Honeywell International Inc.

Ademco Inc.

Steven R Hoglund

Paul G Schwendinger

David Arneson

Brad Edward Paine

Reed Bisson

Jian Huang

Barbara Dean-Hendricks

Tony Liu

Amy Ragland

Christopher Goh

Cary Leen

David Schultz

Soumitri N Kolavennu

Robert D Juntunen

Amit Kulkarni

Steven L Wolff

Josef Novotny

Heidi Finch

Hari Thiruvengada

David Mulhouse

Preston Gilmer

Jeffrey Boll

Tomas Losak

Jay Nelson

Thomas C Gessner

Adam Nemcek

Martin Adamek

Daniel Becvar

Juraj Buno

Libor Horky

Martin Skala

David Bures

Petr Kasparik

Roman Konecny

Jan Malek

Steven C Nichols

Mohammad Aljabari

Kenneth B Kidder

Patrick C Tessier

David Johnson

Tracy L Lentz

Christopher Heintzelman

Christopher R Jones

Robert Bick

Steve C Nichols

Chad W Koster

Joshua Jacque Edberg

Ludek Zavodny

Max Peterschmidt

Derek Weller

Heidi J Finch

In some examples, a method for controlling the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in a building includes receiving user input indicating a fallback temperature sensor from a plurality of temperature sensors in the building, the plurality of temperature sensors in the building being associated with a plurality of spaces within the building. The method also includes determining, by the controller, that the plurality of spaces within the building are unoccupied. The method further includes determining, by the controller, a temperature sensed by the fallback temperature sensor based on communication between the controller and the fallback temperature sensor. The method includes causing, by the controller, the HVAC system to turn on or off based on the temperature at the fallback temperature sensor in response to determining that the plurality of spaces within the building are unoccupied.

Selecting a fallback temperature sensor for no occupancy

The occupancy status of a building space may be determined by sensing an indication of motion in the building space, in response to sensing the indication of motion in the building space, starting an occupied time period having a length during which the building space is indicated as being occupied, determining a measure related to a number of subsequent sensed indications of motion in the building space during the occupied time period, and selectively adjusting the length of the occupied time period based on the measure related to the number of subsequent sensed indications of motion in the building space during the occupied time period.

Remote sensor with improved occupancy sensing

A method of controlling an HVAC system can include receiving audio that includes a predefined trigger phrase followed by a voice command to change a set point temperature of the HVAC system to a requested set point value, converting the audio into a natural language audio stream, identifying the predefined trigger phrase in the natural language audio stream, transmitting a part of the natural language audio stream that includes the voice command to a remote web service for identifying the voice command therein, receiving a first building control device command generated by and from the remote web service at a building control device when the requested set point value is within a predetermined range, and receiving a second building control command generated by and from the remote web service at the building control device when the requested set point value is outside of the predetermined range.

Devices and methods for interacting with an HVAC controller

A zone control panel that is easy and intuitive to use and to program. In some embodiments, a zone control panel may be configured to have an easy to use, single level menu structure with, for example, a configuration mode and/or a checkout mode. The configuration mode may, if present, include a number of menu screens sometimes without any sub-menu levels. Likewise, the checkout mode may, if present, include a number of menu screens sometimes without any sub-menu levels. A mode selector may be provided to select a particular mode, after which, the menu screens that correspond to the selected mode may be sequentially displayed to the user. Other features and aspects are also disclosed.

HVAC controller with checkout utility

Zone control panel

Zone control panel with saving changes feature

Methods and systems for monitoring an air filter installed in an HVAC system may include operating the HVAC system in an air filter monitoring mode such as, for example, a fan only mode, and measuring, for example, a differential pressure across the air filter when the HVAC system is operating in the air filter monitoring mode. The method may include evaluating a status of the air filter using, for example, the measured differential pressure value, and in some cases, display the status on a display of an HVAC controller.

Methods and systems for monitoring an air filter of an HVAC system

An HVAC controller may be controlled in response to a natural language audio message that is not recognizable by the HVAC controller as a command, where the natural language audio message is translated into a command recognizable by the HVAC controller. The HVAC controller may be a thermostat including a housing that houses a temperature sensor, a microphone, and a controller. The controller may identify a trigger phrase in an audio stream provided by the microphone. In response to identifying the trigger phrase, the controller initiates processing of the audio stream to identify a command following the trigger phrase and to generate a command understandable by the thermostat that instructs the controller to perform the identified command. The controller then executes the generated command understandable by the thermostat. A user may communicate with the thermostat via the microphone of the thermostat and/or a remote device having a microphone.

A Heating, Ventilation, and/or Air Conditioning (HVAC) controller, such as a thermostat, is configured to receive and accept one or more requests for a temporary boost in ventilation. The requests may be received from one or more remotely located ventilation boost control units located throughout the building, and/or through a user interface of the HVAC controller itself. In some cases, the HVAC controller may be configured to coordinate multiple requests for ventilation, and adjust the ventilation time as appropriate.

HVAC controller with ventilation boost control

Methods and systems are provided for monitoring the condition of an air filter of an HVAC system to provide an indication of when the air filter should be changed. An HVAC controller may be configured to include a filter change notification, wherein the HVAC controller may monitor the current condition of the air filter, and may display a filter change notification on the display when the current condition of the air filter passes a filter change threshold value. In some cases, the HVAC controller may be configured to perform, sometimes at the request of a user, one or more calibration tests on the air filter to help the user identify an appropriate filter change threshold value. Alternatively, or in addition, the HVAC controller may, through a user interface, allow a user to enter and/or change a filter change threshold value, as desired.

Method and apparatus for configuring a filter change notification of an HVAC controller

Growing community of inventors

Minneapolis, MN, United States of America

Steven R Hoglund