Programmable thermostat including a feature for providing a running total for the cost of energy consumed during a given period for heating and/or cooling a conditioned space
First Claim
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1. A programmable thermostat system for controlling space conditioning equipment comprising:
- A) at least one environmental condition sensor providing an electrical signal indicative of the ambient temperature of a conditioned space in which said environmental condition sensor is situated;
B) a transparent touch pad juxtaposed with a liquid crystal display to constitute a touch screen for interactive interface with a user;
C) a processor, said processor including;
1) a central processing unit;
2) a real time clock;
3) a memory coupled to said central processing unit for storing program and data information; and
4) an input/output unit coupled between said processor and said touch screen for carrying out information transfer therebetween, said input/output unit further including;
a) a sensor input coupled to each said environmental condition sensors for receiving said electrical signal therefrom; and
b) a control output coupled to the space conditioning equipment for issuing control signals thereto; and
D) a control program stored in said memory for causing said central processing unit to communicate through said input/output unit to selectively;
1) establish on said touch screen;
a) a representation of a first virtual button; and
b) a first legend indicative of said first virtual button, if touched, invoking a first setup function of said thermostat, which first setup function is for entering;
i) power consumption ratings for each space conditioning equipment component; and
ii) the cost rate for each type of energy used by the space conditioning equipment;
2) read the touch screen to determine if the representation of said first virtual button has been touched;
3) if the first virtual button has been touched, displaying a menu of cost determination information entry virtual buttons on said touch screen, each cost determination information entry virtual button representing a type of cost information;
4) read the positions on the touch screen of said cost determination information entry virtual buttons; and
5) for each cost determination information entry virtual button touched, store in said memory an incremental cost information amount of the type represented thereby.
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Abstract
A programmable thermostat having a touch screen liquid crystal display in which the power consumption of each heating/cooling component and the energy costs in the locality are entered by a user in order that the thermostat'"'"'s control program can, upon demand, calculate and display the heating/cooling costs accrued beginning with a user-specified starting date.
220 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A programmable thermostat system for controlling space conditioning equipment comprising:
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A) at least one environmental condition sensor providing an electrical signal indicative of the ambient temperature of a conditioned space in which said environmental condition sensor is situated;
B) a transparent touch pad juxtaposed with a liquid crystal display to constitute a touch screen for interactive interface with a user;
C) a processor, said processor including;
1) a central processing unit;
2) a real time clock;
3) a memory coupled to said central processing unit for storing program and data information; and
4) an input/output unit coupled between said processor and said touch screen for carrying out information transfer therebetween, said input/output unit further including;
a) a sensor input coupled to each said environmental condition sensors for receiving said electrical signal therefrom; and
b) a control output coupled to the space conditioning equipment for issuing control signals thereto; and
D) a control program stored in said memory for causing said central processing unit to communicate through said input/output unit to selectively;
1) establish on said touch screen;
a) a representation of a first virtual button; and
b) a first legend indicative of said first virtual button, if touched, invoking a first setup function of said thermostat, which first setup function is for entering;
i) power consumption ratings for each space conditioning equipment component; and
ii) the cost rate for each type of energy used by the space conditioning equipment;
2) read the touch screen to determine if the representation of said first virtual button has been touched;
3) if the first virtual button has been touched, displaying a menu of cost determination information entry virtual buttons on said touch screen, each cost determination information entry virtual button representing a type of cost information;
4) read the positions on the touch screen of said cost determination information entry virtual buttons; and
5) for each cost determination information entry virtual button touched, store in said memory an incremental cost information amount of the type represented thereby. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
6) establish on said touch screen;
a) a representation of a second virtual button; and
b) a second legend indicative of said second virtual button, if touched, invoking a first interrogation function of said thermostat for displaying cumulative usage of each space conditioning system component;
7) read the touch screen to determine if the representation of said first virtual button has been touched; and
8) if the first virtual button has been touched, displaying cumulative system usage and usage cost on the touch screen.
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3. The programmable thermostat system of claim 2 in which one type of cost entry information is the kilowatt hour schedule for the electricity supplier.
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4. The programmable thermostat system of claim 3 in which individual cumulative usage for each system component is displayed in substep D)8).
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5. The programmable thermostat system of claim 4 in which said liquid crystal display is a dot matrix type.
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6. The programmable thermostat system of claim 3 in which said liquid crystal display is a dot matrix type.
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7. The programmable thermostat system of claim 2 in which individual cumulative usage for each system component is displayed in substep D)8).
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8. The programmable thermostat system of claim 7 in which said liquid crystal display is a dot matrix type.
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9. The programmable thermostat system of claim 2 in which said liquid crystal display is a dot matrix type.
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10. The programmable thermostat system of claim 1 in which one type of cost entry information is the kilowatt hour schedule for the electricity supplier.
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11. The programmable thermostat system of claim 10 in which individual cumulative usage for each system component is displayed in substep D)8).
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12. The programmable thermostat system of claim 11 in which said liquid crystal display is a dot matrix type.
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13. The programmable thermostat system of claim 10 in which said liquid crystal display is a dot matrix type.
Specification