Controlling an operating condition of a thermostat

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10606290-B2
Application number	US-201815974529-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 8, 2018
Priority date	Jul 27, 2012
Publication date	Mar 31, 2020
Grant date	Mar 31, 2020

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for managing energy consumption in multi-room facilities are provided. In particular, intelligent mechanisms for determining a location of a mobile device associated with a room and then for managing energy settings, especially setback controls, of that room are provided. Some logic for implementing these mechanisms may be provided in a mobile device and in-room device, such as a motion detector, thermostat, HVAC controller, door, lock, television, set top box, etc.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of controlling an operating condition of a thermostat, comprising:
associating a mobile device with a controlled space comprising the thermostat;
detecting a state of a door of the controlled space;
determining, based at least on the detected state, a setback condition for the controlled space; and
sending, in response to determining the setback condition, a setback control options message to the mobile device that is associated with the controlled space.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving input provided via the mobile device; and
controlling the operating condition of the thermostat based on the input received from the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the state of the door is based on a message sent via a lock associated with the door.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising initiating the setback condition if no response to the setback control options message is received from the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1 , comprising monitoring the location of the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the setback control options message includes options for selectively controlling an operation of the thermostat.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein one of the options for selectively controlling an operation of the thermostat corresponds to initiating the setback condition.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein one of the options for selectively controlling an operation of the thermostat corresponds to resending the setback control options message to the mobile device after a period of time.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein one of the options for selectively controlling an operation of the thermostat corresponds to initiating a timer before initiating the setback condition.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein one of the options for selectively controlling an operation of the thermostat corresponds to ceasing to initiate the setback condition.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the one of the options for selectively controlling an operation of the thermostat further corresponds to resending the setback control options message to the mobile device after a period of time.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the setback control options message is sent to an application running on the mobile device, and wherein the message is sent via a setback control system server in communication with the thermostat.

13. A method of controlling an operating condition of a thermostat, comprising:
detecting an activity at a door lock;
sending, in response to detecting the activity, a message to a mobile device associated with a controlled space comprising the thermostat, wherein the message includes options for selection via the mobile device;
receiving, at a controller of the thermostat, operating condition control instructions sent via the mobile device, wherein the operating control instructions sent via the mobile device comprise a selection of an option; and
setting, via the controller, the operating condition of the thermostat based on the operating condition control instructions.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein prior to sending the message to the mobile device, the method comprises:
determining whether a room associated with the door lock is occupied or unoccupied and sending the message only when the room is determined to be unoccupied.

15. The method of claim 14 , comprising monitoring the location of the mobile device.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the operating condition corresponds to a setback condition or a non-setback condition.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the operating condition corresponds to a non-setback condition and further comprising resending the message to the mobile device after a period of time.

18. The method of claim 16 , comprising initiating a timer before initiating the operating condition of the thermostat.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
sending, via the door lock, a wireless message to the controller when the door is at least one of opened by key, opened from a side inside a room, and closed.

Assignees

• Assa Abloy Ab

Inventors

• Lagerstedt Stig
• Berg Daniel
• Bailin Daniel
• Robinton Mark
• Davis Masha Leah

Classifications

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• H04L12/2814

  Exchanging control software or macros for controlling appliance services in a home automation network (arrangements for maintenance or administration involving configuration of the network and network elements H04L41/08) · CPC title

• H04W4/027

  using movement velocity, acceleration information · CPC title

• H04W4/026

  using orientation information, e.g. compass · CPC title

• G05D23/1917

  using digital means · CPC title