System and method for enabling and controlling management of hvac features

Abstract

Disclosed is an HVAC system for enabling and controlling management of HVAC features. The system includes at least one HVAC equipment, and at least one remote control device communicatively connected with the at least one HVAC equipment. The at least one remote control device includes a processor(s) configured to receive a request including an indication to enable and configure operational characteristic(s) of the at least one HVAC equipment, and at least one of user identification information or HVAC equipment identification information. The processor(s) is further configured to determine a validity of the received request and to enable and configure the operational characteristic(s) upon determining that the received request is valid.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising:
 at least one HVAC equipment; and   at least one remote control device communicatively connected with the at least one HVAC equipment, wherein,   the at least one remote control device includes at least one processor, and   the at least one processor is configured to:
 receive, from a user equipment associated with a user, a request including an indication to enable and configure one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment, and at least one of user identification information or HVAC equipment identification information; 
 determine a validity of the received request to enable and configure the one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment; and 
 enable and configure the one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment upon determining that the received request to enable and configure the one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment is valid. 
   
     
     
         2 . The HVAC system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 identify a profile information associated with the at least one HVAC equipment based on the request, and wherein determining validity is based on the profile information.   
     
     
         3 . The HVAC system of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 monitor, based on the profile information, the enabled and configured one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment; and   determine, based on the monitoring, a time period that is lapsed from a time of the enablement and the configuration of the one or more operational characteristics.   
     
     
         4 . The HVAC system of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 compare the time period that is lapsed from the time of the enablement and the configuration of the one or more operational characteristics with at least one of a predefined threshold time period and the profile information;   determine whether the lapsed time period is at least one of equal to a profile time period, or less than or equal to the predefined threshold time; and   generate an alert for the user upon determining that the time period that is lapsed from the time of the enablement and the configuration of the one or more operational characteristics is at least one of equal to the profile time period, or less than or equal to the predefined threshold time.   
     
     
         5 . The HVAC system of  claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 disable the enabled and configured one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment upon determining that the time period that is lapsed from the time of the enablement and the configuration of the one or more operational characteristics is equal to the profile time period.   
     
     
         6 . The HVAC system of  claim 4 , wherein the profile information comprises subscription information associated with the at least one HVAC equipment based on the request, and wherein the subscription information comprises at least a subscription type and wherein the profile time period comprises a subscription period associated with the requested one or more operational characteristics, and wherein the subscription type corresponds to at least one of a permanent subscription, a periodic subscription, or a duration-based subscription. 
     
     
         7 . The HVAC system of  claim 1 , further comprising a thermostat communicatively connected with the at least one HVAC equipment and the at least one remote control device, wherein the thermostat is configured to:
 receive the request including the indication to enable and configure the one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment; and   transmit the received request to the at least one remote control device.   
     
     
         8 . The HVAC system of  claim 7 , wherein the thermostat is further configured to:
 receive, from the at least one remote control device, a control signal to enable and configure the one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment communicably coupled with the thermostat; and   enable and configure, based on the received control signal, the one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment that is communicably coupled with the thermostat.   
     
     
         9 . The HVAC system of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 determine a subscription status of the at least one HVAC equipment based on the identified subscription information; and   control one of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) of the user equipment or a GUI of the thermostat to notify the user about the determined subscription status of the at least one HVAC equipment.   
     
     
         10 . The HVAC system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to periodically notify the generated alert to the user via at least one of the thermostat, a GUI of the user equipment, an email, a text message, or a user portal. 
     
     
         11 . The HVAC system of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 reconfigure at least one of the one or more operational characteristics or system configuration of the at least one HVAC equipment to a default state upon determining that the time period that is lapsed from the time of the enablement and the configuration of the one or more operational characteristics is equal to the subscription period.   
     
     
         12 . The HVAC system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 determine a current operational state of the system configuration of the at least one HVAC equipment prior to the enablement and the configuration of the requested one or more operational characteristics.   
     
     
         13 . The HVAC system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 receive, from the user equipment, authentication data and associated metadata for enabling and configuring the one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment;   validate, using one of an asymmetric cryptography method, an encryption method, or a tamper detection method, the received authentication data and the associated metadata; and   enable and configure the one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment based on the validation.   
     
     
         14 . The HVAC system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 control, using a control signal, one or more applications installed on at least one of the thermostat or the at least one HVAC equipment to enable and configure the one or more requested operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment.   
     
     
         15 . The HVAC system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment includes features corresponding to at least one of air conditioning, heating, cold climate performance, high ambient performance, low ambient performance, system tonnage, quiet mode, comfort mode, or filter monitoring. 
     
     
         16 . The HVAC system of  claim 6 , wherein the identified subscription information includes at least a feature ID, a feature name, a current status of enabled or disabled features, and a duration of subscription corresponding to each of the enabled or disabled features. 
     
     
         17 . A method for controlling a Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, the method comprising:
 in at least one remote control device of the HVAC system:   receiving, from a user equipment associated with a user, a request including an indication for enabling and configuring one or more operational characteristics of at least one HVAC equipment of the HVAC system, and at least one of user identification information or HVAC equipment identification information;   determining a validity of the received request for enabling and configuring the one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment; and   enabling and configuring the one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment upon determining that the received request for enabling and configuring the one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment is valid.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 identifying a profile information associated with the at least one HVAC equipment based on the request, and wherein determining validity is based on the profile information.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 monitoring, based on the subscription type associated with the requested one or more operational characteristics, the enabled and configured one or more operational characteristics of the at least one HVAC equipment; and   determining, based on the monitoring a time period that is lapsed from a time of the enablement and the configuration of the one or more operational characteristics.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 comparing the time period that is lapsed from the time of the enablement and the configuration of the one or more operational characteristics with at least one of a predefined threshold time period and the profile information;   determining whether the lapsed time period is at least one of equal to a profile time period, or less than or equal to the predefined threshold time; and   generating an alert for the user upon determining that the time period that is lapsed from the time of the enablement and the configuration of the one or more operational characteristics is at least one of equal to the profile time period, or less than or equal to the predefined threshold time.