Patent Publication Number: US-10326610-B2

Title: Apparatus and method for determining a schedule of an appliance

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/022,575, filed Sep. 10, 2013, entitled “Method for Determining an Optimal Schedule of an Appliance,” now U.S. Pat. No. 9,686,093, issued Jun. 20, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Home appliances use energy to perform cycles of operation, and users are increasingly interested in energy efficient home appliances that reduce the amount of energy an appliance uses to decrease energy costs. Enabling the user to manage energy use in appliances benefits not only the user, but also the utility suppliers who must respond to peak demands with minimal disruption to the supply. Previous energy management solutions enable users to select more energy efficient cycles, to delay appliance use until energy cost or demand is low, and to shut down or pause an appliance cycle in progress if energy cost/demand becomes high. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION 
     An aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method of defining a signal sent to an appliance, the method comprising acquiring pricing data from a source of information about a resource used by the appliance while performing a cycle of operation, obtaining a user preference for a tradeoff factor associated with the use of the resource by the appliance, calculating at least one projected rate for the use of the resource by the appliance for a future series of time periods to define a series of projected rates, assigning a delay request to selected time periods based on the factor and the projected rate, creating a projected schedule for performing the cycle of operation for the future series of time periods, and transmitting a signal to the appliance to perform the cycle of operation based on the projected schedule wherein the tradeoff factor is used to determine a rate threshold above which the delay request is included in the projected schedule and the rate threshold is a summation of I) an average of the series of projected rates and II) a product of the tradeoff factor and a standard deviation of the pricing data. 
     In another aspect the present disclosure relates to a method of scheduling a cycle of operation in an appliance, comprising obtaining from a user of the appliance a tradeoff factor between 0 and 1 based on a user&#39;s preference for a level of participation in management of a resource, determining an optimal schedule for performing a cycle of operation in the appliance wherein the schedule is a function of the tradeoff factor wherein the tradeoff factor is used to determine a rate threshold above which a delay request is included in the optimal schedule, and the rate threshold is a summation of I) an average of a series of projected rates for the use of the resource by the appliance for a future series of time periods and II) a product of the tradeoff factor and a standard deviation of the series of projected rates, and transmit a signal to the appliance to implement the projected schedule. 
     In yet another aspect the present disclosure relates to a non-transitory computer readable storage medium for defining a signal to be sent to at least one appliance, the non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions for a server to acquire pricing data from a source of information, obtain a tradeoff factor where the tradeoff factor is indicative of a user&#39;s preference for a level of participation in management of a resource, calculate at least one projected rate for the use of the resource by the appliance for a future series of time periods to define a series of projected rates, assign a delay request to selected time periods based on the tradeoff factor and the projected rate, create a projected schedule for performing the cycle of operation for the future series of time periods, and transmit a signal to the appliance to perform the cycle of operation based on the projected schedule wherein the tradeoff factor is used to determine a rate threshold above which the delay request is included in the projected schedule and the rate threshold is a summation of I) an average of the series of projected rates and II) a product of the tradeoff factor and a standard deviation of the series of projected rates. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a system for transmitting a message regarding a schedule for performing a cycle of operation of an appliance according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view of a controller of an appliance of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a flow chart depicting a first embodiment of a method of defining a message to be sent to at least one appliance regarding a schedule for performing a cycle of operation. 
         FIG. 4  is a view of a mobile device depicting a user&#39;s preference for a level of participation in management of a resource and an optimal schedule for a cycle of operation of an appliance according to an embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a system  10  according to one embodiment of the invention. The system  10  includes at least one appliance  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  in communication with a remote device  16  via at least one communication network  18 , such as the Internet. Optionally, the appliance(s)  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  can be part of a home network or home area network (HAN)  20  for communication with other devices within a home. A router  22  can be provided for forwarding data between the appliance(s)  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  and the communication network  18 . A user display  24  in a mobile device (as illustrated) or elsewhere on the appliance(s)  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  can also be provided for showing system information to a user about aspects of the system  10  including an optimal schedule for performing a cycle of operation. 
     The appliance(s)  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  of the system  10  may be a home or domestic appliance that performs a particular job in a home, including those relating to cleaning, cooking, or food preservation. The home appliance, for example in the case of a dishwasher  12 , may include a housing at least partially defining a treating chamber (not shown) and having an open face selectively closed by a cover, shown herein as a door, for providing access to the treating chamber. The treating chamber can receive one or more article(s), and the appliance  12  may treat the article(s) according to a useful cycle of operation. Again, in the case of a dishwasher  12 , the treating chamber can receive one or more dish(es), and the dishwasher  12  can perform a cleaning system on the dish(es) in the treating chamber. Other types of appliances, including, but not limited to a refrigerator  11 , a clothes washing machine  13 , a clothes dryer  14 , a freezer, a range, a stove, an oven, or a cooktop may be used with the system  10 . All of these examples of home appliances can receive one or more article(s), and can perform a useful cycle of operation on the article(s). Other examples of appliance types typically found within a home and which may be used with the system include an air conditioner, a water heater, and a pool pump. 
     While four appliances  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  are shown in  FIG. 1 , it should be understood that the system  10  can include any number of appliances including more or less than four. The appliances can be located within a single home or at a common location, and some or all may be part of the HAN  20 . 
     A receiver  15  can be used to connect each appliance  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  to the HAN  20 , and may be a separate or an external device or it may be carried by or, as shown in  FIG. 1 , built into the appliances  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14 . The receiver  15  can communicate with the appliance by a wireless or wired connection. The receiver  15  is associated with the appliance for receiving signals sent via the communication network  18 . The receiver  15  can also have a transmitter, whereby signals from the appliance can be transmitted to the communication network  18  by the receiver  15  wirelessly. 
     The remote device  16  can communicate information with and/or respond to requests from the appliance(s)  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  from a remote location, typically outside of the home or HAN  20 . The remote device  16  can include a data storage unit for storing data, such as historical usage or operational data for the appliance(s)  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  based on information from the receiver  15 . 
     The remote device  16  may comprise one or more servers which manages the appliance&#39;s access to a centralized resource or service. For example, the remote device  16  may be a server of a utility provider  26 ,  28 ,  29 , and may communicate demand information, such as if the utility were experiencing a high or critical demand, or pricing information, such as the present or future cost of energy. In another example, the remote device  16  may be a server of a manufacturer of the appliance  12  or some other third-party, and may communicate energy information similar to that from a utility provider  26 ,  28 ,  29 . While only one remote device  16  is shown in  FIG. 1 , it should be understood that the system  10  may include multiple remote devices  16 . The remote device  16  may communicate with one or more utility providers  26 ,  28 ,  29  via the communication network  19  and, in the case where the communications networks  18 ,  19  are the Internet, may be the same communication network. 
     The communication network  18  may be a private or public network, and may typically be a WAN (wide area network) such as the Internet. Similarly the HAN  20  may be a private or public network, and may typically be a LAN (local area network). The router  22  forwards data between the communication network  18  and the HAN  20 . The HAN  20  may have a different communication protocol than the communication network  18 , in which case the router  22  or another device (not shown) can translate the data sent between the communication network  18  and the HAN  20  between the different communication protocols. The router  22  can be a separate device in the HAN  20 , or it can be built into one of the appliances  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14 . 
     The user display  24  can provide users with access and control of the appliance(s)  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  and/or the HAN  20 . Through the user display  24 , a user can monitor and control resource consumption by the appliance(s)  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14 . The user display  24  may, for example, comprise a smartphone, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, and a notebook computer. While not shown in  FIG. 1 , the user display  24  may be coupled with the HAN  20 . 
     Appliances consume resources received from utility provider  26 ,  28 ,  29 . Typical resources include electricity, gas and water. The cost of the resources fluctuates, sometimes depending on whether there is a high demand for a particular resource during a certain time period. Previous resource management solutions have attempted to control appliances based on the fluctuating cost or demand. When a cycle of operation is in progress or about to begin, previous resource management solutions have permitted the cycle to be paused, delayed, and/or scheduled. 
     Appliances use varying amounts of resources while performing a cycle of operation; some activities within a cycle consume more resources than others. For example, one resource intensive activity performed by appliances such as dishwashers and clothes washers is heating water. Other non-limiting examples of resource intensive operations include making ice in a refrigerator, drying clothing on a high heat setting in a clothes dryer, heating an oven to a selected cooking temperature, self-cleaning an oven, and generating steam in a steam appliance. If a cycle of operation in a dishwasher were suspended in response to a demand for energy reduction after a volume of water has already been heated, and during the suspension the water cools, the dishwasher would have to reheat the water again upon resuming the cycle of operation. In such a case, suspending an appliance mid-operation may be less energy efficient and more costly to a user than allowing the appliance to finish its current activity or even the entire cycle of operation. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , one embodiment of a controller  30  for each of the appliances  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  is illustrated. The controller  30  controls the operation of the appliance to implement one or more cycles of operation. The controller  30  may be located within one or more of the appliances  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14 , and be operably coupled with a control panel or a user interface  32  for receiving user-selected inputs and communicating information to the user. The user interface  32  may include operational controls such as dials, lights, switches, and displays enabling a user to input commands, such as a cycle of operation, to the controller  30 , and receive information. The user interface  32  may, for example, include at least one display  33  and at least one selector or button  35 . The display  33  can include lights or other discrete indicators with accompanying text, or a graphical user interface, such as a touch screen. The button  35  can include a push button, switch, or dial on the user interface  32  that a user physically actuates, or a virtual button on a graphical user interface, such the display  33 . Alternatively or in addition, the user display  24  may be used as a user interface  32  for the appliance, and may be coupled with the controller  30 . 
     Options may be provided for the user to select or control how the appliance  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  consumes resources and reacts to energy events. Such selections can be made at the appliance  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14 , the receiver  15 , or through the user display  24 . For example, the display  33  or button  35  on the user interface  32  of the appliance  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  may be used to activate one of a power saving setting, a money saving setting, and an ignore setting of the appliance  12 . The power saving setting may be a setting that a user can select in order to set the controller  30  to automatically take actions that will minimize the amount of power that the appliance  12  consumes. The money saving setting may be a setting that a user can select in order to set the controller  30  to automatically take actions that will minimize the cost of operating the appliance  12  for the user. The user may additionally set the degree to which their preferences are to be asserted. The ignore setting may be a setting that a user can select in order to set the controller  30  to operate without any special regard to the amount of power that the appliance  12  consumes or the cost of operating the appliance  12 . Additionally, the user may set the degree to which their preferences may be asserted. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the controller  30  may be provided with a non-transitory storage medium  34  and a central processing unit (CPU)  36 . The non-transitory storage medium  34  may include any suitable computer-readable media, with the sole exception being a transitory, propagating signal, one non-limiting example of which includes a memory. The non-transitory storage medium  34  may be used for storing communication software which is configured to effect communication between the controller  30  and an external network, such as the HAN  20  or the communication network  18 . The non-transitory storage medium  34  may also be used for storing control software that is configured to effect one or more cycles of operation by the appliance(s)  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14 . Examples, without limitation, of cycles of operation in the case of a dishwasher  12  include: Smart Wash, Pots/Pans, Normal Wash, China/Gentle, Fast Wash, and Quick Rinse. The communication and control software can be executed by the CPU  36 . The non-transitory storage medium  34  may also be used to store information, such as a database or table, and to store data received from one or more components of the appliance  12  that may be communicably coupled with the controller  30 . The database or table may be used to store the various operating parameters for the one or more cycles of operation, including factory default values for the operating parameters and any adjustments to them effected by the control system or by user input. 
     The controller  30  may be operably coupled with one or more components of the appliance  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  for communicating with and controlling the operation of the component to complete a cycle of operation. For example, in the case of a dishwasher  12 , the controller  30  may be operably coupled with a heater  38  for heating wash liquid during a cycle of operation, a drain pump  40  for draining liquid from the treating chamber, a recirculation pump  42  for recirculating wash liquid during a cycle of operation, a dispenser  44  for dispensing a treating agent during a cycle of operation, one or more valve(s)s  46  for controlling the flow of liquid or air through the treating chamber, and one or more sensor(s)  48  to control the operation of these and other components to implement one or more of the cycles of operation. Non-limiting examples of a sensor  48  that may be communicably coupled with the controller  30  include a temperature sensor and a turbidity sensor to determine the soil load associated with a selected grouping of dishes, such as the dishes associated with a particular area of the treating chamber. In the case of other types of home appliances, the controller  30  may be operably coupled with components typical to such appliances that are commonly controlled. 
     The previously described system  10  and one or more appliances  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  provide the structure necessary for the implementation of a method of defining a message to be sent to at least one appliance regarding a schedule for performing a cycle of operation. Embodiments of the method function to determine when an appliance should perform a cycle of operation, based on a projected resource cost. In one embodiment, a projected schedule of delay requests based on pricing data about a resource to be consumed is formed into a message to be transmitted to an appliance. For future time periods where the cost of consumption of the resource is determined to exceed a threshold, a cycle of operation for the appliance may be delayed until the price for the resource decreases below the threshold. In a home or system with multiple appliances, the schedule of delay requests for each appliance can be determined system-wide. Thus, the overall energy bills to the user can be minimized. Additional options can be provided for the user to select or control the threshold used in generating the schedule of delay requests. One embodiment of the method will now be described. 
       FIG. 3  shows a flow chart depicting a first embodiment of a method  100  of defining a message to be sent to at least one appliance regarding a schedule for performing a cycle of operation. The method  100  may be executed at least in part by the remote device  16  and the resulting message transmitted to the controller  30  of the appliance prior to a cycle of operation of the appliance  12 ; in other words, before the execution of the control software by the CPU  36 . It is understood that the embodiments of the methods shown in the flow chart can be combined in any logical manner. The sequence of steps depicted is for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to limit the method  100  in any way as it is understood that the steps may proceed in a different logical order, additional or intervening steps may be included, or described steps may be divided into multiple steps. 
     Initially at step  110 , the remote device  16  may acquire pricing data from a source of information about a resource consumed by the appliance while performing the cycle of operation. The source of the information  112  may be any data source in communication with the remote device  16  with access to consumer resource rates for resources including, but not limited to, electricity, natural gas and water. Data sources may include the utility provider that may provide, for example, electronic access to a database via a communication network  19  such as the Internet. Alternatively, the remote device  16  may acquire pricing data from a smart meter installed to record a user&#39;s energy consumption for purposes of monitoring and billing. A smart meter equipped with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) may be able to relay pricing data from a utility provider to the remote device  16  via communication network  18 . Given the networked resources available to the remote device  16 , other sources of information are contemplated whereby the remote device  16  may be configured to gather data related to resource pricing or availability from online data sources. Data sources may include utility rate aggregators and independent system operators. For example, the Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. (MISO) generates a day-ahead market report for electrical energy rates as well as reports for real-time and historical electrical energy rates. 
     At step  114 , the remote device  16  may obtain a user preference for a factor associated with the use of the resource by the appliance. The user may have previously selected a level of participation whereby they established a profile with a setting indicative of the tradeoff between the user&#39;s desire to save money and reluctance to delay a cycle of operation for the appliance. Based on the user&#39;s profile setting, the remote device  16  may obtain a factor with a spectrum of ranges, for example from  0  to  1 , that quantifies the tradeoff. As described above, the user may make such selections at the appliance  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14 , the receiver  15 , or through the user display  24 . 
     At step  116 , the remote device  16  may calculate a projected rate for the use of the resource by the appliance for a future series of time periods. The pricing data acquired in step  110  and the future series of time periods may not be synchronized, potentially requiring the remote device  16  to interpolate and/or extrapolate the acquired pricing data to estimate resource rates for the desired future series of time periods. A number of methods for utility resource price forecasting, particularly for electricity and gas resource markets, have been developed, one or more of which may be implemented for calculating a projected rate for consumable resources. Stationary time series models, such as autoregressive, dynamic regression and transfer function and autoregressive integrated moving average models (ARIMA) have been proposed for projecting resource rates. Also, non-stationary time series models such as the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model and neural networks have been used as well. While the remote device  16  may calculate the projected rates for any future time series, a preferred time series includes one hour time periods for a 24 hour cycle commencing at the following midnight (local time at the location of the one or more appliances). 
     For example as shown in Table 1, the remote device  16  may calculate projected rates for electricity usage for the subsequent day. Each row of the table is a vector with an element for the start time (formatted in Table 1 on a 24-hour clock) and the projected rate (formatted in Table 1 in units of cost per energy, more specifically, dollars per kilowatt hour). 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Time 
                 Rate 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                  0:00 
                 0.02335 
               
               
                   
                  1:00 
                 0.02260 
               
               
                   
                  2:00 
                 0.02062 
               
               
                   
                  3:00 
                 0.02000 
               
               
                   
                  4:00 
                 0.01898 
               
               
                   
                  5:00 
                 0.02265 
               
               
                   
                  6:00 
                 0.02491 
               
               
                   
                  7:00 
                 0.02796 
               
               
                   
                  8:00 
                 0.04145 
               
               
                   
                  9:00 
                 0.03900 
               
               
                   
                 10:00 
                 0.02876 
               
               
                   
                 11:00 
                 0.02864 
               
               
                   
                 12:00 
                 0.02795 
               
               
                   
                 13:00 
                 0.02689 
               
               
                   
                 14:00 
                 0.02889 
               
               
                   
                 15:00 
                 0.02450 
               
               
                   
                 16:00 
                 0.04353 
               
               
                   
                 17:00 
                 0.03774 
               
               
                   
                 18:00 
                 0.03755 
               
               
                   
                 19:00 
                 0.02977 
               
               
                   
                 20:00 
                 0.02692 
               
               
                   
                 21:00 
                 0.02890 
               
               
                   
                 22:00 
                 0.02548 
               
               
                   
                 23:00 
                 0.02270 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     At step  118 , the remote device  16  may assign a delay request to selected time periods based on the factor obtained at step  114 . To assign a delay request, the remote device  16  may compare the user-selected factor to the projected rate for the use of a resource as calculated in step  116 . One way of comparing the factor to the projected rates is by establishing a threshold built upon the average and standard deviation of the projected rates and the factor, whereby the threshold is calculated as the summation of the average of the pricing data and the product of the factor and the standard deviation of the pricing data. The relationship between the quantities is expressed as:
 
γ=μ+ασ
 
     where γ is the threshold, μ is the average of the series of projected rates, α is the user-selected factor and σ is the standard deviation of the series of projected rates. Other calculations may be used to establish the threshold. For example, the distribution of the projected rates for the future series of time periods may be modeled by one of many distribution functions including but not limited to Gaussian, Rayleigh, uniform etc. Based on the model, the threshold may be calculated based on parameters of the distribution function. This may have the effect of augmenting the equation with additive or multiplicative coefficients based on the parameters of the model. 
     Continuing with the example set forth in Table 1, the average rate for 24 hour cycle is $0.0283/kWh or 2.83 ¢/kWh and the standard deviation is $0.00682/kWh or 0.682 ¢/kWh. The assignment of delay request then depends on the user-selected factor. Table 2 shows possible assignment of delay requests based upon two example factors, 0.1 and 0.9 that result in assignment of delay requests for time periods where the projected rate exceeds $0.0290/kWh or 2.90 ¢/kWh and $0.0345/kWh or 3.45 ¢/kWh, respectively. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Time 
                 Rate 
                 Factor = 0.1 
                 Factor = 0.9 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                  0:00 
                 0.02335 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                  1:00 
                 0.02260 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                  2:00 
                 0.02062 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                  3:00 
                 0.02000 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                  4:00 
                 0.01898 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                  5:00 
                 0.02265 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                  6:00 
                 0.02491 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                  7:00 
                 0.02796 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                  8:00 
                 0.04145 
                 DELAY REQUEST 
                 DELAY REQUEST 
               
               
                   
                  9:00 
                 0.03900 
                 DELAY REQUEST 
                 DELAY REQUEST 
               
               
                   
                 10:00 
                 0.02876 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 11:00 
                 0.02864 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 12:00 
                 0.02795 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 13:00 
                 0.02689 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 14:00 
                 0.02889 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 15:00 
                 0.02450 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 16:00 
                 0.04353 
                 DELAY REQUEST 
                 DELAY REQUEST 
               
               
                   
                 17:00 
                 0.03774 
                 DELAY REQUEST 
                 DELAY REQUEST 
               
               
                   
                 18:00 
                 0.03755 
                 DELAY REQUEST 
                   
               
               
                   
                 19:00 
                 0.02977 
                 DELAY REQUEST 
                   
               
               
                   
                 20:00 
                 0.02692 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 21:00 
                 0.02890 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 22:00 
                 0.02548 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 23:00 
                 0.02270 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     As shown in Table 2, the remote device  16  may assign more delay requests to an appliance where the consumer has indicated a stronger preference to save money (i.e a user-selected profile with a relatively low valued factor) than to an appliance where the consumer has indicated a reluctance to delay a cycle of operation (i.e a user-selected profile with a relatively high valued factor). Due to the data driven nature of the assignment of the delay requests, the projected market prices may strongly influence the difference in the number of delay requests assigned to users with different preferences. That is, the variation of the projected rates in the future time series highly correlates to variations in the distribution of delay requests issued to appliances with different user-selected factors. Conversely, relatively flat rates across the future time series will result in the assignment of delay requests that is largely uncorrelated to the user-selected preference. In the extreme, where the projected rates are identically equal for the future time series, the remote device  16  will not assign any delay requests. 
     At step  120 , the remote device  16  may create a projected schedule for performing the cycle of operation for the future series of time periods. The remote device  16  may distill the assigned delay requests to a series of delay request start times and durations. For example, as shown in the third column of Table 2 above, the remote device may create a schedule with two delay requests; a first delay request starting at 8:00 with a duration of two hours and a second delay request starting at 16:00 with a duration four hours. In a second example, as shown in the fourth column of Table 2 above, the remote device may create a schedule with two delay requests; a first delay request starting at 8:00 with a duration of two hours and a second delay request starting at 16:00 with a duration 2 hours. 
     At step  122 , the remote device  16  may incorporate the projected schedule into a message to be sent to the controller  30  of the appliance prior to a cycle of operation. Depending upon the communication network  18  and its associated protocol that the message is to be sent across, the message may additionally contain any of the standard messaging parameters well-known in the art of digital communications. These parameters may include header and routing information for data transfer along nodes of a network. Error correction control may be encoded in the message to ensure integrity of the message. 
     The schedule may be encoded in the payload of the message and may include additional information that the remote device  16  transmits to the appliance(s)  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14 . For example, the message, particularly the payload of the message, may include an offset for each delay request in the schedule. The offset may preferably be a random number and ideally encodes a value between 0 and 5 minutes, though other values may be used. In this way, each of the appliances  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  that delay a cycle of operation according to the same schedule of delay requests do not begin or resume the cycle at the same time. Randomly offset commencement of cycles of operation for appliances is known to avoid the deleterious effects related to synchronized loading of a utility, particularly with respect to electrical energy. Finally, at step  124 , the remote device  16  may transmit the message to the appliance(s)  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  through the communication network  18  through the system  10  described in  FIG. 1 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , the user display  24 , particularly in a mobile device, may now be described. Though shown in  FIG. 4  on a smartphone, the aspects of the interface described applies without limit to a tablet computer, a desktop computer, and a notebook computer and may be applied directly to an interface provided on the appliance(s)  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  or the receiver  15 . The user display  24  may allow the user to set the factor used in determining the schedule of delay requests by setting a user control representing the tradeoff between the user&#39;s desire to save money and reluctance to delay a cycle of operation for the appliance. For example, a user control  210  may be provided on the user display  24  representing a sliding scale where the user may select one of a range of values. The range of values may have a fine resolution such that the value may smoothly transition from the high point  216  to the low point  220 , or may be a set of predetermined values where the user must select one of a limited plurality of levels of participation. As shown, the sliding scale may have a high point  216  and a low point  220  where the user may select any point in between marked by the bar  214 . In the example shown, the high point  216  may represent the user&#39;s reluctance to delay a cycle of operation and the low point  220  may represent user&#39;s desire to save money. The spectrum of values in between the high point  216  and the low point  220  represent the relationship between these two incentives. The user may select a value indicative of their preference by one of any of the conventional methods for selection in graphical controls including, but not limited to, moving a slider  218 , touching a touch screen element at the desired point, audio input, etc. 
     A second user control  212  may provide a display of the scheduled delay requests. The control element  212  graphically represents the schedule presented in TABLE 2. That is, each column represents a time period, for example, one hour. The height of the column represents the price of the consumable resource for the time period. The shading of the column represents whether a delay request has been assigned for the time period. For example, all of the time periods  230 ,  236  above the pricing threshold  226  are time periods with delay requests. The time periods  228 ,  232 ,  234  below the pricing threshold  226  are time periods without delay requests. The time periods  230 ,  236  represent durations of time where a cycle of operation of an appliance will not begin and, under certain circumstances, may be interrupted if previously commenced. By toggling the buttons  222 ,  224 , the user may view the schedule currently in place (i.e. today&#39;s schedule) or the future schedule (i.e. tomorrow&#39;s schedule). 
     While the invention has been specifically described in connection with certain specific embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that this is by way of illustration and not of limitation. Reasonable variation and modification are possible within the scope of the forgoing disclosure and drawings without departing from the spirit of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.