Interconnected premises equipment for energy management
First Claim
1. An energy management system for managing consumption of an energy commodity by energy-consuming devices at premises, the energy commodity being provided to the premises by an energy provider, the system comprising:
- a plurality of appliance interfaces each respectively coupled to a corresponding one of the devices and monitoring a corresponding rate of consumption of the energy commodity provided thereto, the appliance interfaces coupled one to another via a communication network;
a monitoring and control coordinator coupled to said communication network and to another communication network, said monitoring and control coordinator receiving from each of said appliance interfaces over said communication network status information that includes an indication of said corresponding rate of consumption and transmitting to each of said appliance interfaces over said communication network corresponding control information for controlling said corresponding rate of consumption, wherein said control information corresponds to information received at said monitoring and control coordinator over said other communication network; and
a premises control communication gateway in communication with the monitoring and control coordinator and the plurality of appliance interfaces, wherein said premises control communication gateway distributes monitoring and control data through a premises area network to communicating appliance interfaces;
wherein said monitoring and control coordinator comprises;
user interface logic for formatting information for presentation to the user and soliciting information from the user;
premises equipment interface logic for providing instruction to and receiving information from the appliance interfaces; and
energy provider logic for providing interaction between the monitoring and control coordinator and a data interface at the energy provider.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Energy commodities in the form of electricity and combustible fuel (e.g. natural gas, propane) are used by appliances in a fashion which is monitored and controlled through a Premises Energy Management System (PEMS). The system facilitates direct monitoring and control of energy-consuming appliances, in real time, utilizing automated programmatic control and a plurality of human interfaces including local display and control, email, web browser, text messaging, and integrated voice response (IVR). A Monitoring and Control Coordinator (MCC) provides centralized coordination of functions and one or more Communicating Appliance Interfaces (CAI) interacting with energy consuming appliances are interconnected via wired and wireless communication networks and protocols. The system may retrieve information from third parties, such as weather services, for optimizing energy usage. An interface may be provided to the energy provider/purveyor to enhance the provision of energy by providing additional real-time services such as demand management and service outage management.
156 Citations
21 Claims
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1. An energy management system for managing consumption of an energy commodity by energy-consuming devices at premises, the energy commodity being provided to the premises by an energy provider, the system comprising:
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a plurality of appliance interfaces each respectively coupled to a corresponding one of the devices and monitoring a corresponding rate of consumption of the energy commodity provided thereto, the appliance interfaces coupled one to another via a communication network; a monitoring and control coordinator coupled to said communication network and to another communication network, said monitoring and control coordinator receiving from each of said appliance interfaces over said communication network status information that includes an indication of said corresponding rate of consumption and transmitting to each of said appliance interfaces over said communication network corresponding control information for controlling said corresponding rate of consumption, wherein said control information corresponds to information received at said monitoring and control coordinator over said other communication network; and a premises control communication gateway in communication with the monitoring and control coordinator and the plurality of appliance interfaces, wherein said premises control communication gateway distributes monitoring and control data through a premises area network to communicating appliance interfaces; wherein said monitoring and control coordinator comprises; user interface logic for formatting information for presentation to the user and soliciting information from the user; premises equipment interface logic for providing instruction to and receiving information from the appliance interfaces; and energy provider logic for providing interaction between the monitoring and control coordinator and a data interface at the energy provider. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An energy management system for managing consumption of an energy commodity by energy-consuming devices at premises, the energy commodity being provided to the premises by an energy provider, the system comprising:
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a plurality of appliance interfaces each respectively coupled to a corresponding one of the devices and controlling said consumption of said energy commodity by said corresponding device responsive to control information provided thereto; a monitoring and control coordinator coupled to said plurality of appliance interfaces through a local communication network and providing to each of said appliance interfaces said control information, said control information determined from external information provided to said monitoring and control coordinator;
wherein said monitoring and control coordinator comprises;user interface logic for formatting information for presentation to the user and soliciting information from the user; premises equipment interface logic for providing instruction to and receiving information from the appliance interfaces; and energy provider logic for providing interaction between the monitoring and control coordinator and a data interface at the energy provider; and a network communication device coupled to said monitoring and control coordinator through a wide area communication network and transmitting said external information thereto. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for managing consumption of an energy commodity by energy-consuming devices at premises comprising:
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acquiring via a communication network by a monitoring and control coordinator information pertaining to the consumption of the energy commodity;
wherein said monitoring and control coordinator comprises;user interface logic for formatting information for presentation to the user and soliciting information from the user; premises equipment interface logic for providing instruction to and receiving information from the appliance interfaces; and energy provider logic for providing interaction between the monitoring and control coordinator and a data interface at the energy provider; transmitting from said monitoring and control coordinator control information to a plurality of appliance interfaces each respectively coupled to a corresponding one of the devices, said control information determined from said acquired information; and controlling the consumption of the energy commodity of at least one of the devices in accordance with said control information. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification