Thermostat with remote access feature

• US 9,939,824 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2011
• Issued: 04/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Nelson, Jay, Dalsin, Nicholas, Anderson, Amy L., Anand, Shilpa
• Primary Examiner(s): CRENSHAW, HENRY T
• Application Number:
  US13/269,419
• Publication Number:
  US 20130087628A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,377 Days
• Field of Search: 236 51, 165201, 62175, 700277
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/523 for displaying temperature data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/61 using timers
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/63 Electronic processing
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/72 for controlling the supply of treated air, e.g. its pressure
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/10 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1905 associated with tele control
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1934 each space being provided with one sensor acting on one or more control means

Abstract

A local thermostat for controlling an HVAC unit may include a controller programmed to execute a remote access function for remotely accessing and communicating with at least one remote thermostat over a communication channel. The remote access application may be configured to display at least one thermostat setting of at least one of the remote thermostats on the display of the user interface of the local thermostat. In some cases, the remote access application may allow a user to change one or more thermostat settings of at least one remote thermostat using the user interface of the local thermostat.

Claims

1. A thermostat for controlling one or more components of an HVAC unit, the thermostat comprising:

a thermostat housing that houses;

at least one temperature sensor;

a user interface including a display;

a plurality of wire terminals for electrically connecting to a plurality of control wires that are connected to one or more components of the HVAC unit, for sending one or more control signals to the one or more components of the HVAC unit via the control wires;

a communication port for communicating with at least a second thermostat over a communication channel; and

a controller programmed to execute a remote access application for remotely accessing and communicating with at least the second thermostat via the communication port, wherein the remote access application executed by the controller of the thermostat is configured to concurrently display a thermostat identifier and at least one thermostat setting of at least the second thermostat on the display of the user interface of the thermostat, and to facilitate making a change to at least one thermostat setting of at least the second thermostat using the user interface.

2. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the remote access application executed by the controller of the thermostat is configured to concurrently display the thermostat identifier, a current sensed temperature and at least one thermostat setting of at least the second thermostat on the display of the user interface, and wherein the at least one thermostat setting comprises a temperature set point.

3. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the at least one thermostat setting comprises a scheduling parameter.

4. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the at least one thermostat setting comprises an installer configuration setting.

5. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the communication port of the thermostat includes a transmitter/receiver for sending and/or receiving information to and/or from the second thermostat.

6. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to display a first screen comprising at least one thermostat parameter of the thermostat on the display, and at least a second screen comprising at least one thermostat parameter of the at least second thermostat on the display.

7. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to display a location identifier on the display identifying a location of the thermostat from which the thermostat settings are currently being displayed on the display.

8. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to remotely access and communicate with a plurality of remote thermostats including the second thermostat over the communication channel, the controller further configured to display a list of the plurality of remote thermostats on the display of the thermostat and allow a user to select one of the plurality of remote thermostats after which the controller is configured to concurrently display a thermostat identifier and at least one thermostat setting of the selected remote thermostat on the display of the user interface, and facilitate making a change to at least one thermostat setting of the selected remote thermostat using the user interface of the thermostat.

20. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein at least the second thermostat that is being remotely accessed and communicated with is configured to display on a user interface a visual indicator indicating to a user that it is being remotely accessed.

9. A thermostat for controlling one or more components of an HVAC unit, the thermostat comprising:

a thermostat housing that houses;

at least one temperature sensor;

a user interface including a display;

a plurality of wire terminals for electrically connecting to a plurality of control wires that are connected to one or more components of the HVAC unit, for sending one or more control signals to the one or more components of the HVAC unit via the control wires;

a communication port for communicating with a plurality of thermostats over a communication channel; and

a controller, wherein the thermostat is configured to display at least one thermostat setting from at least one of the plurality of thermostats on the display such that the at least one thermostat setting of at least one of the plurality of thermostats may be remotely manipulated through the user interface by a user, resulting in a change to the at least one thermostat setting, the controller further configured to apply the change to all of the plurality of thermostats.

10. The thermostat according to claim 9, wherein the controller is programmed to include a remote access function for remotely accessing and communicating with each of the plurality of thermostats, wherein the remote access function is configured to display at least one thermostat setting from a user selected one of the plurality of thermostats on the display of the user interface, and to facilitate making a change to the at least one thermostat setting of the user selected one of the plurality of thermostats via the user interface.

11. The thermostat of claim 10, wherein the at least one thermostat setting comprises an installer configuration setting.

12. The thermostat of claim 10, wherein the at least one thermostat setting comprises a temperature set point.

13. The thermostat of claim 10, wherein the at least one thermostat setting is a scheduling parameter.

14. A system for controlling one or more components of a plurality of HVAC units situated in different locations within a building structure, the system comprising:

a plurality of thermostats including a first thermostat and a second thermostat, the first and second thermostats in communication with one another over a communication network, the first and second thermostats configured to remotely access and communicate with each other over the communication network, the first thermostat comprising;

a thermostat housing that houses;

at least one temperature sensor;

a user interface including a display;

a plurality of wire terminals for electrically connecting to a plurality of control wires that are connected to one or more components of the HVAC unit, for sending one or more control signals to the one or more components of the HVAC unit via the control wires;

a communication port for communicating with the second thermostat over the communication network; and

a controller programmed to execute a remote access application for remotely accessing and communicating with the second thermostat over the communication network via the communication port, wherein the remote access application is configured to provide two-way communication with the second thermostat such that the first thermostat is configured to display at least one thermostat setting of the second thermostat on the display of the user interface of the first thermostat, and to facilitate making a change to at least one thermostat

setting of the second thermostat using the user interface of the first thermostat; and

wherein the second thermostat includes a controller programmed to execute a remote access application that is configured to display at least one thermostat setting of the first thermostat on a display of a user interface of the second thermostat, and to facilitate making a change to at least one thermostat setting of the first thermostat using the user interface of the second thermostat.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein each of the first and second thermostats comprises a transmitter/receiver for sending and/or receiving information to and from at least one other thermostat.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one thermostat setting comprises a temperature set point.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one thermostat setting is a scheduling parameter.

18. The thermostat of claim 14, wherein the at least one thermostat setting is an installer configuration setting.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the controller of the first thermostat is configured to display a first screen comprising at least one thermostat setting of the first thermostat on the display, and at least a second screen comprising at least one thermostat setting of the second thermostat on the display.