Patent ID: 8165719

Claim:
An electrical insulating shutter system for use on a local operating network comprising: A. at least one shutter or pair of shutters for covering a window or windows or other opening or openings of a building, the shutter or pair of shutters moveably situated over the window or windows or other opening or openings; B. a means deployed on each shutter for opening and dosing each shutter or pair of shutters; C. a decision-making logic means deployed on each shutter or pair of shutters, said logic means having the ability to: execute one or more logic tasks; receive information over the local operating network from a plurality of indoor and outdoor remote sensor devices and from other decision-making logic means that are remote; transmit information over the local operating network to other decision-making logic means; wherein the decision-making logic means is not located within the same housing as the plurality of sensors; D. a means for both directly and remotely programming the decision-making logic means; E. a communications transceiver for transmitting and receiving data between the decision-making logic means and the local operating network, at least one transceiver deployed on each shutter; F. a means deployed on each shutter or pair of shutters for powering each decision-making logic means and each transceiver and each means for opening and closing each shutter or pair of shutters; and G. the plurality of indoor and outdoor remote sensor devices, each sensor device adapted to measure a physical phenomenon, each sensor device producing an output signal, each sensor device providing input to the decision-making logic means, the sensor devices not all placed together within a single housing, the sensor devices situated both inside of and outside of the building, wherein the logic task or tasks comprise winter application logic for operating in winter, wherein the logic task or tasks comprise summer application logic for operating in summer, wherein when net loss of the electrical insulating shutter system with the shutter or shutters dosed is greater than net loss with the shutter open for the length of a variable specifiable delay period, the winter application logic issues a command to open the shutter or shutters, and when net loss of the electrical insulating shutter system with the shutter or shutters open is greater for the length of a variable specifiable delay period than would be the case if the shutter or shutters were dosed, the winter application logic issues a command to dose the shutter, wherein when outside air temperature exceeds a specified temperature and insolation failing on the electrical insulating shutter system exceeds a specified threshold for a variable specifiable delay period, the summer application logic issues a command to dose the shutter or shutters, and when shutter open net loss minus shutter dosed net loss becomes less than insolation summer threshold for a variable specifiable delay period, the summer application logic issues a command to open the shutter.