US 2004/0117330 A1 
should be noted here that the set point of the system 3.08 was 
Set at a fixed point for the entire day and the use of humidity 
Sensing and control of humidity levels were not introduced 
into the illustration So that the graphical plots depict a 
normal home with a normal HVAC control thermostat. Here 
again, the illustration depicts that as the outside temperature 
rises and the differential between the indoor set point and the 
outside temperature increase, the thermal gain causes the 
HVAC system to cycle more frequently. At Some point, in 
extremely hot weather or more importantly in periods of 
high humidity, with the Set point at a low Setting, the thermal 
gain would exceed the HVAC units’ ability to recover the 
indoor air temperature to the Set point. When this occurs, the 
HVAC run time plot would plateau at 100% of operation and 
the indoor air temperature would rise above the Set point, until the outside temperature dropped to a level where the 
thermal gain did not exceed the HVAC units ability to 
recover the indoor temperature Setting or the indoor humid 
ity level dropped to the point where the occupant began to 
feel cold and adjusted the Set point higher, permitting the 
unit to resume a more normal cyclical pattern. 
0255 The third step is for the user to pick from a plurality of economic options offered by the system 3.08. These 
options range from 100% comfort management without any 
regard for cost to 100% economic management without any 
regard to comfort. This choice at a high level, for example, 
would be but is not limited to a selection scheme from 1 to 
10 which the user would select from, where 1 is pure comfort management and 10 is pure economic management. While this example would in its simplest from provide a 
Selection of 10 options, the underlying control options used 
by the system 3.08 could be modified and expanded to 
provide an infinite number of options. To illustrate how the 
options in this example would drive the control logic we will 
now review the control parameters effected and illustrate the 
resulting controls. The primary control parameter would be 
tied to the number of degrees from the set point that the 
customer would make available to the system 3.08 to 
achieve economic benefits. This parameter would start with 
the set point established by the CUSTOMER (for this 
example 72 degrees F.) and at the maximum comfort Setting 
would not move off of this set point (see FIG. 3F). In the 
maximum Savings Setting, the Set point offset would be 4 
degrees F. which would permit the System in this example to 
vary the temperature in the home form the normal Set point of 72 F by the 4 degree offset making the acceptable 
temperature range 72 F to 76 F within which the system 3.08 
would manage the environment. The next parameter that 
would be used to achieve economic goals would be the 
ramping rate at which the system 3.08 would permit the 
temperature to rise within the site 1.04 as it moved from one 
Set point to a higher or lower one to achieve economic 
benefit. Here again, for the maximum comfort Setting, Since 
the allowable offset is Zero, the ramping rate has no effect. 
In this case however, another parameter that regulates the 
offset from the set point used by the system 3.08 to trigger 
recovery back to the set point (the dead band of operation) 
would be an alternative control parameter. In this case, if the 
normal dead band was 2 degrees F., for the maximum 
comfort range this might be lowered to 1 degree. In the 
maximum Savings Setting where the allowable temperature 
range has a 4 degree variable, the ramping rate would be 
capable of being controlled through a combination of vary 
ing the dead band range and the thermal gain rate in the Site 
Jun. 17, 2004 
1.04. For the maximum savings setting, the dead band in this 
example would be raised to 3 degrees F. and the rate of 
thermal gain per hour would be set at 3 degrees F. per hour. 
The results of this example are illustrated in FIG. 3F. The 
examples here are only used to illustrate how the System 3.08 using the inputs from the customer would vary the 
operation of individual parameters as described to either 
maintain an optimum comfort or optimum Savings control 
algorithm and are not meant to limit the number of control 
parameters that the system 3.08 might use of the way in 
which these different levels of comfort or savings are 
achieved. Additional parameters and controls could also be 
in more elaborate implementations of the System. The fol 
lowing paragraphs disclose these additional control param 
eters and control modes but should not be construed as 
limiting the System's capabilities to these examples. 
0256 In another aspect of the present invention, the 
system 3.08 uses the learned thermal gain characteristics of 
the site 1.04 along with the customer selected allowable 
temperature variation range to maintain a flat level of 
demand and consumption. Under this control program, the 
system 3.08 uses the thermal gain rate of the home 2.18 and 
its associated HVAC System run time to produce a base line 
of consumption. Using this base line the system 3.08 can be 
instructed to manage the demand and consumption rate at 
either a flat level or at some reduced level by varying the 
indoor air temperature within the allowable range. The 
following illustrates how this control program works, but 
should not be construed to limit the capabilities of the 
System 3.08 to perform these functions using different 
control logic or additional Sensing devices to improve the 
process. For this example, the Set point of the thermostat is 
72 degrees F. and the allowed variation selected by the 
customer is 4 degrees F. making the acceptable range for 
indoor temperature from 72 degrees F. to 76 degrees F. Since 
the time, when the base line is Set can be triggered by a 
plurality of conditions, Such as a user or program defined 
time of day, percentage level of operating run time, energy consumption rate for a give period of time or any other 
measurable on Sensed event, for this example it is assumed 
that the customer has set the base line trigger to be set when 
the HVAC units run time reaches 33%. In the early morning 
when it is cool, the system 3.08 in this example will be 
operating at a cycle rate of 10%. AS the outside temperature 
rises, the thermal gain on the home 2.18 is monitored along with the HVAC cycle rate on a continuous basis. The rise in 
the outside temperature causes the HVAC cycle time to 
increase as illustrated in FIG. 3E. As the system 3.08 
reaches the trigger level of 33% cycle run time, the base line 
is established and the system 3.08 using its computed thermal gain rate and the corresponding HVAC cycle run 
time projections, computes the required effective Set point 
offset needed to keep the HVAC cycle run time at the 
specified trigger level of 33%. By adjusting the effective set 
point upward, the system 3.08 is able to maintain the HVAC 
run time at the predetermined trigger level up to the point 
that the thermal gain rise rate exhausts the allowed tempera 
ture variant allowed for the site 1.04. At this point, the 
System will have the option, based on control parameterS Set 
in the System by the customer or user or any other control 
ling entity, to exceed the cycle run time trigger level or 
exceed the allowed temperature depending on whether com 
fort or economic requirements are the primary drivers for the 
Site 1.04, the energy Supply chain or a combination of both. 
DC_PRIOR_ART_0000440
DTX0219, Page 38 of 50
Appx10143
Case: 23-1101 Document: 15 Page: 324 Filed: 05/09/2023