Abstract:
Energy usage of a plurality of appliances is measured using a single meter. A pattern of energy usage with respect to the plurality of appliances is determined dependent upon the measured energy usage, appliance details of the plurality of appliances, and usage hours of the plurality of appliances. The pattern is provided to a user of the appliances.

Description:
[0001]    This Application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/485,167, filed Jun. 16, 2009, and entitled “System to Make Consumers Aware of Electricity Usage”. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/485,167, filed Jun. 16, 2009, is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The technical field of the present application relates to making end consumers aware of their electricity usage. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    In order to make energy consumers such as home owners aware of the energy usage of their various appliances, information regarding energy usage is often provided to the energy consumers. It is hoped that this awareness will help energy consumers to avoid energy waste in operating their appliances. 
         [0004]    Measurement equipment could, of course, be installed for each of the consumer&#39;s energy consuming appliances, or least for each of the consumer&#39;s major energy consuming appliances. Outputs from such equipment could then be used to inform the consumers of the energy usage of their appliances. However, such equipment adds extra cost for each of the appliances being monitored. 
         [0005]    Moreover, it is also desirable to install communication equipment in order to communicate the energy consumption of the various appliances to a central module where the energy awareness information related to the appliances can be calculated and presented to the consumer. However, if energy measuring equipment is used for each appliance, providing communication equipment for each energy measuring equipment results in even more cost. 
         [0006]    Disclosed herein is an energy awareness system which avoids the addition of energy measurement equipment at each of the appliances to be monitored for energy awareness. 
         [0007]    Instead, the energy awareness system adds only one energy measurement equipment at the mains of the building or house. The awareness system, for example, may be arranged to poll the energy measurement equipment at the mains in order to fetch the energy consumption at the mains, and may further be arranged to use this energy consumption data and profiles of each of the appliance within the building or house to infer the consumption for each appliance. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    Features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  illustrates an example of an energy awareness system; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  illustrates processing equipment that can be used in the energy awareness system of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  illustrates an example of table containing appliance details and usage hours stored in memory of the energy awareness system of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0012]      FIGS. 4-7  are graphs showing example inferences that can be made based on power consumption measured by a single energy awareness meter; 
           [0013]      FIG. 8  illustrates an example of an energy consumption report that may be provided to occupant(s) of a building in which the energy awareness system of  FIG. 1  is deployed; and, 
           [0014]      FIG. 9  is a flow chart of an example program that can be executed to create the report of  FIG. 8 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0015]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , an energy usage awareness system  10  includes an energy awareness meter  12  that is coupled in an electrical service  14  of a facility or building  16  downstream of an electric company&#39;s tariff meter The energy awareness meter  12 , for example, may be a digital meter, and the building  16 , for example, may be a residence such as a house. However, the energy awareness meter  12  may be other than a digital meter, and the building  16  may be other than a residence. The electric company&#39;s tariff meter  18  supplies energy usage information that is used for billing purposes by the electric company providing the electrical service  14  to the building  16 . 
         [0016]    The energy awareness meter  12  measures the energy used by a plurality of appliances  20  within the building  16  on a periodic basis, such as once a minute, to provide the measured energy usage information with a fine level of granularity. Thus, the granularity of the energy consumption measurements is at the minute by minute level. However, the energy awareness meter  12  may measure the energy consumed by the appliances  20  within the building  16  on a periodic basis other than once a minute, or the energy awareness meter  12  may measure the energy consumed by the appliances  20  within the building  16  on a non-periodic basis. 
         [0017]    The energy usage awareness system  10  also includes a processing apparatus  22 . The energy awareness meter  12  communicates the measured energy usage information to the processing apparatus  22  as soon as the energy awareness meter  12  acquires the measured energy usage information. Alternatively, the energy awareness meter  12  may be arranged to store the measured energy usage information over a predetermined amount of time, such as hourly, and then communicate the stored information hourly to the processing apparatus  22 . The processing apparatus  22  maintains the granularity of the energy usage measured by the energy awareness meter  12 . 
         [0018]    The processing apparatus  22  may be provided locally within the building  16 . For example, the processing apparatus  22  may be located at the energy awareness meter  12 . In this case, the processing apparatus  22  and the energy awareness meter  12  may be contained within the same housing or separate housings. 
         [0019]    Alternatively, the processing apparatus  22  may be located within the building  16  but remotely from the energy awareness meter  12 . In this case, the processing apparatus  22  may be located so as to provide convenient access to the occupant(s) of the building  16 . 
         [0020]    As a further alternative, the processing apparatus  22  may be provided remotely from the building  16 . In this case, at least a display  24  of the processing apparatus  22  is located within the building  16  to provide energy awareness information to its occupant(s). However, instead of providing the energy awareness information to the occupant(s) of the building  16  by use of the display  24  associated with the processing apparatus  22 , the energy awareness information can be otherwise provided to the occupant(s) of the building  16  such as by use of e-mail or postal mail. 
         [0021]    The energy awareness meter  12  may be coupled to the processing apparatus  22  by a link  26 . For example, the link  26  may be a wire link. A wire link may be most convenient in the case where the energy awareness meter  12  and the processing apparatus  22  are located proximate to one another. Alternatively, the link  26  may be a wireless link. A wireless link may be most convenient in the case where the processing apparatus  22  is located remotely from the building  16  at which the energy awareness meter  12  is used. In the case where the energy awareness meter  12  and the processing apparatus  22  are located remotely from one another but both within the building  16 , the link  26  may be either a wire link or a wireless link to couple the energy awareness meter  12  and the processing apparatus  22 . 
         [0022]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the processing apparatus  22 , for example, includes a processor  28  such as computer, an input  30 , an output  32 , and a memory  34 . 
         [0023]    The input  30  may include one or more input devices such as a mouse, a keyboard, etc. capable of inputting data to the processor  28 . The input  30  may be used to input data. This data may be stored in the memory  34  or may be used directly by the processor  28 . 
         [0024]    The output  32  may include one or more output devices such as a monitor, a printer, etc. The monitor of the output  32  may or may not comprise the display  24 . 
         [0025]    The memory  34  stores data such as input data, energy measurement data, and/or output data. The memory  34  may also store programming for operating the processor  28  and for providing the energy awareness information as described herein. 
         [0026]    The occupant(s) of the building  16  provides appliance details and hours of usage regarding the use of each electrical appliance on typical days such as workdays, holidays, and weekends. This input is provided by use of the input  30  and is stored in the memory  34  or elsewhere. The processor  28  may lead the occupant(s) through the input of this data by way of suitable displays on the output  32 . 
         [0027]    The appliance details includes, for example, the rating and type of each of the electrical appliances. These electrical appliances are, for example, dishwashers, clothes washers, clothes dryers, air conditioners, electric heaters, hot water heaters, etc. 
         [0028]      FIG. 3  is a table showing an example of appliance details and usage hours stored in the memory  34 . Based on this table, certain inferences about the power consumed by the appliances in a building can be made from the actual overall power consumption as measured by the energy awareness meter  12 . 
         [0029]    The graph of  FIG. 4  shows by way of example the overall energy consumption by the appliances of a building as measured by the energy awareness meter  12 . The graph of  FIG. 4  specifically points outs the inference that can be made as to the power consumed by a refrigerator. This inference is based on the table of  FIG. 3  and the building energy consumption as measured by the energy awareness meter  12 . Although a refrigerator is turned “on” all of the time, its compressor actually cycles “on” and “off” at a rate that depends on a number of factors. These factors include how well the refrigerator is insulated, room temperature, freezer temperature, how often the door is opened, cleanliness of the evaporator coils, defrosting regularity, and the condition of door seals. It is assumed for purposes of  FIG. 4  that the refrigerator cycles approximately 15 minutes on and 45 minutes off. Also, the refrigerator continues to draw a small amount of power even when it is switched “off.” The graph of  FIG. 4  shows that the “on” and “off” cycles exist throughout the day. 
         [0030]    The graph of  FIG. 5  specifically points outs the inference that can be made as to the power consumed by water heaters. Again, this inference is based on the table of  FIG. 3  and the building energy consumption as measured by the energy awareness meter  12 . The graph of  FIG. 5  specifically points out the inferred contribution of two hot water heaters to the overall energy consumption measured by the energy awareness meter  12 . The hot water heaters in this example each has a rating of 1500 watts and above. This graph shows that the two hot water heaters are “on” primarily between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM. 
         [0031]    The graph of  FIG. 6  specifically points outs the inference that can be made as to the power consumed by a microwave oven. This inference is likewise based on the table of  FIG. 3  and the building energy consumption as measured by the energy awareness meter  12 . The microwave oven in this example has a rating of 1100 watts. The microwave is on for a short duration, typically 1 to 3 minutes. The graph of  FIG. 6  shows the two short duration spikes corresponding to microwave oven usage. 
         [0032]    The graph of  FIG. 7  specifically points outs the inference that can be made as to the power consumed by fans, lights, and the refrigerator. This inference is based on the table of  FIG. 3  and the building energy consumption as measured by the energy awareness meter  12 . 
         [0033]    Each time the energy awareness meter  12  measures energy usage within the building  16 , the processing apparatus  22  refers to the appliance details and usage hours stored in the memory  34  in order to infer which appliance is being used. 
         [0034]    The processing apparatus  22  assembles this inferred energy usage information into a report such as shown in  FIG. 8  to make the occupant(s) aware of the energy consumption of the various appliances within the building  16 . This report, for example, shows the energy usage pattern for the appliances of the building  16 . As indicated above, this report may be displayed on the display  24 , may be e-mailed to the occupant(s), or may be postal mailed to the occupant(s). 
         [0035]    Accordingly, energy consumption awareness information may be provided for some or all of the appliances of a building by use of a single energy awareness meter. 
         [0036]      FIG. 9  if a flow chart illustrating a program  50  that may be stored in the memory  34  and executed by the processor to produce the power consumption reports by appliance even though only a single measurement device is used as discussed above. 
         [0037]    At  52  of the program  50 , the power consumption of the facility or building  16  as measured by the energy awareness meter  12  is read. At  54 , the power consumption read at  52  and the time of the reading is stored in the memory  34 . As indicated above, the granularity of the readings may be on a minute by minute basis. In this case, the output of the energy awareness meter  12  is read at  52  and is stored at  54  each minute. However, any other suitable level of granularity can be used. 
         [0038]    At  56 , a determination is made as to whether it is time to report appliance by appliance power consumption. Such a report may be made daily or on any other desired basis. If it is not time to report, program flow returns to  52  for additional measurements. If it is time to report, appliance by appliance inferences are made at  58  based on the table of  FIG. 3  that is stored in the memory  34  and the measurements that are read at  52  and are stored in the memory  34  at  54 . At  60 , an appliance by appliance power consumption report such as shown in  FIG. 8  is created based on these inferences. At  62 , this report is provided as an output. For example, the report may be provided on the output  32  such as by way of a displayed and/or printed report. 
         [0039]    Certain modifications of the present invention have been discussed above. Other modifications of the present invention will occur to those practicing in the art of the present invention. 
         [0040]    For example, the energy usage awareness system  10  has been described above in connection with making building occupant(s) of their electrical energy usage patterns. However, the energy usage awareness system  10  can be used to make building occupant(s) of their patterns of using other forms of energy such as gas. If the energy usage awareness system  10  is used to make building occupant(s) of their gas usage patterns, the energy awareness meter  12  would be arranged to measure gas flow at the main input to the building  16 , and the memory  34  stores appliance details includes, for example, the rating and type of each of the gas appliances. These gas appliances are, for example, dishwashers, clothes washers, clothes dryers, hot water heaters, and/or other gas consuming appliances. 
         [0041]    As another example, the building  16  may be a residence, a factory, an office building, a warehouse, or any other structure or enclosure or otherwise within which plural appliances are used. 
         [0042]    Consequently, the description of the present invention is to be construed as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the best mode of carrying out the invention. The details may be varied substantially without departing from the spirit of the invention, and the exclusive use of all modifications which are within the scope of the appended claims is reserved.