Smart HVAC Vent Network for Occupancy-Based Room Conditioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Residential HVAC systems often inefficiently condition entire buildings, leading to unnecessary heating and cooling costs and discomfort, as they lack the ability to differentiate between occupied and unoccupied rooms.
Innovation Solution
The SmartVent system, which uses a network of intelligent vents that communicate and adjust based on user inputs and environmental sensors to condition specific rooms only when occupied, forming a mesh network to optimize heating and cooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If traditional HVAC systems condition entire buildings, then all rooms receive heating and cooling, but energy is wasted in unoccupied rooms and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the building into individual controllable zones using smart vents at each room. Each vent can be independently opened or closed based on occupancy detection, allowing selective conditioning of specific rooms rather than the entire building. This segmentation enables energy savings in unoccupied rooms while maintaining comfort in occupied spaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates occupancy sensors that detect whether rooms are occupied or unoccupied and provide feedback to the control system. Based on this feedback, the smart vents automatically adjust their position to open or close airflow paths, dynamically adapting the HVAC system to actual occupancy patterns and eliminating energy waste in empty rooms.
2Extent of automation
If manual vents are used, then users can open and close vents, but the system lacks automation and responsiveness to occupancy changes
Solution Approach 1:
Each smart vent is equipped with occupancy detection capabilities and automatic control logic, allowing it to self-adjust its position based on detected occupancy without requiring manual user intervention. The vent autonomously opens when occupancy is detected and closes when the room is empty, providing automated adaptation to changing conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple functions into the smart vent assembly: occupancy sensing, wireless communication, motorized aperture control, and airflow regulation. By merging these components into a single integrated device, the system achieves high automation while managing complexity through functional integration rather than separate distributed components.
3Use of energy by moving object
If HVAC systems run continuously to maintain temperature, then comfort is maintained, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses periodic occupancy detection to determine when conditioning is needed in each room. Instead of continuous operation, the HVAC system activates vents and conditioning only during periods when occupancy is detected, creating a periodic on-demand operation pattern that reduces overall energy consumption while maintaining comfort when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
The SmartVent and Atmospheric Controller Apparatuses, Methods and Systems (“SmartVent”) transforms user desired environmental setting and SmartVent measurement inputs via SmartVent components into SmartVent adjustment messages and environmental change outputs. In one embodiment, a SmartVent system may include a self-regulating HVAC system, comprising a plurality of smart HVAC vents disposed in wireless communication with a remote computing device. Where the remote computing device includes a memory and a processor disposed in communication with the memory, configured to record calibration data from each of said plurality of smart HVAC vents. The calibration data may include temperature and flow rate data from each of said plurality of smart HVAC vents. The system may generate calibration tables in accordance with the recorded calibration data and transmit instructions to each of the plurality of smart HVAC vents to optimize thermal conditions and energy efficiency of the HVAC system, in accordance with said calibration tables.