Scheduling and modeling the operation of controllable and non-controllable electronic devices

A method, comprising:

• determining estimated market prices of power for an upcoming period of time, the upcoming period of time including different estimated market prices of power at different time intervals within the upcoming period of time, including a peak power price time interval and a lower power price time interval during which the estimated market price of power is less than during the peak power price time interval;
• using computing hardware, generating a schedule for operating a non-controllable electronic device throughout the upcoming period of time, the schedule including randomly selected time periods of operation that cumulatively correspond to a historical usage of the non-controllable electronic device, the randomly selected time periods occurring at least partially during the peak power price time interval or the lower power price time interval;
• and
• using the computing hardware, calculating a cost of operating the non-controllable electronic device according to the schedule.

A controller for controlling operational states of one or more household devices, the controller comprising computing hardware configured to:

• receive data from a user indicating respective power price limits for each individual controllable electronic device in a group of two or more controllable electronic devices, the respective power price limit for one of the controllable electronic devices indicating a price for power above which the user desires to have the controllable electronic device deactivated;
• determine estimated market prices of power for an upcoming period of time, the upcoming period of time including different estimated market prices of power at different time intervals within the upcoming period of time, including a peak power price time interval and a lower power price time interval during which the estimated market price of power is less than during the peak power price time interval;
• determine respective estimated operating times for the controllable electronic devices in the group during the upcoming period of time;
• and
• generate respective schedules for operating the controllable electronic devices in the group during the upcoming period of time based at least in part on the received power price limits and the estimated operating times for the controllable electronic devices in the group, the schedules for operating the controllable electronic devices including scheduled operating times for the controllable electronic devices occurring at least partially during the lower power price time interval.

A method, comprising:

• via a graphic user interface, allowing a user to input data indicating device-specific operational parameters for each individual household device in a group of two or more household devices;
• determining estimated market prices of power for an upcoming time period, the upcoming period of time including different estimated market prices of power at different time intervals within the upcoming period of time, including a peak power price time interval and a lower power price time interval during which the estimated market price of power is less than during the peak power price time interval;
• generating respective schedules indicating time intervals during which each of the respective household devices is operational and time intervals during which each of the respective household devices is not operational for the upcoming time period, the household devices being thermostatically controlled household devices and the schedules including time intervals of precooling or preheating for the respective household devices occurring at least partially during the lower power price time interval;
• using computing hardware, computing a cost for operating the household devices according to the schedules;
• and
• using the computing hardware, computing a comfort level of a user when the household devices are operated according to the schedules.

A controller for controlling operational states of one or more household devices, the controller comprising computing hardware configured to:

• receive data from a user indicating device-specific operational parameters for each individual household device in a group of two or more household devices;
• determine estimated market prices of power for an upcoming period of time, the upcoming period of time including different estimated market prices of power at different time intervals within the upcoming period of time, including a peak power price time interval and a lower power price time interval during which the estimated market price of power is less than during the peak power price time interval;
• generate respective schedules for each of the household devices for the upcoming period of time, the schedules indicating time intervals during which the respective household devices are operational and time intervals during which the respective household devices are not operational, the household devices being thermostatically controlled household devices and the schedules including time intervals of precooling or preheating occurring at least partially during the lower power price time interval;
• compute a cost for operating the household devices according to the schedules;
• and
• compute a comfort level of a user when the household devices are operated according to the schedules.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

• providing a graphic user interface that displays a device-level list of one or more controllable electronic devices to a user, the controllable electronic devices in the list being powered by a power network;
• determining estimated market prices of power for an upcoming period of time, the upcoming period of time including different estimated market prices of power at different time intervals within the upcoming period of time, including a peak power price time interval and a lower power price time interval during which the estimated market price of power is less than during the peak power price time interval;
• and
• via the graphic user interface, allowing a user to input data indicating device-specific operational parameters for each of the one or more controllable electronic devices in the list,
• the operational parameters including one or more time intervals within the upcoming period of time during which a selected one of the one or more controllable electronic devices is to be activated, at least one of the one or more time intervals occurring at least partially during the lower power price time interval,
• the operational parameters further including a price limit for the selected one of the one or more controllable electronic devices indicating a price at which the selected one of the one or more controllable electronic devices is to be deactivated if exceeded by a current market price for power;
• wherein the method further comprises generating a schedule for operating the one or more controllable electronic devices during the one or more time intervals based at least in part on the data concerning the device-specific operational parameters;
• and
• wherein the method further comprises generating a schedule for one or more noncontrollable electronic devices based on historical usage patterns of the noncontrollable electronic devices.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

• receiving data from a user concerning a power price limit below which the user prefers to have a controllable electronic device operate;
• determining estimated market prices of power for an upcoming period of time, the upcoming period of time including different estimated market prices of power at different time intervals within the upcoming period of time, including a peak power price time interval and a lower power price time interval during which the estimated market price of power is less than during the peak power price time interval;
• determining estimated operating times for the controllable electronic device throughout the upcoming period of time;
• generating a schedule for operating the controllable electronic device during the upcoming period of time based at least in part on the estimated operating times for the controllable electronic device, the schedule for operating the controllable electronic device including a scheduled operating time for the controllable electronic device occurring at least partially during the lower power price time interval;
• determining a current market price for power during the scheduled operating time;
• determining information indicative of whether the current market price for power exceeds the power price limit;
• transmitting the information to an information display for the controllable electronic device;
• and
• displaying the information to the user at the information display for the controllable electronic device.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

• determining estimated market prices of power for an upcoming period of time, the upcoming period of time including different estimated market prices of power at different time intervals within the upcoming period of time, including a peak power price time interval and a lower power price time interval during which the estimated market price of power is less than during the peak power price time interval;
• generating a schedule for operating a non-controllable electronic device throughout the upcoming period of time, the schedule including randomly selected time periods of operation that cumulatively correspond to a historical usage of the non-controllable electronic device, the randomly selected time periods occurring at least partially during the peak power price time interval or the lower power price time interval;
• and
• calculating a cost of operating the non-controllable electronic device according to the schedule.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

• via a graphic user interface, allowing a user to input data indicating device-specific operational parameters for each individual household device in a group of two or more household devices;
• determining estimated market prices of power for an upcoming time period, the upcoming period of time including different estimated market prices of power at different time intervals within the upcoming period of time, including a peak power price time interval and a lower power price time interval during which the estimated market price of power is less than during the peak power price time interval;
• generating respective schedules indicating time intervals during which each of the respective household devices is operational and time intervals during which each of the respective household devices is not operational for the upcoming time period, the household devices being thermostatically controlled household devices and the schedules including time intervals of precooling or preheating for the respective household devices occurring at least partially during the lower power price time interval;
• computing a cost for operating the household devices according to the schedules;
• and
• computing a comfort level of a user when the household devices are operated according to the schedules.