The traditional electrical thermostat, designed for use as a control device in heating and cooling systems, dates back to the 1880s. Originally based on a bimetallic strip, it was perhaps epitomized by the Honeywell T87 model introduced in 1953. Electrical thermostats provide means for a user to set a desired temperature, known as the “Set Point.” The electrical contacts are closed until the actual ambient temperature sensed by the thermostat is reached, when the electrical contacts are opened. Thus, in a heating system the heating apparatus is powered until the Set Point is reached, and in a cooling system the cooling apparatus is powered until the Set Point is reached. Where both heating and cooling systems are employed, the thermostat typically operates in either heating or cooling mode, but not both, according to a user setting.
The first digital thermostats, featuring a solid state design with no moving parts (except for a mechanical relay), were introduced in the mid-1980s. Digital thermostats were programmable, such that different Set Points could be applied at different times of the day (the “Program”). Programming capabilities increased over the following decades, allowing different Programs to apply on different days of the week as well as, for example, the ability to set a vacation mode where only a low minimum, or high maximum temperature would be maintained.
All thermostats, whether mechanical or digital, have a differential between the temperature at which the electrical contacts open and close. This differential, known as hysteresis, is inherent in a mechanical thermostat; in a digital thermostat this behaviour is enforced so that small changes in temperature around the Set Point do not cause the heating or cooling system to repeatedly turn on and off on a very short timescale, known as “short-cycling”, which is both inefficient and causes unnecessary wear on mechanical components. In a digital thermostat either the ambient temperature is required to rise or fall past the Set Point by a small amount, typically about one degree of temperature, before the contacts open or close; alternatively, the thermostat enforces a minimum time for which the contacts must remain open or closed, typically about five minutes. In June, 1997 the Gas Research Institute filed for and received a patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,776) on a thermostat having two-way communication capability. This class of thermostats has become known as “smart thermostats.”
In the early 2000s, thermostats having wireless communication capabilities appeared, allowing the temperature sensor to be positioned in more convenient locations remotely from the Set Point control, and in 2011 the first Nest Learning Thermostat® was introduced. This thermostat, in addition to being aesthetically pleasing, included various energy saving features, including a motion sensor to determine if the area in the vicinity of the thermostat was occupied, and means to determine the expected local weather conditions. The thermostat was user adjustable and programmable not only with controls on the thermostat itself, but also remotely using a Web browser or smartphone application. The Nest Learning Thermostat® also was programmed to “learn” directly from the user's behaviour how to schedule the heating and air conditioning system to most efficiently meet the user's use patterns and lifestyle.
Other manufacturers have subsequently introduced smart thermostats designed to directly compete with Nest. Such thermostats typically use Wi-Fi local area wireless networking technology to communicate with a portable user device. This is typically accomplished using the same device the user normally uses for wireless Internet connectivity, such as their laptop or tablet computer, smartphone, and other such devices. This capability allows the user to control their smart thermostat, not only while they are located in the user's home or business, but from virtually any location where a connection to the Internet is available. To facilitate this remote control capability, the smart thermostat manufacturer, or their agent, typically operates an Internet (or “Cloud”) based service that provides a user-friendly interface with the thermostat. To control the thermostat remotely, the user typically connects to the Cloud service which then communicates with the thermostat. The Cloud service typically also independently communicates with the thermostat periodically to provide it with, for example, weather data or software updates.
Using the Cloud service, typically accessed using a Web browser, the Cloud-based user interface typically allows the user to access all of the Smart Thermostats installed in their home or business, and select which of them they wish to monitor, control, or program at any time of their choosing. However, each of the user's Smart Thermostats are typically controlled or programmed completely independently of each other.
Programming, that is creating or modifying a Program for individual digital thermostats (including Smart Thermostats), is generally a tedious and error prone task, requiring the user to press a small number of individual buttons on the thermostat in strict sequence to achieve the desired result. Smart Thermostats typically make the task easier by allowing the Program to be set through the Web browser or smartphone application using a more intuitive graphical user interface. In some cases the application can copy the same Program to multiple Smart Thermostats; nevertheless, each thermostat must still be set individually. When different models or makes of thermostats are involved, different Programs are required, which further compounds the programming difficulty.
In normal operation users often wish to adjust the current Set Point of a thermostat, particularly as individual humans often have different perceptions of the temperature at any given time according to their mood, wellbeing, and other factors. Moreover, it is very common for someone who “feels hot” or “feels cold” to adjust a thermostat's Set Point well beyond what is actually necessary, in the (usually mistaken) belief that the desired temperature will be reached more quickly. Only when the ambient temperature becomes extreme will this error be noticed and the Set Point adjusted again; meanwhile energy has been unnecessarily wasted through over-heating or over-cooling. Smart Thermostat manufacturers have addressed this problem by providing the ability to “lock” the thermostat such that a password or PIN number is required to adjust it. Some Smart Thermostats allow adjustment of the Set Point within a limited range, but require a password or PIN number to make any other changes. Typically, a Smart Thermostat will consider user changes to the Set Point to be temporary, reverting to the Program Set Point when the time for the next Program change is reached.
Thermostat Programs normally operate on the basis of a fixed timetable of Set Points, typically for given days of the week. In the case of the Nest Learning Thermostat, the Program is “learned” based on the user's manual inputs over a period of days, which establishes a “normal behaviour” which the Program uses to automatically determine a more tailored and efficient timetable. In practice however, humans do not operate according to rigid schedules. Thus, Programs manually set by users will typically follow one of a “conservative”, “best guess,” or “liberal” policy. A conservative policy compromises comfort, a liberal one wastes energy, while a best guess estimate may fall somewhere in between. An automatically “learned” Program typically follows a conservative policy, since energy saving is a primary selling point of such thermostats. It can be seen therefore that thermostat Programs always have some level of compromise, which may be acceptable in a domestic environment, but may not be as acceptable in commercial and industrial environments, particularly when activity is far less predictable and the consequences of a sub-optimal Program are much more consequential in terms of energy costs and customer/employee comfort. Even in offices with regular working hours, employees may sometimes work late, or on weekends, and still want to maintain a comfortable environment. To provide for this, users need to be able to override the Program; but if the user is given full programming privileges via a password or PIN, this could result in the Program being left in the overridden state. Accordingly, it may be preferable for the Program to only allow unauthorized changes to be effective for a limited time period.
More recently, manufacturers of Smart Thermostats have begun to include support for “Demand Response” or “DR” initiatives, for example by supporting the OpenADR standard, whereby a signal, typically initiated by the power generating utility, is sent to Smart Thermostats in periods of high demand (DR event). Upon receiving the signal, the Smart Thermostat either forcibly changes the Set Point temperature (typically by a few degrees), thereby lowering demand, or inhibits heating or cooling completely for a specified period of time. In return for participating in the DR program, the consumer typically enjoys a lower pricing tariff, or receives monetary incentives for participation.
Where Smart Thermostats are deployed on a large scale, this can be a very effective method of reducing overall demand, but at the expense of comfort. DR programs typically allow a consumer to manually “opt out” via a button on the Smart Thermostat each time a DR event occurs; otherwise the entire heating/cooling system typically stops consuming energy until such time as the changed Set Point is reached, or until the DR event ends. Alternatively, a DR event may cause the Smart Thermostat to operate on a restricted duty cycle, for example a maximum of fifteen minutes on, followed by fifteen minutes off. For commercial and industrial consumers, DR programs typically require the consumer to reduce consumption by either an absolute amount or by a percentage of their current load, and to do so for specified increments of time (typically one hour). Thus, the commercial or industrial consumer has a degree of choice over which loads are reduced in a DR event, but nevertheless must ensure that the reduction actually takes place for the required duration and, in the case of an unanticipated or emergency DR event, within the required time period (typically fifteen minutes). Power generating utilities typically check for compliance to a DR notification using the utility meter installed in the building. It is now common for power generating utilities (and others) to give advance warnings of anticipated DR events, such as when extreme weather is forecast. These warnings typically occur hours, or even days, before a DR event actually occurs.
In addition to standard consumption charges (typically measured in kilowatt hours), commercial and industrial organizations generally pay an additional “Demand” charge, which reflects the highest level of power drawn (typically the highest average kilowatts of power drawn for any fifteen or thirty minute period during a billing cycle). These Demand charges, which can be very substantial, are not commonly applied to residential power consumers. However, residential consumption charges are often tiered, such that the price rises as given consumption levels are reached. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,580,775, 7,894,946, 8,527,108, 8,527,209, and 8,918,223 all to Kulyk, et al. describe means to reduce consumer peak demand by scheduling the operation of loads having duty cycles, such as heating and/or cooling equipment, using dedicated independent controllers that manage traditional thermostat operation to achieve a more constant power demand. Such peak demand levelling is commonly referred to as “Demand Management.”
Temperature controlled environments are typically divided into independently controlled areas or “Zones”. A small residential apartment will typically have only one Zone, while in larger homes each principal room might have its own Zone. Each such Zone typically has its own thermostat controlling the heating or cooling in that Zone. In residential environments it would be very unusual for a given room to have more than one Zone. In contrast, commercial and industrial environments frequently have multiple Zones in a single (usually large) physical area. Consider, for example, a restaurant that is effectively one large contiguous dining space. In this example, multiple independently controlled Zones may be employed so that, for example, an area having a high heat gain such as near sunny windows, can be controlled independently from an area having a lower heat gain, such as at the rear of the restaurant. If only a single thermostat were installed for whole dining area, in sunny weather either the window area would become too hot, or the rear area would become too cool. With multiple Zones, individual Smart Thermostats would be required in order to provide adequate temperature control for the comfort of patrons and employees. As used herein, a physical area having multiple Zones will be denoted a “Locale.”
In view of the above described circumstances, there exists a need to more effectively manage and orchestrate the operation of Smart Thermostats according to a wide variety of constantly evolving circumstances and requirements. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention as described herein to overcome the shortcomings and limitations described above by providing means for remotely orchestrating the operation of multiple Smart Thermostats, regardless of their location, type, model, or manufacturer. It is a further object of the invention to provide a Cloud Orchestration Platform (“COP”) that provides a common user interface configured to provide convenient remote user access to, and the management and orchestration of, multiple and diverse Smart Thermostats. It is yet a further object of the invention described herein to provide devices and systems for implementing the COP. It is also an object of the invention to provide means, methods, devices, and systems that provide the functionality to wirelessly connect to and manage multiple and diverse Smart Thermostats to achieve significantly enhanced functionality, ease of use, and energy cost savings. It is further an object of the invention to provide a Cloud based platform that utilizes network resources directed to monitoring and controlling smart thermostats through the management of public, private, and hybrid Cloud environments. It is a further object of the invention to orchestrate the operation of individual energy consuming loads within of a group of loads so as not to exceed self-imposed or energy grid mandated limitations. The type of loads orchestrated include, but are not limited to air conditioning and refrigeration compressors, HVAC ventilation fans including variable air volume and constant air volume types, and such other loads as may be controlled by Smart Thermostats, or their equivalent.
These and other objects of the inventions set forth below are described in sufficient detail to allow a person having ordinary skill in the related arts to make and use the inventions. For a more complete understanding of the nature and advantages of embodiments of the present invention, reference should be made to the ensuing detailed description and accompanying drawings. Other aspects, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the drawings and detailed description that follows. However, the scope of the invention is defined by the recitations of the claims.