HVAC system remote monitoring and diagnosis
View Patent ↗A monitoring system for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system of a building includes a monitoring device installed at the building, a monitoring server located remotely from the building, and a review server. The monitoring device measures an aggregate current supplied to components of the HVAC system and transmits current data based on the measured aggregate current. The monitoring server receives the transmitted current data and, based on the received current data, assesses whether failures have occurred in first and second components of the HVAC components. The monitoring server generates a first advisory in response to determining that the failure has occurred in the first component. The review server provides the first advisory to a technician for review and, in response to the technician verifying that the failure has occurred, transmits a first alert.
1. A monitoring system for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system of a building, the monitoring system comprising:
a monitoring device installed at the building, wherein the monitoring device is configured to (i) measure an aggregate current supplied to a plurality of components of the HVAC system and (ii) transmit current data based on the measured aggregate current;
a monitoring server, located remotely from the building, configured to receive the transmitted current data and, based on the received current data, (i) assess whether a failure has occurred in a first component of the plurality of components of the HVAC system and (ii) assess whether a failure has occurred in a second component of the plurality of components of the HVAC system, wherein the monitoring server generates a first advisory in response to determining that the failure has occurred in the first component; and
a review server that is programmed to:
provide the first advisory to a technician for review,
in response to the technician verifying that the failure has occurred in the first component, transmit a first alert based on the first advisory,
in response to the technician determining that a cause of the failure is not consistent with a description of the first advisory, (i) modify the first advisory and (ii) transmit the first alert based on the modified first advisory, and
in response to the technician determining that the first alert is not warranted, (i) store the first advisory for future use or close the first advisory and (ii) prevent transmission of the first alert,
wherein the first advisory is a programmatic assessment made by the monitoring server independent of action by the technician.
2. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the monitoring server (i) selectively predicts an impending failure of the first component based on the received current data and (ii) generates a second advisory in response to the prediction of impending failure of the first component.
3. The monitoring system of claim 2 wherein the monitoring server (i) selectively predicts an impending failure of the second component based on the received current data and (ii) generates a third advisory in response to the prediction of the impending failure of the second component.
4. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the review server transmits the first alert to at least one of a customer and a contractor.
5. The monitoring system of claim 4 wherein the review server transmits the first alert to the contractor regardless of a first piece of data and only selectively transmits the first alert to the customer based on the first piece of data.
6. The monitoring system of claim 4 wherein the review server is programmed to:
in response to an efficiency decrease associated with the failure being greater than a predetermined threshold, transmit the first alert to both the contactor and the customer, and
in response to the efficiency decrease associated with the failure being less than the predetermined threshold, transmit the first alert to only the contractor.
7. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein:
a second advisory is generated in response to the monitoring server determining that the failure has occurred in the second component,
the review server provides the second advisory to one of a plurality of technicians for review,
the plurality of technicians includes the technician, and
the review server, in response to the technician verifying that the failure has occurred in the second component, transmits a second alert.
8. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the monitoring device samples the aggregate current over a time period, performs a frequency domain analysis on the sampled aggregate current over the time period, and transmits current data including a current value and frequency domain data to the monitoring server.
9. The monitoring system of claim 8 wherein the monitoring server identifies transition points in the current data and analyzes the frequency domain data around the identified transition points.
10. The monitoring system of claim 8 wherein the monitoring server determines whether the failure has occurred in the first component by comparing the frequency domain data to baseline data.
11. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the monitoring device records control signals from a thermostat and transmits information based on the control signals to the monitoring server.
12. The monitoring system of claim 1 further comprising a second monitoring device located in close proximity to a second enclosure of the HVAC system,
wherein the second enclosure includes at least one of a compressor and a heat pump heat exchanger,
wherein the second monitoring device (i) measures an aggregate current supplied to a plurality of components of the second enclosure and (ii) transmits second current data based on the measured aggregate current supplied to the plurality of components of the second enclosure to the monitoring device, and
wherein the monitoring device transmits the second current data to the monitoring server.
13. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of components of the HVAC system includes at least two components selected from: a flame sensor, a solenoid-operated gas valve, a hot surface igniter, a circulator blower motor, an inducer blower motor, a compressor, a pressure switch, a capacitor, an air filter, a condensing coil, an evaporating coil, and a contactor.
14. A method of monitoring a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system of a building, the method comprising:
using a monitoring device installed at the building, measuring an aggregate current supplied to a plurality of components of the HVAC system;
transmitting current data based on the measured aggregate current to a monitoring server located remotely from the building;
at the monitoring server, assessing whether a failure has occurred in a first component of the plurality of components of the HVAC system based on current data received from the monitoring device;
at the monitoring server, assessing whether a failure has occurred in a second component of the plurality of components of the HVAC system;
generating a first advisory in response to determining that the failure has occurred in the first component;
providing the first advisory to a technician for review;
in response to the technician verifying that the failure has occurred in the first component, transmitting a first alert based on the first advisory;
in response to the technician determining that a cause of the failure is not consistent with a description of the first advisory, (i) modifying the first advisory and (ii) transmitting the first alert based on the modified first advisory; and
in response to the technician determining that the first alert is not warranted, (i) storing the first advisory for future use or closing the first advisory and (ii) preventing transmission of the first alert,
wherein the first advisory is a programmatic assessment made by the monitoring server independent of action by the technician.
15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:
selectively predicting an impending failure of the first component based on the received current data; and
generating a second advisory in response to the prediction of impending failure of the first component.
16. The method of claim 15 further comprising:
selectively predicting an impending failure of the second component based on the received current data; and
generating a third advisory in response to the prediction of impending failure of the second component.
17. The method of claim 14 wherein the first alert is transmitted to at least one of a customer and a contractor.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the first alert is transmitted to the contractor regardless of a first piece of data and only selectively transmitted to the customer based on the first piece of data.
19. The method of claim 17 further comprising:
in response to an efficiency decrease associated with the failure being greater than a predetermined threshold, transmitting the first alert to both the contactor and the customer, and
in response to the efficiency decrease associated with the failure being less than the predetermined threshold, transmitting the first alert to only the contractor.
20. The method of claim 14 further comprising:
generating a second advisory in response to determining that the failure has occurred in the second component;
providing the second advisory to one of a plurality of technicians for review, wherein the plurality of technicians includes the technician; and
in response to the technician verifying that the failure has occurred in the second component, transmitting a second alert.
21. The method of claim 14 further comprising:
sampling the aggregate current over a time period;
performing a frequency domain analysis on the sampled aggregate current over the time period; and
transmitting the current data including a current value and frequency domain data to the monitoring server.
22. The method of claim 21 further comprising:
identifying transition points in the current data; and
analyzing the frequency domain data around the identified transition points.
23. The method of claim 21 further comprising determining whether the failure has occurred in the first component by comparing the frequency domain data to baseline data.
24. The method of claim 14 further comprising:
recording control signals from a thermostat; and
transmitting information based on the control signals to the monitoring server.
25. The method of claim 14 further comprising:
at a second monitoring device located in close proximity to a second enclosure of the HVAC system, measuring an aggregate current supplied to a plurality of components of the second enclosure, wherein the second enclosure includes at least one of a compressor and a heat pump heat exchanger;
transmitting second current data based on the measured aggregate current from the second monitoring device to the monitoring device; and
transmitting the second current data to the monitoring server.
26. The method of claim 14 wherein the plurality of components of the HVAC system includes at least two components selected from: a flame sensor, a solenoid-operated gas valve, a hot surface igniter, a circulator blower motor, an inducer blower motor, a compressor, a pressure switch, a capacitor, an air filter, a condensing coil, an evaporating coil, and a contactor.