Patent ID: 8386082

Claim:
A cell phone location-based system for controlling heating or cooling appliances in a building, comprising: means for determining the location of one or more occupants according to the location of mobile phones belonging to said one or more occupants, and calculating the expected transit time of at least one occupant, said expected transit time being a time of transit between the occupant's current location and the building location; a modelling means responsive to the determined location of said one or more occupants, to the calculated expected transit time of the occupant between the occupant's current location and the building location, and to a transient thermal model of the building, said transient thermal model to predict based on a term describing a construction material of the building a response of the building to a varying thermal condition; a controller responsive to said modelling means for automatically controlling the operation of building heating or cooling appliances, said automatic control based on said transient thermal model of the building; wherein the modelling means determines that the building is unoccupied based on the location of said one or more occupants; and wherein the operation of said energy management system includes using the controller to automatically control said heating or cooling appliances, said appliance use setting based on response of the controller to said modeling means response to the determined location and the transit time and the transient thermal model of the building such that the energy consumed by said heating and cooling appliances is reduced for a period of time, followed by heating or cooling the building to reach a preferred temperature before the occupant's arrival at the building.