GB2515307A - Improved electrical switching apparatus with switch-on prediction - Google Patents

Improved electrical switching apparatus with switch-on prediction Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2515307A
GB2515307A GB1310862.6A GB201310862A GB2515307A GB 2515307 A GB2515307 A GB 2515307A GB 201310862 A GB201310862 A GB 201310862A GB 2515307 A GB2515307 A GB 2515307A
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GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
electrical
controller
appliance
time
dark
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB1310862.6A
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GB201310862D0 (en
Inventor
John Halfpenny
Giles Hutchison
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ENERGY REDUCING PRODUCTS Ltd
Original Assignee
ENERGY REDUCING PRODUCTS Ltd
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Priority to GB1310862.6A priority Critical patent/GB2515307A/en
Publication of GB201310862D0 publication Critical patent/GB201310862D0/en
Publication of GB2515307A publication Critical patent/GB2515307A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F1/00—Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00
    • G06F1/26—Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof
    • G06F1/266—Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
    • H01R13/66—Structural association with built-in electrical component
    • H01R13/70—Structural association with built-in electrical component with built-in switch
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F1/00—Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00
    • G06F1/26—Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof
    • G06F1/32—Means for saving power
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
    • H02J3/00—Circuit arrangements for ac mains or ac distribution networks
    • H02J3/12—Circuit arrangements for ac mains or ac distribution networks for adjusting voltage in ac networks by changing a characteristic of the network load
    • H02J3/14—Circuit arrangements for ac mains or ac distribution networks for adjusting voltage in ac networks by changing a characteristic of the network load by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01R—MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
    • G01R22/00—Arrangements for measuring time integral of electric power or current, e.g. electricity meters
    • G01R22/06—Arrangements for measuring time integral of electric power or current, e.g. electricity meters by electronic methods
    • G01R22/10—Arrangements for measuring time integral of electric power or current, e.g. electricity meters by electronic methods using digital techniques
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
    • H02J2310/00—The network for supplying or distributing electric power characterised by its spatial reach or by the load
    • H02J2310/10—The network having a local or delimited stationary reach
    • H02J2310/12—The local stationary network supplying a household or a building
    • H02J2310/14—The load or loads being home appliances
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02B—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS
    • Y02B70/00—Technologies for an efficient end-user side electric power management and consumption
    • Y02B70/30—Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02B—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS
    • Y02B70/00—Technologies for an efficient end-user side electric power management and consumption
    • Y02B70/30—Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
    • Y02B70/3225—Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02B—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS
    • Y02B90/00—Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
    • Y02B90/20—Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y04—INFORMATION OR COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES HAVING AN IMPACT ON OTHER TECHNOLOGY AREAS
    • Y04S—SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS
    • Y04S20/00—Management or operation of end-user stationary applications or the last stages of power distribution; Controlling, monitoring or operating thereof
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y04—INFORMATION OR COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES HAVING AN IMPACT ON OTHER TECHNOLOGY AREAS
    • Y04S—SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS
    • Y04S20/00—Management or operation of end-user stationary applications or the last stages of power distribution; Controlling, monitoring or operating thereof
    • Y04S20/20—End-user application control systems
    • Y04S20/222—Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y04—INFORMATION OR COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES HAVING AN IMPACT ON OTHER TECHNOLOGY AREAS
    • Y04S—SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS
    • Y04S20/00—Management or operation of end-user stationary applications or the last stages of power distribution; Controlling, monitoring or operating thereof
    • Y04S20/20—End-user application control systems
    • Y04S20/242—Home appliances

Abstract

An electrical apparatus comprises: an electrical inlet 1 supplying energy to an electrical outlet 5 via a controller 13. The controller 13 includes: electrical switching means 4, to connect or disconnect the electrical inlet 1 from the electrical outlet 5; a power supply 14 which is charged from the electrical inlet 1, a means of measuring ambient light levels 9 - 12 and timing function means. The controller 13, when in operation, detects bright and dark light level periods and records their transition times and from this it predicts future start or stop times of one or more electrical devices and then it provides actuation control to connect or disconnect the electrical inlet 1 to the electrical outlet 5 according to the predicted start or stop times. The predicted start or stop times may be adjusted according to pre-set or calculated time offsets which take into account the warm-up time or some other operational transient characteristics associated with certain electrical appliances being controlled, for example: a hot water dispenser. The switching means 4 may be a relay or a TRIAC. Appliances connected to the apparatus may be turned off at night and back on in the morning, to save energy, whilst ensuring that the operational status of the device is achieved at the desired start time.

Description

Title: Improved Electrical switching apparatus with switch-on prediction
Field of the invention
This invention relates to apparatus for switching on and off an attached electrical appliance using a light level sensor such that the appliance can be automatically turned off overnight when it becomes dark and back on again when light returns, thus reducing energy consumption. The time at which light returns, either artificial or natural, is a good indicator of the working day starting and the time at which it becomes dark, at sun down or artificial lights going off, is a good indicator of the end of the working day. In this way an appliance can be turned on during the day, when it is likely to be used and turned off at night when it will not be used.
Additionally, by recording the time at which light returns on one day, the appliance can, on successive days, be turned back on a short time ahead of the time at which light returns, thus ensuring that the appliance is ready for use again without any delay and eliminating any user inconvenience when the appliance is of a type that takes a time between being switched on and being ready for use. Such appliances include, but are not limited to, water boilers, vending machines and drinks dispensers.
Background of the invention
With rising electncal energy costs and growing awareness of the environmental damage caused by unnecessary energy consumption, consumers wish to reduce the amount of electrical energy they are using. Many electrical appliances continue to use energy even when they are switched on but not being used, often called stand-by' energy and consumers want to eliminate this wasted energy use. A major contnbutor to this wasted stand-by' energy is the situation where appliances are left switched on but unused overnight.
GB 1004429.5 disdoses the optiona' use of a light sensor to enable an attached appliance to be turned off at night if and when it is not in use and to be turned back on again when it becomes light again, the effect of which is to eliminate stand-by' energy being used by an appliance overnight.
There are certain types of appliance that take a certain amount of time between being switched on and being ready for use. By switching these types of appliance off overnight, wasted stand-by' energy is saved, but users are inconvenienced if they have to wait before they can use the appfiance. For example. if people arrive at work and turn lights on, a hot water dispenser which has been turned off during darkness will be turned on, but they will then have to wait several minutes before they can draw hot water to make drinks.
By recording the time at which light returns, indicating the start of a working day, it is possible to predict when light is likely to return on following days and therefore turn on the attached appliance ahead of light actually returning. This ensures that the attached appliance is ready for use when actually light returns at the start of the day.
I
By this means, potentially wasted stand-by' energy is saved overnight, but users of the appliance are not inconvenienced.
There are disclosed instances of consumed current or power energy being measured as an indication of the operating state of an appliance, as disclosed in KR2002002463 1 and GB2438655. GB 1004429.5 also discloses the use of measured energy being used to more accurately determine the operating state of an attached appliance. Also, it may be the case that the controller that switches the appliance on and off with reference to light levels is integrated with the appliance, in which case the controller will be able to determine the operating state of the appliance directly or via an internal data-link or interface with the appliance.
Optionally, if the operating state of the appliance can be determined, the amount of time the appliance takes from being switched on to being ready for use, can be calculated; for example water has been heated to a high enough temperature in a drinks machine. This calculated time can be used as the time period the appliance is turned on ahead of the predicted time of light returning, thus maximising the amount of energy saved overnight and avoiding the situation where the appliance is turned on earlier than it needs to be.
This invention describes the process required to achieve this combination of saving and convenience.
Summary of the invention
As disclosed in 0B1004429.5 and GB1017290.6, ambient light levels can be measured and used by a suitably configured switching apparatus to switch an attached electrical appfiance off at the end of a day and to turn it back on again at the start of the day, thus automatically eliminating wasted energy at times outside of a day without the user having to perform any kind of action.
hi a typical work environment, a day is the period from when light returns to when it becomes dark. The measured light can be artificial, natural or a combination of both.
With reference to measured light evels it is possible to use an internal timer to distinguish between short periods of changed light level such as shadows, clouds, brief periods of light and longer periods of changed light so that days and nights can be more reliably detected.
The absolute time that each day starts -whether defined by return of natural light or artificial light does not usually vary by a great deal from one day to the next, and if the starting time of one day is recorded, the starting time of the next day can be predicted with reasonable accuracy. This prediction can be as simple as replicating the time of the last recorded transition from dark to light or may optionally be improved by averaging a number of recordings, discarding anomalous recordings, limiting the rate of change of predictions from one to the next and other algorithms.
Once a prediction of the next day's starting time has been made, the attached appliance can be turned on ahead of this predicted time to make sure that it is ready for use when needed. The duration of the lead time' by which the appliance is turned on ahead of the next day's predicted starting time may be fixed or may have one or more programmable options to suit different appliances or situations.
Optionally, if the operating state of the appliance can be determined by, but not limited to measuring the current, power or energy that it uses or by integration with the appliance or via a data link, it will be possible to measure the time taken between the appliance being switched on and it reaching an operating state where it is ready to be used.
This measured time can be used to set the lead time' by which the appliance is turned on ahead of the predicted start of the day, which maximises the amount of energy saved overnight by exactly matching the lead time' to the appliance's warm-up time'. This method eliminates the need for a user to guess a fixed lead time' which may be too short, in which case the appliance will not be ready Accordingly the invention provides an electrical apparatus as defined in the accompanying claims Representative tight measurement, energy measurement & switching apparatus With reference to figure 3, power from the mains supply enters the unit from plug (1).
Plug (I) may be integral with the case (13) or on a trailing wire connected from the case. Either the power or neutral, or both of these power connections from the mains supply may be switched by (4) pnor to connection to (5) or (6). The appliance(s) plug into socket 5) or (6). Output socket(s) (5) or (6) may be integral to the case (13), or on a trailing cable from case.
The unit that implements the invention includes a controller (8), switch or switches (4), current measurement circuit (3) (7), an internal power supply (14) for these elements and a variable number of light level sensors, indicators and controls (12) (11) (lO) and (9) respectively. The controller has timing and real-time-clock' functions The power supply (14) may be implemented using resistor, capacitor, rectifier circuit(s), or using a transformer and rectifier. The power supply may provide one or more voltage rails, and one or more of these voltage rails may be switchable, so that the power consumed by the unit may be reduced when these voltages are not required.
The controller may also optionally monitor an override switch (9) to manually override the controller to open or close switch (4). The unit may also control one or more LEDs or indicators to indicate the status of the unit.
Representative embodiments of these elements are described in the following sections.
Measuring light levels With reference to figure 3, the controller (8) will monitor light level sensor(s) integral with the case (II), or sensor(s) external to the case (i2). The light level may be monitored by a photocell, photodiode, phototransistor or light dependent resistor interfaced to the controller Measuring energy consumed by an attached appliance Measuring the energy consumed by an appliance may be performed by a controller as follows: 1. With reference to figure 3, the voltage drop across a low resistance sense resistor (3) is amplified (7) and fed to a controller with integral or external Analogue to Digital converter. A current sense transformer may be used instead of Sense resistor (3) to monitor the cunent consumed by the appliance plugged into (5) or (6) by passing one of the two conductors at (2) through the current transformer. The voltage level is samp'ed regularly at a frequency which is greater than the AC dectricity supply frequency. This allows the controller to sample the instantaneous current being drawn by the appliance several times during each AC cycle.
2. The AC mains supply voltage is attenuated (i6) and fed to the controller (17) so that the controller can determine the magnitude of the AC mains voltage waveform at any time.
3. The controller has timers to allow it to accurately measure time intervals of units of Milliseconds to hundreds of Seconds.
4. With reference to figure 1, over a pre-set time (1) which may vary from about 2OmS to 6 hours, the controller repeatedly samples the instantaneous current and multiplies this by the instantaneous voltage to give instantaneous power (8). The instantaneous power value is added to a sum of all the previous values to form an integral (7) of the power readings which represents the energy consumed (4) during the pre-set sampling time (1).
5. With reference to figure 2, the integration process in step 4 above is continuously repeated (1), enabling the energy consumption of the attached appliance to be known (7), (8), (9) and the operating state to be determined.
Determining operating state of connected appliance Many appliances have multiple operating states, which are characterised by different levels of energy consumption. For example a water boiler may have heating', water boiling' and standing-by keeping water hot' operating states, with corresponding and distinct energy consumption evels. In some applications it may be necessary to determine if the appliance is in stand-by mode or not, and a single consumed energy level threshold may be selected, above which the appliance is in an active' state and below which the appliance is in stand-by' state. The measured energy consumption level may be compared with this threshold to determine the operating state of the appliance. If it is desired to determine multiple operating states, multiple thresholds may be implemented.
The threshold may be returned to its pre-set value in the event of an interruption of the power supply to the controller and/or the electrical inlet and/or operation of the switching means such that one or more of the electrical outlets is disconnected from the electrical inlet.
In some applications, single or multiple thresholds maybe pre-set to fixed values, but the utility of the switching apparatus maybe considerably improved by making the thresholds variable and adapting them to the attached appliance.
For many appliances, the various energy consumption levels corresponding to operating modes are a multiple of the lowest energy consumption level corresponding to an idle' or stand-by' state, so energy consumption thresholds may be calculated adaptively as a multiple of this lowest energy consumption level.
The apparatus may be more closely integrated with the appliance which it is switching on and off, and in this situation the controller (8) may obtain the operating state of the appliance via a data link or other interface with the appliance. Mternatively, the controller (8) may also control the appliance itself and the operating state of the appliance may be intrinsically available to it via an internal interface.
Switching power to connected appliance With reference to figure 3, the controller may connect or disconnect power to electrical outlet(s) using switching means (4).
Switch (4) may be a Relay or TRIAC with associated contr& circuitry. Switch (4) is turned on and off under control (15) of the controller.
The switching arrangements could be such that that there is a plurality of electrical outlets connected and disconnected by one switch, groups of electrical outlets which can be as a group connected and disconnected by individual switches or a plurality of electrical outlets each connected and disconnected by individual switches. The controller can connect or disconnect any combination of electrical outlets from the electrical inlet.
The controller can connect or disconnect different combinations of electrical outlets according to the operating state of the attached appliance as determined by the controller Optionally, the controller may monitor of the phase and zero cross over point of the mains voltage to assist with the turning on and off of the switch (4).
Using a light level sensor (12), the controller may switch an attached appliance off when it becomes dark and can record the time at which it becomes light. This recorded time can be used to predict when it will become light again at the start of subsequent days. With reference to the controller's timing or real time clock function, the controller can turn the attached appliance on at or ahead of the predicted start of day time, thus allowing the appliance to become ready for use at the predicted start of day time.
The controller's algorithm for predicting the start of the next day may be as simple as replicating the time of the light returning on the last recorded day or may optionally be improved by averaging a number of recordings, discarding anomalous recordings, limiting the rate of change of predictions from one to the next and other algorithms.
The lead time' by which the appliance is turned on ahead of the predicted start of day time can be fixed or can be one of a number of options selected by the user using control (9) Optionally, with reference to the operating state of the appliance, it will be possible to measure the time taken between the appliance being switched on and it reaching an operating state where it is ready to be used. This measured time may be used to set the lead time' by which the appliance is turned on ahead of the predicted start of the day, thus maximising the amount of energy saved overnight by exactly matching the lead time' to any warm-up time' The controller can use the fight sensor (12) and the controller's (8) timing function to distinguish between short periods of changed light level such as shadows, clouds, brief periods of light and longer periods of changed light so that the start of days and nights can be reliably detected. The controller can optionally use the rate of change of light level to further improve the reliability of days and nights or to differentiate between periods of artificial light -which have much faster rates of change of brightness, from natural daylight -which has a slower rate of change of brightness.
Optionally, with reference to control or controls (9), the user can ovelTide the predicted start of day time and lead time' to set the controller into a mode where the appliance is simply turned off when it becomes dark and on again when it becomes light.

Claims (12)

  1. Claims An electncal apparatus compnsing: an electrical outlet; an electrical irfiet for supplying electrical energy to the electrical outlet; and a controller, the controller including: an electrical switching means for connecting or disconnecting the electrical ouflet to the electrica' ifflet; a power supply for the controller, drawing electrical power from the electrica' inlet; a means of measuring ambient light levels; and timing functions.wherein the controller has the ability to: a) determine whether it is in a bright period or dark period by reference to measured light levels; b) record the time at which transitions from bright to dark or dark to bright occur; c) predict future start of night and start of day times based on recorded times at which transitions from bright to dark or dark to bright respectively have occurred; and d) connect or disconnect the electrical outlet to the electrical inlet according to pre-set or calculated time offsets from predictions of start of night and start of day times.
  2. 2. The dectrical switching apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of electrical outlets connected in parallel with each other and all connected or disconnected to the electrical inlet by the switching means as claimed in claim 1.
  3. 3. The power distribution apparatus as claimed in daim 1, wherein the controller can predict future start of night and start of day times based on recorded times at which transitions from bright to dark or dark to bright have occurred.Prediction methods can include replicating the time of the last recorded transition time and can optionally include averaging a number of recordings, discarding anomalous recordings and limiting the rate of change of predictions from one to the next.
  4. 4. The power distribution apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and 3 wherein once a prediction of the next day's starting time has been made, the controller can add or subtract a time offset to it so that the attached appliance can be turned on at a time ahead of or after the next day's predicted starting time. The duration of the offset by which the appliance is turned on ahead of light returning can be fixed or can have one or more configurable options to suit different appliances or situations.
  5. 5. The power distnbution apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and 4 wherein the controller can be configured to ovenide any time offset so the appliance is turned off when it becomes dark and on again when it becomes light without reference to the next day's predicted starting time.
  6. 6. The power distribution apparatus as claimed in claim I with additional means for measuring energy consumption drawn from the electrical outlet over a pre-set period of time by which the controller can determine the operating mode of the attached appliance when the controller detects a prescribed change in the measured level of energy consumed by the appliance relative to one or more energy consumption thresholds.
  7. 7. The power distribution apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller returns the energy consumption threshold to its pre-set va'ue in the event of: a. An interruption of the power supply to the controller and/or the electrical in'et; and/or b. Operation of the switching means such that one or more of the electrical outlets is disconnected from the electrical inlet.
  8. 8. The power distribution apparatus as claimed in daim 6 wherein the controller can measure the time taken for the attached appliance to change from one operating mode to another so as to determine the time taken for the appliance to become ready for use after being switched on.
  9. 9. The power distribution apparatus as claimed in daim 8 and 4 wherein the controller can set the time offset to a va'ue corresponding to the time taken for the appliance to become ready for use after being switched on, so maximising the period that the appliance is turned off whilst ensuring it is ready for use at the next day's predicted starting time.
  10. 10. The power distribution apparatus as claimed in daim I with additional data fink or interface by which the controller can determine the operating mode of the attached appliance.
  11. 11. The power distribution apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein the controller can measure the time taken for the attached appliance to change from one operating mode to another so as to determine the time taken for the appliance to become ready for use after being switched on.
  12. 12. The power distribution apparatus as claimed in claim 11 and 4 wherein the controller can set the time offset to a vake corresponding to the time taken for the appliance to become ready for use after being switched on, so maximising the peilod that the appliance is turned off whilst ensuring it is ready for use at the next day's predicted starting time.
GB1310862.6A 2013-06-18 2013-06-18 Improved electrical switching apparatus with switch-on prediction Withdrawn GB2515307A (en)

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GB2515307A true GB2515307A (en) 2014-12-24

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Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4585339A (en) * 1983-11-28 1986-04-29 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Power control of electronic apparatus in response to surrounding brightness
GB2425225A (en) * 2005-04-14 2006-10-18 Roger Green Power distribution device having light and sound sensors and timing means
GB2478762A (en) * 2010-03-17 2011-09-21 Energy Reducing Products Ltd Electrical switching apparatus with learned current threshold
US20110307891A1 (en) * 2010-06-11 2011-12-15 Research In Motion Limited Method and device for activation of components
GB2484658A (en) * 2010-10-13 2012-04-25 Energy Reducing Products Ltd Energy saving electrical switch

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4585339A (en) * 1983-11-28 1986-04-29 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Power control of electronic apparatus in response to surrounding brightness
GB2425225A (en) * 2005-04-14 2006-10-18 Roger Green Power distribution device having light and sound sensors and timing means
GB2478762A (en) * 2010-03-17 2011-09-21 Energy Reducing Products Ltd Electrical switching apparatus with learned current threshold
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