Low cost and flexible energy management system configured in a unitary housing having a displayless configuration

• US 8,775,848 B2
• Filed: 01/03/2011
• Issued: 07/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc. DBA GE Appliances (Haier Group Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Venkatakrishnan, Natarajan, Finch, Michael Francis, Bultman, Robert Marten, Worthington, Timothy Dale, Bingham, David C., Drake, Jeff Donald, Watts, William Anthony, Nolan, Kevin Farrelly, Emery, Cathy Diane, Kobraei, Henry
• Primary Examiner(s): Brown, Michael J
• Application Number:
  US12/983,533
• Publication Number:
  US 20110202783A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,282 Days
• Field of Search: 713/300, 713/330, 713/340, 206/216, 715/736
• US Class Current: 713/340
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/12 The local stationary network supplying a household or a building

Abstract

A device configured in a unitary displayless housing, including a computing device that stores, manipulates and communicates energy data, and the displayless external surface of the unitary housing, including status indicator lights to show the status of the device.

Claims

1. A device for monitoring and controlling energy consumption by devices in a facility comprising:

a displayless housing;

electrically conducting prongs disposed on the housing configured to plug into a wall outlet to establish an electrical connection with a power source;

a power supply built into the device, the power supply electrically coupled to the electrically conducting prongs;

a computing device disposed in said housing, that stores, manipulates and communicates energy data, the computing device powered by the power supply, the computing device comprising;

a first communication interface configured to enable the device to communicate over a first network with a utility meter associated with the power source;

a second communication interface configured to enable the device to separately communicate over a second network with the devices in the facility; and

status indicators operatively connected to said computing device and disposed on an external surface of said housing for at least conveying a status of the first and second networks over which the device separately communicates.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is a home energy gateway.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein said computing device is configured to operate with a plurality of user interfaces not part of the device.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the plurality of user interfaces can be upgraded independently of each other.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the computing device is configured to communicate energy data to and between appliances communicatively coupled to the device on the second communication interface over one type of communication network and to and between the utility company on the first communication interface over a different communication network.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the device acts as a single point gateway for data exchange between a plurality of communication networks.

7. The device of claim 1, further comprising a reset button disposed on the external surface of the housing.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the energy data is one or more of energy consumption information, energy pricing information, or energy reduction commands related to accessories found in a home.

9. The device of claim 1, comprising a data interface channel, wherein the computing device is configured to communicate with an external server over the data interface channel.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the computing device is a single board computer.

11. A home energy gateway for use in an energy management system that includes a plurality of communication networks, the home energy gateway comprising:

a displayless housing;

electrically conductive prongs disposed on the housing and configured to plug into a wall outlet;

a power supply built into the device, the power supply electrically coupled to the electrically conducting prongs;

a plurality of interface channels corresponding to the plurality of communication networks;

a computing device powered by the power supply and disposed in said housing, that the computing device being configured to store energy data and exchange the energy data with the plurality of communication networks via the plurality of interface channels,

a first interface channel configured to enable the device to communicate over a first of the plurality of communication networks with a utility meter associated with the power source;

a second interface channel configured to enable the device to separately communicate over a second of the plurality of communication networks with the devices in the energy management system; and

status indicators configured with said housing and operative to show a status of at least the first and second of the plurality of communication networks and the computing device.

12. The home energy gateway of claim 11, wherein the computing device is further configured to communicate with a user interface that is not a dedicated user interface of the device.

13. The home energy gateway of claim 11, wherein the computing device is further configured to communicate without a dedicated user interface designed to operate with a plurality of user interfaces not part of the computing device.

14. The home energy gateway of claim 13, wherein the plurality of user interfaces can be upgraded independent of each other.

15. The home energy gateway of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of interface channels that interface with two or more communication networks.

16. The home energy gateway of claim 11, wherein the computing device acts as a single point gateway for data exchange between a plurality of communication networks.

17. The home energy gateway of claim 11, further including a reset button disposed on an exterior of the housing.

18. The home energy gateway of claim 11, wherein the energy data consists of one or more of energy consumption information, energy pricing information, or energy reduction commands related to accessories found in a home.

19. The home energy gateway of claim 11, wherein at least two of the plurality of the interface channels are configured to communicate with communication networks using different formats, protocols, or bandwidths.

20. The home energy gateway of claim 11, wherein the computing device is configured to communicate to an external server.