Patent ID: 8914159

Claim:
A method of controlling power to a plurality of devices, comprising: forming a group of devices from said plurality of devices, the group of devices being arranged in use to be in communication with an energy network and having an identifier which uniquely identifies the device on the network; assigning a first device in the group of devices as a master device, and other devices in the group of devices excluding the first device as slave devices; controlling the power supplied from the energy network to the other devices assigned as the slave devices in accordance with a state of the power supplied from the energy network to the first device assigned as the master device by sending control signals over the energy network by circuitry; sending a power off command or a standby mode command to the other devices assigned as the slave devices when the power supplied from the energy network to the first device is switched off; and changing an assignment as the master device from the first device to one of the other devices in the group at a predetermined time of a day, a month or a year.