Thermostat circuitry to control power usage
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A thermostat comprising:
- control wires that control heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment;
a thermostat control circuit configured to control the HVAC equipment;
a radio module coupled to the thermostat control circuit to provide a network connection for the thermostat; and
a power circuit system coupled to the control wires and providing power to the thermostat control circuit and the radio module; and
wherein the power circuit system comprises;
an extraction circuit configured to extract power from the control wires;
a power storage device configured to store electrical current extracted from the control wires;
common wire detection circuitry configured to detect a presence of a common wire among the control wires; and
load determination circuitry configured to determine the electrical load impedance presented by HVAC equipment;
wherein the thermostat control circuit comprises;
a rules table that correlates thermostat operation to power parameters, the rules table including statements comprising;
if the common wire is absent and the amount of power that can be extracted from the control wires is high, the thermostat control circuit uses more power than when the amount of power that can be extracted from the control wires is normal;
if the common wire is absent and the amount of power that can be extracted from the control wires is low, the thermostat control circuit uses less power than when the amount of power that can be extracted from the control wires is normal; and
wherein high is greater than normal and normal is greater than low; and
wherein the radio module comprises TCP/IP configured to contain networking constants that control socket timeouts and the socket timeouts are adjusted based, at least in part, on a determined electrical load impedance presented by the HVAC equipment.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An operation alteration of a network attached thermostat to control power usage. Control wires for a heating and air conditioning system may be connected to a thermostat control circuit configured to control the system. A power extraction circuit may be coupled to the control wires configured to extract power from the control wires. The power may be put into a storage device. The power may be provided to the thermostat control circuit and a WiFi radio module. The radio module may provide a network connection for the thermostat. Circuitry and techniques may be provided to reduce power usage by the thermostat components.
429 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A thermostat comprising:
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control wires that control heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment; a thermostat control circuit configured to control the HVAC equipment; a radio module coupled to the thermostat control circuit to provide a network connection for the thermostat; and a power circuit system coupled to the control wires and providing power to the thermostat control circuit and the radio module; and wherein the power circuit system comprises; an extraction circuit configured to extract power from the control wires; a power storage device configured to store electrical current extracted from the control wires; common wire detection circuitry configured to detect a presence of a common wire among the control wires; and load determination circuitry configured to determine the electrical load impedance presented by HVAC equipment; wherein the thermostat control circuit comprises; a rules table that correlates thermostat operation to power parameters, the rules table including statements comprising; if the common wire is absent and the amount of power that can be extracted from the control wires is high, the thermostat control circuit uses more power than when the amount of power that can be extracted from the control wires is normal; if the common wire is absent and the amount of power that can be extracted from the control wires is low, the thermostat control circuit uses less power than when the amount of power that can be extracted from the control wires is normal; and wherein high is greater than normal and normal is greater than low; and wherein the radio module comprises TCP/IP configured to contain networking constants that control socket timeouts and the socket timeouts are adjusted based, at least in part, on a determined electrical load impedance presented by the HVAC equipment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for altering operation of a network attached thermostat to control power usage, comprising:
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providing a thermostat for controlling HVAC equipment, wherein; the thermostat comprises a radio module, a power circuit, and a control circuit; and the radio module comprises a processor and radio chip; determining when a next communication task of the radio module will be ready; comparing a time until the next communication task of the radio module will be ready to a threshold amount of time; and if the time until the next communication task of the radio module exceeds the threshold amount of time, putting the processor into a stop mode and the radio chip into a power save mode to reduce power in the radio module until the time until the next communication task of the radio module will be ready has expired; wherein the radio module comprises TCP/IP configured to contain networking constants that control socket timeouts and the socket timeouts are adjusted based, at least in part, on a determined electrical load impedance presented by the HVAC equipment. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A thermostat system comprising:
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a power supply circuit configured for connection to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment; a control circuit connected to the power supply circuit; a radio module connected to the control circuit, the radio module including a processor having a stop mode and a radio chip having a power save mode; and a sensor connected to the control circuit; wherein; the power supply circuit comprises a power extraction circuit having an output; and the power extraction circuit can obtain power for the output from current through a load impedance of an HVAC equipment; and the radio module performs a ping check-in with a remote server periodically and a period between sequential ping check-ins is varied based, at least in part, on the load impedance of the HVAC equipment. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification