US 2014/0277748 A1Published application

Remote Terminal Thermostat

AssigneeGridPoint, Inc.

InventorDaniel K. Dyess

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

An energy management system having a centralized site controller is provided with thermostats in multiple zones, each thermostat having the capability of acting as a remote terminal to the controller. Each thermostat provides an interface to the site controller while simultaneously acting as the thermostat for each zone. The thermostat displays information concerning the state of the building's lighting and HVAC systems for any zone and allows the local user to initiate local overrides of set points. The central site controller determines how many thermostats are enabled with a terminal mode, including the full extent of their read and write permissions on other zones. The override requests are received by the central controller and merged with the settings for the current control algorithms. After a preconfigured time, the central controller reinstates the current control algorithm. The system can be shut down using a thermostat in remote terminal mode with appropriate permission form the centralized site controller. Further, system status changes are sent periodically to the remote thermostats for display and the remote thermostat terminals are polled periodically for change requests. As a result, the thermostat can be activated in run time, and endowed with terminal mode while still performing as a thermostat.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A method of controlling an energy management system having a plurality of zones respectively controlled by a plurality of thermostats, the method comprising:

receiving, via a touch screen of a first thermostat, a command to display set points of one or more zones of a building, the first thermostat being one of the plurality of thermostats, each controlling one or more zones of a building;
causing the touch screen of the first thermostat to display the set points of the one or more zones;
receiving, via the touch screen of the first thermostat, an override command and override set points for a selected zone of the one or more zones to temporarily alter the set points of the selected zone;
transmitting the received override set points to a central site controller for processing;
determining, at the central site controller, whether the override set points are within preset allowable parameters;
merging, if the override set points are within preset allowable parameters, the override set points with currently programmed set points for at least one of said plurality of thermostats;
sending the override set points to a second thermostat controlling a zone associated with the override set points for storage in the second thermostat memory;
controlling, with the second thermostat, the temperature of a zone associated with the second thermostat according to the override set points;
determining whether a predetermined amount of time has elapsed since the override set points were sent to the second thermostat, and if so, sending the currently programmed set points to the second thermostat;
and
controlling, with the second thermostat, the temperature of the zone associated with the override set points according to the currently programmed set points;
wherein said steps of receiving a command to display set points, causing the touch screen to display the set points, receiving an override command and override set points, transmitting the received override set points, determining whether the override set points are within allowable parameters, merging override set points, sending the override set points, controlling the temperature, and determining whether an amount of time has elapsed are conducted by one or more particular machines comprising one or more processors, respectively.

9 more elements

A computer program product for controlling an energy management system having a plurality of zones respectively controlled by a plurality of thermostats, comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied in the computer usable medium for causing an application program to execute on a computer system, the computer readable program code means comprising:
computer readable program code for receiving, via a touch screen of a first thermostat, a command to display set points of one or more zones of a building, the first thermostat being one of the plurality of thermostats, each controlling one or more zones of a building;
computer readable program code for causing the touch screen of the first thermostat to display the set points of the one or more zones;
computer readable program code for receiving, via the touch screen of the first thermostat, an override command and override set points for a selected zone of the one or more zones to temporarily alter the set points of the selected zone;
computer readable program code for transmitting the received override set points to a central site controller for processing;
computer readable program code for determining, at the central site controller, whether the override set points are within preset allowable parameters;
computer readable program code for merging, if the override set points are within preset allowable parameters, the override set points with currently programmed set points for at least one of said plurality of thermostats;
computer readable program code for sending the override set points to a second thermostat controlling a zone associated with the override set points for storage in the second thermostat memory;
computer readable program code for controlling, with the second thermostat, the temperature of a zone associated with the second thermostat according to the override set points;
computer readable program code for determining whether a predetermined amount of time has elapsed since the override set points were sent to the second thermostat, and if so, sending the currently programmed set points to the second thermostat;
and
computer readable program code for controlling, with the second thermostat, the temperature of the zone associated with the override set points according to the currently programmed set points.

9 more elements

An energy management system for controlling a plurality of zones respectively controlled by a plurality of thermostats, comprising:

a first thermostat configured to receive, via a touch screen, a command to display set points of one or more zones of a building, the first thermostat being one of the plurality of thermostats, each controlling one or more zones of a building, the first thermostat being further configured to cause its touch screen to display the set points of the one or more zones;
the first thermostat being further configured to receive, via the touch screen, an override command and override set points for a selected zone of the one or more zones to temporarily alter the set points of the selected zone;
the first thermostat being configured to transmit the received override set points to a central site controller for processing;
the central site controller being configured to determine whether the override set points are within preset allowable parameters, and being further configured to merge, if the override set points are within preset allowable parameters, the override set points with currently programmed set points for at least one of said plurality of thermostats;
the central site controller being configured to send the override set points to a second thermostat controlling a zone associated with the override set points for storage in the second thermostat memory;
the second thermostat being configured to control the temperature of a zone associated with the second thermostat according to the override set points;
the central site controller being configured to determine whether a predetermined amount of time has elapsed since the override set points were sent to the second thermostat, and if so, to send the currently programmed set points to the second thermostat;
and
the second thermostat being configured to control the temperature of the zone associated with the override set points according to the currently programmed set points.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/836,368Filed 15 Mar 2013
Published: 18 Sep 2014
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

F24F 11/46
For purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring: improving electric energy efficiency or saving
F24F 11/30
Control or safety arrangements: for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
F24F 11/56
Characterised by user interfaces or communication: remote control
G05B 15/02
Systems controlled by a computer: electric