Power outlet and method for use
A power outlet for controlling power to an external device and transmitting data to the external device, the power outlet including: a housing containing at least one alternating-current power input connection; a power output connection; a data connector; a sensor module; a wireless communication module, including an antenna; a processing unit configured to receive data and control an electrically connected device through the power output connection and/or data connector based on the received data.
1. A method comprising:
at a power-management device, generating a first set of data for a first device connected to the power-management device;
determining a set of instructions based on the first set of data; and
based on the set of instructions, regulating a second device, comprising:
at the power-management device, receiving a second set of data from the second device electrically connected to the power-management device, the second set of data comprising a power usage parameter;
receiving a third set of data from a secondary monitoring device; and
determining an occurrence of a trigger event based on the second set of data, and in response, based on the second set of data, reporting a result of a power consumption of the second device, wherein the result is based on the third set of data.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the power-management device comprises a power outlet.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after determining the occurrence of the trigger event, modifying a power consumption of the second device.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: storing the second set of data, wherein the result of the power consumption of the second device comprises a power consumption history of the second device.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the occurrence of the trigger event is determined based on a threshold.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the power-management device is located within a building, wherein secondary monitoring device is located external relative to the building.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the secondary monitoring device comprises a temperature sensor.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a remote processing system wirelessly connected to the power-management device.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the power-management device is connected to the remote processing system via a wireless mobile network.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the power-management device is wirelessly connected to the remote processing system via a low power radio frequency network.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of data comprises a power usage parameter.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising generating power usage statistics for the first device based on the power usage parameter.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of data comprises power usage analytics for the first device.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the power usage analytics are generated by the power-management device.
15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
at the power-management device, receiving a second set of instructions from a control system, the second set of instructions comprising a user preference; and
modifying the power consumption of the second device based on the second set of instructions.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second device comprises an air conditioner.