Energy management system for controlling energy supplied to a set of customer buildings
First Claim
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1. A method of supplying energy to a set of customer buildings having energy consuming appliances, wherein the appliances, when operated, create a demand for energy, the method comprising:
- establishing a set of customer preferences for conserving energy use in a set of customer buildings;
establishing a remote control system to control appliances in the customer buildings; and
controlling at least some of the appliances in the set of buildings with the remote control system according to the customer preferences to reduce the demand for energy, wherein the controlling of the appliances includes predicting future load demands, including a peak demand, and controlling the appliances prior in time to the time of the predicted peak demand to reduce the demand for energy during the time of the predicted peak demand.
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Abstract
A method of supplying energy to a set of customer buildings having energy consuming appliances includes establishing a set of customer tolerances for conserving energy use in a set of customer buildings. A remote control system to control appliances in the customer buildings is established. At least some of the appliances in the set of buildings are controlled with the remote control system according to the customer tolerances to reduce the demand for energy.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of supplying energy to a set of customer buildings having energy consuming appliances, wherein the appliances, when operated, create a demand for energy, the method comprising:
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establishing a set of customer preferences for conserving energy use in a set of customer buildings; establishing a remote control system to control appliances in the customer buildings; and controlling at least some of the appliances in the set of buildings with the remote control system according to the customer preferences to reduce the demand for energy, wherein the controlling of the appliances includes predicting future load demands, including a peak demand, and controlling the appliances prior in time to the time of the predicted peak demand to reduce the demand for energy during the time of the predicted peak demand. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of supplying energy to a set of customer buildings having energy consuming appliances, wherein the appliances, when operated, create a demand for energy, the method comprising:
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establishing a set of customer tolerances for conserving energy use in customer buildings, wherein the customer tolerances indicate a hierarchy of energy use for the set of customer buildings; establishing a remote control system to control appliances in the customer buildings; gathering data on physical building characteristics of the customer buildings the physical building characteristics being the response of the building to various weather parameters; and controlling at least some of the appliances in the set of buildings with the remote control system according to the hierarchy, and using the physical building characteristics to reduce the demand for energy. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of supplying energy to a set of customer buildings having energy consuming appliances, wherein the appliances, when operated, create a demand for energy the method comprising:
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gathering data on physical building characteristics of the customer buildings the physical building characteristics being the response of the building to various weather parameters; establishing a set of customer tolerances for conserving energy use in customer buildings, wherein the customer tolerances indicate a hierarchy of energy use for the set of customer buildings; gathering data on the customer tolerances for conserving energy use in the customer buildings; establishing a remote control system to control appliances in the customer buildings; gathering short term weather data; determining short term future energy needs for the set of buildings based on the physical building characteristics, customer tolerances, and the short term weather data; and controlling at least some of the appliances in the set of buildings in response to the short term future energy needs to reduce the demand for energy, a basement or crawl space, furnace size and efficiency, extent of insulation and weather proofing, sun exposure, wind exposure, solar energy supplements, occupancy pattern, air conditioner size and efficiency, and existence of auxiliary appliances. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification