Method and apparatus for measuring negawatt usage of an appliance

• US 9,207,270 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2012
• Issued: 12/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Caldeira, Kenneth G., Chan, Alistair K., Cook, Daniel B., Hyde, Roderick A., Ishikawa, Muriel Y., Kare, Jordin T., Latham, John, Myhrvold, Nathan P., Nugent, Thomas J. Jr., Salter, Stephen H., Tegreene, Clarence T., Tuckerman, David B., Weaver, Thomas Allan, Whitmer, Charles, Wood, Lowell L. Jr., Wood, Victoria Y. H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsai, Carol S
• Application Number:
  US13/600,397
• Publication Number:
  US 20140067296A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,194 Days
• Field of Search: 700/108, 700/130, 700/282, 700/295, 204/602, 204/405, 204/416, 738/665, 738/658
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/00 Tariff metering apparatus in taximeters G07B13/00; apparatus actuated by coins, cards or the like with meter-controlled dispensing of liquid, gas, or electricity G07F15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 21/133 by using digital technique
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 22/10 using digital techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply

Abstract

The present invention may include measuring energy usage of one or more appliances for a selected usage metric, receiving reference energy usage data indicative of energy usage of one or more reference appliances for the selected usage metric, comparing the measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy usage data for the selected usage metric, and reporting an amount of energy savings based on the comparison of measured energy usage of the one or more appliances and the one or more received sets of reference energy data.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

measuring energy usage of one or more appliances for a selected usage metric, wherein measuring the selected usage metric comprises one or more of measuring an aggregated energy usage of a configuration of appliances, measuring an energy used by one or more appliances for a selected number of appliance operations, and measuring a total energy used by one or more appliances over a cumulative time period;

receiving reference energy usage data from a remote system indicative of real-time or near real-time energy usage of one or more reference appliances used in a geographic region for the selected usage metric, wherein the geographic region is selected from a group consisting of a neighborhood, a city, a state, and a country;

comparing the measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy usage data for the selected usage metric; and

reporting an amount of energy savings based on the comparison of measured energy usage of the one or more appliances and the one or more received sets of reference energy data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving reference energy usage data indicative of energy usage of one or more reference appliances for the selected usage metric further comprises:

receiving reference energy usage data indicative of historical energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing the measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy usage data for the selected usage metric comprises:

responsive to a query, comparing the measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy usage data for the selected usage metric.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing the measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy usage data for the selected usage metric comprises:

responsive to a selected energy usage level of the one or more appliances, comparing the measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy usage data for the selected usage metric.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing the measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy usage data for the selected usage metric comprises:

responsive to a selected number of operations of the one or more appliances, comparing the measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy usage data for the selected usage metric.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the reporting an amount of energy savings comprises:

displaying an amount of energy savings.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the displaying an amount of energy savings comprises displaying the amount of energy savings using a display device comprises:

displaying an amount of energy savings on a display device of a remote system.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the reporting an amount of energy savings comprises:

reporting an amount of energy savings in terms of accumulated energy savings over a selected time period.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the reporting an amount of energy savings comprises:

reporting an amount of energy savings in terms of time-averaged power savings over a selected time period.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the reporting an amount of energy savings comprises:

reporting an amount of energy savings in terms of operation-averaged energy savings over a selected number of operations.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a financial benefit to a user based on the reported amounted of energy savings.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the providing a financial benefit to a user based on the reported amounted of energy savings comprises:

providing at least one of a rebate, a credit, or a payment to a user based on the reported amounted of energy savings.

13. A method, comprising:

measuring energy usage of one or more appliances for a selected usage metric, wherein measuring the selected usage metric comprises one or more of measuring an aggregated energy usage of a configuration of appliances, measuring an energy used by one or more appliances for a selected number of appliance operations, and measuring a total energy used by one or more appliances over a cumulative time period;

receiving reference energy usage data indicative of energy usage of one or more reference appliances in a selected geographic region for the selected usage metric, wherein the selected geographic region comprises one or more of a neighborhood, a city, a state, and a country;

comparing the measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy usage data for the selected usage metric;

receiving energy cost data indicative of a cost of energy during at least a portion of the energy usage measurement; and

reporting an amount of energy cost saving based on the comparison of measured energy usage of the one or more appliances and the one or more received sets of reference energy data and the received energy cost data.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the receiving reference energy usage data indicative of energy usage of one or more reference appliances for the selected usage metric further comprises:

receiving reference energy usage data indicative of historical energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the receiving reference energy usage data from a remote system indicative of energy usage of one or more reference appliances for the selected usage metric comprises:

receiving reference energy usage data from a remote system indicative of energy usage of one or more reference appliances having a selected set of operational conditions for the selected usage metric.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the comparing the measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy usage data for the selected usage metric comprises:

determining a difference between the measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric and the one or more received sets of reference energy usage data for the selected usage metric.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the receiving energy cost data indicative of a cost of energy during at least a portion of the energy usage measurement comprises:

receiving cost data indicative of an average cost of energy over a selected geographic region during at least a portion of the energy usage measurement.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the reporting an amount of energy cost saving based on the comparison of measured energy usage of the one or more appliances and the one or more received sets of reference energy data and the received energy cost data comprises:

displaying an amount of energy cost savings.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the reporting an amount of energy cost saving based on the comparison of measured energy usage of the one or more appliances and the one or more received sets of reference energy data and the received energy cost data comprises:

reporting an amount of energy cost savings, the energy cost savings being reported in terms of accumulated energy cost savings over a selected time period.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the reporting an amount of energy cost saving based on the comparison of measured energy usage of the one or more appliances and the one or more received sets of reference energy data and the received energy cost data comprises:

reporting an amount of energy cost savings, the energy cost savings being reported in terms of time-averaged energy cost savings over a selected time period.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein the reporting an amount of energy cost saving based on the comparison of measured energy usage of the one or more appliances and the one or more received sets of reference energy data and the received energy cost data comprises:

reporting an amount of energy cost savings, the energy cost savings being reported in terms of operation-averaged energy cost savings over a selected number of operations.

22. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

providing a financial benefit to a user based on the reported amounted of energy cost savings.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the providing a financial benefit to a user based on the reported amounted of energy cost savings comprises:

providing at least one of a rebate, a credit, or a payment to a user based on the reported amounted of energy cost savings.

24. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more energy meters configured to measure energy usage of one or more appliances for a selected usage metric, wherein measuring the selected usage metric comprises one or more of measuring an aggregated energy usage of a configuration of appliances, measuring an energy used by one or more appliances for a selected number of appliance operations, and measuring a total energy used by one or more appliances over a cumulative time period;

a controller communicatively coupled to the one or more energy meters, the controller configured to;

receive reference energy usage data indicative of energy usage of one or more reference appliances in a selected geographic region for the selected usage metric, wherein the selected geographic region comprises one or more of a neighborhood, a city, a state, and a country;

compare the energy usage of the one or more appliances measured by the one or more energy meters for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy usage data for the selected usage metric; and

a display device communicatively coupled to the controller and configured to display an amount of energy savings based on the comparison of measured energy usage of the one or more appliances and the one or more received sets of reference energy data.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the one or more energy meters comprises:

one or more electrical power meters.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the one or more energy meters comprises:

one or more heat meters configured to measure the thermal energy generated by the one or more appliances.

27. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the one or more energy meters comprises:

one or more energy meters disposed within a housing of the one or more appliances.

28. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the one or more energy meters comprises:

one or more energy meters disposed in proximity to the one or more appliances.

29. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the one or more energy meters comprises:

one or more energy meters operably connected to at least a portion of the one or more appliances.

30. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the one or more energy meters is configured to measure energy usage of one or more appliances on a residential circuit for a selected usage metric.

31. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the one or more energy meters is configured to measure energy usage of one or more appliances on a commercial circuit for a selected usage metric.

32. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the controller is further configured to determine a difference between the measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric and the one or more received sets of reference energy usage data for the selected usage metric.

33. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the controller is further configured to compare time-averaged measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy data for the selected usage metric.

34. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the controller is further configured to compare operation-averaged measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy data for the selected usage metric.

35. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the display device is positioned at least proximate to the one or more appliances.

36. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the display device comprises:

a display device of a remote system.

37. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the display device comprises:

a display device of the one or more appliances.

38. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the controller is further configured to transmit an amount of energy savings to a memory unit.

39. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising:

a remote system configured to provide a financial benefit to a user based on an amount of energy savings.

40. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more energy meters configured to measure energy usage of one or more appliances for a selected usage metric, wherein measuring the selected usage metric comprises one or more of measuring an aggregated energy usage of a configuration of appliances, measuring an energy used by one or more appliances for a selected number of appliance operations, and measuring a total energy used by one or more appliances over a cumulative time period;

a controller communicatively coupled to the one or more energy meters, the controller configured to;

receive reference energy usage data indicative of energy usage of one or more reference appliances in a selected geographic region for the selected usage metric, wherein the selected geographic region comprises one or more of a neighborhood, a city, a state, and a country;

compare the energy usage of the one or more appliances measured by the one or more energy meters for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy usage data for the selected usage metric; and

receive energy cost data indicative of a cost of energy during at least a portion of the energy usage measurement; and

a display device communicatively coupled to the controller and configured to display the amount of energy cost savings based on the comparison of measured energy usage of the one or more appliances and the one or more received sets of reference energy data, and the received energy cost data.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the one or more energy meters comprises:

one or more electrical power meters.

42. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the one or more energy meters comprises:

one or more heat meters configured to measure the thermal energy generated by the one or more appliances.

43. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the one or more energy meters comprises:

one or more energy meters disposed within a housing of the one or more appliances.

44. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the one or more energy meters is configured to measure energy usage of a plurality of appliances for a selected usage metric.

45. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the controller is further configured to compare time-averaged measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy data for the selected usage metric.

46. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the controller is further configured to compare operation-averaged measured energy usage of the one or more appliances for the selected usage metric to the one or more received sets of reference energy data for the selected usage metric.

47. The apparatus of claim 40, further comprising:

a remote system configured to provide a financial benefit to a user based on an amount of energy cost savings.