Load control system providing manual override of an energy savings mode

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10756541-B2
Application number	US-201815996829-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 4, 2018
Priority date	Jul 30, 2009
Publication date	Aug 25, 2020
Grant date	Aug 25, 2020

Abstract

A load control system for a building having a lighting load, a window, and a heating and cooling system comprises a lighting control device, a daylight control device, and a temperature control device operable to be controlled so as to decrease a total power consumption of the load control system in an energy-savings mode. The energy-savings mode can be manually overridden in response to actuation of the actuator of an input control device, such that the load control system enters a manual mode for manually adjusting the loads controlled by the lighting control device, the daylight control device, and the temperature control device. The load control system is operable to automatically return to the energy-savings mode at a time after the load control system entered the manual mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A load control system installed in a building and responsive to a demand response command from an electrical utility company, the load control system comprising:
a temperature control device configured to control a heating and cooling system in a space to adjust a present temperature towards a setpoint temperature;
a motorized window treatment configured to control an amount of light admitted through a window, wherein the motorized window treatment comprises a fabric for covering the window, the motorized window treatment configured to adjust the fabric between a fully-open position in which the window is not covered and a fully-closed position in which the window is covered; and
a controller communicably coupled to the temperature control device, and the motorized window treatment to control the temperature control device and the motorized window treatment,
the controller configured to:
receive the demand response command from the electrical utility company, wherein the demand response command indicates a demand response event; and
in response to receiving the demand response command:
determine whether the heating and cooling system is heating or cooling the space;
based on determining that the heating and cooling system is cooling the space, transmit a command to the temperature control device to increase the setpoint temperature to control the heating and cooling system to reduce energy consumption;
determine whether a façade on which the motorized window treatment is installed is receiving direct sunlight; and
in response to determining that the façade is receiving direct sunlight, transmit a command to the motorized window to lower the fabric.

2. The load control system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a wireless temperature sensor configured to measure the present temperature and to wirelessly transmit a message including a value representative of the present temperature;
wherein the controller is configured to receive the message from the wireless temperature sensor and to determine the present temperature in response to the message.

3. The load control system of claim 1 , wherein, in response to the demand response command, the controller is further configured to:
based on determining that the heating and cooling system is heating the space, transmit a command to the temperature control device to decrease the set point temperature so as to decrease the power consumption of the heating and cooling system.

4. The load control system of claim 1 ,
wherein the motorized window treatment is configured to decrease an amount of light admitted through the window in response to receiving the command from the controller by lowering the fabric to the fully-closed position.

5. The load control system of claim 3 , further comprising:
an occupancy sensor configured to determine whether the space is occupied or unoccupied.

6. The load control system of claim 5 , wherein, when the space is occupied, the heating and cooling system is heating the building, and the space is receiving direct sunlight, the motorized window treatment is configured to raise the fabric from an initial position to a raised position to allow more sunlight to enter the space in response to the demand response command, the motorized window treatment configured to lower the fabric if the heating and cooling system is consuming more energy when the fabric was in the raised position than when the fabric was in the initial position.

7. The load control system of claim 4 , wherein, in response to the demand response command, the motorized window treatment is further configured to:
raise the fabric when the heating and cooling system is heating the building.

8. The load control system of claim 1 , wherein, after transmitting the command to lower the fabric of the motorized window treatment in response to the demand response event, the controller is further configured to:
monitor the heating and cooling system for a predetermined time period;
determine whether the heating and cooling system is consuming more energy at the end of the predetermined time period than at the beginning of the predetermined time period; and
based on the determination that the heating and cooling system is consuming more energy at the end of the predetermined time period than at the beginning of the predetermined time period, transmit a message to the motorized window treatment to control the motorized window treatment to raise the fabric.

9. The load control system of claim 1 , wherein the demand response command comprises a planned demand response command indicating an upcoming planned demand response event;
further wherein the controller is configured to control the heating and cooling system to pre-condition the building prior to the upcoming demand response event.

10. The load control system of claim 9 , wherein, to pre-condition the building prior to the upcoming demand response event, the controller is configured to:
decrease the setpoint temperature when the heating and cooling system is cooling the building; and
increase the setpoint temperature when the heating and cooling system is heating the building.

11. The load control system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a controllable electrical receptacle for turning a plug-in load on and off, the controllable electrical receptacle communicatively coupled to the controller; and
wherein in response to receiving the demand response command, the controller is further configured to transmit the command to the controllable electrical receptacle to cause the controllable electrical receptacle to turn off the plug-in load.

12. The load control system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a lighting control device configured to control an amount of power to one or more lighting loads, the lighting control device communicatively coupled to the controller;
wherein, in response to receiving the demand response command, the controller is further configured to:
transmit the command to the lighting control device; and
wherein the lighting control device is configured to decrease the amount of power delivered by the lighting control device to at least one lighting load of the one or more lighting loads by a predetermined amount to decrease power consumption of the at least one lighting load of the one or more lighting loads in response to the command.

13. A method for controlling a load control system of a building in response to a demand response command from an electrical utility company, the method comprising:
receiving, via a controller, the demand response command from the electrical utility company, wherein the demand response command indicates a demand response event; and
in response to receiving the demand response command:
determining, via the controller, whether a heating and cooling system is heating or cooling a space;
based on determining that the heating and cooling system is cooling the space, transmitting a command to a temperature control device to increase a setpoint temperature of a temperature control device to control the heating and cooling system to reduce energy consumption;
determining, via the controller, whether a façade on which a motorized window treatment is installed is receiving direct sunlight; and
in response to determining that the façade is receiving direct sunlight, transmitting a command to the motorized window treatment to lower a fabric to a fully-closed position.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
controlling, via a controller, a lighting control device to decrease an amount of power delivered to at least one lighting load in response to rec

Assignees

• Lutron Tech Co Llc

Inventors

• Altonen Gregory S
• Fricke William B
• Jacoby Elliot G
• Pessina Michael W
• Zaharchuk Walter S
• Spira Joel S

Classifications

• H05B47/1965

  using handheld communication devices · CPC title

• H05B47/1985

  Creation of lighting zones or scenes · CPC title

• H05B47/19

  via wireless transmission · CPC title

• F24F11/59

  for presetting · CPC title

• F24F11/63

  Electronic processing · CPC title