HVAC control with utility time of day pricing support
First Claim
1. A method for operating a utility-powered HVAC system for conditioning inside air of a building, the HVAC system having one or more HVAC units and a local HVAC controller having a user interface, the method comprising:
- maintaining in a memory of the local HVAC controller a nominal schedule, the nominal schedule having a number of days and one or more time periods for each of at least some of the days, the nominal schedule further having at least one setpoint associated with each of the one or more time periods;
receiving manual input via the user interface of the local HVAC controller, the manual input including;
accepting entry of a utility pricing schedule that corresponds to scheduled price changes of a utility, including at least one enhanced pricing time period;
accepting entry of at least one utility price level setpoint offset to correspond to each of the at least one enhanced pricing time periods;
modifying or overlaying the nominal schedule to include the utility pricing schedule, resulting in a utility pricing operating schedule; and
controlling the one or more HVAC units with the local HVAC controller in accordance with the utility pricing operating schedule.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure provides a method for operating a utility-powered HVAC system for conditioning inside air of a building. In an illustrative but non-limiting example, a nominal schedule is maintained by a local HVAC controller, where the nominal schedule has a number of days and one or more time periods for each of at least some of the days. The nominal schedule also has at least one setpoint associated with each of the time periods. The local HVAC controller is configured to accept manual input from a user via a user interface. The manual input may include accepting entry of a utility pricing schedule that corresponds to scheduled price changes of a utility. The utility pricing schedule may include at least one enhanced pricing time period. Entry of at least one utility price level setpoint offset may also be accepted to correspond to each of the enhanced pricing time periods. The nominal schedule may then be modified or overridden to include the utility pricing schedule, resulting in a utility pricing operating schedule. One or more HVAC units may then be controlled by the local HVAC controller in accordance with the utility pricing operating schedule.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method for operating a utility-powered HVAC system for conditioning inside air of a building, the HVAC system having one or more HVAC units and a local HVAC controller having a user interface, the method comprising:
-
maintaining in a memory of the local HVAC controller a nominal schedule, the nominal schedule having a number of days and one or more time periods for each of at least some of the days, the nominal schedule further having at least one setpoint associated with each of the one or more time periods; receiving manual input via the user interface of the local HVAC controller, the manual input including; accepting entry of a utility pricing schedule that corresponds to scheduled price changes of a utility, including at least one enhanced pricing time period; accepting entry of at least one utility price level setpoint offset to correspond to each of the at least one enhanced pricing time periods; modifying or overlaying the nominal schedule to include the utility pricing schedule, resulting in a utility pricing operating schedule; and controlling the one or more HVAC units with the local HVAC controller in accordance with the utility pricing operating schedule. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A method for operating a utility-powered HVAC system for conditioning inside air of a building, the HVAC system having one or more HVAC units and a thermostat, the method comprising:
-
maintaining in a memory of the thermostat a nominal schedule, the nominal schedule having a number of days and one or more time periods for each of at least some of the days, the nominal schedule further having at least one setpoint associated with each of the one or more time periods; receiving manual input from a user of the thermostat of a utility pricing schedule that corresponds to scheduled price changes of a utility, wherein the utility pricing schedule includes at least one enhanced pricing time period with a corresponding utility pricing level selected from at least two utility pricing levels; receiving manual input from the user of the thermostat of at least one utility pricing level setpoint offset to correspond to each of the at least two utility pricing levels; modifying or overriding the nominal schedule with the utility pricing schedule to result in a utility pricing operating schedule, wherein for each of the at least one enhanced pricing time periods, the at least one utility pricing level setpoint offset that corresponds to the utility pricing level of the enhanced pricing time period is used to offset one of the at least one setpoints associated with one of the one or more time periods of the nominal schedule to result in an operating setpoint of the utility pricing operating schedule for the enhanced pricing time period; and controlling the one or more HVAC units with the thermostat in accordance with the utility pricing operating schedule. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A thermostat configured to operate a utility-powered HVAC system for conditioning inside air of a building, the HVAC system having one or more HVAC units, the thermostat comprising:
-
a user interface configured to receive manual input from a user of a nominal setpoint schedule, as well as a utility pricing schedule that corresponds to scheduled price changes of a utility; a memory configured to retain the nominal schedule and the utility pricing schedule; and at least one output configured to issue operational commands to the one or more HVAC units of the HVAC system; wherein the nominal setpoint schedule includes a number of days and one or more time periods for each of at least some of the days, the nominal schedule further having at least one setpoint associated with each of the one or more time periods; wherein the utility pricing schedule includes at least one enhanced pricing time period with a corresponding utility pricing level setpoint offset; and wherein the thermostat is configured to modify or overlay the nominal setpoint schedule in accordance with the utility pricing schedule to result in a utility pricing operating schedule, and to control the one or more HVAC units in accordance with the utility pricing operating schedule. - View Dependent Claims (20)
-
Specification