Patent Publication Number: US-10309671-B2

Title: Systems and methods for heating and cooling a facility

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present application relates to systems and methods for heating and cooling a facility, and more particularly, to systems and methods for providing a free-standing units that provide ambiance while heating and cooling a facility. 
     2. Related Art 
     Ever since man discovered and learned to control fire hundreds of thousands of years ago, he has used it to heat his home. While fire is great for instantly heating a location, it also is inefficient and dangerous. Wood burning fireplaces are difficult and expense to install, requiring extensive venting and/or a chimney. They also can cause carbon monoxide poisoning and possibly lead to a fire that decimates or completely destroys the facility. Similarly, propane burners also are costly to install and are inefficient and difficult to regulate. 
     To overcome some of these problems, central air conditioning and heating systems where developed. While these types of systems offer whole-house or large-commercial-space cooling, they also are expensive to install and inefficient. In a typical system, a heat-exchanger is typically placed inside the central furnace/AC unit of the forced air heating system. Central air and heating systems require extensive ductwork that must be run through the facility to direct air to the target areas. These ducts are not only expensive, they also are inefficient; it is estimated that about 27% of every dollar spent on heating or cooling air is lost in the ductwork. 
     Accordingly, a need has long existed for improved systems and methods for heating and cooling a space. 
     SUMMARY 
     Improved systems for heating and cooling a space may include a heating and cooling unit for providing heating and cooling functions mounted inside a housing assembly and a display unit mounted to the housing assembly. A control unit may be coupled to the heating and cooling unit and the display unit. The control unit may be operative to cause an image or video associated with heat be displayed on the display unit when the heating and cooling unit is in the heating mode of operation and to cause an image or video associated with coolness be displayed on the display unit when the heating and cooling unit is in the cooling mode of operation. The control unit may be coupled to a server that enables remotes operation of the system via a client application. 
     Other systems, methods, features, and technical advantages of the invention will be, or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and technical advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the following claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. 
         FIGS. 1 a  and 1 b    (collectively “ FIG. 1 ”) show a perspective view of an exemplary a free-standing heating and cooling system; 
         FIG. 2  shows an exploded view of the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  shows side cutaway view of the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4 a    shows a perspective view of an exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system in a first assembly position; 
         FIG. 4 b    shows a perspective view of an exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system in an assembled positon with the back panel removed; 
         FIG. 5 a    shows a perspective view of a duct for use in the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5 b    shows another perspective view of a duct for use in the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  shows an exemplary physical architecture for an exemplary control unit for use in the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 7 a    shows an exemplary power circuit for use with a 110 AC power supply and the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 7 b    shows an exemplary power circuit for use with a 220 AC power supply and the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 8  shows an exemplary input/output panel for use in the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 9  shows an exemplary physical architecture for a system in which the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1  may interoperate with exemplary controller devices; 
         FIG. 10  shows an exemplary logical architecture for a server for use with the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 11  shows an exemplary flow chart for a product registrations process for the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 12  shows an exemplary screen shot of a product portal page for use with the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1   
         FIG. 13  shows an exemplary physical architecture for an exemplary remote control unit for use in the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIGS. 14 a -14 e    show exemplary screen shots of an exemplary remote control unit for use with the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 15  shows an exemplary flow chart for a process for requesting product support for the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 16  shows an exemplary screen shot of a list of product support tickets for exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The elements illustrated in the Figures interoperate as explained in more detail below. Before setting forth the detailed explanation, however, it is noted that all of the discussion below, regardless of the particular implementation being described, is exemplary in nature, rather than limiting. 
     Free-Standing Heating and Cooling System Overview 
     Referring initially to  FIGS. 1 a - b    and  2 , perspective and exploded views of an exemplary a free-standing heating and cooling system  100  is shown. Only relevant portions of the system  100  are shown; other portions are well known to those skilled in the art and are not discussed herein for sake of clarity. The system  100  may include a housing assembly  110 , a heating and cooling unit  140 , a display unit  150  and a control unit  200 . The heating and cooling unit  140  may be mounted either partially or completely inside the housing assembly  110  and the display unit  150  may be mounted either internally or externally on the housing assembly  110 . The heating and cooling unit  140  may function to heat and/or cool a space or facility. 
     The control unit  200  may be coupled to, be in communication with and/or direct the operation of the heating and cooling unit  140 . The control unit  200  also may be coupled to, be in communication with and direct the operation of the display unit  150 . For example, the control unit  200  may cause the display unit  150  to show images and/or play audio corresponding to a detected mode of operation of the heating and cooling unit, such as an audio-visual representation of a fire or similar image associated with heat when the heating and cooling unit  140  is operating in a heating mode of operation (as shown in  FIG. 1B ) or an audio-visual representation of a waterfall or other images/video associated with coolness or cold when the heating and cooling unit  140  is operating in a cooling mode of operation (as shown in  FIG. 1A ). For example, images and/or video that are associated with heat may include images and/or video of a fire, the sun, lava, volcanos, steam, thermometers and the like. Similarly, images and/or video that are associated with coolness may include images and/or video of water, ice, snow, thermometers and the like. Other images also may be used to convey imagery associated with the heating and/or cooling mode of operation. 
     The images and/or video may be stored and retrieved from memory such flash drives coupled to the control unit  200  and/or display unit  150 , streamed from the Internet through the control unit  200  and/or display unit  150 , from any electronic device (such as a DVD/CD player, gaming console, tablet, smart phones, and the like) that may be connected to the control unit  200  and/or display unit  150  through the input/output panel  250 , and the like. 
     Exemplary Housing Assemblies 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , an exploded view of the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system of  FIGS. 1 a - b   . The housing assembly  110  may include a top portion  113 , two side portions  111   a  and  111   b , a front portion  115 , a base portion  120  and a back portion  130 . In some embodiments, the top portion  113 , side portions  111   a  and  111   b  and front portion  115  may be pre-assembled as a single unit  101  and the base portion  120  and back portion  130  may be pre-assembled as a second unit  102  for ease of installation, as described below in connection with  FIGS. 4 a    and  4   b.    
     The assembly  110  also may include a mounting shelf  142  upon which the heating and cooling unit  140  may be mounted by brackets, screws and the like. Other mounting methods also may be used. The mounting shelf  142  may be coupled to any or all of the front portion  115 , the back portion  130 , and the side portions  111   a - b . In some embodiments, the mounting shelf  142  and heating and cooling unit  140  may be assembled in a configuration that provides clearance between the side portions  111   a - b  and the heating and cooling unit  140  of between about 2 inches and about 12 inches, preferably between about 3 inches and about 10 inches, even more preferably between about 5 inches and about 7 inches and in some embodiments about 6 inches. Similarly, in some embodiments, the mounting shelf  142  and heating and cooling unit  140  may be assembled in a configuration that provides clearance between the top portion  113  and the heating and cooling unit  140  of between about 2 inches and about 12 inches, preferably between about 2 inches and about 8 inches, even more preferably between about 3 inches and about 6 inches and in some embodiments about 4 inches. 
     The front portion  115  may include an aperture  114  in which a front vent  160  may be mounted. Duct  144  may be coupled to the heating and cooling unit  140  to direct airflow from the heating and cooling unit  140  through the front vent  160 . Duct  144  is shown in greater detail in  FIGS. 5 a - b   . Similarly, side portions  111   a - b  may include apertures  112   a - b  for receiving filter bracket or jamb  164   a - b  that may hold air filters  163   a - b  and to which side vents  162   a - b  may be coupled. In some embodiments, side vents  162   a - b  may be pivotably coupled to the jambs  164   a - b.    
     In some embodiments, the housing assembly  110  may include a decorative façade  108 . The decorative façade  108  may provide improved aesthetics for the system  100 . For example, in the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 a - b   , the housing assembly  110  and decorative façade  108  provide the appearance of a fireplace, such as stone and wood fireplace. Exemplary decorative facades  108  may include stones, bricks, tiles, glass, wood, marble, copper and the like. In some embodiments, the façade  108  may be removably attached to the housing assembly  110  such as, for example, by wood screws. In this manner, various facades  108  may be interchangeable to allow a user to change the appearance of the assembly  110  as desired. In various embodiments, the housing assembly  110  and/or façade  108  may provide the appearance and/or functionality of an armoire, dresser, bookcase, entertainment center and the like. 
     When assembled, exemplary housings  110  may be between about 30 inches and about 96 feet tall, preferably between about 36 inches and about 75 inches tall, even more preferably between about 40 inches and about 60 inches tall, and in some embodiments about 54 inches tall. Exemplary assembled housings  110  may be between about 30 inches and about 96 feet wide, preferably between about 36 inches and about 75 inches wide, even more preferably between about 40 inches and about 60 inches wide, and in some embodiments about 54 inches wide. Exemplary assembled housings  110  may be between about 9 inches and about 36 feet deep, preferably between about 10 inches and about 24 inches deep, even more preferably between about 11 inches and about 18 inches deep, and in some embodiments about 14 inches deep. For example, in various embodiments, the housing assembly  110  may be about 30 inches tall by about 30 inches wide by about 9 inches deep, about 40 inches tall by about 40 inches wide by about 11 inches deep, and about 54 inches tall by about 54 inches wide by about 14 inches deep. Other dimensions may be used. 
     The various components of the housing assembly  110  may be made of any suitable material, such as wood, metal, stone, brick, laminate, foam, plastic or the like. Other materials also may be used. In some embodiments, each component is made of the same material. Alternatively or additionally, one or more of the components of the housing assembly  110  may be made of different material than others of the components. Other materials also may be used. 
     In some embodiments, front vent  160  is made of plastic and duct  144  is made of foam to avoid condensation that may result when metal is used. Filters  163   a - b  may be made of any type of filter material. In some embodiments, filters  163   a - b  may comprise dual-ply Dustlok® Media provided by Fiberbond of Michigan City, Ind. Other materials also may be used. 
     Exemplary Assembling of the Housing Assembly  110   
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 a - b   , perspective views of an exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system  100  are shown in a first assembly position ( FIG. 4 a   ) and in an assembled positon with the back panel removed for visibility ( FIG. 4 b   ). In the illustrated embodiment, In some embodiments, the top portion  113 , side portions  111   a  and  111   b  and front portion  115  may be pre-assembled as a first unit  101  and the base portion  120  and back portion  130  may be pre-assembled as a second unit  102 . The housing assembly  110  may include complimentary sets of mounting members  117   a - d  and  132   a - d  (also shown in  FIG. 3 ) may be provided on the first unit  101  and second unit  102 , respectively, to couple the first unit and the second unit. The mounting members may include complimentary shapes that engage one another for ease of alignment and installation. For example, in the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4   a - b , mounting members  132   a - d  include a wedge-shaped upper portion that the wedge-shaped cavity of the lower portion of mounting members  117   a - d  may engage. As a result, the first unit  101  and second unit  102  may be easily assembled or disassembled as needed. Alternatively, or additionally, mounting members  117   a - d  and  132   a - d  may use other complimentary shapes, such as curves, teeth and the like. 
     Exemplary Heating and Cooling Units 
     The heating and cooling unit  140  may be any type of system that may provide both heating and cooling functionality. Exemplary heating and cooling units  140  may provide heating and cooling at ranges between about 9000 British Thermal Units (BTUs) and about 24,0000 BTU or more. In some embodiments, the heating and cooling unit  140  may be a mini-split unit. A mini-split unit generally refers to a heating and cooling device having a DC compressor installed on the exterior of a building that may allow either heating or cooling of air and may be used in conjunction with a unit on the interior of the building. Exemplary heating and cooling units  140  include mini split units such as the 9,000 btu CS-25V1A-MB150DC, 12,000 btu CS-35V1A-PB150DC and 18,000 btu CS-53V2A-WB150D all provided by Guangdong CHIGO Air-Conditioning Co, LTD., of Foshan, Guangdong, China. 
     Exemplary Display Units  150   
     In some embodiments, the display unit may be a television, such as a smart TV having a wired or wireless network interface. In some embodiments, the display unit  150  may include an integrated speaker for playing audio signals. Alternatively, or additionally, the system  100  may include speakers and/or other audio equipment external to the display unit  150 . In operation, the display unit  150 , under direction from the control unit  200 , may show images and/or play audio corresponding to a mode of operation of the heating and cooling unit  140 , such as images and audio of a fire when the system  100  is in a heating mode or images and audio of a waterfall when the system  100  is in a cooling mode of operation. 
     The display unit  150  may be coupled to an external side of the front portion  115 , such as at a mounting position  116 . The display unit  150  may be mounted in a variety of ways, such as via a standard television wall mount bracket. In some embodiments, the display unit may be movably mounted to the assembly  110 , such as pivotably mounted to the assembly  110  or may be outwardly extendable from the assembly  110 . Other mounting configurations may be used. 
     Exemplary Control Units  200   
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , an exemplary physical architecture for an exemplary control unit for use in the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system  100  is shown. Although selected aspects, features, or components of the implementations are depicted as being stored in memories, all or part of systems and methods consistent with the disclosed architecture may be stored on, distributed across, or read from other machine-readable media, for example, secondary storage devices such as hard disks, floppy disks, and CD-ROMs; a signal received from a network; other forms of ROM or RAM either currently known or later developed; and the like. 
     Furthermore, although specific components of the control unit  200  architecture will be described, methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with disclosed architecture may include additional or different components. For example, a processor may be implemented as a microprocessor, microcontroller, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), discrete logic, or a combination of other type of circuits or logic. Similarly, memories may be DRAM, SRAM, Flash or any other type of memory. Flags, data, databases, tables, and other data structures may be separately stored and managed, may be incorporated into a single memory or database, may be distributed, or may be logically and physically organized in many different ways, including unstructured data. Programs may be parts of a single program, separate programs, or distributed across several memories and processors. Systems may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software in one processing system or distributed across multiple processing systems. For example, various functionalities of the control unit  200  may be integrated into the heating and cooling unit  140 , the display unit  150 , or both. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the control unit  200  may include a microcontroller  210  coupled to a current sensor  212 , temperature sensor  214 , network shield  216 , one or more relay modules  218  and a wireless transceiver serial UART  220 . Optionally, additional non-transient memory  211 , such as flash memory and the like, may be provided. The control unit  200  also may include other components. 
     The microcontroller  210  may provide processing capabilities and/or transient and/or non-transient memory for enabling the functionalities of the control unit  200  as described herein. In some embodiments, microcontroller  210  may be an ARDUINO board or module provided by Arduino LLC, such as the ARDUINO UNO or ARDUINO MEGA. Other microcontrollers, such as the RASBERRY PI microcontroller provided by the Raspberry Pi Foundation of Cambridge, England, also may be used. 
     The current sensor  212  may monitor measure any change in the amount of current running to various components of the system  100 , such as to detect whether a component is in a powered-on or powered-off state. In some embodiments, this signal may be used as an input signal to a relay to, for example, the heating and cooling unit  140  to turn the unit  140  on off. The temperature/humidity sensor  214  may monitor the current temperature and/or humidity of the room in which the heating and cooling system  100  is placed. An exemplary temperature/humidity sensor is the ARDUINO DHT22/AM2302 provided by Arduino LLC. 
     The network shield  216  may provide networking functionality to the control unit  200 . For example, the network shield  216  may add wired networking functionalities (such as Ethernet functionality), wireless networking functionalities (such as wireless networking functionalities in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 standards), or both. For example, in some embodiments, the network shield  216  may be an ARDUINO W5100 Ethernet shield and ARDUNIO W5100 Expansion Board for ARDUINO MEGA2560, all provided by Arduino LLC. 
     The relay modules  218  may provide wired control of other elements of the system, such as the display unit  150  and the heating and cooling unit  140 . The relay modules may be electronic switches that, for example, turn on and off the display unit  150 . In some embodiments, the relay modules  218  may comprise an ARDUINO four (4) channel relay module and ARDUINO 5-volt four (4) Channel Relay Module Controller For Arduino Mega256, all provided by Arduino LLC. 
     The wireless transceiver serial UART  220  may enable communication between the control unit and the heating and cooling unit  140 , the display unit  150 , and/or the remote control  30 . The communication may be unilateral or bi-lateral. For example, the remote control  30  may communicate command signals to the control unit  200  via the wireless transceiver  220 , and the control unit  200  may, in turn, communicate commands to the heating and cooling unit  140  to, for example, turn on or off. In some embodiments, the relay modules  218  may comprise a C1101 wireless transceiver provided by Arduino LLC. 
     Exemplary Power Circuits 
     Referring to  FIGS. 7 a - b   , exemplary power circuits for use in the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system  100  are shown. In embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 7   a,  110 volt alternate current power sources  310  and  312  may provide power directly to the display unit  150  and heating and cooling unit  140 , respectively. A five volt direct current adapter  320  may be used to couple the power source  310  to the control unit  200 . One or more relay modules  325  may be used to couple the control unit  200  to the display unit  150  and the heating and cooling unit  140  in order to allow the control unit  200  to turn either unit  140  and  150  on or off. A similar circuit is shown in  FIG. 7 b   , except 220 volt alternating current power sources  311  and  313  are used and a 220 volt to 110 volt converter  315  is used to couple the power source  311  to the control unit  200  and display unit  150 . 
     Exemplary Input/Output Panels 
     In some embodiments, the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system  100  may include an input/output panel  250  that provides one or more input and/or output connectors coupled to the control unit  200 , the display unit  140  or another component of the system  100 . Referring to  FIG. 8 , an exemplary input/output panel  250  is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, the panel  250  may include power plugs  252  for providing power to the system  100 , a VGA port  254  for receiving video signals from a computer or the like two sets of RCA jacks  256  and  258  for receiving video and audio signals, an HDMI plug  260  for receiving video and audio signals, a coaxial cable connector  262  for receiving video and audio signals, Ethernet ports  264  and  266  for connecting a network cable to the control unit  200  and display unit  150 , respectively and a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port  268  for connecting USB-compliant devices to the control unit  200 , the display unit  150 , or both. 
     More or less connectors/ports may be provided. For example, a number of USB ports  268  may be provided to enable simultaneous charging of multiple USB-compliant devices, such as cell phones and tablet computers. In some embodiments, the input/output panel  250  provides connectors that mirror the input/output ports of the display unit  150 , the controller  200 , or both. Other types of input/output ports also may be provided on input/output panel  250 . 
     Heating and Cooling System Operating Environment 
     Referring now to  FIG. 10 , an exemplary physical architecture for an environment in which the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system  100  may interoperate with exemplary devices is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, the heating and cooling system  100  may communication with one or more client devices that may run client applications  20   a - b , a remote control unit  30  and/or a heating and cooling management server  400  via a communications network  300  (shown as an exemplary Internet cloud). 
     The client applications  20   a - b  may communication directly with the heating and cooling system  100  (such as over a local network) or may communication with the heating and cooling system  100  indirectly through heating and cooling management server  400 . In either case, the client applications  20   a - b  may provide control commands and/or request heating and cooling system  100  status and/or usage information. In response, the heating and cooling system  100  may receive the commands (directly or indirectly through server  400 ) and take a corresponding action. Similarly, historical usage information and the like may be provided by the heating and cooling management server  400 . The server  400  may store this and other information in a database  450  and also may provide an administration interface  460  that enables an administrator to interact with the server  400 . 
     Although references will now be made to specific components of the system performing specific features, it should be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that such references are exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims in any way; furthermore, the functionalities described herein may be implemented in a virtually unlimited number of configurations. For example, although figuratively attached to the heating and cooling management server  400 , the database  450  may, in practice, distribute user-specific and/or product-specific data elements directly to one or more client applications  20   a  and  20   b . Similarly, the heating and cooling management server  400  may be implemented as a single server configured to provide all of the system&#39;s functionalities, or the functionalities may be implemented across multiple servers. 
     The client applications  20   a - b  may provide a user interface for the system  100  and may communicate user profile and other information with the heating and cooling management server  400  via communications network  300 . In one embodiment, client systems  20   a - b  may comprise stand-alone applications which may be either platform dependent or platform independent. For example, client systems  20   a - b  may be stand-alone applications for a mobile phone configured to run on a mobile operating system such as the iOS™ operating system from Apple Inc. located in Cupertino, Calif., the Android™ operating system from Google, Inc. located in Mountain View, Calif., or the like. Alternatively, or additionally, client systems  20   a - b  may connect to the server  400  via the Internet using a standard browser application. Alternatively, or additionally, one or more of the client systems  20   a - b  may be an application configured to run on a computer such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, handheld computer, tablet, mobile messaging device, or the like which may all utilize different hardware and/or software packages. Other methods may be used to implement the client applications  20   a - b.    
     The communications network  300  may be any type any private or public communication network, such as the Internet, and may include one or more communications networks. In some embodiments, the communications network  300  may be the Internet, a local area network or the like. 
     Exemplary Heating and Cooling Management Servers 
     The heating and cooling management server  400  may store user profile information, device profile and/or usage information and related information in a database  450 , receive and/or provide this information and/or heating and cooling system  100  control commands from a client application  20   a - b , communicate with various service providers (such as weather information providers), provide a user interface for an administration application  460 , and the like. In operation, the heating and cooling management server  400  and client systems  20   a - b  may, for example, allow a user to register themselves and/or a heating and cooling system  100  with the heating and cooling management server  400 , facilitate communications between a heating and cooling system  100  and a client application  20   a - b , track and store usage data for a heating and cooling system  100 , receive and facilitate processing of service requests and the like. As should be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from the disclosure herein, other related services may also be provided. 
     The database  450  may store a variety of information, including user profile information, device profile information, service related information, and the like. In some embodiments, all information stored in the database  450  is encrypted. 
     In some embodiments, the heating and cooling management server  400  and database  450  may comprise one or more instances of a GoDaddy™ Virtual Private Server (provided by GoDaddy Operating Company, LLC of Scottsdale, Ariz.) running the Windows Server 2012™ operating system (provided by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.) utilizing one or more of relational databases and/or other storage mechanisms. 
     In some embodiments, the system  10  may include an administration application  460 . The administration application  460  may be provided by the heating and cooling management server  400  to, for example, as a stand-alone application running on a computer such as a workstation computer, laptop computer, handheld computer, tablet, mobile messaging device, or the like which may all utilize different hardware and/or software packages. Alternatively, or additionally, administration application  460  may connect to the heating and cooling management server  400  via the Internet using a standard browser application. A browser based implementation allows system features to be accessible regardless of the underlying platform of the administration application  460 . Other methods may be used to implement the administration application  460 . In operation, the administration application  460  may provide a framework that allows an administrator to evaluate and process submitted product service requests and the like. As should be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from the disclosure herein, other related services may also be provided. 
     An exemplary functional architecture  405  for a heating and cooling management server  400  is shown in  FIG. 10 . The architecture  405  may include application level functionality  410 , back-end server functionality  420 , and database functionality  440 . 
     The application level functionality  410  may provide one or more user interfaces that implement the administration interface  460  and/or client interfaces  20   a - b  that allows an users and administrator to perform various functions, such as those described herein. Database functionality  230  provide mechanisms for storing and/or retrieving information from the database  450 . 
     Back-end server functionality  420  may provide functions and control mechanisms for implementing the heating and cooling management server  400 . In the illustrated embodiment, back-end server functionality  420  includes the following: user and product registration functionality  422  that enables a user to register themselves and/or a heating and cooling system  100  with the server  400 ; product control functionality  424  that enables a user to operate a heating and cooling system  100 ; product status and/or usage information  426  about a heating and cooling system  100 ; product service functionality  428  that enables a user to request service of a heating and cooling system  100  and/or enables an administrator to review and/or process a service request and the like. 
     The hyper-text transfer protocol (HTTP) server  430  may be used to interface the back-end functionality  420  with the application level functionality  410 . In some embodiments, the HTTP server  430  may be an Apache HTTP Server (provided by the Apache Software Foundation), or any other suitable HTTP server. Other communications servers may be used. In operation, HTTP server  430  may receive requests and/or information such as user and/or product registration requests, control commands and/or submissions of requests for service of a heating and cooling system  100  from user clients  20   a - b , processes the information and take appropriate actions in conjunction with the user registration functionality  422 , product control functionality  424  and/or product service functionality  428 , and provides responses to the user clients  20   a - b . The HTTP server  430  also may receive status and/or usage information from and/or provide commands to a heating and cooling system  100  and process the information and/or take appropriate action in conjunction with the product control functionality  424  and product status/usage functionality  426 . The HTTP server  430  also may receive requests and/or information from an administrator application  460 , process the information and take appropriate action in conjunction with the product service functionality  428 , and provide information and/or responses to the administrator application  460 . 
     Alternatively, or additionally, an Application Programming Interface (API) may be provided to interface some or all of the back-end functionality  420  with the application level functionality  410 . 
     Reviewing User Registration 
     The user and product registration functionality  422  may provide a framework for registering a user and/or a heating and cooling system  100  with the heating and cooling management server  400 .  FIG. 11  shows a flowchart for an exemplary user and/or product registration process  1100 . A user may launch a client application (or app)  20   a  at step  1102 . For example, the user may download a client application  20   a  from the APP STORE for mobile devices running the iOS operating system (both of which are provided by Apple, Inc. located in Cupertino, Calif.) or from the GOOGLE PLAY STORE for devices running the Android operating system (both of which are provided by Google, Inc. located in Mountain View, Calif.) and run the application  20   a  on their corresponding device. Alternatively, or additionally, the user may launch a client application  20   b  through a standard web browser. 
     Next, the user may enter user and/or product registration information at step  1104 . The user may enter registration information including, for example, a first name, a last name, a zip code, a date of birth, an email address, a password (which may need to be entered twice for confirmation purposes), a product serial number and an authentication question. More or less information may be included and/or required. In some embodiments, the user may be required to agree to certain provisions, such as a Terms of Service and/or Privacy Policy 916. Once the information is complete, the user may submit the registration information to the heating and cooling management server  400  at step  1106 . 
     In response to receiving user registration information, the heating and cooling management server  400  may send a user registration code to the user at step  1108 . For example, the user registration code may be sent via an email to an email address included in the user registration information. Alternatively, or additionally, the device registration code may be sent by the heating and cooling management server  400  as a text message or other methods. The client application  20   a  may provide a user registration screen that provides user interface controls that enable the user to enter the user registration code at step  1110 . The user may enter the code at step  1112  and the client application  20   a  may transmit the user registration code to the heating and cooling management server  400 . In response, the server  400  may validate the code and register the user and/or product at step  1114 . 
     Once registered, a user may log into the system  10  via a client application  20   a - b . In some embodiments, upon logging in, a user may be presented with a variety of ways to access the functionality of the server  400 . For example, a screen shot of a user dashboard  1200  is shown in  FIG. 12 . The user may select to view and/or edit their profile settings via control  1202 , view current status information  1210 , review historical usage information  1220 , control a heating and cooling system  100  via controls  1230  (such as a power on control  1232  and a power off control  1234 , view system information  1240  or view weather information  1250 . 
     The user profile may include information about the user and/or any registered systems  100  associated with the user. For example, the user profile information may include a first name, last name, zip code, city, state and country information, email address, phone number, a password and/or one or more associated heating and cooling systems  100 . Additional information also may be included in the user profile. 
     The current status information  1210  may indicate current status information for a heating and cooling system  100 . For example, this may include the room temperature  1212  of the room in which the unit  100  is located, a humidity level for the in which the unit  100  is located, a current date and/or time, and device  100  status information, such as a mode of operation and/or other current settings of the device  100 . 
     The historical usage information  1220  may various usage statistics for a device, such as previous settings of a device  100 , average temperature settings and/or measured temperature values  1222 , average humidity settings and/or measured humidity values  1224 , electricity usage statistics  1226 , combined charts  1228  that include one or more of temperature, humidity and electricity usage information, and the like. Other information, such as information about an outstanding or historic service requests, also may be included. The general system information may include notifications  1242  (such as service requests, notices of activity (such as turning the system  100  on or off, and the like), messages  1244  (such as promotional offers and the like) and alerts  1246  (such as service warnings, system updates and the like). 
     Controlling a Heating and Cooling System  100   
     As noted above, a heating and cooling system  100  may be controlled by a remote control unit  30  and/or by a client application  20   a , either directly or through the control unit  200  and/or the heating and cooling management server  400 . For example, in some embodiments, the remote control  30  may transmit wireless radio wave signals to the control unit  200 , which in turn may transmit a corresponding command to the heating and cooling unit  140  over a wireless (such as an infrared blaster or the like) or wired (such as a direct relay connection or the like) communication link and/or to the display unit  150  (via similar mechanisms). 
     In some embodiments, all controls may be provided across all of the control methods, such as the remote control  30  and the client applications  20   a - b . In other embodiments, some controls may be accessible only through a particular control method. In some embodiments, the remote control  30  and/or client application  20   a - b  may provide any or all of the functions provided by a manufacturer&#39;s remote control for the heating and cooling unit  140 , the display unit  150 , or both. More or less control options may be provided. 
     The remote control  30  may include a variety of technologies, such as a touchscreen, dedicated or programmable buttons, selector switches and the like. Referring to  FIG. 13 , an exemplary physical architecture for an exemplary remote control unit  30  for use in the exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system  100  is shown. Although selected aspects, features, or components of the implementations are depicted as being stored in memories, all or part of systems and methods consistent with the disclosed architecture may be stored on, distributed across, or read from other machine-readable media, for example, secondary storage devices such as hard disks, floppy disks, and CD-ROMs; a signal received from a network; other forms of ROM or RAM either currently known or later developed; and the like. 
     Furthermore, although specific components of the remote control unit  30  architecture will be described, methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with disclosed architecture may include additional or different components. For example, a processor may be implemented as a microprocessor, microcontroller, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), discrete logic, or a combination of other type of circuits or logic. Similarly, memories may be DRAM, SRAM, Flash or any other type of memory. Flags, data, databases, tables, and other data structures may be separately stored and managed, may be incorporated into a single memory or database, may be distributed, or may be logically and physically organized in many different ways, including unstructured data. Programs may be parts of a single program, separate programs, or distributed across several memories and processors. Systems may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software in one processing system or distributed across multiple processing systems. For example, various functionalities of the remote control unit  30  may be integrated into the control unit  200 , the heating and cooling unit  140 , the display unit  150 , or any combination thereof. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the remote control unit  30  may include a microcontroller  350  coupled to a temperature/humidity sensor  352 , a thin-film transistor (TFT) shield and TFT screen  354 , and a wireless transceiver serial UART  356 . Optionally, additional non-transient memory  351 , such as flash memory and the like, may be provided. The remote control unit  30  also may include other components. 
     The microcontroller  350  may provide processing capabilities and/or transient and/or non-transient memory for enabling the functionalities of the remote control unit  30  as described herein. In some embodiments, microcontroller  210  may be an ARDUINO board or module provided by Arduino LLC, such as the ARDUINO UNO or ARDUINO MEGA. Other microcontrollers, such as the RASBERRY PI microcontroller provided by the Raspberry Pi Foundation of Cambridge, England, also may be used. 
     The temperature/humidity sensor  352  may monitor the current temperature and/or humidity of the room in which the remote control unit  30  is located. An exemplary temperature/humidity sensor is the ARDUINO DHT22/AM2302 provided by Arduino LLC. 
     The TFT shield  354  may provide functionality to the control a TFT touchscreen display unit that acts to provide interface controls, receive input from a user, display status and other information and the like. In some embodiments, the TFT shield  354  may be an TFT 2.4 shield for Arduino Mega or Uno with SPFD5408 Controller provided by Shenzhen Science and Technology Dewo Luopu Ltd. of Guangdong Province, China. 
     The wireless transceiver serial UART  356  may enable communication between the remote control unit and the control unit  200 , the heating and cooling unit  140 , the and/or the display unit  150 . The communication may be unilateral or bi-lateral. For example, the remote control  30  may communicate command signals to the control unit  200  via the wireless transceiver  220 , and the control unit  200  may, in turn, communicate commands to the heating and cooling unit  140  to, for example, turn on or off. In some embodiments, the relay modules  218  may comprise a C1101 wireless transceiver provided by Arduino LLC. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 14 a - e   , exemplary screen shots of a remote control device  30  are shown.  FIG. 14 a    shows a main menu control screen  1400   a  having various interface elements that allow user to operate a heating and cooling system  100 . In the illustrated embodiment, the main control screen  1400   a  may include interface elements  1402  and  1404  for turning the system  100  on and off, respectively. Elements  1406  and  1408  also may be provided to allow a user to view current temperature information and for advanced control, respectively. For example, in response to a user selection of element  1406 , a temperature inspection screen  1400   b  (shown in  FIG. 14 b   ) may be displayed. The temperature inspection screen  1400   b  may display the current temperature of the room as measured by the temperature/humidity sensor  352  in the remote control  30  in both Celsius  1420  and Fahrenheit  1422 . A user may refresh/reacquire temperature readings or may return to the main menu by selecting the corresponding interface elements  1424  and  1426 , respectively. 
     Upon selection of the advanced control element  1408  from the main menu, an advanced control screen  1400   c  may be displayed. The advanced control screen  1400   c  may include various interface elements to enable a user to control the heating and cooling unit  140 , the display unit  150  and/or the control unit  200 . An exemplary advanced control screen  1400   c  is shown in  FIG. 14 c   . In the illustrated embodiment, the advanced control screen  1400   c  includes interface elements that allow a user to control the heating and cooling system  140  via the control unit  200 . The advanced control screen  1400   c  may include a mode selector  1430  that may allow a user to select between various modes of operation for the heating and cooling unit  140 , such as an auto cool mode, a dry mode, a heat mode, and a fan mode. Indicia  1432  may be provided to indicate the currently selected mode. Fan speed controls  1434  and  1436 , temperature controls  1442  and  1444  and humidity controls  1452  and  1454  may be provided to allow a user respectively to raise or lower the fan speed, temperature and/or humidity setting(s) of the heating and cooling unit  140 . The user may return to the main menu  1400   a  by selecting the corresponding interface element  1460 . 
     Product service controls also may be provided via the main menu  1400   a . In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 14 a   , a user may select to view a product manual, such as a user manual or service manual by selecting interface element  1410 . In addition, a user may request technical support by selecting element  1412 . 
     A flow chart for an exemplary process for receiving and processing product support requests for an exemplary free-standing heating and cooling system  100  is shown in  FIG. 15 . A user may select a support interface element at step  1502 , such as element  1412  shown in  FIG. 14 a   . In response, the user may be prompted to indicate a preferred contact method, such as email, text message or the like. For example, a request selection screen  1400   d  may be shown. In the illustrated embodiment, selection of interface elements  1470  and  1472  may cause a support request to be transmitted to the heating and cooling management server  400  indicating a communication preference of either email contact or phone contact, respectively, at step  1506 . Optionally, the user may be informed that the request was submitted via a confirmation screen, such as confirmation screen  1400   e  shown in  FIG. 14   e.    
     Next, the heating and cooling management server  400  may generate a support event (also referred to as a support ticket) based on the request at step  1508 . In some embodiment, step  1508  may include added the support event to a list of support events. An exemplary list of support tickets  1600  is shown in  FIG. 16 . The list  1600  may include, for each support ticket, a device serial number  1602 , a creation date  1604  and time  1606 , and the type of support requested  1508  (such as a communication preference). Other information, such as an assigned technical representative also may be included. 
     An administrator may access the list  1600  through the administrator interface  460  and may assign the ticket to a technician that may follow up with the requesting user via their preferred contact method at step  1510 . The technician may continue to follow-up with the customer until the issue is resolved at step  1512 . Once resolved, the ticket may be cleared from the list  1600  at step  1514 . 
     While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.