Comfort controller with user feedback

• US 9,996,091 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2013
• Issued: 06/12/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ademco Inc. (Resideo Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Wells, Leisha
• Primary Examiner(s): Lin, Jason
• Application Number:
  US13/905,312
• Publication Number:
  US 20140358291A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,839 Days
• Field of Search: 700276
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2614 HVAC, heating, ventillation, climate control
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1902 characterised by the use of a variable reference value

Abstract

An HVAC control system is provided that is configured to prompt a user to indicate whether or not they are comfortable under current environmental conditions. In some instances the HVAC control system may be configured to prompt the user to provide additional information regarding other factors that may affect their comfort. The HVAC control system may use the information collected from the user to control an HVAC system to achieve and/or maintain an environmental condition within a building at a level at which the user is expected to be comfortable.

Claims

1. A method of maintaining and/or increasing a user'"'"'s perceived comfort in a space that is serviced by a heating, ventilating and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system, the method comprising:

identifying one or more environmental conditions of a space;

detecting a change in the identified one or more environmental conditions independent of actuation of the HVAC system and independent of the user notifying the HVAC system of a perceived change in comfort;

when the change in the identified one or more environmental conditions is detected, and in direct response to the detected change, prompting a user to input whether the user is comfortable;

receiving an input that indicates whether the user is comfortable;

storing one or more of the identified environmental conditions present at the time the user provides an input indicating whether the user is comfortable in a memory;

associating the one or more identified environmental conditions with the user'"'"'s input that indicates whether the user is comfortable;

repeating the identifying, detecting, prompting, receiving, storing and associating steps one or more times;

developing a user'"'"'s comfort profile based, at least in part, on data collected via the identifying, prompting, receiving, storing and associating steps; and

controlling at least a portion of the HVAC system according to the developed user'"'"'s comfort profile.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the prompting, receiving, storing, and associating steps are repeated after each detected change in one or more of the identified environmental conditions.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying, detecting, prompting, receiving, storing, and associating steps are repeated for each of two or more users of the space.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more environmental conditions include one or more of an inside temperature, an outside temperature, an inside humidity level, an outside humidity level, a solar index, a smog alert level, a wind speed, a wind direction, a pollen count, and a pollen forecast.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising prompting a user to enter one or more user-related conditions.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more user-related conditions include one or more of an activity level of the user and a type of clothing worn by the user.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the identifying step identifies one or more of the environmental conditions and the one or more user-related conditions under which the user indicates as being comfortable.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying a range of one or more of the environmental conditions under which the user is expected to be comfortable.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the prompting and receiving steps are performed via a user interface of a controller of the HVAC system.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the prompting and receiving steps are performed via a user interface of portable remote device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the portable remote device is one or more of a cell phone, a personal digital assistant, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, and a personal computer.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the input received from the user indicates whether the user is comfortable or not.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the input received from the user includes a rating along a rating scale indicating a level of comfort of the user.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising controlling one or more of the environmental conditions within the space via the HVAC system in accordance with the developed user'"'"'s comfort profile.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying one or more recommendations to a user for achieving a user'"'"'s comfort within the space in accordance with the user'"'"'s comfort profile.

16. A thermal comfort control system, comprising:

a user interface;

control terminals for providing control signals to a heating, ventilating and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system of a building;

a controller coupled to the user interface and the control terminals, the controller configured to;

identify one or more environmental conditions of the building;

detect a change in the identified one or more environmental conditions independent of actuation of the HVAC system and independent of a user notifying the HVAC system of a perceived change in comfort;

when a change in the identified one or more environmental conditions is detected, and in direct response to the detected change, prompt a user to input a user'"'"'s comfort;

receive a corresponding input from the user via the user interface;

store one or more of the identified environmental conditions present at the time of the user'"'"'s input in a memory;

associate the one or more identified environmental conditions with the user'"'"'s input that indicates whether the user is comfortable;

repeatedly identify the one or more environmental conditions, detect a change in the identified one or more environmental conditions independent of actuation of the HVAC system and independent of the user notifying the HVAC system of a perceived change in comfort, prompt the user to input the user'"'"'s comfort in response to the detected change in the one or more identified environmental condition, receive a corresponding input from the user, store into the memory one or more of the identified environmental conditions present at the time of the user'"'"'s input in response to the user prompt, and associate the one or more identified environmental conditions with the user'"'"'s input that indicates whether the user is comfortable;

develop a comfort profile for the user comprising the one or more identified environmental conditions associated with the user'"'"'s input that indicates whether the user is comfortable; and

control at least a portion of the HVAC system according to the developed user'"'"'s comfort profile.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to control at least a portion of the HVAC system by providing one or more control signals to the control terminals, wherein the one or more control signals are configured to control the HVAC system such that the one or more identified environmental conditions of the building are driven toward the one or more of the environmental conditions under which the user is expected to be comfortable according to the user'"'"'s comfort profile.

18. The system according to claim 16, wherein the controller is further configured to provide one or more recommendations for achieving a user'"'"'s comfort within the building to a user via the user interface in accordance with the user'"'"'s comfort profile.

19. The thermal comfort control system according to claim 16, wherein the identified one or more environmental conditions include one or more of an inside temperature, an outside temperature, an inside humidity level, an outside humidity level, a solar index, a smog alert level, a wind speed, a wind direction, a pollen count, and a pollen forecast.

20. The thermal comfort control system according to claim 16, wherein the controller is further configured to prompt a user to input one or more user-related conditions via the user interface.

21. The thermal comfort control system according to claim 16, wherein the user interface is provided at the thermal comfort control system.

22. The thermal comfort control system according to claim 16, wherein the user interface is provided at a remote device in operative communication with the controller.

23. The thermal comfort control system according to claim 16, wherein the memory is provided at an external server.

24. A computer readable medium having stored thereon in a non-transitory state a program code, the program code is configured to cause a computing system to execute a method comprising:

identifying one or more environmental conditions of a space serviced by a heating, ventilating and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system;

detecting a change in the identified one or more environmental conditions independent of actuation of the HVAC system and independent of a user notifying the HVAC system of a perceived change in comfort;

when a change in the identified one or more environmental conditions is detected, and in direct response to the detected change, prompting a user to input a user'"'"'s comfort;

receiving a corresponding input from the user;

repeat identifying one or more environmental conditions of the space, detecting a change in the identified one or more environmental conditions independent of actuation of the HVAC system and independent of the user notifying the HVAC system of a perceived change in comfort, prompting the user to input a user'"'"'s comfort in response to the detected change in the one or more identified conditions, and receiving a corresponding input from the user;

learning under what environmental conditions the user is expected to be comfortable;

associating the environmental conditions under which the user is expected to be comfortable with a user'"'"'s comfort profile; and

controlling at least a portion of the HVAC system according to the user'"'"'s comfort profile.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein controlling at least a portion of the HVAC system includes providing one or more commands to the HVAC system, wherein the one or more commands are configured to cause the HVAC system to achieve the one or more environmental conditions inside of the space under which the user is expected to be comfortable.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 24, the method further comprising providing one or more recommendations for achieving a user'"'"'s comfort to the user via a user interface in accordance with the user'"'"'s comfort profile.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the computing system is any one of a thermostat, a portable remote device, or a web server.

28. A portable remote device comprising:

an input/output port for sending and/or receiving data over a network;

a user interface including a display;

a memory; and

a controller coupled to the input/output port, the memory and the user interface, the controller configured to identify a change in one or more environmental condition of a space serviced by a heating, ventilating and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system independent of actuation of the HVAC system and independent of a user notifying the HVAC system of a perceived change in comfort, and when a change is identified, and in direct response to the identified change, prompt the user to input a user'"'"'s comfort, receive a corresponding input from the user via the user interface, associate the one or more identified, changed environmental conditions with the user'"'"'s input that indicates whether the user is comfortable;

repeatedly identify a change in the one or more environmental conditions independent of actuation of the HVAC system and independent of the user notifying the HVAC system of a perceived change in comfort, prompt the user to input the user'"'"'s comfort in response to the identified change in the one or more identified conditions, receive a corresponding input from the user, and associate the one or more identified environmental conditions with the user'"'"'s input that indicates whether the user is comfortable, and provide information to the HVAC system via the input/output port to control the HVAC system such that the one or more environmental conditions of the space in which the change was identified is driven toward the one or more of the conditions under which the user is expected to be comfortable.

29. The portable remote device according to claim 28, wherein the portable remote device is any one of a smart phone or tablet computer.

30. The portable remote device according to claim 28, wherein the controller is further configured to provide one or more recommendations for achieving a user'"'"'s comfort in the space to the user via a user.