Attributing causation for energy usage and setpoint changes with a network-connected thermostat

• US 10,606,724 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2019
• Issued: 03/31/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Fisher, Evan J., Sloo, David, Matsuoka, Yoky, Bruck, Timo A., Rogers, Matthew Lee, Fadell, Anthony Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Park, Hyun D
• Application Number:
  US16/425,567
• Publication Number:
  US 20190278680A1
• Time in Patent Office: 307 Days
• 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 11/46 Improving electric energy efficiency or saving
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/52 Indication arrangements, e.g. displays
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2221/32 preventing human errors during the installation, use or maintenance, e.g. goofy proof
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1904 variable in time
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/30 Monitoring

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for attributing a primary causative agent for HVAC system usage being above or below an average, the HVAC system being controlled by a self-programming network-connected thermostat. Systems and method are also described interactively and graphically displaying schedule information to a user of an HVAC system controlled by a network-connected thermostat. The displayed information can include indications of the manner in which one or more setpoints was created or last modified. Historical HVAC performance information can also be displayed that can include details of certain energy-effecting events such as setpoint changes, adaptive recovery, as well as automatic and manually set non-occupancy modes.

Claims

1. A system for attributing a primary causative agent for HVAC system usage, comprising:

a thermostat in communication with an HVAC system via a plurality of control wires through which the thermostat actuates operation of the HVAC system, the thermostat comprising;

a temperature sensor, an occupancy sensor, a wireless network interface for communication with a thermostat management server system, and a processing system, the processing system being configured to;

register the thermostat with the thermostat management server system;

control operation of the HVAC system via the plurality of control wires using data obtained from at least the temperature sensor and the occupancy sensor;

collect information relating to HVAC system usage over a plurality of days; and

the thermostat management server system, configured to;

pair the thermostat with a thermostat management account;

calculate an average value for HVAC system usage for the plurality of days using the gathered information relating to HVAC system usage;

determine whether HVAC system usage for a candidate time period, being one of the plurality of days, is above or below the calculated average value;

select a first set of potential causative agents in response to the HVAC system usage for the candidate time period being below the calculated average value;

select a second set of potential causative agents in response to the HVAC system usage for the candidate time period being above the calculated average value, wherein;

the first set of potential causative agents and the second set of potential causative agents differ from each other and each comprise multiple causative agents;

hierarchically evaluating a selected set of potential causative agents for the HVAC system usage for the candidate time period being above or below the calculated average value, wherein the selected set of potential causative agents is the first set of potential causative agents or the second set of potential causative agents;

attribute the primary causative agent for the HVAC system usage for the candidate time period being above or below average using the hierarchical evaluation of the selected set of potential causative agents; and

provide an output indicative of the attributed primary causative agent.

2. The system for attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 1, wherein the HVAC system usage refers to an amount of energy used by the HVAC system on the plurality of days.

3. The system for attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 1, wherein the HVAC system usage refers to an amount of time the HVAC system has operated over the plurality of days.

4. The system for attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 1, wherein providing the output indicative of the attributed primary causative agent for the HVAC system usage comprises an email report comprising the attributed primary causative agent for the HVAC system usage being sent.

5. The system for attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 1, wherein the thermostat management server system is configured to, in response to determining that the HVAC system usage for the candidate time period is close to the calculated average value, attribute no primary causative agent for the candidate time period.

6. The system for attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 1, wherein the candidate time period is a day immediately preceding a day on which said calculating, determining, evaluating and attributing are performed by the thermostat management server system.

7. The system for attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 1, wherein the primary causative agent is selected from the group consisting of:

user behavior, weather, usage of an away setting, and one or more thermostat features.

8. The system for attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 7, wherein the one or more thermostat features includes one or more types of features selected from the group consisting of:

occupancy detection, automatic setpoint scheduling, auto-dehumidification, and an automated schedule adjustment algorithm.

9. A method of attributing a primary causative agent for HVAC system usage, the method comprising:

collecting, by a thermostat, information relating to the HVAC system usage over a plurality of days, wherein;

the thermostat comprises;

a temperature sensor, a network interface, and a processing system;

registering, by the thermostat, the thermostat with a thermostat management server system;

following the thermostat being registered with the thermostat management server system, pairing the thermostat with a thermostat management account maintained by the thermostat management server system;

controlling, by the thermostat, operation of an HVAC system using data obtained from the temperature sensor;

calculating an average value for HVAC system usage for the plurality of days using the collected information relating to HVAC system usage;

determining whether HVAC system usage for a candidate time period of the plurality of days is above or below the calculated average value;

selecting a first set of potential causative agents when HVAC system usage for the candidate time period is below the calculated average value;

selecting a second set of potential causative agents when HVAC system usage for the candidate time period is above the calculated average value, wherein;

the first set of potential causative agents and the second set of potential causative agents differ from each other and each comprise multiple causative agents;

hierarchically evaluating a selected set of potential causative agents for the HVAC system usage for the candidate time period being above or below the calculated average value, wherein the selected set of potential causative agents is the first set of potential causative agents or the second set of potential causative agents;

attributing the primary causative agent for the HVAC system usage for the candidate time period being above or below the calculated average value using the hierarchical evaluation of the selected set of potential causative agents; and

providing, by the thermostat management server system, an output indicative of the attributed primary causative agent for the HVAC system usage.

10. The method of attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 9, wherein calculating the average value for HVAC system usage is performed by the thermostat management server system.

11. The method of attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 9, wherein evaluating the first set of potential causative agents when HVAC system usage for the candidate time period is below the calculated average value is performed by the thermostat management server system and evaluating the second set of potential causative agents when HVAC system usage for the candidate time period is above the calculated average value is performed by the thermostat management server system.

12. The method of attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 9, wherein the HVAC system usage refers to an amount of energy used by the HVAC system on the plurality of days.

13. The method of attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 9, wherein the HVAC system usage refers to an amount of time the HVAC system has operated over the plurality of days.

14. The method of attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 9, wherein providing the output indicative of the attributed primary causative agent for the HVAC system usage comprises an email report comprising the attributed primary causative agent for the HVAC system usage being provided.

15. The method of attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 9, further comprising:

in response to determining that the HVAC system usage for the candidate time period is close to the calculated average value, attributing no primary causative agent for the candidate time period.

16. The method of attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 9, wherein the candidate time period is a day immediately preceding a day on which said calculating, determining, evaluating and attributing are carried out.

17. The method of attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 9, wherein the primary causative agent is selected from the group consisting of:

user behavior, weather, usage of an away setting, and one or more thermostat features.

18. The method of attributing the primary causative agent for HVAC system usage of claim 17, wherein the one or more thermostat features includes one or more types of features selected from the group consisting of:

occupancy detection, automatic setpoint scheduling, auto-dehumidification, and an automated schedule adjustment algorithm.

19. A non-transitory processor-readable medium for a thermostat management server system, comprising processor-readable instructions that cause one or more processors to:

pair a thermostat with a thermostat management account, wherein the thermostat is in communication with an HVAC system via a plurality of control wires through which the thermostat actuates operation of the HVAC system, the thermostat comprising;

a temperature sensor, an occupancy sensor, a wireless network interface for communication with the thermostat management server system, and a processing system;

calculate an average value for HVAC system usage for a plurality of days using gathered information relating to HVAC system usage;

determine whether HVAC system usage for a candidate time period, being one of the plurality of days, is above or below the calculated average value;

select a first set of potential causative agents in response to the HVAC system usage for the candidate time period being below the calculated average value;

select a second set of potential causative agents in response to the HVAC system usage for the candidate time period being above the calculated average value, wherein;

the first set of potential causative agents and the second set of potential causative agents differ from each other and each comprise multiple causative agents;

hierarchically evaluating a selected set of potential causative agents for the HVAC system usage for the candidate time period being above or below the calculated average value, wherein the selected set of potential causative agents is the first set of potential causative agents or the second set of potential causative agents;

attribute the primary causative agent for the HVAC system usage for the candidate time period being above or below average using the hierarchical evaluation of the selected set of potential causative agents; and

provide an output indicative of the attributed primary causative agent.

20. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the one or more processors are further caused by the processor-readable instructions to attribute no primary causative agent for the candidate time period in response to determining that the HVAC system usage for the candidate time period is close to the calculated average value.