Patent ID: 7274303

Claim:
A method for controlling a plurality of appliances, comprising: receiving at a power monitor, which is associated with the plurality of appliances and which determines a power state of each of the plurality of appliances, a transmission from a controlling device; transmitting from the power monitor to the controlling device the determined power state of the one or more of the plurality of appliances if the transmission received from the controlling device comprises a request for a power state of one or more of the plurality of appliances and, if the transmission received from the controlling device comprises a controlling device issued command to control an operational function of one or more of the plurality of the appliances, using the controlling device issued command at the power monitor to discern which one or more of the plurality of appliances are intended to be controlled and to cause the power monitor to transmit to the one or more of the plurality of appliances discerned as intended to be controlled one or more power monitor issued commands that correspond to the controlling device issued command; and accepting input into the power monitor to configure the power monitor to communicate power monitor issued commands to each of the plurality of appliances wherein the input comprises a sensed change in state of at least one of the plurality of appliances that functions to identify those power monitor commands within a library of power monitor commands accessible to the power monitor that are to be used to communicate with the at least one of the plurality of appliances.