# US 11,029,056 B2 · Automatic switchover thermostat system based on apparent temperature and method for determining and automatically controlling the apparent temperature of a conditioned space > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,029,056 B2 - Document ID: US11029056B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/158,154 - Filed: 2018-10-11 - Published: 2019-04-11 - Granted: 2021-06-08 - Earliest claimed: 2017-10-11 - Assignees: Frontiertech International Inc. - Applicants: Bechara Philippe Assouad; Dimitri S. Chamieh - Inventors: Bechara Philippe Assouad; Dimitri S. Chamieh - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11029056B2 ## CPC - F24F 11/67: Switching between heating and cooling modes - F24F 11/523: for displaying temperature data - F24F 11/80: for controlling the temperature of the supplied air - G05D 22/02: characterised by the use of electric means - G05D 23/1919: {characterised by the type of controller} - G05D 27/02: characterised by the use of electric means - F24F 2110/10: Temperature - F24F 2110/20: Humidity - F24F: AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING (removing dirt or fumes from areas where they are produced B08B15/00; vertical ducts for carrying away waste gases from buildings E04F17/02; tops for chimneys or ventilating shafts, terminals for flues F23L17/02) - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES ## Abstract A climate control unit configured to control a heating unit and a cooling unit. The climate control unit includes a temperature sensor configured to measure a current dry bulb temperature, a humidity sensor configured to measure a current relative humidity, a processor, and a storage medium operably coupled to the processor. The storage medium has software instructions stored therein, which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to determine a current apparent temperature based on the current dry bulb temperature and the current relative humidity, receive a user-selected desired apparent temperature, activate a heating mode when the current apparent temperature is below a lower apparent temperature threshold, and activate a cooling mode when the current apparent temperature is above an upper apparent temperature threshold. The software instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to automatically switch between the heating mode and the cooling mode. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A climate control system configured to control a heating unit and a cooling unit, the climate control system comprising: a temperature sensor configured to measure a current dry bulb temperature; a humidity sensor configured to measure a current relative humidity; a processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium operably coupled to the processor, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having software instructions stored therein, which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: determine a current apparent temperature based on at least the current dry bulb temperature measured by the temperature sensor and the current relative humidity measured by the humidity sensor; receive a user-selected desired apparent temperature; activate the heating unit in a heating mode when the current apparent temperature is below a lower apparent temperature threshold below the user-selected desired apparent temperature, wherein the lower apparent temperature threshold is a constant based on the user-selected desired apparent temperature; activate the cooling unit in a cooling mode when the current apparent temperature is above an upper apparent temperature threshold above the user-selected desired apparent temperature, wherein the upper apparent temperature threshold is a constant based on the user-selected desired apparent temperature; and not activate either the cooling unit or the heating unit when the current apparent temperature is in a dead band between the lower apparent temperature threshold and the upper apparent temperature threshold, wherein the software instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to automatically switch between the heating mode and the cooling mode, wherein each of the user-selected desired apparent temperature, the lower apparent temperature threshold, and the upper apparent temperature threshold is based on a combination of a respective dry bulb temperature and a corresponding relative humidity. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the software instructions comprise a lookup table, and wherein the software instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to determine the current apparent temperature from the lookup table. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the software instructions comprise a semi-empirical algebraic equation defining the current apparent temperature, and wherein the software instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to calculate the current apparent temperature from the semi-empirical algebraic equation. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The system of claim 3, wherein the semi-empirical algebraic equation is AT = T a + 0.33 * ρ - 0.70 * ws - 4.00 , ⁢ wherein ⁢ ⁢ ρ = rh * 6.105 * e ( 17.27 * T a 237.7 + T a ) where AT is the apparent temperature in ° C.; Ta is the dry bulb temperature in ° C.; ρ is the water vapor pressure (hPa); ws is the wind speed; and rh is the relative humidity (%). ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the software instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to calculate a target dry bulb temperature corresponding to the user-selected desired apparent temperature and the current relative humidity. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The system of claim 5, wherein the software instructions comprise a polynomial equation, and wherein the software instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to calculate the target dry bulb temperature from the polynomial equation. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the software instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to calculate a target relative humidity corresponding to the user-selected desired apparent temperature and the current dry bulb temperature. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising an input unit configured to input the user-selected desired apparent temperature. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, wherein the input unit is configured to cause the processor to calculate the current apparent temperature and cause the processor to set the lower apparent temperature threshold equal to the current apparent temperature when the system is operating in the heating mode and to set the upper apparent temperature threshold equal to the current apparent temperature when the system is operating in the cooling mode. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising a display configured to display at least one of the current dry bulb temperature, the current relative humidity, the current apparent temperature, and the user-selected desired apparent temperature. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is configured to store a first user-selected desired apparent temperature associated with a first user, and store a second user-selected desired apparent temperature associated with a second user. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The climate control system of claim 1, wherein: the lower apparent temperature threshold is a curve defined by a plurality of combinations of dry bulb temperature and relative humidity that achieve a constant lower apparent temperature, and the upper apparent temperature threshold is a curve defined by a plurality of combinations of dry bulb temperature and relative humidity that achieve a constant upper apparent temperature. ### Claim 13 A climate control system configured to control a heating unit and a cooling unit, the climate control system comprising: a temperature sensor configured to measure a current dry bulb temperature; a humidity sensor configured to measure a current relative humidity; a processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium operably coupled to the processor, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having software instructions stored therein, which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: determine a current apparent temperature based on at least the current dry bulb temperature measured by the temperature sensor and the current relative humidity measured by the humidity sensor; receive a user-selected desired apparent temperature; activate the heating unit in a heating mode when the current apparent temperature is below a lower apparent temperature threshold based on the user-selected desired apparent temperature; and activate the cooling unit in a cooling mode when the current apparent temperature is above an upper apparent temperature threshold based on the user-selected desired apparent temperature, wherein the software instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to automatically switch between the heating mode and the cooling mode, wherein the software instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to calculate a target dry bulb temperature corresponding to the user-selected desired apparent temperature and the current relative humidity, wherein the software instructions comprise a polynomial equation, and wherein the software instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to calculate the target dry bulb temperature from the polynomial equation, wherein the polynomial equation is −0.002227*AT2+1.06*AT+3.4902*RH2−3.6014*RH−0.33346*AT*RH+4.0937, where AT is the user-selected desired apparent temperature and RH is the current relative humidity. ### Claim 14 A method of controlling the climate of a conditioned space, the method comprising: determining a current dry bulb temperature of the conditioned space; determining a current relative humidity of the conditioned space; calculating or determining a current apparent temperature of the conditioned space based on at least the current relative humidity and the current dry bulb temperature of the conditioned space; activating a heating unit in a heating mode when the current apparent temperature is below a lower apparent temperature threshold below a user-selected desired apparent temperature, wherein the lower apparent temperature threshold is a constant based on the user-selected desired apparent temperature; activating a cooling unit in a cooling mode when the current apparent temperature is above an upper apparent temperature threshold above the user-selected desired apparent temperature, wherein the upper apparent temperature threshold is a constant based on the user-selected desired apparent temperature; not activating either the cooling unit or the heating unit when the current apparent temperature is in a dead band between the lower apparent temperature threshold and the upper apparent temperature threshold; and automatically switching between the heating mode and the cooling mode, wherein each of the user-selected desired apparent temperature, the lower apparent temperature threshold, and the upper apparent temperature threshold is based on a combination of a respective dry bulb temperature and a corresponding relative humidity. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the determining the current dry bulb temperature comprises measuring the current dry bulb temperature with a temperature sensor, and wherein the determining the current relative humidity comprises measuring the current relative humidity with a humidity sensor. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising receiving the user-selected desired apparent temperature of the conditioned space. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, further comprising determining a difference between the user-selected desired apparent temperature and the current apparent temperature of the conditioned space. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising determining a target dry bulb temperature corresponding to the user-selected desired apparent temperature and the current relative humidity in the conditioned space. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, wherein the determining the target dry bulb temperature comprises calculating the target dry bulb temperature from a polynomial equation, and wherein the polynomial equation is −0.002227*AT2+1.06*AT+3.4902*RH2−3.6014*RH−0.33346*AT*RH+4.0937, where AT is the user-selected desired apparent temperature and RH is the current relative humidity. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising determining a target relative humidity corresponding to the user-selected desired apparent temperature and the current dry bulb temperature in the conditioned space. ### Claim 21 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the calculating or determining the current apparent temperature comprises determining the current apparent temperature from a lookup table. ### Claim 22 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the calculating or determining the apparent temperature comprises calculating the current apparent temperature with a semi-empirical algebraic equation. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein the semi-empirical algebraic equation is AT = T a + 0.33 * ρ - 0.70 * ws - 4.00 , ⁢ wherein ⁢ ⁢ ρ = rh * 6.105 * e ( 17.27 * T a 237.7 + T a ) where AT is the Apparent Temperature in ° C.; Ta is the dry bulb temperature in ° C.; p is the water vapor pressure (hPa); ws is the wind speed; and rh is the relative humidity (%). ### Claim 24 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the calculating or determining the current apparent temperature is based on one or more additional factors selected from the group consisting of radiated heat loads, outside temperature, a season, activity level, clothing, radiation, and wind speed. ### Claim 25 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein: the lower apparent temperature threshold is a curve defined by a plurality of combinations of dry bulb temperature and relative humidity that achieve a constant lower apparent temperature, and the upper apparent temperature threshold is a curve defined by a plurality of combinations of dry bulb temperature and relative humidity that achieve a constant upper apparent temperature. ### Claim 26 A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having software instructions stored therein, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to: determine a current dry bulb temperature; determine a current relative humidity; determine a current apparent temperature based on the current dry bulb temperature and the current relative humidity; receive a user-selected desired apparent temperature; activate a heating unit in a heating mode when the current apparent temperature is below a lower apparent temperature threshold below the user-selected desired apparent temperature, wherein the lower apparent temperature threshold is a constant based on the user-selected desired apparent temperature; activate a cooling unit in a cooling mode when the current apparent temperature is above an upper apparent temperature threshold above the user-selected desired apparent temperature, wherein the upper apparent temperature threshold is a constant based on the user-selected desired apparent temperature; not activate either the cooling unit or the heating unit when the current apparent temperature is in a dead band between the lower apparent temperature threshold and the upper apparent temperature threshold; and automatically switch between the heating mode and the cooling mode, wherein each of the user-selected desired apparent temperature, the lower apparent temperature threshold, and the upper apparent temperature threshold is based on a combination of a respective dry bulb temperature and a corresponding relative humidity. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein: the lower apparent temperature threshold is a curve defined by a plurality of combinations of dry bulb temperature and relative humidity that achieve a constant lower apparent temperature, and the upper apparent temperature threshold is a curve defined by a plurality of combinations of dry bulb temperature and relative humidity that achieve a constant upper apparent temperature.