Energy management system and method

Abstract

According to an aspect of the disclosure, an energy management system and method includes a method of altering an operating condition of a device located at a site. The method includes the steps of establishing communication with at least one device located at the site and acquiring device data from the device. Subsequently, the device data is communicated to a server disposed remotely from the site and an availability of a control action data is detected at the remote server in conjunction with the communication of the device data. The system includes a processor operable to initiate establishing communication with the at least one device and initiate acquiring device data. A communication interface is operable to communicate the device data to the remote server and detect an availability of the control action data at the remote server in conjunction with the communication of the device data.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of altering an operating condition of a device located at a site, said method comprising:
 establishing communication with at least one device located at a site;   acquiring device data from the at least one device;   communicating the device data from a controller disposed at the site to a remote server disposed away from the site;   detecting an availability of a control action data at the remote server using the site controller in conjunction with the communication of the device data.   
     
     
         2 . A method as set forth in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 detecting a set-point within the control action data; and   associating the set point with the at least one device.   
     
     
         3 . A method as set forth in  claim 2 , further comprising:
 altering an operating condition of the at least one device using the associated set-point.   
     
     
         4 . A method as set forth in  claim 1  further comprising:
 establishing communication with a plurality of devices located at the site; 
 detecting a plurality of set-points within the control action data; and 
 associating the plurality of set-points with the plurality of devices. 
 
     
     
         5 . A method as set forth in  claim 4 , further comprising:
 altering an operating condition of the plurality of devices using each of the associated set-points.   
     
     
         6 . A method as set forth in  claim 3 , further comprising:
 establishing communication with a location reporting device associated with the site; and   said step of altering an operating condition includes using the set-point in response to a detected status of the location reporting device.   
     
     
         7 . A method as set forth in  claim 6 , further comprising:
 informing a user of the location reporting device of the altered operating condition.   
     
     
         8 . A method as set forth in  claim 7 , further comprising sending the location reporting device at least one of a text message or an email message or a push notice or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         9 . A method as set forth in  claim 6 , further comprising using the set-point in response to the location reporting device establishing an 802.11 based connection with the site. 
     
     
         10 . A method as set forth in  claim 6 , further comprising using the set-point in response to the location reporting device losing an 802.11 based connection with the site. 
     
     
         11 . A method as set forth in  claim 6 , further comprising using the set-point in response to detecting a travel direction and a distance between the location reporting device and the site. 
     
     
         12 . A method as set forth in  claim 11 , further comprising using the set-point in response to the location reporting device moving towards the site. 
     
     
         13 . A method as set forth in  claim 11 , further comprising using the set-point in response to the location reporting device moving away from the site. 
     
     
         14 . A method as set forth in  claim 1 , further comprising acquiring device data using an acquisition interval. 
     
     
         15 . A method as set forth in  claim 14 , further comprising:
 altering the acquisition interval in response to a relative distance of a location reporting device to the site.   
     
     
         16 . A method as set forth in  claim 15 , further comprising:
 increasing the acquisition interval in response to the location reporting device moving towards the site; and   decreasing the acquisition interval in response to the location reporting device moving away from the site.   
     
     
         17 . A method as set forth in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 establishing communication with one or more of:
 a smart appliance; 
 an HVAC system; 
 a water pump; 
 a heat pump; 
 a hot water heater; 
 a thermostat; 
 an energy controller; 
 an irrigation system; 
 a lighting system; 
 an alarm system; 
 a smart power outlet; 
 an energy detection device; 
 a power measurement device; 
 a power measurement unit; 
 an air handler; 
 an air damper; 
 a humidity control system; 
 a heat sensing device; 
 a motion sensing device; and 
 a smart power outlet. 
   
     
     
         18 . A method as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said step of acquiring device data includes acquiring one or more of a device identifier, a network identifier, operation data, security data, and energy management data from the at least one device. 
     
     
         19 . An apparatus comprising:
 a processor operable to:
 initiate establishing communication with at least one device located at a site; 
 initiate acquiring device data from the device; 
   a communication interface operable to:
 communicate the device data to a server disposed remote from the site; and 
 detect an availability of a control action data at the remote server in conjunction with the communication of the device data. 
   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , further comprising one or more of:
 a broadband device;   a server;   a thermostat;   a home controller;   a wireless router; and   a set-top box.