System and method for heating and monitoring a pet house

A computer-implemented method of heating and monitoring a pet house, the method comprising:

• heating a pet house with a device, wherein the device is connected to the internet wirelessly;
• setting the temperature via a computer application;
• transmitting thermostat data to at least one computing device;
• transmitting video image data to at least one computing device;
• receiving the thermostat data and the video image data on a mobile device, and
• notifying the mobile device based on values of the thermostat data and the video image data.

A computer-implemented method of heating and monitoring a pet enclosure, the method comprising:

• powering a heater device located at the pet enclosure, the heater device comprising a heater element, a thermostat, an onboard camera, and a wireless transceiver;
• enabling Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios on a mobile device and launching a companion application on the mobile device;
• establishing, via the companion application, a temporary Bluetooth connection between the mobile device and the heater device;
• transferring, from the mobile device to the heater device over the temporary Bluetooth connection, credentials for a local Wi-Fi network;
• connecting the heater device to the local Wi-Fi network using the transferred credentials;
• receiving, at the mobile device via the local Wi-Fi network and the internet, thermostat data generated by the thermostat and video image data generated by the onboard camera;
• presenting, by the companion application on the mobile device, a control interface that concurrently displays a room temperature value derived from the thermostat data and a set temperature;
• receiving, at the companion application, user input specifying the set temperature;
• operating the heater element to heat the pet enclosure when the room temperature value is lower than the set temperature;
• and
• generating and sending, by the companion application to the mobile device, a notification based on values of the thermostat data and the video image data.

A pet house heater and monitoring system, comprising:

• a housing;
• a heater element mounted within the housing;
• a thermostat configured to sense a room temperature within a pet enclosure;
• an onboard camera coupled to the housing;
• a wireless transceiver subsystem;
• a user-actuated reset button located adjacent to the onboard camera;
• a visual indicator proximate to the onboard camera and visible to a user;
• and
• an electronic controller operatively coupled to the heater element, the thermostat, the onboard camera, the wireless transceiver subsystem, the reset button, and the visual indicator, the controller being configured to place the system into a provisioning mode in response to a press-and-hold of the reset button, to drive the visual indicator to a slow-flashing state while searching for a Wi-Fi network, to a rapid-flashing state while pairing to the Wi-Fi network, and to a steady-on state upon successful connection to the Wi-Fi network, and to energize the heater element when the sensed room temperature is below a set temperature.