An adaptive, user-centric
system and network for controlling
power consumption by an appliance is described. The appliance may be any type of powered apparatus, such as A / C units, heaters, computers, lights, kitchen appliances, home media centers, and so on. The power to these appliances is based on an estimated
arrival time of the user to the destination where the appliance is located. It may also be based on previous performance data for the particular appliance, that is, given the current conditions (e.g., various environment temperature readings), how long has it taken in the past for the appliance to reach a certain level of operation. The location of the user is determined by a device that has some location-based services and is able to transmit this location / position data in a message to a power-control
server. The
server applies rules contained in the message to derive an estimated
arrival time for the user which is used to power appliances at the user's destination.