System and method for controlling appliances and thermostat for use therewith

A system for controlling operation of at least one appliance within a dwelling, comprising:

• at least one appliance having an electronic controller operable to control the at least one appliance;
• an intelligent thermostat remotely located from the at least one appliance for controlling at least a dwelling's heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system, the intelligent thermostat operably coupled to the electronic controller for communications therewith to control operation of at least one of the HVAC system and the at least one appliance in response to communication between the at least one appliance and the intelligent thermostat;
• and
• wherein the at least one appliance includes at least one heat producing appliance that dissipates heat energy into the dwelling, and wherein the electronic controller of the at least one heat producing appliance communicates operational information of the heat producing appliance to the intelligent thermostat, and wherein the intelligent thermostat activates the HVAC system to cool at least a localized environment of the heat producing appliance in response to the operational information despite a sensed temperature at the intelligent thermostat being below an activation set point for the HVAC system.

A method of controlling at least one appliance and a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system of a dwelling, comprising the steps of:

• receiving by a thermostat user input information from the at least one appliance;
• processing by the thermostat the received user input information;
• transmitting by the thermostat to the at least one of the HVAC system and the at least one appliance a control signal to adjust an operational mode of the at least one HVAC system and appliance;
• and
• wherein the user input information includes appliance activation information input by the user including at least one of a mode of operation, activation of the appliance, a length of operation, or a temperature setting;
• and
• wherein the transmitting step includes transmitting an activation control signal to the HVAC system to activate the HVAC system to cool at least a portion of he dwelling despite a sensed temperature at the thermostat being below an activation set point for the HVAC system.