US 2017/0362801 A1Published application

Freeze prediction system

AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.

InventorsNicolaas A. Van Goor, Thomas Rosback, Marc Light

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Abstract

A freeze prediction system for components such as one or more water pipes situated in a building. The building may have a heating system, a mechanism with a temperature setting connected to the heating system, and an indoor temperature indicator connected to the thermostat. A call may be made for heat if thermostat setting is greater than an indoor temperature. A check may be made as to whether a call for heat may be answered. Outdoor conditions may be read and accounted for in the system. An expected time may be calculated of a freeze danger. One may determine whether the freeze danger is significant according to the expected time of freeze danger compared to a predetermined time. If the freeze danger is not significant, a regular equipment failed alert may be sent out. If the freeze danger is significant, a pipe freeze warning alert may be sent out.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A pipe freeze prediction system comprising:

one or more pipes situated in a building;
a heating system for the building;
a mechanism having a temperature setting for the heating system;
an indoor temperature sensor for sensing climate conditions inside the building;
one or more sensors for sensing climate conditions outside the building;
and
a processor operationally coupled to the heating system, the mechanism, the indoor temperature sensor, and the one or more sensors, the processor configured to:
make a call to the heating system for heat if the temperature setting of the mechanism is more than a temperature sensed by the indoor temperature sensor;
monitor a sensed temperature in the building using the indoor temperature sensor in response to the call to the heating system for heat;
determine if the call for heat is answered based at least in part on the monitoring of the sensed temperature;
receive indoor information related to conditions inside the building using the indoor temperature sensor and outdoor information related to conditions outside the building using the one or more sensors in response to determining the call for heat is unanswered;
process the indoor information and the outdoor information to perform a trajectory analysis;
determine an expected freezing time based at least in part on the trajectory analysis;
and
send out an alert based on the expected freezing time.

12 more elements

A method for determining predicting a water pipe freeze prediction, comprising:

watching for a heat failure in a building;
and
wherein:
if there is no heat failure, then continue watching for a heat failure in the building;
if there is a heat failure, then determine whether temperature conditions outside of the building are freezing;
or
if there is a heat failure, then an expected time of a freeze danger is calculated, and the expected time of a freeze danger is compared to a predetermined time to freeze to indicate whether a regular equipment failed alert or a pipe freeze warning alert is to be announced;
the watching for a heat failure, a calculation of the expected time of a freeze danger, an indication of a regular equipment failed alert, or a pipe freeze warning alert is performed by a processor;
the processor is situated in a cloud spatially apart from the building;
the cloud comprises:
a first portal for receiving information from a thermostat in the building;
a second portal for providing alerts to a person having an interest in or a responsibility for the building;
and
a third portal for providing alerts to one or more contractors or repair people and for receiving one or more offers for repair or maintenance of the one or more contractors or repair people for repair or maintenance of the one or more pipes and heating systems, or for retrieving one or more offers for repair or maintenance from a database;
and
wherein the one or more offers are provided via the second portal to the person having the interest or the responsibility for the building.

13 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.