US 8,630,742 B1Granted

Preconditioning controls and methods for an environmental control system

AssigneeNest Labs, Inc.

InventorsMark D. Stefanski, Yoky Matsuoka

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Abstract

Embodiments of the invention describe thermostats that are configured to precondition an enclosure and methods for performing the same. According to one embodiment, a method of preconditioning an enclosure includes providing a thermostat and computing a set of preconditioning criteria information (PCI) with said thermostat. The computed PCI is typically representative of time and ambient temperature conditions for which preconditioning should be performed. The PCI may be stored in memory and used to compare against a current time and current ambient temperature condition of the enclosure to determine whether to enter the thermostat into a preconditioning state. If a determination is made that the PCI criteria are satisfied, the thermostat may be entered into the preconditioning state to heat or cool the enclosure. One or more of these processes may be performed while a processor of the thermostat is in a relatively high power mode or relatively low power mode.

Claims29

Dependent claims

A thermostat, comprising:

a housing;
memory;
and
a processing system disposed within the housing, the processing system being in operative communication with one or more temperature sensors to determine an ambient temperature, and in operative communication with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to control the ambient temperature according to an HVAC schedule stored in said memory, the HVAC schedule including a first setpoint characterized by a first setpoint temperature and a first setpoint time, the HVAC schedule including a second setpoint characterized by a second setpoint temperature and a second setpoint time, the first setpoint time and second setpoint time defining a first time interval therebetween, said processing system being configured to control the HVAC system to precondition the enclosure during at least a part of said first time interval such that the ambient temperature reaches substantially said second setpoint temperature by said second setpoint time, the processing system including a first processor characterized by at least a relatively high electrical power-consuming first mode of operation and a relatively low electrical power-consuming second mode of operation, wherein the processing system controls the HVAC system to preconditioning the enclosure by:
during said first time interval, entering into said first mode of operation to process the second setpoint temperature in conjunction with first information derived from a historical record stored in said memory of previous heating and cooling cycles for said HVAC system as controlled by the thermostat to compute a set of preconditioning criteria information (PCI) representative of time and ambient temperature conditions for which the preconditioning should be performed;
storing the set of PCI in said memory;
subsequent to said storing the set of PCI in said memory, entering into said second mode of operation;
while in said second mode of operation, comparing a current time and current ambient temperature against said PCI to determine whether to enter into a preconditioning state;
and
entering into said first mode of operation and into said preconditioning state upon a determination that the PCI criteria are satisfied.

7 more elements

A method comprising:

providing a thermostat, the thermostat comprising:
a housing;
memory;
and
a processing system disposed within the housing, the processing system being in operative communication with one or more temperature sensors to determine an ambient temperature, and in operative communication with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to control the ambient temperature according to an HVAC schedule stored in said memory, the HVAC schedule including a first setpoint characterized by a first setpoint temperature and a first setpoint time, the HVAC schedule including a second setpoint characterized by a second setpoint temperature and a second setpoint time, the first setpoint time and second setpoint time defining a first time interval therebetween, said processing system being configured to control the HVAC system to precondition the enclosure during at least a part of said first time interval such that the ambient temperature reaches substantially said second setpoint temperature by said second setpoint time, the processing system including a first processor characterized by at least a relatively high electrical power-consuming first mode of operation and a relatively low electrical power-consuming second mode of operation;
during said first time interval, entering said first processor into said first mode of operation to process the second setpoint temperature in conjunction with first information derived from a historical record stored in said memory of previous heating and cooling cycles for said HVAC system as controlled by said thermostat to compute a set of preconditioning criteria information (PCI) representative of time and ambient temperature conditions for which the preconditioning should be performed;
storing said set of PCI in said memory;
subsequent to said storing said set of PCI in said memory, entering said first processor into said second mode of operation;
while in said second mode of operation, comparing a current time and current ambient temperature against said PCI to determine whether to enter said thermostat into a preconditioning state;
and
entering said first processor into said first mode of operation;
and
entering said thermostat into said preconditioning state upon a determination that the PCI criteria are satisfied.

10 more elements

A thermostat, comprising:

a housing;
memory;
and
a processing system disposed within the housing, the processing system being in operative communication with one or more temperature sensors to determine an ambient temperature, and in operative communication with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to control the ambient temperature according to an HVAC schedule stored in said memory, the HVAC schedule including a first setpoint characterized by a first setpoint temperature and a first setpoint time, the HVAC schedule including a second setpoint characterized by a second setpoint temperature and a second setpoint time, the first setpoint time and second setpoint time defining a first time interval therebetween, the processing system being configured to control the HVAC system to precondition the enclosure during at least a part of the first time interval such that the ambient temperature reaches substantially the second setpoint temperature by the second setpoint time, the processing system including a first processor characterized by at least a relatively high electrical power-consuming first mode of operation and a relatively low electrical power-consuming second mode of operation, and a second processor characterized by a relatively low electrical power-consuming mode of operation, wherein the processing system controls the HVAC system to preconditioning the enclosure by:
during the first time interval, processing, via the first processor in said first mode of operation, the second setpoint temperature in conjunction with first information derived from a historical record stored in said memory of previous heating and cooling cycles for the HVAC system as controlled by the thermostat to compute a set of preconditioning criteria information (PCI) representative of time and ambient temperature conditions for which the preconditioning should be performed;
communicating the set of PCI to the second processor;
subsequent to communicating the set of PCI to the second processor, entering the first processor into the second mode of operation;
comparing, via the second processor, a current time and current ambient temperature against the set of PCI to determine whether to enter into a preconditioning state;
entering the first processor into the first mode of operation based on information transmitted by the second processor;
and
entering the thermostat into the preconditioning state upon a determination that the PCI criteria are satisfied.

8 more elements

A method comprising:

providing a thermostat, the thermostat comprising:
a housing;
memory;
and
a processing system disposed within the housing, the processing system being in operative communication with one or more temperature sensors to determine an ambient temperature, and in operative communication with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to control the ambient temperature according to an HVAC schedule stored in said memory, the HVAC schedule including a first setpoint characterized by a first setpoint temperature and a first setpoint time, the HVAC schedule including a second setpoint characterized by a second setpoint temperature and a second setpoint time, the first setpoint time and second setpoint time defining a first time interval therebetween, the processing system being configured to control the HVAC system to precondition the enclosure during at least a part of said first time interval such that the ambient temperature reaches substantially the second setpoint temperature by the second setpoint time, the processing system including a first processor characterized by at least a relatively high electrical power-consuming first mode of operation and a relatively low electrical power-consuming second mode of operation, and a second processor characterized by a relatively low electrical power-consuming mode of operation;
entering the first processor into the first mode of operation to process the second setpoint temperature in conjunction with first information derived from a historical record stored in said memory of previous heating and cooling cycles for the HVAC system as controlled by the thermostat to compute a set of preconditioning criteria information (PCI) representative of time and ambient temperature conditions for which the preconditioning should be performed;
communicating the set of PCI to the second processor;
subsequent to communicating the set of PCI to the second processor, entering the first processor into the second mode of operation;
while in the second mode of operation, comparing a current time and current ambient temperature with the second processor against the set of PCI to determine whether to enter the thermostat into a preconditioning state;
entering the first processor into the first mode of operation;
and
entering the thermostat into the preconditioning state upon a determination that the PCI criteria are satisfied.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.