Automating the residential thermostat based on house occupancy

Abstract

With the monthly bill provided by the energy company, a homeowner is given the total amount energy consumed in the home. This is, however, a comprehensive sum and does not inform the homeowner which devices are using large amounts of energy. Data provided by the ecoMOD energy monitoring system show that the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system consumes approximately fifty percent of the total energy required in the home. Additionally, a significant portion of the HVAC system's energy consumption occurs during the periods of time in which the house is unoccupied and the HVAC system use could be minimized. To help limit this unnecessary use, the team is designing an automated thermostat that operates based on the house occupancy. Using a combination of carbon dioxide sensors and motion detectors to determine the occupancy of the house, the thermostat will adjust the temperature inside the home. When the homeowner reenters the home, the thermostat will return to the original set point. With such a system, the burden of constantly adjusting the thermostat to reflect changes in house occupancy will be removed. This will help to lower monthly bills, paving an avenue toward energy sustainability.