The present disclosure relates to a system that provides a homeowner with the ability to monitor and manage energy consumption, sometimes referred to as a home energy manager system. More particularly, this disclosure relates to providing consumers with the ability to quickly monitor or view their home energy consumption without having to specifically log into a computer and launch a home energy manager application.
Systems have been recently developed in which one or more appliances communicate with a home energy manager to receive a demand supply management signal and/or data and provide the homeowner with the opportunity for a possible load shedding event in the appliance in response thereto. The home energy manager provides the homeowner the means to monitor and manage the energy consumption and associated cost. Either behavior modification or programmed control logic can be used to monitor and manage the energy consumption. Typically, a central device (utility meter, neighborhood central processor, demand supply management module, etc.) provides real time data on electricity, water, natural gas, or other utility consumption or solar photovoltaic generation. A user interface allows the homeowner to accept a recommended course of action which may result in alteration of the operation of one or more home appliances, or the homeowner may be able to preprogram desired operations to be undertaken in response to the demand supply management signal/data.
One manner of monitoring the consumption is to display the information on a monitor or screen. Alternatively, the personal computer (PC) of the homeowner is networked with the home energy manager system and the energy usage or energy cost data is displayed on the networked PC through a web browser. In this latter instance, when the homeowner uses the PC and displays the information through a web browser, the homeowner is required to physically run the web browser in order to access the data. In many instances this is sufficient to keep the homeowner apprised of the energy consumption and associated energy costs. On the other hand, this does not necessarily permit the homeowner to quickly and easily view the energy consumption/costs since this arrangement requires the homeowner to run the home energy manager application while using the home computer.
Instead, a quick view on an instantaneous basis that allows a homeowner at a glance to quickly assess the energy consumption/cost, for example, as the homeowner performs various other tasks around the home would be desirable. Moreover, the ability to view energy consumption/cost information without being logged into a personal computer would also be desirable. Because the home computer is used for running many other programs, the homeowner will likely need to log back into the computer or log back onto the home energy manager software in order to view the utility consumption/cost data. Thus, although many household computers are continually left running, and the home PC is often located in a high traffic area, it becomes necessary to either provide a stand alone, “always on” device that displays energy consumption/cost (for example a small LCD screen on the appliance that displays energy consumption) or to use the computer to display the information but only when the computer is running the home energy manager system and only when the monitor is active.
Accordingly, a need exists for an inexpensive, clever manner of keeping the homeowner up-to-date regarding such utility or energy consumption and associated cost.
A screensaver program for communicating information relating to homeowner energy consumption includes a set point for activating the screensaver program after a predetermined time period of inactivity. Instructions are provided for running a web browser relating to home appliance energy consumption through the screen saver program.
The URL of the web browser is automatically detected during installation of the screensaver program. The screensaver program is loaded on a computer or accessed via the computer such that the controller or CPU operatively communicates with the monitor or screen, for displaying a screensaver that includes home energy usage and/or cost information that is updated with this information.
The controller is instructed by the screensaver program to automatically detect the URL of the home energy manager system once a predetermined period of time of inactivity has elapsed that triggers or activates the screensaver.
A remote second monitor, such as a mobile phone, may also receive and display the screensaver information.
Displaying utility usage data or cost on at least a portion of the monitor or a remote device in response to activation of the screensaver is one manner of displaying information relating to home energy consumption or cost.
The displaying step may further include displaying utility usage data on the monitor during non-screensaver activity.
The displaying step includes progressively cycling the display through various screens.
The operating step includes running a web browser within a monitor screensaver.
A primary benefit is to provide greater value and appeal for a homeowner without the cost of a separate display and without requiring the homeowner to be constantly accessing the home energy manager application via a web browser on the home PC.
Another benefit is the ability to display energy consumption/cost data at all times, therefore making the system more useful and meaningful to the homeowner.
While some systems have a stand alone, “always on” device that constantly displays energy consumption and other homeowners use a personal computer to display the information while actively operating or running the browser, the “always on” device is expensive and the information is not accessible during a screensaver operation.
Still other benefits and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent upon reading and understanding the following detailed description.
Turning first to
Controller 124 associated with the module 120 interprets or translates the energy demand supply signal emitted directly or indirectly from the utility, and the controller 124 provides a representative output through wired connection 128 or wireless connection 128′ with the home appliance. A user interface 126 may also be operatively associated with the module controller. The user interface 126 allows the homeowner to input or program the controller 124 and thereby potentially control operation of one or more home appliances in response to utility demand or utility cost. By way of example only, if the demand for electricity is “high”, then the homeowner is alerted to this fact by a signal that emanates from the transmitter 110 and is conveyed to the module. The controller interprets the signal and the homeowner may be prompted to select a cost savings operation of one or more home appliances, or if the homeowner has programmed a desired operation into the controller 124, the connection 128, 128′ with the home appliance will convey a signal/data to the home appliance controller to undertake a desired operation. For example, operation of the home appliance may be delayed or altered in an effort to save electricity and reduce the cost to operate one or more home appliances.
In some instances, rather than a separate module that communicates with the home appliance, the functional aspects of the module 120 may be incorporated directly into the home appliance as shown in
As is common, the computer processor 142 has one or more programs loaded thereon. Typically with today's personal computers, the processor 142 communicates outside of a home network via line 150, such as Ethernet, high speed data line, wireless, etc. In this manner, information and data external to the home network can be transmitted to and received from an external source. Part of the functionality of the home energy manager application is to interact with a web browser to manage the communication with the utility, a neighborhood or subdivision transmitter, or transceiver, etc. that provides information regarding the energy rate or energy level mode and to display this and other information on the monitor screen 146. By way of example only, four relative states of usage such as “low”, “medium”, “high”, and “critical” may be output from the utility and received into the networked processor 142 or conveyed to the controller 124 of the home appliance(s). The application may display on screen 146 for example, real-time data on electricity, water, natural gas, or other utility consumption. It may also display other utility information such as solar or photovoltaic generation, and likewise display other information such as historic utility demand, usage, cost, etc. The particular level of sophistication and complexity of the displayed information may vary, however, information is intended for display to inform the homeowner of utility demand or usage and the costs associated with such use.
With continued reference to
In addition, however, to typical operation of the home energy manager application, the present disclosure provides a computer screensaver program that displays the content of the home energy manager application that is running all of the time. As is typical with a screensaver program, a predetermined time period or timeout is set by the user so that if no activity is detected by the PC device(s) 148, a screensaver program is activated. In this disclosure, the computer screensaver physically runs a web browser by automatically detecting the URL of the home energy manager application once the timeout period has been reached. The web browser control is activated as a screensaver and the home energy manager interface is displayed on the monitor as an active screensaver.
It is also contemplated that although the screensaver could be a single screen such as shown in
A second window 182 provides thermostat information. For example, the temperature of the main floor may be displayed, as well as the programmable information such as is typical in a programmable thermostat. A different location in the home may also be monitored and displayed in the same window 182 as represented by “Upstairs”. Still other information such as the status of the filter, program settings such as fan, air conditioning, auto, etc. may likewise be illustrated.
In yet another or third window 184, additional information may be displayed on the screen of the screensaver program. Again, and by way of example only, the current forecast and weather conditions may be shown. Of course, the screen with multiple windows shown in
In
In the preferred arrangement, the menu 186 shown along the bottom portion of the screen includes a “summary”, “eco home”, “thermostat”, “weather”, and “settings” menu bars. These selections may be cycled through a series of displays, for example automatically and periodically displayed through operation of the screensaver program. In this manner, a wide array of home energy manager data is readily presented to the homeowner.
In summary, once the screensaver is activated, the program preferably cycles through various screens of the home energy manager application. The home energy manager application is running all of the time and is not dependent on any web browser to launch the application. The home energy manager has a web browser as an integral feature. The screensaver launches a web browser and then communicates with the home energy manager web server through that browser to display specific content on the monitor or screen. The homeowner is provided the ability to quickly monitor their home energy consumption without having to log into the computer. Real time feedback on various utilities such as electricity, water, natural gas consumption can all be illustrated. Preferably, the data is displayed on the device's display screen, but can also be conveyed to a remote screen or monitor 160 such as illustrated by the mobile device in
The computer screensaver program displays the information from the home energy manager application that is running and monitoring energy/utility usage, energy/utility costs, storing historical data, etc. The screensaver program physically runs a web browser, i.e., the home energy manager application, within the context of a computer screensaver. The screensaver program is preferably installed on the computer and during the installation process the program automatically detects the URL of the home energy manager application. Upon the screensaver timeout, which is preferably set by the user, the web browser is activated as a screensaver. The home energy manager interface is displayed on the computer screen or remote device and cycles through one or more of various screen shots, e.g.,
With regard to the mobile device, the same energy consumption information can be displayed on a device other than the home computer monitor or mobile phone, such as a television, home security system screen, thermostat, or other mobile device.
The disclosure has been described with respect to preferred embodiments. Obviously, modifications and alterations may be contemplated by one skilled in the art, and the subject disclosure should not be limited to the particular examples described above but instead through the following claims.