System for saving energy in operating heating, ventilating and air conditioning

Abstract

The invention discloses a system for saving energy in a heating, ventilating and air conditioning system. The system includes a plurality of fan units installed in one or more openings in the walls separating the rooms in a building. One or more temperature sensors are located in each of the rooms and the fan units are controlled by a control unit receiving inputs from the sensors or components of the building climate control system. The control unit monitors the temperature of the rooms, and controls the operation of the fan units such that air is moved from one room to another room to maintain a temperature difference between the rooms.

1 .- 17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . A system comprising:
 one or nore fan units wherein each fan unit is installed in an opening in the wall separating two rooms of the building, each fan unit further comprising an electric motor;   at least one sensor located in the rooms; and   a control unit that receives inputs from the sensor or a building climate control system, wherein the control unit is configured to control operation of at least one fan unit such that air is moved from one room to another room to maintain a temperature difference between the rooms.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the control unit comprises control circuitry to receive inputs from the sensors or the building climate control system and control operation of the fan units. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the control unit further includes a processor, memory, display, and communication hardware, and wherein the processor is configured to receive inputs from the sensor and transmit instructions to control the fan units based on the sensor inputs according to programmed instructions. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein each sensor is selected from a group comprising temperature sensor, flow sensor, pressure sensor, and humidity sensor. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the fan units are configured to be controlled by instructions received via a manual input or a programmed input, and wherein the instructions modify the operating conditions of the fans. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the fan units are configured to be controlled by instructions received via a manual input or a programmed input, and wherein the instructions modify the operating conditions of the fans. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein (a) the building climate control system further comprises at least one temperature control panel in one or more rooms in the building, (b) the temperature control panel is configured to accept a target temperature input for a room and measure the temperature of the room, and (c) the control unit is in communication with the one or more temperature control panels. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the control unit is configured on a computing device such as a laptop, a wearable computer, an embedded computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a smart phone or a tablet. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein the control unit receives temperature inputs via wired or wireless communication. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the control unit is configured to receive the temperature mode that the building climate control system is operating in and the control unit controls the operation of the one or more fan units based on whether the building climate control system is in heating or cooling mode. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the control unit is configured to receive target temperature values from one or more temperature control panels and the control unit controls the operation of the one or more fan units based on the difference in the target temperature values. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the control unit controls the direction of rotation of the fan units. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 18 , further comprising a plurality of spaced apart openings on a wall separating the two rooms, wherein a fan unit is mounted within each opening, and the rotation of alternate fan units is in opposite directions. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 18  wherein the temperature difference between the two rooms is zero. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the opening in the wall is configured to minimize the leakage of light from one room to the other. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the opening in the wall is configured to minimize the transmission of sound from one room to the other. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 18 , further comprising an opening between inside and outside of the building with one or more fan units installed that can move air between the inside and outside of the building to regulate the temperature of a room. 
     
     
         35 . A kit for minimizing energy consumption to achieve temperature control within a building comprising:
 one or more fan units fitted with motors operable using a communication device and installable in an opening in the wall between rooms of a building;   one or more temperature or humidity sensors affixed with communication devices; and   a non-transitory machine-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 provide a user interface to receive user inputs relating to set temperature or humidity; 
 receive temperature or humidity data from the one or more temperature or humidity sensors; and 
 send switching instructions to the one or more fan units to control their operation in response to the set temperature and the sensed temperature or humidity data to eliminate hot or cold spots within the rooms by circulating air from one room to another. 
   
     
     
         36 . The kit of  claim 35 , wherein the sequence of instructions is executable in a computing device such as a wearable computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a smart phone or a tablet.