Patent ID: 7469550

Claim:
A system for controlling operation of at least one appliance within a dwelling, comprising: at least one appliance having an electronic controller operable to control the at least one appliance; and an intelligent thermostat remotely located from the at least one appliance for controlling at least a dwelling's heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system, the intelligent thermostat operably coupled to the electronic controller for communications therewith, the intelligent thermostat adapted to control operation of the HVAC system and the at least one appliance in response to communication between the at least one appliance and the intelligent thermostat; and wherein the at least one appliance has at least one occupancy sensor for sensing occupancy information of the dwelling, and wherein the electronic controller communicates the sensed occupancy information to the intelligent thermostat, and wherein the intelligent thermostat processes the occupancy information to determine if the occupancy state of the dwelling is one of an occupied state and an unoccupied state; and wherein the intelligent thermostat transmits a command to the electronic controller to operate the at least one appliance in an energy saving mode when the intelligent determines that the occupancy state of the dwelling is in the unoccupied state.