Demand side management of household appliances beyond electrical

Abstract

A system and method for communicating between a master and slave devices for managing home utility costs is provided. The system includes a measuring device for determining gas or water flow in the home, a memory that stores data relating to past usage, and that also receive data from the measuring device. A controller operatively communicates with the measuring device, memory, and at least one home appliance to provide a message to a homeowner, or transmit information to a utility, or display a proposed operational mode. The controller may include a lock-out feature to prevent a homeowner from overriding a proposed mode or operation, or the controller can shut-off gas or water flow based on a measured flow rate.

Description

[0001]The present application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 097,082 filed 15 Sep. 2008, now Ser. No. ______, filed 15 Sep. 2009 (Attorney Docket No. 231,308 (GECZ 2 00948)); which provisional patent application is expressly incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety. In addition, cross-reference is made to commonly owned, copending applications Ser. No. ______, filed 15 Sep. 2009 (Attorney Docket No. 233326 (GECZ 00989)); Ser. No. ______, filed 15 Sep. 2009 (234503 (GECZ 2 00991)); Ser. No. ______, filed 15 Sep. 2009 (234622 (GECZ 2 00992)); Ser. No. ______, filed 15 Sep. 2009 (234930 (GECZ 2 00993)); Ser. No. ______, filed 15 Sep. 2009 (235215 (GECZ 2 00995)); Ser. No. ______, filed 15 Sep. 2009 (238022 (GECZ 2 00996)); Ser. No. ______, filed 15 Sep. 2009 (238338 (GECZ 2 00997)); Ser. No. ______, filed 15 Sep. 2009 (238404 (GECZ 2 00998)); Ser. No. ______, filed 15 Sep. 2009 (237845 (GECZ 2 00999)); Ser. No. ______, filed 15 Sep. 2009 (...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]The present disclosure reduces power consumption during on-peak hours by reducing the energy demand on the power generation facility, and also enabling the user / consumer to pay less to operate the appliance on an annual basis.

Problems solved by technology

Currently utilities charge a flat rate, but with increasing cost of fuel prices and high energy usage at certain parts of the day, utilities have to buy more energy to supply customers during peak demand.

One proposed third party solution is to provide a system where a controller “switches” the actual energy supply to the appliance or control unit on and off However, there is no active control beyond the mere on / off switching.

One difficulty is that no peak shaving method for an appliance such as a refrigerator will provide a maximal benefit.

Similarly, known systems do not communicate directly with the appliance using a variety of communication methods and protocols, nor is a modular and standard method created for communication devices to interface and to communicate operational modes to the main controller of the appliance.

Images