Method of Auto Association of HVAC Energy with Control Signal for Self Diagnostics of the HVAC System

Abstract

A system and method are described for self-diagnosing heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The system and method correlate an HVAC control mode of a particular HVAC unit with an energy usage for the particular HVAC unit in order to match normal patterns in energy usage with the HVAC control mode. This correlation allows the system and method to identify potential problems with the particular HVAC unit based on deviations from normal patterns.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for self-diagnosing heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems comprising:
 correlating an HVAC control mode of a particular HVAC unit with an energy usage for the particular HVAC unit;   matching normal patterns in energy usage with the HVAC control mode; and   identifying potential problems with the particular HVAC unit based on deviations from normal patterns.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising utilizing additional parameters of the particular HVAC unit with the energy usage and control mode to identify potential problems with the particular HVAC unit. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the additional parameter is sensor air temperature. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising reporting the potential problems to a remote server. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising reporting the potential problems to a user. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the particular HVAC unit is one of a plurality of HVAC units. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the energy usage is collected by sensing current in a breaker panel associated with the particular HVAC unit. 
     
     
         8 . A system for self-diagnosing heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems comprising:
 a microcontroller   an HVAC control module communicatively coupled to the microcontroller and operable to provide control signals to an HVAC unit;   an energy usage collection interface communicatively coupled to the microcontroller, the energy usage collection interface operable to receive energy usage data from an energy meter installed at an electrical distribution panel wherein the microcontroller is operable to correlate an HVAC control mode from the HVAC control module with an energy usage for the HVAC unit, and to match normal patterns in energy usage with the HVAC control mode thereby allowing the system to identify potential problems with the HVAC unit based on deviations from normal patterns.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8  further comprising environmental sensors communicatively coupled to the microcontroller, the environmental sensors providing information to the microcontroller used in determining the operation of the HVAC system. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the microcontroller is operable to utilize additional parameters of the HVAC unit collected from the environmental sensors with the energy usage and control mode to identify potential problems with the HVAC unit. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the environmental sensors include a temperature sensor. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8  further comprising a communications interface to report the potential problems to a remote server. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the particular HVAC unit is one of a plurality of HVAC units. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the energy usage is collected by sensing current in a breaker panel associated with the particular HVAC unit. 
     
     
         15 . A method of correlating a control mode with energy usage for an heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) unit, the method comprising:
 assigning a true/false status for each control state of the HVAC unit;   assigning a true/false status for an energy usage of the HVAC unit, wherein a true status corresponds to energy usage by the HVAC unit;   creating an array of states for each HVAC control state;   comparing the true/false status for energy usage for the HVAC unit with the true/false status for each control state of the HVAC unit; and   pairing a highest correlated control state with the energy true/false status for the HVAC unit.