherein each local processor computes an environmental condition deadband range for multiple energy unit price points based on the user input parameters and that controls the indoor environmental condition within the deadband range for a then-current energy unit price point.

35. A method for managing energy consumption and controlling an indoor environmental condition for a premise comprising the steps of:

receiving user input parameters including a desired indoor environmental condition range for at least one energy unit price point;

receiving a sensed indoor environmental condition;

receiving a schedule of projected energy unit prices;

computing an indoor environmental condition deadband range for multiple energy unit price points based on the user input parameters; and

controlling at least one energy-consuming load device to maintain the sensed indoor environmental condition within the computed deadband range for a then-current energy unit price point.

36. The method claimed in claim 35 further including the steps of monitoring energy consumption for each of a plurality of energy-consuming load devices and controlling operation of each load device to maintain energy consumption cost within a desired user input cutoff point.

37. The method claimed in claim 35 further including the step of selecting an energy supply company to minimize energy consumption cost.