System and method with GEO location triggering automatic action

1. An apparatus comprising:

a GPS device that tracks a current location of a user relative to a home of the user;

an HVAC unit in the home; and

a cloud application;

wherein the HVAC unit is configured to send a current conditions message to the cloud application, the current conditions message including a temperature inside the home and a set of heating and/or cooling coefficients indicating a rate at which the HVAC unit is able to raise or lower the temperature inside the home to a desired temperature;

wherein the GPS device is configured to estimate a time period required for the user to travel to the home, wherein, in response to detecting that the time period required for the user to travel to the home is less than a threshold value, the GPS device is configured to instruct the cloud application to send an activating signal to the HVAC unit in the home to activate the HVAC unit;

wherein the threshold value is calculated by the cloud application based at least in part on the current conditions message received from the HVAC unit, and wherein the cloud application is configured to send the threshold value to the GPS device so that the GPS device can determine whether the time period required for the user to travel to the home is less than the threshold value.

2. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the GPS device comprises a smartphone.

3. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the GPS device estimates the time period required for the user to travel to the home by determining a distance between the current location and the home and estimating a travel speed of the user between the current location and the home.

4. The apparatus as in claim 3 wherein the GPS device retrieves traffic reports and estimates the travel speed based upon the traffic reports.

5. An apparatus comprising:

a GPS device that tracks a current location of a user relative to a home of the user;

an HVAC unit in the home;

a cloud application;

wherein the HVAC unit sends a current conditions message to the cloud application, the current conditions message including a temperature inside the home and a set of heating and/or cooling coefficients indicating a rate at which the HVAC unit is able to raise or lower the temperature inside the home to a desired temperature;

wherein the GPS device is configured to estimate a travel time of the user to the home, and to instruct the cloud application to activate the HVAC unit in the home of the user in response to detecting that the travel time falls below a threshold value; and

wherein the threshold value is calculated by the cloud application based at least in part upon the temperature inside the home and the set of heating and cooling coefficients indicating the rate at which the HVAC unit is able to raise or lower the temperature inside the home to the desired temperature, and wherein the cloud application is configured to send the threshold value to the GPS device so that the GPS device can detect when the travel time of the user to the home falls below the threshold value.

6. The apparatus as in claim 5 wherein the travel time of the user to the home is estimated based at least in part upon a fixed speed provided by the user.

7. The apparatus as in claim 5 wherein the GPS device adjusts the estimated travel time based upon a weather report.

8. The apparatus as in claim 5 wherein the GPS device adjusts the estimated travel time based at least in part upon a reported travel time from a traffic report.

9. An apparatus comprising:

a cloud application;

a smart phone with a GPS feature that tracks a current location of a user relative to a home of the user;

an HVAC unit in the home of the user;

the smart phone is configured to determine a distance from the current location to the home, and based at least part on the determined distance, the smart phone is configured to estimate a travel time to the home;

wherein the HVAC unit is configured to send a current conditions message to the cloud application, the current conditions message including a set of heating and/or cooling coefficients indicating a rate at which the HVAC unit is able to raise or lower a current temperature inside the home to a desired temperature; and

wherein the smart phone is configured to compare the travel time with a threshold time, wherein the threshold time is determined by the cloud application based at least in part on the current conditions message received from the HVAC unit and is sent to the smart phone.

10. The apparatus as in claim 9 wherein the smart phone is configured to adjust the travel time based upon weather and/or traffic reports.