35results about "Dc amplitude/polarity calling" patented technology

An energy saving control for appliances via an intelligent thermostat is provided. This intelligent thermostat provides programmatic control over the HVAC system, and provides coordinated control over the appliances. This control over the appliances is accomplished via a communications network between the intelligent thermostat and the appliances. The appliances include occupancy sensors and transmit usage and occupancy information to the intelligent thermostat. The intelligent thermostat processes this information to determine the occupancy of the dwelling. The thermostat controls the HVAC system and the appliances according to the determined occupancy of the dwelling.

A thermostat for controlling a climate control system is provided that comprises a network interface for establishing an Internet connection with a website of a remote service provider, and a microprocessor for controlling the operation of a climate control system. The microprocessor is in communication with the network interface for establishing an Internet connection and receiving user-specified information from a remote service provider that maintains a user-profile of information requested by the user. The thermostat further comprises a display device responsive to the microprocessor for displaying user-specified information received via the network controller from the remote service provider.

An HVAC system for conditioning air of an associated room includes one or more power consuming features / functions including at least one temperature controlling element for one of heating and cooling air. A controller is operatively connected to the one or more power consuming features / functions. The controller is configured to receive and process a signal indicative of a utility state. The controller operates the HVAC system in one of a plurality or operating modes, including at least a normal operating mode and an energy savings mode in response to the received signal. The controller is configured to at least one of selectively adjust and deactivate at least one of the one or more power consuming features / functions to reduce power consumption of the HVAC system in the energy savings mode.

A thermostat, includes a housing and an occupancy sensor that is disposed within the housing and configured to detect physical presences of users within a responsive area of the occupancy sensor. The thermostat may also include a processing system that is disposed within the housing and in operative communication with the occupancy sensor. The processing system may be configured to determine, after a trial period, whether to activate an away-state feature by storing indications of how often the occupancy sensor detected physical presences during the trial period, computing an occupancy level for the trial period, comparing the occupancy level to a threshold criterion, determining whether sufficiently true indications of occupancy conditions were sensed by the occupancy sensor during the trial period, and enabling the away-state feature of the thermostat if it is determined that the sufficiently true indications of occupancy conditions were sensed during the trial period.

A device for controlling an HVAC system in which opening a door or window for more than a shutdown delay period causes the fan and compressor to be deactivated, but opening and closing the door or window for less than the shutdown delay period does not affect the fan and compressor. Reactivation of the compressor is delayed for a startup delay, in order to avoid overcycling of the compressor and the additional wear and tear and maintenance that would be caused thereby. Preferably, the door / window sensors are wireless for ease of installation and maintenance. Optionally, an occupancy sensor and occupancy timer are provided to turn off the system if the room is unoccupied for an unoccupied delay time. Optionally, a secondary thermostat with energy saving settings is provided so that if the room is unoccupied for the occupancy delay, then instead of being shut off, the HVAC system will be operated at energy saving settings.

A smart, adaptive control system that monitors and influences physical conditions of an architectural setting. The architectural setting in which the system is deployed typically includes a plurality of private spaces and at least one community space. The individual private spaces, and the community spaces, may include an environmental control device that affects one or more physical conditions of the individual private space. Each private space may also include an environmental sensor that measures a particular physical condition of the private space. The private spaces may also include one or more occupant sensors, which measure either behavioral or physiological parameters of an occupant. The environmental control devices, environmental sensors, and occupant sensors are in communication with a computer. The computer is also in communication with a database, which houses a data set that describes how to best modify the physical conditions of the architectural setting.

The present invention relates to a position-indicating transmission apparatus capable of being remotely controlled, and a reception apparatus. The transmission apparatus transmits waveforms of same frequencies having different phase angles simultaneously and includes a means for measuring an inclined angle of a transmitter with respect to an axis of terrestrial gravity to measure and transmit the inclined value of the transmitter. The reception apparatus receives and amplifies the transmitted signals and processes the amplified signals to obtain the position information related to the variation of the shifted phases with respect to the reference signal. The present invention responds easily to an input corresponding to a movement of a user or a shift in the visual field of a cursor, and has practical application in electronic devices such as TV's, computers, VCR's, LDP's, DVD players, various kinds of VOD systems, IP TV's and cable TV terminals, various kinds of communication terminals, home game consoles, computers for use with infants, HMD (Head Mount Display) devices, and the like.

A controller for a two-stage heat source is provide, which may be connected to either a single stage or a two-stage thermostat to provide low stage heating for a variable time period before switching to high stage heating. The controller includes at least a first terminal for receiving a signal requesting heating from a single-stage thermostat or a two-stage thermostat connected to the first terminal. A microcontroller in communication with the first terminal determines a duty cycle value for a heating cycle based on the duration in which a signal at the first terminal is present relative to the duration of the heating cycle. The microcontroller determines a low stage time limit from the duty cycle, and provides low stage heating when a signal is present at the first terminal for a time period not more than the time limit, and switches to high stage heating after the time limit.

A thermostat apparatus for controlling a heat pump with supplemental resistive heating as typically contained in a Packaged Terminal Air Conditioning (PTAC) unit is disclosed which provides improvements in energy management by reducing energy usage as much as possible within user guidelines when the conditioned space served by the PTAC is not occupied. A reduced setpoint temperature determination is based upon measurements of thermal response within the conditioned space to application of supplemental or resistive heat, and utilizes supplemental or resistive heat in achieving a quick recovery when people enter the conditioned space, thus enabling a more reduced setpoint temperature when the space is not occupied.

A humidity control method is provided for a multi-stage cooling system having two or more refrigerant circuits that balances humidity control and cooling demand. Each refrigerant circuit includes a compressor, a condenser and an evaporator. A hot gas reheat circuit having a hot gas reheat coil is connected to one of the refrigerant circuits and is placed in fluid communication with the output airflow from the evaporator of that refrigerant circuit to provide additional dehumidification to the air when humidity control is requested. The hot gas reheat circuit bypasses the condenser of the refrigerant circuit during humidity control. Humidity control is only performed during cooling operations and ventilation operations.

A programmable timer circuit that can be connected directly to the fan switch of any thermostat with a forced air heating and / or cooling system that includes a blower fan for circulating air throughout the home. A programmable timer circuit that can be connected directly to any thermostat used in a hot-water heated home with a boiler and pump for circulating hot water through the heating system. The timer can be installed with no modifications to the existing wiring and has interchangeable leads to make installation quick and easy. The present invention increases the efficiency of the heating / cooling system, and in homes with auxiliary heat sources, circulates the warm air throughout the home to increase comfort levels. The present invention is programmable with a single button. A method of circulating hot air and / or hot water throughout a home using the timer device of the present invention.

A method of controlling a controllable device related to a building aperture, whereby a climate related characteristic for the aperture is adjusted by the device, and whereby the device is controlled in accordance with a climate and comfort program which is dependent on a control parameter, whereby the device is controlled in accordance with a time schedule provided by the climate and comfort program.

A controller for an HVAC system having a plurality of zones and having a multiple stage fluid temperature conditioning device. The controller is configured to receive a plurality of thermostat signals and to transmit a signal to control one of a plurality of flow control devices in response to a call for conditioning in one of the plurality of zones. The controller also includes one or more timers that are connected to the thermostat terminals, where the one or more timers are configured to initiate a separate timing count upon each call for conditioning in any one of the plurality of zones. In addition, the controller includes one or more staging terminals for transmitting staging signals to control a multiple stage fluid temperature conditioning device, where the transmission of the staging signals determines whether the conditioning device will operate at a relatively higher output stage. The controller is also configured to make a timing count determination to determine if any one of the separate timing counts initiated upon each call for conditioning in any one of the plurality of zones exceeds a timing delay parameter. The transmission of staging signals depends on the timing count determination. A method is also disclosed.

A programmable thermostat for controlling space conditioning equipment receives power from the equipment. The thermostat has an interactive interface for user programming, a temperature sensor and a processor including: a central processing unit; a memory for storing program and data information, a real time clock and a non volatile random access memory. A control program stored in the memory causes the real time clock to periodically read its current time and date information into the non-volatile RAM. Upon restart after an outage, the time and date information stored in the non-volatile RAM is read into the real time clock to provide an acceptable time and date basis for resuming operation. Accordingly, the need for providing a backup power source, such as a battery or a supercap, is eliminated. In one exemplary embodiment, the thermostat also includes a receiver for accessing precision time and date signals from, for example, WWVB. The output of the receiver is used to periodically update the time and date in the real time clock such that, even after an outage, the real time clock will be accurate. If the receiver is not operating for some reason after an outage, then the real time clock will still be set from the non-volatile RAM.

A dryer and a control method thereof, in which load of an object to be dried is detected using a sensor which has less risk of contamination and an anticipated drying time based on the detected load is accurately determined and displayed. The dryer includes a rotatable drum to accommodate the object, a front support installed at an entrance of the drum to support the drum, a rear support installed at an opposite side of the entrance of the drum to support the drum, an exhaust hole formed in the front support, through which interior air of the drum is discharged, and a humidity sensor installed to the front support at a position adjacent to the exhaust hole, the humidity sensor being located upstream of the exhaust hole in a rotating direction of the drum to detect humidity of the air to be introduced into the exhaust hole.

A vehicle includes a power connector configured to mate with an electrical power grid receptacle and receive a grid power therefrom and a heating and cooling system electrically connected to the power connector to receive grid power therefrom and configured to modify a temperature the vehicle cabin. The vehicle also includes a temperature control loop configured to selectively activate and control the heating and cooling system and a controller configured to receive a first input signal comprising a desired vehicle activation time and a second input signal comprising a starting vehicle cabin temperature and a desired vehicle cabin temperature. The controller determines a temperature control loop activation time based on the first and second input signals that is prior to the desired vehicle activation time and transmits an activation signal to the temperature control loop at the temperature control loop activation time to activate the heating and cooling system.

A control apparatus for operating an exhaust fan in order to control humidity and odor in an enclosed confine includes a switch mounted within a path of electric power between an electric power source and the exhaust fan. A humidity sensor outputs a humidity signal defining level of relative humidity within the enclosed confine and a resistive voltage divider provides a reference voltage signal. A comparator compares the humidity signal with the reference signal and provides a control signal when a value of the humidity signal is equal to or greater than a value of the reference signal, the control signal causing the switch to supply the electric power to the exhaust fan. A timing circuit is activated by the control signal and is operable to maintain presence thereof for a predetermined period of time when the value of the humidity signal decreases below the value of the reference signal.

A method to control the sleep operation of an air conditioner is provided. The method includes determining whether or not a sleep operation is activated and sequentially performing a plurality of sub-modes of the sleep operation when the sleep operation is activated.