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

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.