Patent ID: 8780726

Claim:
A method of remotely diagnosing a problem with an environmental control system installed within a building or structure, the environmental control system including an executive controller for at least in part controlling an HVAC system, the executive controller further configured to exchange digital data on a communications bus back and forth between the executive controller and at least one thermostat module, the method comprising the steps of: having two or more analog input lines of an analog-to-digital converter connected to two or more corresponding communications lines of the communications bus; converting each of the analog signals transmitted over the two or more communication lines into a corresponding digitized output signal using the analog-to-digital converter; transmitting one or more of the digitized output signals to a remote workstation located remotely from the building and/or structure, and displaying the one or more digitized output signals on a display of the remote workstation; and diagnosing a problem from the remote location using the digitized output signals that are displayed on the display.