Intelligent temperature management based on energy usage profiles and outside weather conditions

• US 9,600,011 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2014
• Issued: 03/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Weaver, Jason C., Kayton, Bradley A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Fennema, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): STEVENS, THOMAS H
• Application Number:
  US14/473,906
• Publication Number:
  US 20140371921A1
• Time in Patent Office: 935 Days
• Field of Search: 700/276
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/63 Electronic processing
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/64 using pre-stored data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/10 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/12 of the outside air
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/20 Humidity
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2130/00 Control inputs relating to environmental factors not covered by group F24F2110/00
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2130/10 Weather information or forecasts
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2130/20 Sunlight
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2140/60 Energy consumption
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/34306 Power down, energy saving
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1917 using digital means
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1927 using a plurality of sensors G05D23/1902, G05D23/1917, and G05D23/1919 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05F 1/66 Regulating electric power
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06314 Calendaring for a resource
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0257 : User requested
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 : Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/00 : Teaching not covered by other main groups of this subclass teaching or practice apparatus for gun-aiming or gun-laying F41G3/26
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/02 : with visual presentation of the material to be studied, e.g. using film strip
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/14 : The load or loads being home appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/00 : Circuit arrangements for ac mains or ac distribution networks
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/14 : by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/12 : Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2816 : Controlling appliance services of a home automation network by calling their functionalities arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station; in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom H04Q9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2827 : Reporting to a device within the home network; wherein the reception of the information reported automatically triggers the execution of a home appliance functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2829 : involving user profiles according to which the execution of a home appliance functionality is automatically triggered
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 : comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/30 : using a wired architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/43 : using wireless personal area networks [WPAN], e.g. 802.15, 802.15.1, 802.15.4, Bluetooth or ZigBee
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/60 : for transmitting utility meters data, i.e. transmission of data from the reader of the utility meter
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 : Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 : Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/00 : Wireless channel access
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/30 : Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/82 : Energy audits or management systems therefor
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/20 : End-user application control systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 50/14 : Marketing, i.e. market research and analysis, surveying, promotions, advertising, buyer profiling, customer management or rewards

Abstract

Various arrangements of controlling a temperature of an enclosure are presented. A setpoint temperature may be received by a thermostat from a user via an energy management device. The setpoint temperature may indicate a desired temperature of the enclosure. The thermostat may be operated in accordance with the setpoint temperature. Energy consumption associated with the thermostat may be monitored. The monitored energy consumption may be compared to an energy usage profile. Based on such a comparison, at least one adjustment to the operation of the thermostat may be determined that will reduce energy consumption associated with the thermostat as compared to the energy consumption associated with operating the thermostat in accordance with the setpoint temperature.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a temperature of an enclosure, comprising:

wirelessly receiving, at a thermostat associated with the enclosure, at least one setpoint temperature from a user, the setpoint temperature indicating a desired temperature of the enclosure;

operating the thermostat in accordance with the setpoint temperature;

monitoring energy consumption associated with the thermostat;

comparing the monitored energy consumption to an energy usage rule;

receiving weather information from an Internet-based host server, the weather information indicating weather for the enclosure;

based on the comparing and a received command to conserve energy, making at least one adjustment to the operation of the thermostat that will reduce energy consumption associated with the thermostat as compared to the energy consumption associated with operating the thermostat in accordance with the setpoint temperature, wherein;

the at least one adjustment is determined based at least in part on the received weather information;

the adjustment comprises decreasing the temperature set by the thermostat below the setpoint temperature prior to a forecasted outside temperature increase according to the received weather information when an air conditioner of an HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system is enabled; and

the adjustment comprises increasing the temperature set by the thermostat above the setpoint temperature prior to a forecasted outside temperature decrease according to the received weather information when a heater of the HVAC system controlled by the thermostat is enabled; and

operating the thermostat in accordance with the at least one adjustment.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a command from a remote server to conserve energy; and

operating the thermostat in accordance with the command.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein operating the thermostat in accordance with the setpoint temperature includes taking into consideration a user'"'"'s perception of temperature.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein taking into consideration a user'"'"'s subject perception of temperature includes querying the user as to whether they feel hot or cold.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an address of the enclosure, wherein the weather outside of the enclosure is determined based on the address of the enclosure and is acquired over an Internet.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

tracking an operation history of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit associated with the thermostat;

determining that a total operation time of the HVAC unit has exceeded a predetermined threshold; and

communicating advice to the user regarding an upgrade to the HVAC unit in response to determining that the total operation time has exceeded the predetermined threshold.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein communicating advice includes alerting the user to replace a filter of the HVAC unit.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving user input to configure operation of the thermostat.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving from the user a specific period of time during which the setpoint temperature is the desired temperature of the enclosure.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

communicating, to the user, an advertisement for a product and/or a service that is contextual to temperature management.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to the at least one adjustment, calculating a difference between an actual energy load reduction of the HVAC system and a projected energy load reduction of the HVAC system; and

determining a demand response situation is triggered based on the calculated difference.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

in response to determining that the demand response situation is triggered based on the calculated difference, operating the HVAC system while ignoring a temperature measured by the thermostat.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

in response to determining that the demand response situation is triggered based on the calculated difference, transmitting an indication of suspicious behavior to a remote server.

11. A system for managing a temperature of an enclosure, comprising:

a thermostat including;

a wireless transceiver configured to transmit and receive data through a wireless network;

an electrical terminal operatively coupled to an HVAC unit within the enclosure; and

a computer processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the electrical terminal and configured to;

receive a setpoint temperature from a user via the wireless transceiver, the setpoint temperature indicating a desired temperature of the enclosure;

receive weather information via the Internet, the weather information corresponding to location information for the enclosure; and

control the electrical terminal to operate the HVAC unit in accordance with the setpoint temperature; and

one or more modules configured to;

monitor energy consumption of the HVAC unit;

compare the monitored energy consumption to an energy usage rule;

based on a command to conserve energy, determine at least one adjustment to the operation of the HVAC unit that will reduce energy consumption associated with the HVAC unit as compared to the energy consumption associated with operating the HVAC unit in accordance with the setpoint temperature, wherein;

the adjustment comprises either increasing a temperature set by the thermostat or decreasing the temperature set by the thermostat, wherein;

increasing the temperature set is performed as the adjustment based on the outside temperature and an air conditioner of an HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system being enabled; and

reducing the temperature set is performed as the adjustment based on the outside temperature and a heater of the HVAC system controlled by the thermostat being enabled; and

the adjustment comprises decreasing the temperature set by the thermostat below the setpoint temperature prior to a forecasted outside temperature increase according to the received weather information when an air conditioner of an HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system is enabled; and

the adjustment comprises increasing the temperature set by the thermostat above the setpoint temperature prior to a forecasted outside temperature decrease according to the received weather information when a heater of the HVAC system controlled by the thermostat is enabled; and

cause the thermostat to control the electrical terminal to operate the HVAC unit in accordance with the at least one adjustment.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a humidity sensor coupled to the computer processor,

wherein the computer processor is further configured to receive a humidity reading from the humidity sensor.

13. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

an ambient light sensor coupled to the computer processor,

wherein the computer processor is further configured to receive a reading from the ambient light sensor.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, having instructions stored therein, which when executed cause a computer to perform a set of operations comprising:

wirelessly receiving, at a thermostat associated with an enclosure, at least one setpoint temperature from a user, the setpoint temperature indicating a desired temperature of the enclosure;

receiving weather information from an Internet-hosted server, the weather information indicating weather for the enclosure;

operating the thermostat associated with the enclosure in accordance with the setpoint temperature;

monitoring energy consumption associated with the thermostat;

comparing the monitored energy consumption to an energy usage rule;

based on a received command to conserve energy, determining at least one adjustment to the operation of the thermostat that will reduce energy consumption associated with the thermostat as compared to the energy consumption associated with operating the thermostat in accordance with the setpoint temperature, wherein;

the at least one adjustment is determined based at least in part on the weather; and

the adjustment comprises decreasing the temperature set by the thermostat below the setpoint temperature prior to a forecasted outside temperature increase according to the received weather information when an air conditioner of an HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system is enabled; and

the adjustment comprises increasing the temperature set by the thermostat above the setpoint temperature prior to a forecasted outside temperature decrease according to the received weather information when a heater of the HVAC system controlled by the thermostat is enabled; and

operating the thermostat in accordance with the at least one adjustment.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, having further instructions stored therein, which when executed cause the computer to perform a set of operations comprising:

storing time information relating to an operation interval of an HVAC unit;

storing a first measurement of temperature associated with a beginning of the operation interval;

storing a second measurement of temperature associated with an end of the operating interval; and

calculating a temperature drop rate over the operating interval.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, having further instructions stored therein, which when executed cause the computer to perform a set of operations comprising:

calculating an efficiency for the enclosure based on the temperature drop rate.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, having further instructions stored therein, which when executed cause the computer to perform a set of operations comprising:

calculating an efficiency for the HVAC unit based on the temperature drop rate.