Prospective determination of processor wake-up conditions in energy buffered HVAC control unit

A method of reducing an amount of power used by a thermostat, the method comprising:

• providing power to a processing system, the processing system being configured to be in operative communication with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, the processing system including a processor coupled to a memory, the processor having a first operating state and a second operating state, wherein the processor consumes more power in the second operating state than in the first operating state;
• determining a set of wake-up conditions upon which said processor is to enter into said second operating state from said first operating state, said set of wake-up conditions including at least one threshold value associated with at least one environmental condition;
• causing the set of wake-up conditions to be stored in said memory;
• operating in a first mode in which said processor is in said first operating state during a time interval subsequent to said causing the set of wake-up conditions to be stored in said memory;
• determining, while said processor is in said first operating state, whether at least one of the set of wake-up conditions has been met;
• and
• operating in a second mode in which said processor is in said second operating state upon a determination that the at least one of the set of wake-up conditions has been met, the processing system being configured to control the HVAC system while operating in the second operating mode.

A smart-home control system comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a processing system, wherein the processing system comprises a first processor and a second processor, wherein:
• the first processor is configured to:
• determine a wake-up threshold for determining when the first processor should transition from a low-power state to a high-power state;
• send the wake-up threshold to the second processor;
• and
• transition from the high-power state to the low-power state after the wake-up threshold is sent to the second processor;
• and
• the second processor is configured to:
• receive an environmental measurement;
• determine whether the environmental measurement violates the wake-up threshold;
• and
• cause the first processor to transition from the low-power state to the high-power state if the environmental measurement violates the wake-up threshold.