BATTERY-OPERATED WIRELESS ZONE CONTROLLERS HAVING MULTIPLE STATES OF POWER-RELATED OPERATION

摘要

An Electronically-Controlled Register vent (ECRV) that can be easily installed by a homeowner or general handyman is disclosed. The ECRV can be used to convert a non-zoned HVAC system into a zoned system. The ECRV can also be used in connection with a conventional zoned HVAC system to provide additional control and additional zones not provided by the conventional zoned HVAC system. In one embodiment, the ECRV is configured have a size and form-factor that conforms to a standard manually-controlled register vent. In one embodiment, a zone thermostat is configured to provide thermostat information to the ECRV. In one embodiment, the zone thermostat communicates with a central monitoring system that coordinates operation of the heating and cooling zones.

主权项

1. A system for wirelessly controlling multiple environmental zones, the system comprising:
a plurality of battery-operated zone controllers, each battery-operated zone controller being associated with one of the environmental zones, each battery-operated zone controller being configured to operate in a first state and a second state and to alternate between the first state and the second state over a period of time, the first state for each battery-operated zone controller being configured such that the battery-operated zone controller performs operations excluding communicating information to other devices, the second state for each battery-operated zone controller being configured such that the battery-operated zone controller performs at least one of:
monitoring an environmental condition of the environmental zone associated with the battery-operated zone controller; orcommunicating, wirelessly, environmental condition data for the environmental zone associated with the battery-operated zone controller from the battery-operated zone controller to a central controller.