Patent ID: 9335769
Filing Date: 2016-05-10
CPC Classification: F24F,G01K,G05D

Claim Text:
1. A thermostat that functions to provide control signals to temperature control equipment to maintain a desired temperature in a space, comprising: a housing; one or more heat generating elements in the housing, wherein during operation of the thermostat, the one or more heat generating elements cause a first region within the housing to be warmer than a second region within the housing; a first temperature sensor for reporting a measure that is related to the temperature in the first region; a second temperature sensor for reporting a measure that is related to the temperature in the second region; a controller in communication with the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor, the controller determining a measure related to an ambient temperature outside of the housing based, at least in part, on the measure that is related to the temperature in the first region reported by the first temperature sensor and the measure that is related to the temperature in the second region reported by the second temperature sensor; and wherein: the thermostat uses the measure related to the ambient temperature outside of the housing to determine one or more control signals for controlling temperature control equipment; the thermostat is powered, at least in part, by electrical energy; the one or more heat generating elements generate heat by consuming the electrical energy; a level of electrical energy needed to power the thermostat and/or the one or more heat generating elements changes over time ranging between a first non-zero amount to a second non-zero amount; the first temperature sensor and/or the second temperature sensor report a measure that is related to the temperature in the first region or the second region, respectively, which changes over time in a rapid or slow manner, correspondingly, at least in part, to the changes of energy over time ranging between a first non-zero amount to a second non-zero amount needed to power the thermostat incorporating the heat generating elements; and the changes over time in a rapid manner are compensated so as to avoid affecting determination of ambient temperature changes over time in a slow manner of the first temperature sensor and/or the second temperature sensor which reports a measure that is related to the temperature in the first region or the second region, respectively, wherein the controller is configured to compensate for the change over time when a rise of a measure of the first sensor or the second sensor is greater than a predetermined rate of X degrees Fahrenheit (F) per second.