Patent ID: 9268344
Filing Date: 2016-02-23
CPC Classification: F24D,F24F,G05B,G05D,G06F

Claim Text:
1. In a microprocessor-controlled thermostat, a method of facilitating installation thereof, the thermostat for controlling a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system and being powered at least in part with a rechargeable battery, the method comprising: measuring a charge level value for the rechargeable battery using a processing system, the rechargeable battery and processing system being housed within the thermostat; when the measured charge level value is above a first predetermined threshold, using an interactive graphical user interface comprising an electronic display disposed within a housing of the thermostat to interact with a user so as to carry out a full installation procedure of the thermostat so as to control the HVAC system, the installation procedure including a first set of installation steps for setting up a plurality of thermostat features, the processing system being configured to be in operative communication with one or more temperature sensors for determining an ambient air temperature, in operative communication with one or more input devices including said user interface, and in further operative communication with the HVAC system to control the HVAC system based at least in part on a comparison of a measured ambient temperature and a setpoint temperature value; when the measured charge level value is below the first predetermined threshold, using the electronic display to display a graphical representation sufficient to communicate to the user that installation steps of a procedure for installing the thermostat will be a limited due to a low battery level, and using the interactive graphical user interface to carry out a limited installation procedure including a second set of installation steps for setting up one or more thermostat features, the second set of installation steps being a subset of the first set of installation steps; using the processing system to modify configuration information of the thermostat based at least in part on the first or second installation procedures; and using the modified configuration information of the thermostat when controlling one or more HVAC system components of the HVAC system by the processing system.