System and method of HVAC health monitoring for connected homes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10935271-B2
Application number	US-201916357460-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 19, 2019
Priority date	Mar 21, 2018
Publication date	Mar 2, 2021
Grant date	Mar 2, 2021

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a method of operating a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) analytics system is provided. The method comprising: obtaining HVAC data for an HVAC unit in electronic communication with the HVAC analytics system; obtaining an HVAC unit characteristic of the HVAC unit; obtaining weather data for a geographical area where the HVAC unit is located; and determining an HVAC capacity available ratio (CAR) in response to the weather data, the HVAC unit characteristics, and the HVAC data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of operating a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) analytics system, the method comprising:
obtaining HVAC data for an HVAC unit in electronic communication with the HVAC analytics system;
obtaining an HVAC unit characteristic of the HVAC unit;
obtaining weather data for a geographical area where the HVAC unit is located; and
determining an HVAC capacity available ratio (CAR) in response to the weather data, the HVAC unit characteristics, and the HVAC data,
wherein determining the HVAC CAR further comprises:
determining a trend line for HVAC available capacity as a function of a difference between an indoor air temperature (IAT) and an outside air temperature (OAT) in response to the HVAC data, HVAC unit characteristics, and the weather data;
determining a trend line for HVAC required capacity as a function of a difference between the IAT and the OAT in response to the HVAC data, HVAC unit characteristics, and the weather data;
determining a first HVAC capacity when the trend line for HVAC available capacity is equivalent to a design load condition for the HVAC unit;
determining a second HVAC capacity when the trend line for HVAC required capacity is equivalent to the design load condition for the HVAC unit,
wherein the HVAC CAR is a ratio of the first HVAC capacity to the second HVAC capacity; and
transmitting the HVAC CAR to a user device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining an HVAC CAR further comprising:
determining the design load condition for the HVAC unit in response to the HVAC unit characteristic and the weather data.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating an HVAC performance report in response to the HVAC CAR; and
transmitting the HVAC performance report to the user device.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
activating an alarm at a selected time period when the HVAC CAR is outside of a selected range.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the HVAC data includes at least one of an IAT, an indoor air temperature rate (IATR), an OAT of a geographical area where the HVAC unit is located, and a runtime of the HVAC unit.

6. A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) analytics system comprising:
an HVAC unit configured to deliver conditioned air to a targeted area;
an HVAC analytics engine in electronic communication with the HVAC unit, the HVAC analytics engine configured to:
obtain HVAC data for the HVAC unit;
obtain an HVAC unit characteristic of the HVAC unit;
obtain weather data for a geographical area where the HVAC unit is located; and
determine an HVAC capacity available ratio (CAR) of the HVAC unit in response to the weather data, the HVAC unit characteristics, and the HVAC data,
wherein the HVAC analytics engine is further configured to:
determine a trend line for HVAC available capacity as a function of a difference between an indoor air temperature (IAT) and an outside air temperature (OAT) in response to the HVAC data, HVAC unit characteristics, and the weather data;
determine a trend line for HVAC required capacity as a function of a difference between the IAT and the OAT in response to the HVAC data, HVAC unit characteristics, and the weather data;
determine a first HVAC capacity when the trend line for HVAC available capacity is equivalent to a design load condition for the HVAC unit;
determine a second HVAC capacity when the trend line for HVAC required capacity is equivalent to the design load condition for the HVAC unit,
wherein the HVAC CAR is a ratio of the first HVAC capacity to the second HVAC capacity; and
transmit the HVAC CAR to a user device.

7. The HVAC analytics system of claim 6 , wherein the HVAC analytics engine is further configured to:
determine the design load condition for the HVAC system in response to the HVAC unit characteristic and the weather data.

8. The HVAC analytics system of claim 6 , wherein the HVAC analytics engine is further configured to:
generate an HVAC performance report in response to the HVAC CAR; and
transmit the HVAC performance report to the user device.

9. The HVAC analytics system of claim 6 , wherein the HVAC analytics engine is further configured to:
activate an alarm at a selected time period when the HVAC CAR is outside of a selected range.

10. The HVAC analytics system of claim 6 , wherein:
the HVAC data includes at least one of an IAT, an indoor air temperature rate (IATR), an OAT of a geographical area where the HVAC unit is located, and a runtime of the HVAC unit.

11. The HVAC analytics system of claim 6 , wherein:
the HVAC analytics engine is separate and apart from the HVAC unit, and
wherein the HVAC analytics engine is in electronic communication through a wireless communication network.

12. The HVAC analytics system of claim 6 , wherein:
the HVAC analytics engine is embedded within the HVAC unit.

13. The HVAC analytics system of claim 6 , wherein:
the HVAC analytics engine is embedded within at least one of a mobile device, a desktop computer, and thermostat.

Assignees

• Carrier Corp

Inventors

• Reeve Hayden M
• Dempsey Daniel J
• Wu Xinyu
• Li Sheng
• Cai Xing

Classifications

• G05B23/0283 Primary

  Predictive maintenance, e.g. involving the monitoring of a system and, based on the monitoring results, taking decisions on the maintenance schedule of the monitored system; Estimating remaining useful life [RUL] (preventive maintenance, i.e. planning maintenance according to the available resources without monitoring the system G06Q10/06) · CPC title

• F24F2140/50

  Load · CPC title

• G06Q10/20

  Administration of product repair or maintenance · CPC title

• F24F2110/00

  Control inputs relating to air properties · CPC title

• F24F11/52

  Indication arrangements, e.g. displays · CPC title