Method and Apparatus Providing Safety Improvement for Thermostat Devices That Provide Remote Control Features

Abstract

An improvement in operation of a thermostat with regard to overall safety, efficiency, comfort, cost of operation or other such items is disclosed in which limits or restrictions are placed on remote control features of the thermostat based upon detection of occupancy, or locality of people or devices owned by people identified as potential occupants or the locality of a device utilized in attempting to send commands to the thermostat.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 ) A thermostat providing control for operation of a Heating, Cooling, Ventilation or Air Conditioning system (HVAC system), the HVAC system for serving to condition air in a conditioned space, the thermostat including:
 A) a remote command reception apparatus for receiving one or more remote control commands directly or indirectly from a remote personal interface apparatus, the one or more remote control commands specifying remotely proposed changes in the control of the HVAC system;   B) an occupancy detection apparatus for detecting and providing a signal indicative of occupancy in the conditioned space;   C) a thermostat control apparatus operatively coupled to the command reception apparatus and to the occupancy detection apparatus, receiving both the one or more remote control commands and the signal indicative of occupancy in the conditioned space, and causing one or more remote instigated changes in operation of the HVAC system with at least one of the remote instigated changes in operation being dependent on both receipt of: a) at least one of the remote control commands, and b) the signal indicative of occupancy in the conditioned space.   
     
     
         2 ) The thermostat of  claim 1  further including a selection of remote response mechanism, the selection of remote response mechanism providing for user selection from a plurality of preset possible modifications of the remote instigated changes in operation, and the remote instigated changes in operation then being modified as a function of user selection. 
     
     
         3 ) The thermostat of  claim 1  wherein the remote personal interface apparatus is a personal cell phone or a personal tablet device. 
     
     
         4 ) The thermostat of  claim 1  wherein the remote personal interface apparatus is provided from a central server an application program for running on the remote personal interface apparatus, and the application program includes specific control programming providing for user specification of desired thermostat programming changes and formation of the remote commands for sending to the remote command reception apparatus. 
     
     
         5 ) The thermostat of  claim 1  wherein the remote command reception apparatus is operatively coupled to an internet interface (world-wide web interface) and the internet interface is used for receiving the remote control commands from the remote personal interface apparatus. 
     
     
         6 ) thermostat of  claim 1  wherein the occupancy detection apparatus comprises a motion detector. 
     
     
         7 ) A thermostat providing control of a Heating, Cooling, Ventilation or Air Conditioning system (HVAC system), the HVAC system for serving to condition air in a conditioned space, the thermostat including:
 A) a remote command reception mechanism incorporated within the thermostat for receiving one or more remote control commands or control signals directly or indirectly from a personal remote interface apparatus;   B) a thermostat control apparatus incorporated within the thermostat coupled to the remote command reception mechanism for responding to the receiving of the remote control commands so as to cause one or more normal remotely instigated changes in operation of the HVAC system based upon the received remote control commands or control signals; and,   C) an occupancy detection mechanism operatively coupled to the thermostat control apparatus for detecting and providing a signal indicative of occupancy in the conditioned space and then utilized by the thermostat control apparatus to determine a condition of occupancy in the conditioned space, the thermostat control apparatus then modifying, as a function based upon the condition of occupancy in the conditioned space, at least one of the normal remotely instigated changes, during at least a portion of time during which the condition of occupancy is determined.   
     
     
         8 ) The thermostat of  claim 7  wherein the remote command reception mechanism is operatively coupled to the internet (world-wide web) and the internet is used in transmission of the remote control commands from the personal remote interface apparatus to the remote command reception mechanism. 
     
     
         9 ) The thermostat of  claim 7  wherein the modifying at least one of the normal remotely instigated changes in operation of the HVAC system is carried out by inhibiting of any changes based upon the received remote control commands. 
     
     
         10 ) thermostat of  claim 7  wherein the modifying at least one of the normal remotely instigated changes in operation of the HVAC system is carried out by a delay in the application of one or more of the changes based upon the received remote control commands. 
     
     
         11 ) A Heating, Cooling, Ventilation or Air Conditioning system sensing and control apparatus (HVAC sensing and control apparatus) for providing control of a Heating, Cooling, Ventilation or Air Conditioning system (HVAC system), the HVAC sensing and control apparatus including: a) environmental sensing apparatus connected for sensing one or more environmental conditions in a conditioned space, b) input apparatus enabling entering of set-points relating to a user desired environmental condition in the conditioned space, c) output control apparatus generating HVAC control output signals or commands for controlling the operation of the HVAC system serving the conditioned space; the HVAC sensing and control apparatus further comprising:
 A) a remote command reception mechanism for receiving remote control commands from a personal remote interface apparatus, the thermostat control apparatus, in response to the remote control commands, causing one or more changes in operation of the HVAC system based upon the received remote control commands;   B) an occupancy detection apparatus being connected for providing a signal indicative of occupancy in the conditioned space; and,   C) a remote override control apparatus coupled to the occupancy detection apparatus and receiving the signal indicative of occupancy in the conditioned space and operative in response to the signal indicative of occupancy in the conditioned space, modifying at least one of the changes in operation of the HVAC system as a function of the received remote control commands.   
     
     
         12 ) The HVAC sensing and control apparatus of  claim 11  wherein the modifying at least one of the changes in operation of the HVAC system is an inhibiting of any changes based upon the received remote control commands. 
     
     
         13 ) HVAC sensing and control apparatus of  claim 11  wherein the modifying at least one of the changes in operation of the HVAC system is a delay in application of one or more of the changes based upon the received remote control commands. 
     
     
         14 ) The HVAC sensing and control apparatus of  claim 11  further comprising wherein the modifying at least one of the changes in operation of the HVAC system is further dependent upon patterns of occupancy, the patterns of occupancy being a record relating to status of the signal indicative of occupancy over a period of time greater than one day. 
     
     
         15 ) A Heating, Cooling, Ventilation or Air Conditioning system sensing and control apparatus (HVAC sensing and control apparatus) for providing control of a Heating, Cooling, Ventilation or Air Conditioning system (HVAC system), the HVAC sensing and control apparatus including: a) an environmental sensing mechanism for sensing one or more environmental conditions in a conditioned space, b) an input mechanism allowing for setting of set-points relating to a user desired environmental condition in the conditioned space, c) HVAC control output signals or commands for operation of the HVAC system serving the conditioned space; the HVAC sensing and control apparatus further comprising:
 A) a remote command reception mechanism being coupled for receiving remote control commands or remote control signals from a personal remote interface apparatus such as a personal cell phone, a personal tablet device, or a personal computer device, the thermostat control apparatus in response to the receiving of remote control commands causing one or more normal remotely instigated changes in operation of the HVAC system based upon the received remote control commands or control signals;   B) user input apparatus for entering a remote control inhibit condition state into the HVAC sensing and control apparatus; and,   C) remote control inhibit apparatus coupled to the user input apparatus and being operative, based upon the remote control inhibit condition state, to inhibit at least one of the normal remotely instigated changes in operation of the HVAC system in accordance with the received remote control commands or control signals.   
     
     
         16 ) A Heating, Cooling, Ventilation or Air Conditioning system sensing and control apparatus (HVAC sensing and control apparatus) for providing control of a Heating, Cooling, Ventilation or Air Conditioning system (HVAC system), the HVAC sensing and control apparatus including: a) an environmental sensing mechanism for sensing one or more environmental conditions in a conditioned space, b) an input mechanism allowing for setting of set-points relating to a user desired environmental condition in the conditioned space, c) HVAC control output signals or commands for operation of the HVAC system serving the conditioned space; the HVAC sensing and control apparatus further comprising:
 A) a remote command reception mechanism for receiving remote control commands or remote control signals from a personal remote interface apparatus, the thermostat control apparatus responding to the receiving of remote control commands so as to cause one or more changes in operation of the HVAC system based upon the received remote control commands or remote control signals;   B) an occupancy detection mechanism providing a signal indicative of occupancy in the conditioned space; and,   C) a remote override control apparatus that inhibits, based upon the signal indicative of occupancy in the conditioned space, at least one of the changes in operation of the HVAC system based upon the received remote control commands or remote control signals, until a pre-set period of time of a condition of no occupancy is detected as having elapsed, the condition of no occupancy being based upon an absence of the signal indicative of occupancy in the conditioned space.   
     
     
         17 ) A method for controlling a thermostat, the thermostat providing for control of a Heating, Cooling, Ventilation or Air Conditioning system (HVAC system), the HVAC system for serving to condition air in a conditioned space, the thermostat being coupled to a communications interface and further including occupancy detection apparatus for detecting a condition of occupancy, the method for controlling the thermostat including the steps of:
 A) the thermostat utilizing the communications interface and receiving one or more remote control commands or control signals directly or indirectly from a personal remote interface apparatus;   B) in response to the receiving of the one or more remote control commands, the thermostat checking the condition of occupancy using the occupancy detection apparatus; and,   C) when the occupancy detection apparatus indicates that the condition of occupancy does exist, the thermostat responding by then changing in a first way how the HVAC system operates, and when the occupancy detection apparatus indicates that the condition of occupancy does not exist, the thermostat responding by then changing in a second way how the HVAC system operates, the first and second ways in which the HVAC system operates being different from each other.   
     
     
         18 ) The method of  claim 17  wherein the checking of the condition of occupancy is preceded by a step of the thermostat checking if the personal remote interface is connected to a local area network which is the same local area network to which the thermostat is connected, and the thermostat then skipping the step of checking the condition of occupancy upon determining that the personal remote interface is connected to the same local area network. 
     
     
         19 ) The method of  claim 17  wherein the checking of the condition of occupancy is preceded by a step of the thermostat checking if the personal remote interface is located in close proximity to the conditioned space served by the HVAC system, and then, if the personal remote interface is physically in close proximity, the thermostat then skipping the step of checking the condition of occupancy. 
     
     
         20 ) The method of  claim 17  wherein the occupancy detection apparatus comprises a motion detector. 
     
     
         21 ) A method for remotely controlling a thermostat coupled to a communications interface, the thermostat providing for control of a Heating, Cooling, Ventilation or Air Conditioning system (HVAC system), the HVAC system for serving to condition air in a conditioned space, the thermostat further including an occupancy detection mechanism for determining a condition of occupancy, the method for controlling the thermostat including the steps of:
 A) providing a thermostat control application program installable for running on a personal remote interface apparatus, the thermostat control application providing a user interface to the thermostat;   B) the thermostat establishing communication with the thermostat control application installed on the personal remote interface apparatus through the communications interface;   C) if the condition of occupancy has been determined by the occupancy detection apparatus of the thermostat, the thermostat reporting the condition of occupancy to the thermostat control application via the communications interface.   
     
     
         22 ) The method of  claim 21  further comprising a step of: the thermostat making one or more remote instigated changes in control of the HVAC system with the remote instigated changes based upon both a) commands sent from the thermostat control application program to the thermostat, and, b) the condition of occupancy. 
     
     
         23 ) The method of  claim 22  wherein the remote instigated changes in control of the HVAC system are delayed in time based upon the condition of occupancy. 
     
     
         24 ) The method of  claim 21  wherein the thermostat control application program includes control programming such that one or more features of the thermostat control application program are disabled when the thermostat reports the condition of occupancy to the thermostat control application program. 
     
     
         25 ) A method for controlling a thermostat, the thermostat providing for control of a Heating, Cooling, Ventilation or Air Conditioning system (HVAC system), the HVAC system for serving to condition air to a conditioned space, the thermostat further including an occupancy detection mechanism for determining a condition of occupancy, the method for controlling the thermostat including the steps of:
 A) the thermostat receiving one or more remote control commands or control signals directly or indirectly from a personal remote interface apparatus operated by a user of the personal remote interface apparatus;   B) in response to the receiving of the one or more remote control commands, the thermostat checking the condition of occupancy; and,   C) when the condition of occupancy exists, the thermostat being operative for reporting a remote control access attempt while occupied to one or more of: a) an occupant of the conditioned space, and, the user of the personal remote interface apparatus.   
     
     
         26 ) The method of  claim 25  wherein the reporting of the remote control access attempt while occupied includes instigating an audible and/or visual notification to one or more of: a) the occupant of the conditioned space, and, b) the user of the personal remote interface apparatus. 
     
     
         27 ) A method for controlling a thermostat, the thermostat providing for control of a Heating, Cooling, Ventilation or Air Conditioning system (HVAC system), the HVAC system for serving to condition air in a conditioned space, the thermostat being coupled to a communications interface, the method for controlling the thermostat including the steps of:
 A) the thermostat utilizing the communications interface to receive one or more remote control commands or control signals directly or indirectly from a personal remote interface apparatus;   B) in response to the receiving of the one or more remote control commands from the personal remote interface apparatus, the thermostat entering and then running in an altered mode of operation for controlling the HVAC system based upon the remote control commands; and,   C) in response to receiving a command from a local user the thermostat leaving the altered mode of operation based upon the remote control commands and responding to the command from the local user by altering in some way current operation for controlling the HVAC system.