Context-aware smart home energy manager

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016277207-A1
Application number	US-201615166139-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 26, 2016
Priority date	Aug 18, 2009
Publication date	Sep 22, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A context-aware smart home energy management (CASHEM) system and method is disclosed. CASHEM dynamically schedules household energy use to reduce energy consumption by identifying contextual information within said household, selecting a comfort of service preference, wherein said comfort of service preference is based on different said contextual information, and extracting an appliance use schedule for maximum energy savings based on said contextual information in light of said comfort of service preferences, by executing a program instruction in a data processing apparatus. CASHEM correlates said contextual information with energy consumption levels to dynamically schedule said appliance based on an energy-saving condition and a user's comfort. Comfort of service preferences are gathered by CASHEM by monitoring occupant activity levels and use of said appliance. CASHEM can also recommend potential energy savings for a user to modify comfort of service preferences.

First claim

1 . (canceled)

2 . A method for scheduling household energy use, wherein the household includes at least two appliances, said method comprising:
querying a user about a user's preferences for each of the at least two appliances via a user interface; accepting an indication of the user's preferences for each of the at least two appliances via the user interface; determining an appliance use schedule for each of the at least two appliances based, at least in part, on the accepted user preferences.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
displaying via the user interface a recommendation for the user to accept the determined appliance use schedule for at least one of the appliances before putting the recommended appliance use schedule into service.

4 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
displaying a recommended change to the user's preferences for at least one of the at least two appliances to achieve greater energy savings.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein one of the at least two appliances comprises a 24/7 appliance and another one of the at least two appliances is an on-demand appliance.

6 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising receiving contextual information about the household at a home energy manager that is operatively coupled to the at least two appliances.

7 . The method of claim 6 where the contextual information includes at least one of the following:
current weather information;
forecast weather information;
security system information;
utility information;
renewable energy-use information;
energy storage information;
energy supply type; and
utility signals including at least one of the following types of signals: demand response (DR), real-time-pricing (RTP) information, time-of-use (TOU) tariff.

8 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
identifying a comfort of service (Cos) model, wherein the comfort of service model references the contextual information received by the home energy manager as well as the indication of the user's preferences for each of the at least two appliances; and determining the appliance use schedule for each of the at least two appliances based, at least in part, on the comfort of service (Cos) model and the user preferences.

9 . The method of claim 6 further comprising determining a local energy schedule for using renewable energy sources and/or storage batteries within said household, wherein said local energy schedule is based, at least in part, on contextual information received at the home energy manager related to demand response of a utility.

10 . The method of claim 6 further comprising:
monitoring ongoing appliance use to infer compliance with said appliance use schedules; and
dynamically modifying said appliance use schedules according to monitored contextual information and the user's evolving energy use behavior.

11 . The method of claim 10 further comprising one or more of:
displaying via the user interface energy saving opportunities in compliance with the user's evolving energy use behavior;
recommending use of a renewable energy source and/or a stored energy source within said household; and
displaying incentive or motivational information to said user based the user's evolving energy use behavior.

12 . The method of claim 6 further comprising correlating said contextual information received at the home energy manager with energy consumption levels to dynamically change the appliance use schedule for at least one of the appliances based, at least in part, on an energy-saving condition and the accepted user preferences.

13 . The method of claim 6 further comprising coordinating the home energy manager to perform at least one of the following operations:
gathering contextual information related to environmental conditions;
gathering energy supply related conditions; and
gathering energy cost conditions.

14 . The method of claim 2 further comprising:
monitoring household's occupant activity levels and use of said at least two appliances; and
determining the appliance use schedule for at least one of the appliances based, at least in part, the household's occupant activity levels and the use of one or more of the appliances.

15 . The method of claim 2 further comprising operating each of the two or more appliances according to the corresponding appliance use schedule.

16 . A system for dynamically scheduling household energy use, wherein the household includes at least two appliances, the system comprising:
a user interface; a memory a data-processing apparatus coupled to the user interface and the memory, the data processing apparatus configured to:
receive contextual information about the household;
query a user about a user's preferences for each of the at least two appliances via the user interface;
accept an indication of the user's preferences for each of the at least two appliances via the user interface;
determine an appliance use schedule for each of the at least two appliances based, at least in part, on the received contextual information and the accepted user preferences;
monitor ongoing appliance use to infer compliance with said appliance use schedules; and
dynamically modify said appliance use schedules according to monitored contextual information and the user's evolving energy use behavior.

17 . The system of claim 16 where the contextual information includes at least one of the following:
current weather information;
forecast weather information;
security system information;
utility information;
renewable energy-use information;
energy storage information;
energy supply type; and
utility signals including at least one of the following types of signals: demand response (DR), real-time-pricing (RTP) information, time-of-use (TOU) tariff.

18 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the data processing apparatus is further configured to:
identify a comfort of service (Cos) model, wherein the comfort of service model references the received contextual information as well as the indication of the user's preferences for each of the at least two appliances; and determine the appliance use schedule for each of the at least two appliances based, at least in part, on the comfort of service (Cos) model, the received contextual information, and the user preferences.

19 . An apparatus comprising one or more processor readable storage devices having processor readable code stored thereon in a non-transient state for execution by a processor, said processor readable code causing the processor to execute a method of dynamically scheduling household energy use for a household comprising:
receiving contextual information about the household; querying a user about a user's preferences for each of at least two appliances of the household; accepting an indication of the user's preferences for each of the at least two appliances; determining an appliance use schedule for each of the at least two appliances based, at least in part, on the received contextual information and the accepted user preferences; monitoring ongoing appliance use to infer compliance with said appliance use schedules; and dynamically modifying said appliance use schedules according to monitored contextual information and the user's evolving energy use behavior.

20 . The apparatus of claim 19 where the contextual information includes at least one of the following:
current weather information;
forecast weather information;
security system information;
util

Assignees

• Honeywell Int Inc

Inventors

• Bedros Saad J
• Markham Tom
• Plocher Tom
• Shetty Pradeep
• Ekambaram Thirumaran
• Mohammed Nasir

Classifications

• H04L12/2829 Primary

  involving user profiles according to which the execution of a home appliance functionality is automatically triggered · CPC title

• H04L2012/285

  Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators · CPC title

• G05B15/02

  electric · CPC title

• G05B19/0421

  Multiprocessor system · CPC title

• H04L12/282

  based on user interaction within the home (receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204) · CPC title