Climate Control Energy Alerts via Projected Budget
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Energy users face challenges in managing their energy consumption effectively, as they typically do not have real-time knowledge of their energy usage until receiving a utility bill, making it difficult to create budgets or adjust usage to meet expected costs.
Innovation Solution
A computing device determines a target budget for a specified period, calculates projected energy usage based on actual data, and sends alerts or adjusts climate control settings to help users manage their energy consumption within the budget, using a system that integrates with smart meters and thermostats.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If energy users wait until receiving a utility bill to know their energy consumption, then they receive complete billing information, but they lose the opportunity to proactively manage and adjust energy usage to meet budget targets
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by calculating and projecting energy usage and costs before the billing period ends. It sends alerts to climate control devices in advance, allowing users to take proactive measures to adjust energy consumption and stay within budget targets, rather than waiting for the utility bill to arrive.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring energy usage data, comparing actual consumption against budget targets, and sending real-time alerts to climate control devices when projected costs exceed thresholds. This closed-loop feedback enables users to adjust their energy usage patterns based on current consumption trends.
2Loss of time
If the system sends frequent alerts to climate control devices about energy usage, then users receive timely information to manage consumption, but the complexity of the system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the climate control device as an intermediary to deliver energy management information to users. By leveraging the existing climate control device as a communication endpoint, the system avoids building a separate complex alert infrastructure, thus reducing overall system complexity while still providing timely notifications.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for energy usage alerts for a climate control device are provided. A computing device can determine a target budget for a specified budget period. The target budget may relate to a desired energy usage amount for a corresponding utility customer. The computing device can obtain usage data relating to actual energy usage by a property associated with the corresponding utility customer or a component of the property. The computing device can determine a projected use relating to an estimated energy usage for remaining days in the specified budget period based on the usage data. The computing device can generate a message including a projected bill for the corresponding utility customer based on the usage data and the projected use. The computing device can send the message to a climate control device associated with the corresponding utility customer based on the projected bill being greater than the target budget.