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1. 60 6A 10A 2P 6P 10P 2A 6A Tuesda Wednesda 80 1016 709 609 6A 10A 2P 6P 10P 2A 6A Wednesda Thursda FIG 10C 2A 6A Tuesda Wednesda FIG 10D Patent Application Publication Apr 25 2013 Sheet 10 of 10 US 2013 0099011 A1 its 809 709 609 6A 10A 2P 6P 10P 2A 6A Tuesda Wednesda FIG 11A 1112 809 zaj pao L 0 LL gt 70 lt gt 1114 1 5hrs 1 5hrs 1 5hrs 1 5hrs 609 6A 10A 2P 6P 10P 2A 6A Tuesda Wednesda FIG 11B ON en 70 1116 60 6A 10A 2P 6P 10P 2A 6A Wenesda Thursda FIG 11C US 2013 0099011 Al ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROMOTING SCHEDULE LEARNING ALGORITHMS FOR INTELLIGENT THERMOSTAT 0001 This application claims the benefit of U S Prov Application Ser No 61 550 345 filed Oct 21 2011 which is incorporated by reference herein FIELD 0002 This invention relates generally to the monitoring and control of HVAC systems and or for other systems for controlling household utilities and or resources More par ticularly embodiments of this invention relate to systems methods and related computer program products for facilitat ing user friendly installation and or operation ofa monitoring and control device such as a thermostat BACKGROUND 0003 While substantial effort and attention continues toward the development of newer and more sustainable energy supplies the conservation of energy by increa2. 25 2013 Sheet 5 of 10 US 2013 0099011 A1 o ki 610 709 609 6A 10A 2P 6P 10P 2A 6A Tuesda Wednesda 809 612 709 609 6A 10A 2P 6P 10P 2A 6A Tuesda Wednesda 80 614 709 609 6A 10A 2P 6P 10P 2A 6A Tuesda Wednesda FIG 6C Patent Application Publication Apr 25 2013 Sheet 6 of 10 US 2013 0099011 Al 00 A new schedule has been created 710 4 INWARD CLICK Thermostat has calculated a schedule that would have saved 10 last week SEE NEW SCHEDULE DO NOT UPDATE 316 FIG 7 Te i CURRENT 3167 y ALTERNATING INWARD io UPDATE SCHEUDLE O NOT UPDATE 16 FIG 7E US 2013 0099011 A1 Apr 25 2013 Sheet 7 of 10 Patent Application Publication sa ugyg sky dopy oL IM noA BENOM SB UBUJ WEI OJJ persaono Patent Application Publication Apr 25 2013 Sheet 8 of 10 US 2013 0099011 A1 Ff Thermostat is learning your schedule please adjust this thermostat frequently to make yourself comfortable ss FIG 9B xe AMO SON LEARNING 300 OO SET TEMP EXPIRES AT 6 35PM 75 Please set nighttime temperature just prior FIG 9C to going to bed Patent Application Publication Apr 25 2013 Sheet 9 of 10 US 2013 0099011 A1 809 709 1010 609 6A 10A 2P 6P 10P 2A 6A Tuesda Wednesda 1020 1024 809 1022 p 2hrs gt 2hrs 70 5 1014 1012 EE
3. according to claim 1 wherein said electronic display is disposed along a front face of the thermostat housing said ring shaped user interface component comprises a mechanically rotatable ring that substantially surrounds the electronic display and is further configured to be inwardly pressable by the user along a direction of an axis of rotation of the rotational input motion and said mechanically rotatable ring and said housing are mutually configured such that said mechanically rotat able ring moves inwardly along said direction of said axis of rotation when inwardly pressed 3 A thermostat according to claim 2 wherein said thermo stat housing is generally disk like in shape with said front face thereof being circular and wherein said mechanically rotat able ring is generally coincident with an outer lateral periph ery of said disk like shape 4 A thermostat according to claim 1 wherein said thermo stat is configured such that said rotational input motions and said inward pressings of the ring shaped user interface com ponent represent the sole physical user inputs to said thermo stat 5 A thermostat according to claim 1 wherein the predeter mined time interval is at least about 1 hour and less than about 4 hours 6 A thermostat according to claim 5 wherein the predeter mined time interval is at least 1 5 hours and less than about 3 hours 7 A thermostat according to claim 1 wherein the electronic display is further
4. can be displayed to aid the user in making a decision The current schedule is shown in solid circles and the pro posed changes are shown in dotted circles For example the set back time to 62 degrees in the morning is suggested to be changed from 9 am shown by solid circle 830 to about 9 30 am shown by dotted circle 832 and the evening set back to 62 degrees is suggested to be changed from midnight shown by the solid circle 840 to about 10 15 pm shown by the dotted circle 842 According to some embodiments a snap button or similar can be provided to the user for the user to easily adopt all the suggested schedule changes According to some embodiments the user can also use the interface as shown in FIG 8 to make their own adjustments and or accept or reject particular suggested changes by clicking and drag ging the circles along the time line and or by changing the temperature value within one or more of the circles Accord ing to some embodiments the interface screen such as shown in FIG 8 can be displayed at the request of the user or it can be shown at the request of a central server such as is common in push technology According to some embodiments the decision on when to push a notification of a suggested schedule change can be based at least in part on an estimation of energy and or cost savings being above a predetermined threshold or percentage value 0047 While simply observing and recording a user s
5. comfortable at 68 degrees instead of 72 degrees According to some embodiments further questions are asked of the user such as whether someone is usually up at 6 30 am or if the occupants are comfortable at 68 degrees However each additional question detracts from the simple user interface experience as well as introduces potential errors based on wrong answers and or misunderstood ques tions 0044 According to some embodiments after generating the basic schedule based on a few simple questions such as shown in FIGS 6A C the thermostat learns from the user s immediate control inputs and periodically suggests or auto matically implements schedule changes that meet certain cri teria Apr 25 2013 0045 FIGS 7A E show aspects of a user interface for a thermostat that generates potential schedule adjustments and suggests them to a user for review and acceptance according to some embodiments FIG 7A show the thermostat 300 with display 316 A message bubble 710 is overlaid on the display 316 to obtain the user s attention According to some embodi ments one or more proximity sensors not shown are used to detect when an occupant is approaching the thermostat 300 Upon sensing an approaching occupant the message bubble 710 is displayed in order to obtain the user s attention If the user wishes further information an inward click input leads to the display 316 shown in FIG 7B In FIG 7B the thermostat indicates to t
6. configured to display to a user a notification relating to the generating of the schedule 8 A thermostat according to claim 1 wherein the process ing system is still further configured such that in cases where two or more immediate control setpoint temperature changes are identified within a short time interval of less than 90 minutes the generating of the schedule is based on a latest of the two or more identifications 9 A thermostat according to claim 1 wherein the process ing system is still further configured such that the automatic resetting of the setpoint temperature is to a base setpoint temperature of lower than 68 degrees Fahrenheit at times when the HVAC system uses heating and to a base setpoint temperature of greater than 78 degrees Fahrenheit at time when the HVAC system uses cooling 10 A thermostat according to claim 1 wherein the process ing system is still further configured such that the generated schedule is automatically adopted as an active schedule for the programmable thermostat 11 A method for generating a schedule for a program mable thermostat used for control of an HVAC system the thermostat comprising a housing a ring shaped user interface component a processing system and an electronic display the method comprising accessing an ambient air temperature measured by one or more temperature sensors detecting and tracking rotational movements of the ring shaped user interface component to track a
7. formed manually by the user As such substantial energy saving opportunities are often missed for all but the most vigilant users Moreover more advanced energy saving set tings are not provided such as the ability to specify a custom temperature swing 1 e the difference between the desired set temperature and actual current temperature such as 1 to 3 degrees required to trigger turn on of the heating cooling unit 0005 In a second category on the other hand are many programmable thermostats which have become more preva lent in recent years in view of Energy Star US and TCO Europe standards and which have progressed considerably in the number of different settings for an HVAC system that can be individually manipulated Unfortunately however users are often intimidated by a dizzying array of switches and controls laid out in various configurations on the face of the thermostat or behind a panel door on the thermostat and seldom adjust the manufacturer defaults to optimize their own Apr 25 2013 energy usage Thus even though the installed programmable thermostats in a large number of homes are technologically capable of operating the HVAC equipment with energy sav ing profiles it is often the case that only the one size fits all manufacturer default profiles are ever implemented in a large number of homes Indeed in an unfortunately large number of cases a home user may permanently operate the unit in a temporar
8. immediate control inputs can be useful in generating a sched ule and or adjustments to an existing scheduled program it US 2013 0099011 Al has been found unexpectedly that the thermostat can more effectively learn and generate a scheduled program that makes the user more comfortable while saving energy and cost when the user is periodically urged to input settings to maintain or improve the user s comfort Bothering the user by periodically urging manual input may at first appear to run counter to a user friendly experience but it has been found that this technique very quickly allows the thermostat to gen erate a schedule that improves user comfort while saving costs and thus turns out to be very user friendly overall 0048 According to some preferred embodiments there fore a user s set point change automatically expires after a predetermined amount of time By automatically re setting or setting back a user s set point adjustment after a predeter mined amount of time the user is urged to repeatedly make set point changes to maintain or improve comfort As a result the thermostat is able to learn and generate a much more effective schedule in terms of both comfort for the occupants as well as energy efficiency and cost savings In this way the thermostat can learn both the set point temperature the occu pants regard as providing comfort as well as the times of the day when the user benefits from set point changes as we
9. input expires after a pre determined amount of time so as to enhance the ability of the thermostat 300 to learn and generate effective and efficient schedules The current temperature of 75 degrees F is dis played in the large central numerals The set point tempera ture which was manually entered as an immediate control input is shown by the set point tick 910 The user is informed that the immediate control input will automatically expire at 6 35 pm in message 930 According to an alternate embodi ment a the message 930 displays a countdown timer showing how many minutes remain until the user s immediate control input expires FIG 9D shows a message bubble 932 that informs the user that a comfortable nighttime temperature should be manually entered just prior to going to bed Accord ing to some embodiments the message such as shown in FIG 9D is automatically displayed after a certain time of day such as 9 pm when one or more proximity sensors detect when an occupant is approaching the thermostat 300 Apr 25 2013 0050 It has been found quite unexpectedly that in many circumstances the thermostat can more quickly and effec tively generate a schedule that balances user comfort with cost and energy savings when the starting point for gathering the user s input is a flat line or constant temperature that may be quite uncomfortable to many users but saves signifi cant energy For example the starting point or initial
10. or not to adopt the generated schedule as an active schedule 0014 According to some embodiments a thermostat is described that includes a disk like housing including a cir cular front face an electronic display centrally disposed on the front face an annular ring member disposed around the centrally disposed electronic display said annular ring mem ber and said housing being mutually configured such that i said annular ring member is rotatable around a front to back axis of the thermostat and ii said annular ring member is inwardly pressable along a direction of the front to back axis a processing system disposed within the housing and coupled to the annular ring member the processing system being configured and programmed to dynamically alter a setpoint temperature value based on a user rotation of the annular ring member the processing system being further configured to be in operative communication with one or more temperature sensors for receiving an ambient air temperature said pro cessing system being still further configured to be in operative communication with an HVAC system to control the HVAC system based at least in part on a comparison of the measured ambient temperature and the setpoint temperature value the processing system being still further configured to identify from the annular ring member user input relating to the user s preference regarding automatically generating a schedule and to determine therefrom
11. setting for the thermostat in geographic locations and times of the year when heating is predominantly called for rather than cooling is a constant low temperature such as 62 degrees F In geographic locations and times of year when cooling is pre dominantly called for the starting flat line is for example 85 degrees F This flat line starting point when combined with automatic re setting or expiring of the user s immediate control inputs after a predetermined amount of time has been found to be more effective in many situations than starting with a basic schedule based on a number of basic questions such as showing in FIG 5B 0051 FIGS 10A D show examples of automatically gen erating a schedule using a flat line starting point and learn ing from immediate control inputs according to some embodiments FIG 10A shows the starting point schedule 1010 which is a flat line of 62 degrees throughout the day According to some embodiments the starting point tempera ture is selected using a number of criteria Firstly a determi nation should be made as to whether heating or cooling is likely to be called for In cases where the HVAC system being controlled by the thermostat has both heating and cooling functionality then the determination of which to use can in many or most cases be made using a combination of geo graphic location e g using postal or ZIP code which is known or gathered from basic set up inf
12. still further configured to identify from the annular ring member user input relat ing to the user s preference regarding automatically gen erating a schedule and to determine therefrom whether or not to automatically adopt an automatically generated schedule 24 A thermostat according to claim 23 wherein the iden tified user input identifies whether or not an automatically generated schedule should be automatically adopted 25 A thermostat according to claim 23 wherein the iden tified user input identifies whether or not the user prefers to receive future notifications regarding the adoption of an auto matically generated schedule 26 A thermostat according to claim 25 wherein the pro cessing system is still further configured to based at least in part on the identified user input determine whether or not to notify the user of an automatically generated schedule that the user may wish to adopt 27 A thermostat according to claim 26 wherein the deter mination of whether or not to notify the user is based in part on an estimated of saving of cost and or energy associated with the automatically generated schedule 28 A thermostat according to claim 23 wherein the iden tified user input identifies whether or not the user prefers to manually enter a schedule for the programmable thermostat 29 A thermostat according to claim 23 further comprising an audio output device coupled to said processing system the thermostat being con
13. two immediate control inputs occurred within a short time in this case 30 minutes the first setting is assumed to be erroneous and is ignored for purposed of the automatically generated schedule Similarly atime 1046 an immediate control input is made and about 20 minutes later an immediate control input resets the tempera ture to the base line level Since the setting was effectively cancelled it is assumed to be erroneous and ignored for purposed of the automatically generated schedule If on the other hand the immediate control input was not reset for 45 minutes or more then the immediate control input is not ignored according to some embodiments and segment would be created in the generated schedule for 60 minutes duration Note that following the described rules the imme diate control inputs as shown in curve 1030 would lead to an automatically generated schedule as shown by curve 1016 in FIG 10C 0055 FIGS 11A C show examples of automatically gen erating a schedule using a flat line starting point and learn ing from immediate control inputs according to some embodiments FIG 11A shows set point curve 1110 that is an example of a flat line base value of 80 degrees that is suitable when cooling is believed to be predominantly called Apr 25 2013 for e g based on the geographic location and time of year as describedabove In FIG 11B curve 1112 shows the setpoint settings from immediate control inputs
14. 11 further comprising displaying on a remote user interface a notification indi cating that the schedule has been generated and identifying using the remote user interface a user s desire whether or not to adopt the generated schedule as an active schedule Apr 25 2013 23 A thermostat comprising a disk like housing including a circular front face an electronic display centrally disposed on the front face an annular ring member disposed around the centrally dis posed electronic display said annular ring member and said housing being mutually configured such that i said annular ring member is rotatable around a front to back axis of the thermostat and 11 said annular ring member is inwardly pressable along a direction of the front to back axis a processing system disposed within the housing and coupled to the annular ring member said processing system being configured and programmed to dynamically alter a setpoint temperature value based on a user rotation of the annular ring member said processing system being further configured to be in operative communication with one or more temperature sensors for receiving an ambient air temperature said processing system being still further configured to be in operative communication with an HVAC system to con trol the HVAC system based at least in part on a com parison of the measured ambient temperature and the setpoint temperature value said processing system being
15. US 20130099011A1 as United States a gt Patent Application Publication 10 Pub No US 2013 0099011 A1 MATSUOKA et al 43 Pub Date Apr 25 2013 54 71 72 73 21 22 60 ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROMOTING SCHEDULE LEARNING ALGORITHMS FOR INTELLIGENT THERMOSTAT Applicant NEST LABS INC Palo Alto CA US Inventors Yoky MATSUOKA Palo Alto CA US Frank E ASTIER Mountain View CA US Rangoli SHARAN Sunnyvale CA US David SLOO Menlo Park CA US Anthony Michael FADELL Portola Valley CA US Assignee NEST LABS INC Palo Alto CA US Appl No 13 656 200 Filed Oct 19 2012 Related U S Application Data Provisional application No 61 550 345 filed on Oct 21 2011 ROTATE RING Nr Tamunae Publication Classification 51 Int Cl G05D 23 19 2006 01 52 U S Cl USPC een 236 1 C 236 46 C 165 11 1 57 ABSTRACT A user friendly programmable thermostat is described that includes receiving an immediate control input to change set point temperature controlling temperature according to the set point temperature for a predetermined time interval and then automatically resetting the set point temperature upon the ending of the predetermined time interval such that the user is urged to make further immediate control inputs A schedule for the programmable thermostat is automatically generated based on the immediate control inputs Methods are also describ
16. a schedule using a flat line starting point and learn ing from immediate control inputs according to some embodiments DETAILED DESCRIPTION 0034 A detailed description of the inventive body of work is provided below While several embodiments are described it should be understood that the inventive body of work is not limited to any one embodiment but instead encompasses numerous alternatives modifications and equivalents In addition while numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough under standing of the inventive body of work some embodiments can be practiced without some or all of these details More over for the purpose of clarity certain technical material that is known in the related art has not been described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the inventive body of work 0035 FIG 1 is a diagram of an enclosure in which envi ronmental conditions are controlled according to some embodiments Enclosure 100 in this example is a single family dwelling According to other embodiments the enclo sure can be for example a duplex an apartment within an apartment building a light commercial structure such as an office or retail store or a structure or enclosure that is a combination of the above Thermostat 110 controls HVAC system 120 as will be described in further detail below According to some embodiments the HVAC system 120 is has a coo
17. according to claim 11 wherein the resetting ofthe first and second set points resets the set point tempera ture back to a base set point temperature 15 A method according to claim 14 further comprising determining whether the enclosure will likely use heating based at least in part on the time of year and the geographic location of the enclosure 16 A method according to claim 15 wherein the base set point temperature is lower than 65 degrees Fahrenheit at times when it is likely that the enclosure will use heating 17 A method according to claim 15 wherein the base set point temperature is greater than 78 degrees Fahrenheit at times when it is likely that the enclosure will use cooling 18 A method according to claim 11 further comprising displaying on the electronic display a notification indicating that the schedule has been generated 19 A method according to claim 11 wherein the resetting of the first and second setpoints resets the setpoint tempera ture back to a preexisting schedule 20 A method according to claim 11 further comprising automatically adopting the generated schedule as an active schedule for the programmable thermostat 21 A method according to claim 11 further comprising displaying on the electronic display a notification indicat ing that the schedule has been generated and identifying user input as to whether or not to adopt the generated schedule as an active schedule 22 A method according to claim
18. and automatic resets and curve 1114 shows the ambient indoor temperature as sensed by the thermostat In this example the predetermined expiry time or reset time is 1 5 hours At 7 10 am the user makes an immediate control input to 70 degrees The set point is maintained for 1 5 hours and at 8 40 am the setpoint is automatically set back to 80 degrees At 5 11 pm the user returns home and makes an immediate control input to 73 degrees which is maintained for 1 5 hours At 6 41 pm this set point expires and set point is automatically set back to the base value of 80 degrees At 7 16 pm the user again makes an immediate control input but this time to 72 degrees At 8 46 pm this set point expires and the set point is automatically set back to the base value of 80 degrees At 9 44 pm the user again makes an immediate control input to 72 degrees At 11 14 pm this set point expires but the user makes no further immediate control inputs FIG 11C shows an example of a schedule 1116 that is automatically generated based on the user input shown in curve 1112 of FIG 11B In schedule 1116 a set point of 70 degrees is made between 7 10 am and 8 40 am During the day the house is assumed to be unoccu pied since no immediate control inputs were made on the learning day shown in FIG 11B and the temperature is set back to 80 degrees At 5 11 pm the temperature is set to 73 degrees and then from 7 16 pm to 11 14 pm the temperature is set
19. ave a cooling capacity of less than about 5 tons of refrigeration 0018 As used herein the term thermostat means a device or system for regulating parameters such as tempera ture and or humidity within at least a part of an enclosure The US 2013 0099011 Al term thermostat may include a control unit for a heating and or cooling system or a component part of a heater or air conditioner 0019 As used herein the term immediate control input to a setpoint temperature refers to input from a user to imme diately alter the currently active setpoint temperature Thus an immediate control input to a thermostat also sometimes referred to as a real time setpoint entry indicates a user s desire to make an immediate change in the currently setpoint temperature in an HVAC system being controlled by the thermostat Immediate control inputs can be made by users either by directly manually interfacing with the thermostat or by using a remote user interface such as by using a mobile phone tablet computer and or web interface on a computer 0020 As used herein the term schedule change input refers to input from a user or other source to modify a pro grammed schedule for setpoint changes Thus a user s sched ule change input to a thermostat also sometime referred to as a non real time setpoint entry or change indicates the user s desire to make changes to one or more of the thermo stat s programmed setp
20. by the thermostat A time 1020 about 7 15 am the user makes an immediate control input to change the set point temperature from 62 degrees to 72 degrees According to some embodiments the set point tem perature automatically is set to expire after a predetermined amount of time which in this example is two hours Thus at about 9 15 am the set point is automatically set back to the base line value of 62 degrees In this example the user has US 2013 0099011 Al gone out of the house for the day and so does not make any immediate control inputs until the user returns home Attime 1022 about 5 20 pm the user makes an immediate control input to adjust the set point to 68 degrees In this example the predetermined expiry period is two hours so the set point is automatically set back to 62 degrees at about 7 20 pm According to some embodiments the user is informed of the expiry time using a message such as shown in FIG 9C Still referring to FIG 10B the user at time 1024 about 7 45 pm the user makes an immediate control input to adjust the set point temperature to 69 degrees The set point is automati cally set back to 62 degrees after two hours at about 9 45 pm In this example the occupants have gone to bed before or not long after 9 45 so no further immediate control inputs are made that day 0053 FIG 10C shows a schedule curve 1016 that has been generated based on the user s immediate control inputs on the previous day a
21. c schedules gen erated based on answers to basic questions such as those shown in FIG 5B according to some embodiments In FIG 6A curve 610 shows a basic schedule for setpoints from 6 am Tuesday to 6 am Wednesday which corresponds to a home that the user indicated is occupied during noon and the user indicated that someone is not usually up at 11 pm As can be seen the setpoint temperature changes at 7 am from 62 degrees to 72 degrees and then stays at 72 degrees until 10 pm when it changes back to 62 degrees In FIG 6B curve 612 shows a basic schedule that corresponds to a home that the user indicated is not occupied during noon and that someone is not usually up at 11 pm As can be seen the set point temperature changes at 7 am from 62 degrees to 72 degrees Then at 9 am the temperature is set back to 62 degrees until 5 pm when the set point is changed to 72 degrees The set back from 9 am to 5 pm is due to the user s indication that no one is usually home at noon In FIG 6C curve 614 corre sponds to a user s indication that no one is usually home at noon and some one is usually up at 11 pm In this case the evening set back time is set to midnight As can be seen a basic schedule is limited by the simple questions that it is based upon and as a results the occupants may either be uncom fortable or energy use and costs may be higher than neces sary For example the occupants may get up before 7 am or they may be perfectly
22. cation U S Ser No 13 033 573 and U S Ser No 29 386 021 both filed Feb 23 2011 and are incorporated herein by reference The subject matter ofthe instant patent specification is further related to that of the following commonly assigned applica tions each of which is incorporated by reference herein U S Ser No 13 279 151 filed Oct 21 2011 U S Prov Ser No 61 627 996 filed Oct 21 2011 U S Prov Ser No 61 550 343 filed Oct 21 2011 and U S Prov Ser No 61 550 346 filed Oct 21 2011 0040 According to some embodiments the thermostat 300 includes a processing system 360 display driver 364 and a wireless communications system 366 The processing sys tem 360 is adapted to cause the display driver 364 and display area 316 to display information to the user and to receiver user input via the rotating ring 312 The processing system 360 according to some embodiments is capable of maintain ing and updating a thermodynamic model for the enclosure in which the HVAC system is installed For further detail on the thermodynamic modeling see U S patent Ser No 12 881 463 filed which is incorporated by reference herein Accord ing to some embodiments the wireless communications sys tem 366 is used to communicate with devices such as personal computers and or other thermostats or HVAC system compo nents 0041 FIGS 4A C show aspects of a user interface for a thermostat having learning and self programming capab
23. chanically rotatable ring is generally coin cident with an outer lateral periphery of said disk like shape 0011 According to some embodiments the electronic dis play is further configured to display to a user a notification relating to the generating of the schedule According to some embodiments in cases where two or more immediate control setpoint temperature changes are identified within a short time interval of less than 90 minutes the generating of the schedule is based ona latest of the two or more identifications According to some embodiments the automatic resetting of the setpoint temperature is to a base setpoint temperature of lower than 68 degrees Fahrenheit at times when the HVAC system uses heating and to a base setpoint temperature of greater than 78 degrees Fahrenheit at time when the HVAC system uses cooling According to some embodiments the generated schedule is automatically adopted as an active schedule for the programmable thermostat 0012 According to some embodiments a method is described for generating a schedule for a programmable ther mostat used for control of an HVAC system the thermostat comprising a housing a ring shaped user interface compo nent a processing system and an electronic display The described method includes accessing an ambient air tem perature measured by one or more temperature sensors detecting and tracking rotational movements of the ring shaped user interface component to trac
24. ed for receiving user input relating to the user s preference regarding automatically generating a schedule and determining whether or not to automatically adopt an automatically generated schedule based on the received user input 312 Patent Application Publication Apr 25 2013 Sheet 1 of 10 US 2013 0099011 A1 Patent Application Publication Apr 25 2013 Sheet 2 of 10 US 2013 0099011 A1 ROTATE RING Patent Application Publication Apr 25 2013 Sheet 3 of 10 US 2013 0099011 A1 Should Thermostat adjust the schedule automatically YES FIG 4C M YES 420 Should Thermostat suggest changes to you each week YES Thermostat Generates Program Through Learning and Automatically NO Adjusts Schedule 316 YES No Thermostat Generates Program Through Learning and Suggests Changes Periodically 422 Thermostat Does Not Generate Program 424 Patent Application Publication 510 Apr 25 2013 Sheet 4 of 10 US 2013 0099011 A1 Is this a home ora business Is this business open evenings Is this business open Saturdays Is there more than one thermostat in this business Creating your basic schedule 512 Nome Is someone usually home at noon Is someone usually up after 11PM Is there more than one thermostat in this home Creating your basic schedule FIG 5B Patent Application Publication Apr
25. figured to output synthesized audible ticks through said audio output device in correspondence with user rotation of said mechanically rotatable ring 30 A thermostat according to claim 23 further comprising the one or more temperature sensors wherein said processing system is configured and programmed to send at least one control signal to the HVAC system based at least in part on the comparison of the measured ambient air temperature and the setpoint temperature value
26. he user that a new schedule has been calculated that is estimated would have saved about 10 of energy costs in the past week The user has the choice to view the new schedule or reject it If the user indicates a desire to see the new schedule then an animation is displayed which alter nates between FIG 7C showing the current schedule and FIG 7D showing the proposed new schedule In FIG 7C the current set point temperature 722 is shown and the applicable time 724 is shown below In FIG 7D the new set point temperature 722 is shown and the new time 724 is shown below If there are further changes to the schedule then those can be accessed by rotating the ring to the right or left When the user is finished reviewing the new schedule the user in FIG 7E is given the choice to updated the schedule or not 0046 FIG 8 shows an example of a web based user inter face for a thermostat that generates potential schedule adjust ments and suggests them to a user for review and acceptance according to some embodiments A computer monitor 810 is used to display to a user of the thermostat suggested schedule changes The user can use a pointing device such as mouse 820 to move a pointer 822 to provide input In the window 812 the user is asked in bubble 814 whether the displayed schedule change should be adopted According to some embodiments further information such as the estimated amount of energy savings associated with the proposed change
27. here it expands cools and cools the air being circulated through the enclosure via fan 238 According to some embodiments a humidifier 254 is also provided Although not shown in FIG 2 according to some embodiments the HVAC system has other known functionality such as venting air to and from the outside and one or more dampers to control airflow within the duct systems The system is controlled by algorithms imple mented via control electronics 212 that communicate with a thermostat 110 Thermostat 110 controls the HVAC system 120 througha number of control circuits Thermostat 110 also includes a processing system 260 such as a microprocessor that is adapted and programmed to controlling the HVAC system and to carry out the techniques described in detail herein 0037 FIGS 3A B illustrate a thermostat having a user friendly interface according to some embodiments Unlike so many prior art thermostats thermostat 300 preferably has a sleek simple uncluttered and elegant design that does not detract from home decoration and indeed can serve as a visually pleasing centerpiece for the immediate location in Which it is installed Moreover user interaction with thermo stat 300 is facilitated and greatly enhanced over conventional designs by the design of thermostat 300 The thermostat 300 includes control circuitry and is electrically connected to an HVAC system such as is shown with thermostat 110 in FIGS 1 and 2 Thermostat 300 is wall
28. ili ties according to some embodiments FIG 4A shows an example of a display 316 of thermostat 300 described with respectto FIGS 3A B The display 316 indicates that the user is making settings with respect to the thermostat s learning functionality The colored disk 410 indicates that the learning setting that will be entered if selected using an inward click relates to whether the user will be asked about changes made to the program schedule FIG 4B shows the display 316 following a user selection using an inward click In FIG 4B the user is asked to if the thermostat should adjust the sched ule automatically Using the rotating ring the and inward click the user selects yes or no If the user selects yes then in step 420 the thermostat automatically generates one or more programs such as described more fully herein If the user selects no the thermostat accordingto some embodiments the thermostat nevertheless records some or all of the user s adjustments in set temperature and generates suggested schedule changes according to certain criteria for example energy or cost savings to the user According to some embodiments if the user answers no to the question about automatically adjusting the schedule the thermostat asks the user as shown in display 316 of FIG 4C if the thermostat should suggest changes to the user each week If the user answers yes then in step 422 the thermostat genera
29. ing to some embodiments a combination of dot matrix layout and segmented layout is employed According to some embodiments central display 316 is a backlit color liquid crystal display LCD An example ofinformation is shownin FIG 3A which are central numerals 320 According to some embodiments metallic portion 324 has number of openings so as to allow the use of a passive infrared proximity sensor 330 mounted beneath the portion 324 The proximity sensor as well as other techniques can be use used to detect and or predict occupancy as is described further in co pending patent application U S Ser No 12 881 430 which is incor Apr 25 2013 porated by reference herein According to some embodi ments occupancy information is used in generating an effec tive and efficient scheduled program 0039 According to some embodiments for the combined purposes of inspiring user confidence and further promoting visual and functional elegance the thermostat 300 is con trolled by only two types of user input the first being a rotation ofthe outer ring 312 as shown in FIG 3A referenced hereafter as a rotate ring input and the second being an inward push on the upper cap 308 FIG 3B until an audible and or tactile click occurs referenced hereafter as an inward click input For further details of suitable user interfaces and related designs which are employed according to some embodiments see co pending patent appli
30. int temperature the processing system further being configured to identify a user s desire to immediately control the setpoint temperature value based on the tracked rotational input the processing system still further being configured to US 2013 0099011 Al automatically reset the setpoint temperature to a less energy consuming temperature upon an ending of a predetermined time interval and to generate a schedule for the thermostat based at least in part on repeated identifications of the user s desire to immediately control the setpoint temperature and an electronic display coupled to the processing system and configured to display information representative of the iden tified setpoint temperature value 0010 According to some embodiments the electronic dis play is disposed along a front face of the thermostat housing the ring shaped user interface component comprises a mechanically rotatable ring that substantially surrounds the electronic display and is further configured to be inwardly pressable by the user along a direction of an axis of rotation of the rotational input motion and the mechanically rotatable ring and the housing are mutually configured such that said mechanically rotatable ring moves inwardly along said direc tion of said axis of rotation when inwardly pressed Accord ing to some embodiments the thermostat housing is generally disk like in shape with the front face thereof being circular and wherein the me
31. k at least one rota tional input motion of a user identifying a first setpoint tem perature value based on the tracked rotational input motion at a first point in time controlling the HVAC system based at least in part on a comparison of the measured ambient air temperature and the first setpoint temperature value for a predetermined time interval automatically resetting the first setpoint temperature upon the ending of the predetermined time interval identifying a second setpoint temperature value based on the tracked rotational input motion at a second point in time controlling the HVAC system based at least in part on a comparison of the measured ambient air temperature and the second setpoint temperature value for the predetermined time interval automatically resetting the second set point temperature upon the ending of the predetermined time inter val generating with the processing system a schedule for the programmable thermostat based at least in part on the first and second setpoints and the first and second points in time and Apr 25 2013 displaying information representative of the first and second identified setpoint temperature values on the electronic dis play 0013 According to some embodiments the generated schedule is automatically adopted as an active schedule for the programmable thermostat According to other embodi ments the user is notified of the generated schedule and user input is received as to whether
32. ling capacity less than about 5 tons According to some embodiments a remote device 112 wirelessly commu nicates with the thermostat 110 and can be used to display information to a user and to receive user input from the remote location of the device 112 Although many of the embodi ments are described herein as being carried out by a thermo stat such as thermostat 110 according to some embodiments the same or similar techniques are employed using a remote device such as device 112 0036 FIG 2 is a diagram of an HVAC system according to some embodiments HVAC system 120 provides heating cooling ventilation and or air handling for the enclosure such as a single family home 100 depicted in FIG 1 The system 120 depicts a forced air type heating system although according to other embodiments other types of systems could be used In heating heating coils or elements 242 within air handler 240 provide a source of heat using electricity or gas via line 236 Cool air is drawn from the enclosure via return air duct 246 through filter 270 using fan 238 and is heated heating coils or elements 242 The heated air flows back into the enclosure at one or more locations via supply air duct system 252 and supply air grills such as grill 250 In cooling an outside compressor 230 passes gas such a Freon through a US 2013 0099011 Al set of heat exchanger coils to cool the gas The gas then goes to the cooling coils 234 in the air handlers 240 w
33. ll as times of the day such as during periods when the conditioned zone is unoccupied when the set point temperature can be set back in order to save cost and energy while having a little or no impact on occupant comfort 0049 FIGS 9A D show aspects of a user interface for a thermostat adapted to learn and generate a schedule based on immediate control changes made by the occupants accord ing to some embodiments In FIG 9A the thermostat 300 uses display 316 to inform the user using message bubble 920 that the thermostat is in the process of learning in order to generate a schedule that is suitable for the occupants The user is asked to adjust the thermostat frequently to make the user comfortable As shown in FIG 9A the current set point temperature is set to 62 degrees F as indicated by the set point tick 910 In FIG 9B a user adjusts the set point temperature or makes an immediate control input to improve comfort by rotating the outer ring 312 The current temperature is 62 degrees F as indicated by the current temperature tick 912 and the set point has been adjusted to 75 as indicated by the set point tick 910 and by the large central numerals Addi tionally the user is reminded that the thermostat is learning by a flashing learning message 922 FIG 9C shows display 316 following an immediate control input such as described with respect to FIG 9B According to some embodiments as described above immediate control
34. mounted and has circular in shape and has an outer rotatable ring 312 for receiving user input Thermostat 300 has a large frontal display area 314 According to some embodiments thermostat 300 is approxi mately 80 mm in diameter The outer rotating ring 312 allows the user to make adjustments such as selecting a new target temperature For example by rotating the outer ring 312 clockwise the target temperature can be increased and by rotating the outer ring 312 counter clockwise the target tem perature can be decreased Within the outer ring 312 is a clear cover 314 which according to some embodiments is polycar bonate Also within the rotating ring 312 is a metallic portion 324 preferably having a number of windows as shown According to some embodiments the surface of cover 314 and metallic portion 324 form a curved spherical shape gently arcing outward that matches a portion of the surface of rotat ing ring 312 0038 According to some embodiments the cover 314 is painted or smoked around the outer portion but leaving a central display 316 clear so as to facilitate display of infor mation to users According to some embodiments the curved cover 314 acts as a lens which tends to magnify the informa tion being displayed in display 316 to users According to some embodiments central display 316 is a dot matrix layout individually addressable such that arbitrary shapes can be generated rather than being a segmented layout Accord
35. n HVAC system according to some embodiments 0025 FIGS 3A B illustrate a thermostat having a user friendly interface according to some embodiments 0026 FIGS 4A C show aspects of a user interface for a thermostat having learning and self programming capabili ties according to some embodiments 0027 FIGS SA B show aspects of a user interface for generating a program according to some embodiments 0028 FIGS 6A C show examples of basic schedules gen erated based on answers to basic questions such as those shown in FIG 5B according to some embodiments 0029 FIGS 7A E show aspects of a user interface for a thermostat that generates potential schedule adjustments and suggests them to a user for review and acceptance according to some embodiments Apr 25 2013 0030 FIG 8 shows an example of a web based user inter face for a thermostat that generates potential schedule adjust ments and suggests them to a user for review and acceptance according to some embodiments 0031 FIGS 9A D show aspects of a user interface for a thermostat adapted to learn and generate a schedule based on immediate control inputs made by the occupants according to some embodiments 0032 FIGS 10A D show examples of automatically gen erating a schedule using a flat line starting point and learn ing from immediate control inputs according to some embodiments and 0033 FIGS 11A C show examples of automatically gen erating
36. nually enter their own scheduled program In such cases for example changes to the schedule can be suggested according to the potential for energy and or cost savings 0060 According to some embodiments occupancy data can also be incorporated in the process of automatically gen erating a schedule for adoption and or suggestion to the user It has been found that occupancy data is particularly useful in cases using automatic set back after a time period where the time is relatively long such as three or more hours In cases where the thermostat is installed in a dwelling that is rela tively large then local proximity based occupancy sensing may not be accurate for relatively short periods of time because occupants may simply be in a different part of the dwelling during that time period However if there is no occupancy sensed close to the thermostat for greater than two hours then it is increasingly likely that the dwelling is in fact not occupied 0061 Although the foregoing has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles thereof It should be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing both the processes and apparatuses described herein Accordingly the present embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive and the inventive body of work is not to be limited to the details gi
37. ocesses continue even after a schedule is activated For example following a learning process a schedule such as shown in FIGS 10C and or 11C are generated and activated The thermostat continues to learn by watching and recording immediate control inputs After repeated immediate control inputs are made the decision is made as whether and schedule change are automatically implemented or suggested to the user According to some embodiments if a user makes similar immediate control inputs three days in a row where simi lar is defined for example as adjustments within 5 degrees made with 60 minutes of each other a schedule change is US 2013 0099011 Al automatically inputted and the user notified or the sched ule change input is suggested to the user According to some embodiments estimated energy and or cost savings is also used as a criterion for implementing or suggesting schedule change inputs 0059 According to some embodiments the continued learning process as described above is used for adjusting or suggesting improvements to a basic schedule generated from abasic set of questions as shown in and described with respect to FIGS 5 6 However it has been found that in many appli cations starting with a flat line works to more effectively learn the user s preferences According to some embodi ments the continued learning process is also carried out in cases where the user has indicated that they wish to ma
38. oints In contrast to an immediate control input where the user desires to immediately effect the currently active setpoint a schedule change input indicates a user s desire to make a change for example temperature or time to a setpoint that will become active in the future As in the case of immediate control inputs users can make sched ule change inputs either by directly manually interfacing with the thermostat or by using a remote user interface such as by using a mobile phone tablet computer and or web interface on a computer 0021 It will be appreciated that these systems and meth ods are novel as are applications thereof and many of the components systems methods and algorithms employed and included therein It should be appreciated that embodiments of the presently described inventive body of work can be implemented in numerous ways including as processes apparatuses systems devices methods computer readable media computational algorithms embedded or distributed software and or as a combination thereof Several illustrative embodiments are described below BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0022 The inventive body of work will be readily under stood by referring to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which 0023 FIG 1 is a diagram of an enclosure in which envi ronmental conditions are controlled according to some embodiments 0024 FIG 2 is a diagram of a
39. ormation and the time of year from the date In some locations and times of the year however it may be unclear whether the user will want to predominantly use heating or cooling According to some embodiments the user s first immediate control input is used in such cases For example if the user makes an immediate control input to set the temperature greater than the ambient temperature then it is assumed heating is wanted According to other embodiments the user is asked using a message bubble or the like in such cases Secondly a determination should be made as to what temperature should be used as the base flat line According to some embodiments a tempera ture is selected at which many or most occupants would consider at least somewhat uncomfortable such that an occu pant would likely wish to make an immediate control input to improve comfort The base temperature should not be too uncomfortable however since doing so would unnecessarily subject to occupants to discomfort It has been found that when heating is called for a base value of between 60 and 64 degrees is suitable for many geographic locations 0052 According to some embodiments the user is noti fied that the thermostat is trying to learn and generate a schedule such as using a message bubble as shown in FIG 9A In FIG 10B the curve 1012 shows the user s immediate control inputs throughout the day and curve 1014 shows the indoor temperature sensed
40. r s answers and as a result will be either wasteful of energy and or unnecessarily subject the occupants to uncomfortable temperatures when people make mistakes when enter their responses to the questions 0008 U S Pat No 7 784 704 discusses a self program mable thermostat that initially appears to function as an ordi nary manual thermostat The thermostat privately observes and learns a user s manual temperature setting habits and eventually programs itself accordingly The thermostat looks for patterns such as three similar manual overrides on con secutive days Manual set point changes override current programmed set point temperatures It is believed however that further improvement can be made in discussed method s ability to generate energy efficient program schedules SUMMARY 0009 According to some embodiments a thermostat is described that includes a housing a ring shaped user inter face component configured to track a rotational input motion from a user a processing system disposed within the housing and coupled to the ring shaped user interface component the processing system being configured to be in operative com munication with one or more temperature sensors for receiv ing ambient air temperature the processing system further being configured to be in operative communication with an HVAC system control the HVAC system based at least in part on a comparison of the measured ambient temperature and a setpo
41. s shown in FIG 10B The temperature is set in the morning at 7 15 am to 72 degrees until it is set back at 9 15 am to 62 degrees At 5 20 the temperature is set to 69 degrees until it is set back at 9 45 pm to 62 degrees Note that both the times of day and set point temperatures have been used in generating the schedule shown in FIG 10C Addi tionally according to some embodiments the short gap from 7 20 when the temperature was automatically set back and 7 45 when the user made an immediate control input is ignored Also the setpoint temperatures in the evening of 68 and 69 degrees where not identical and either an average or the later set temperature was used in this case 69 degrees 0054 According to some embodiments the shortest time for a scheduled set point segment is set to 60 minutes If two immediate control inputs occur within the 60 minutes of each other the later will generally be use and the earlier setting or settings will be ignored FIG 10D illustrates some example scenarios with curve 1030 showing the set point temperature of the thermostat as manually and automatically adjusted and curve 1032 shows the current indoor temperature sensed by the thermostat At time 1040 about 7 15 am the an immedi ate control input is made by the user change the set point to 77 degrees but about 30 minutes later at time 1044 about 7 45 am the user makes an immediate control input changing the set point to 72 degrees Since the
42. sed energy efficiency remains crucial to the world s energy future According to an October 2010 report from the U S Department of Energy heating and cooling account for 5690 ofthe energy use in a typical U S home making it the largest energy expense for most homes Along with improvements in the physical plant associated with home heating and cooling e g improved insulation higher efficiency furnaces sub stantial increases in energy efficiency can be achieved by better control and regulation of home heating and cooling equipment By activating heating ventilation and air condi tioning HVAC equipment for judiciously selected time intervals and carefully chosen operating levels substantial energy can be saved while at the same time keeping the living space suitably comfortable for its occupants 0004 Historically however most known HVAC thermo static control systems have tended to fall into one of two opposing categories neither of which is believed be optimal in most practical home environments In a first category are many simple non programmable home thermostats each typically consisting of a single mechanical or electrical dial for setting a desired temperature and a single HEAT FAN OFF AC switch While being easy to use for even the most unsophisticated occupant any energy saving control activity such as adjusting the nighttime temperature or turning off all heating cooling just before departing the home must be per
43. t least one rotational input motion of a user US 2013 0099011 Al identifying a first setpoint temperature value based on the tracked rotational input motion at a first point in time controlling the HVAC system based at least in part on a comparison of the measured ambient air temperature and the first setpoint temperature value for a predeter mined time interval automatically resetting the first setpoint temperature upon the ending of the predetermined time interval identifying a second setpoint temperature value based on the tracked rotational input motion at a second point in time controlling the HVAC system based at least in part on a comparison of the measured ambient air temperature and the second setpoint temperature value for the pre determined time interval automatically resetting the second set point temperature upon the ending of the predetermined time interval generating with the processing system a schedule for the programmable thermostat based at least in part on the first and second setpoints and the first and second points in time and displaying information representative of the first and sec ond identified setpoint temperature values on the elec tronic display 12 A method according to claim 11 wherein the predeter mined time interval is at least about 30 minutes and less than about 6 hours 13 A method according to claim 12 wherein the predeter mined time interval is about 2 hours 14 A method
44. tes a US 2013 0099011 Al schedule based on learning from the user s immediate con trol inputs in combination with other information and peri odically suggests changes to the user according to certain criteria for example energy saving or costs savings If the user answers no then in step 424 the thermostat does not generate any program and instead always follows the pro gram set by the user 0042 FIGS SA B show aspects of a user interface for generating a program according to some embodiments In FIG 5A the user can select entering set up questions relating to the schedule settings as indicated by the colored disk 510 using an inward click input while the thermostat is displays the screen as shown in display 316 FIG 5B is a flow chart showing questions that can be asked of the user in order to generate a basic schedule according to some embodiments As can be seen from the flow chart 512 ofFIG 5B the useris initially asked if the thermostat is installed in a home or business Then some basic questions are asked to generate a basic schedule such as whether the home is usually occupied at noon is someone usually up after 11 pm and whether or not there is more than one thermostat in the home Similar questions are asked is the thermostat is installed in a business According to some embodiments a basic schedule is gener ated based on the answers to the questions in FIG 5B 0043 FIGS 6A B show examples of basi
45. to 72 degrees 0056 Notethatinthe examples shown in FIGS 10A D the predetermined expiry time is 2 hours and in the examples shown FIGS 11A C the predetermined expiry time is 1 5 hours It has been found if the period of time after which the user s immediate control input is shorter than 30 minutes this generally cause excessive annoyance to the occupants On the other hand if the time is greater than 6 hours the resulting generated schedule is likely to be wasteful of cost and energy since periods of non occupancy and or sleeping are not accurately captured According to some embodiments the time period is greater than 1 hour and less than or equal to 5 hours According to some preferred embodiments time periods of between 1 5 hours and 3 hours have been found to strike a very good compromise between annoyance to the occupants and energy efficiency of the resulting schedule 0057 According to some embodiments the learning pro cess described herein with respect to FIGS 9 11 can be carried out separately forweekdays versus weekend days For example the flat line learning method described can be carried out on a weekday as described which generates a suitable schedule for weekdays Then on the first weekend day a new flat line learning process is started since it is assumed that for many people the weekday and weekend day schedules are vastly different 0058 According to some embodiments the described learning pr
46. ven herein which may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims What is claimed is 1 A thermostat comprising a housing a ring shaped user interface component configured to track a rotational input motion from a user a processing system disposed within the housing and coupled to the ring shaped user interface component the processing system being configured to be in opera tive communication with one or more temperature sen sors for receiving ambient air temperature the process ing system further being configured to be in operative communication with an HVAC system control the HVAC system based at least in part on a comparison of the measured ambient temperature and a setpoint tem perature the processing system further being configured to identify a user s desire to immediately control the setpoint temperature value based on the tracked rota tional input the processing system still further being configured to automatically reset the setpoint tempera ture to a less energy consuming temperature upon an ending of a predetermined time interval and to generate a schedule for the thermostat based at least in part on Apr 25 2013 repeated identifications of the user s desire to immedi ately control the setpoint temperature and an electronic display coupled to the processing system and configured to display information representative of the identified setpoint temperature value 2 A thermostat
47. whether or not to automatically adopt an automatically generated schedule According to some embodiments an audio output device is includes that is coupled to said processing system the thermostat being con figured to output synthesized audible ticks through said audio output device in correspondence with user rotation of said mechanically rotatable ring 0015 As used herein the term HVAC includes systems providing both heating and cooling heating only cooling only as well as systems that provide other occupant comfort and or conditioning functionality such as humidification dehumidification and ventilation 0016 As used herein the term residential when referring to an HVAC system means a type of HVAC system that is suitable to heat cool and or otherwise condition the interior ofa building that is primarily used as a single family dwelling An example of a cooling system that would be considered residential would have a cooling capacity of less than about 5 tons of refrigeration 1 ton of refrigeration 12 000 Btu h 0017 As used herein the term light commercial when referring to an HVAC system means a type of HVAC system that is suitable to heat cool and or otherwise condition the interior of a building that is primarily used for commercial purposes but is of a size and construction that a residential HVAC system is considered suitable An example of a cooling system that would be considered residential would h
48. y or hold mode manually manipulating the dis played set temperature as if the unit were a simple non programmable thermostat Thus there is a need for a thermo stat having an improved user interface that is simple intuitive and easy to use such that the typical user is able to access many of the features such as programming energy saving profiles 0006 At a more general level because of the fact that human beings must inevitably be involved there is a tension that arises between i the amount of energy saving sophisti cation that can be offered by an HVAC control system and ii the extent to which that energy saving sophistication can be put to practical everyday use in a large number of homes Similar issues arise in the context of multi unit apartment buildings hotels retail stores office buildings industrial buildings and more generally any living space or work space having one or more HVAC systems 0007 Some attempts have been made to make program ming of programmable thermostat more appealing to greater numbers of users For example U S Pat Nos 7 181 317 and 7 634 504 discuss methods for programming configuration information for thermostats wherein a series of interview questions are asked to a user The user responses to the ques tions are stored and one or more schedule parameters can be modified based on the user responses It is believed however that such approaches rely heavily or entirely on the use
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