HVAC system remote monitoring and diagnosis

A method of operating a heating, ventilation, or air conditioning (HVAC) monitoring system, the method comprising:

• at a remote monitoring apparatus, the remote monitoring apparatus having a processor and a memory, periodically receiving frames of data from a local monitoring device installed at a building, wherein the remote monitoring apparatus is geographically separate from the building, and wherein each individual frame of the frames of data corresponds to a window of time and each individual frame includes:
• (i) time domain current data based on a measured aggregate current supplied to a plurality of components of an HVAC system of the building;
• and
• (ii) frequency domain current data based on the measured aggregate current;
• storing current data in the memory of the remote monitoring apparatus for each individual frame of the frames of data, wherein the current data includes (i) a single time domain current value based on the time domain current data and (ii) the frequency domain current data;
• using the processor of the remote monitoring apparatus, based on the stored current data and exclusive of individual current data from a plurality of individual current sensors respectively configured for monitoring each of the plurality of components of the HVAC system, determining an individual contribution of a first component of the plurality of components of the HVAC system to the measured aggregate current;
• transmitting information to an HVAC manufacturer, wherein the information is based on the stored current data;
• selectively identifying a problem occurring in the first component using the determined individual contribution;
• and
• in response to the problem being identified, selectively transmitting an alert message.