Smart Thermostat

Smart Thermostat

In this post, we talk about Smart Thermostat.

Smart thermostat is a typical example of the automated HVAC operation control technologies. The smart thermostat is developed to adjust the set point temperature automatically respecting the user’s comfort level. It determines HVAC operating temperature based on the user’s behavioral pattern analysis result.

There are two behavior learning methods used in smart thermostat development. The first method is the behavior learning for the temperature set-point changing pattern. The thermostat memorizes the chronical changes of the temperature set-point by user in certain period of time, and then it operates HVAC system based on the learned result. The commercialized smart thermostat, Nest is the particular example that uses that method. This control method achieved about 15% energy savings over the manual control mechanism in traditional programmable thermostat .

the second mehtod

The second method is the behavior learning that uses occupancy information in space. The motion detection sensors are used in the smart thermostat to capture the occupancy information. Then thermostat operates HVAC system based on the analyzed result of the occupancy information . Thermostat establishes the temperature set-point pattern based on the result of time period vs. occupancy information. This smart thermostat technique estimates 28% more saving in HVAC energy consumption.

In the SLHC system, we use the instant and localized near-infrared heater at the target point. Therefore, SLHC porduces heat for the detected person only instantly and directly while HVAC runs at the minimal temperature level. Also, SLHC does not require any complex sensing system installation because the system uses the existing office equipment such as PC and webcam, to detect occupancy information.