The present invention relates to a system for monitoring resources, in particular, the invention relates to a system for monitoring usage of resources such as utilities.

Excessive consumption of natural resources is an increasing problem. Such consumption depletes natural resources and, in turn, this can cause environmental problems as well as causing an increase in the cost of these resources, such as oil and gas. As a result, these rising costs can put significant strain on the budgets of users of the resources.

Awareness raising campaigns to try and encourage more careful use of natural resources on a personal basis has made knowledge of the issues mainstream. However, awareness raising has not been successful in seeing the changes in behaviour required to see significant conservation of resources through decreased utility use.

When managing use of these resources, for example the use of electricity within a school building or office building or even within a home, the abstract measure of utility consumption based simply on the use of appliances means that it is difficult for individuals to correlate particular actions to, for example, a reduced use of power or water. This is compounded by the utilities companies sending out monthly or quarterly bills, which means that any specific action is lost within the context of utility consumption over a period of 30 days or more.

To overcome this disconnect between the actions which use the utilities and the overall resource consumption, a variety of different utility monitoring systems have been developed. These utility monitoring systems monitor the consumption of utilities such as gas, electricity, LPG, oil and water, and provide an easy to interpret display which enables users to assess the current level of usage and compare this to an optimum or a maximum desired level of usage. By having the connection between actual usage and optimal usage clearly visible and easy to interpret, users can, in real time, modify their behaviour and see the results in terms of utility consumption. Such a utility monitoring system is disclosed in WO2008/025939 to the present Applicants wherein the energy monitoring system determines threshold and maximum consumption values then monitors ongoing resource usage, providing a graphical display output which a user can easily interpret to understand how current resource consumption compares to the threshold and maximum consumption values.

However, as the price of utilities continue to rise, and with responsible budgeting more important now than ever, even the responsible use of utility resources can incur costs over and above that which the user can afford. GB2500952 to the present Applicants describes a monitoring system which includes an alert when resource usage is above a preset threshold criteria. A disadvantage of this system is that the usage is calculated on a cumulative basis and once the threshold is reached, it is difficult to assess further usage or determine what activity had, in fact, caused the increased usage.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system for monitoring resources such as utilities.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system for monitoring utility resources which includes a dual usage profile reflecting the change in level of resource usage throughout a predetermined period of time with an increased use margin.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a system for monitoring utility resources which includes a dual alert mechanism to indicate which usage profile has been surpassed.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a system for monitoring a utility resource, the system comprising:

an input interface into which at least a first base data set associated with at least one utility resource is provided, the base data set providing a base resource usage profile over a time period, and at least a first surpassed data set associated with the at least one utility resource is provided, the surpassed data set providing a surpassed resource usage profile over the time period, and wherein the surpassed resource usage profile includes an increased value of resource usage over the base resource usage profile, the increased value being variable over the time period;

monitoring apparatus, operable to monitor the consumption of the utility resource and to provide a monitor output indicative of the resource usage;

a processor, operable to receive the data sets together with the monitor output and generate a processor output which determines resource usage against each data set; and

an alert mechanism operable to output a first alert signal when the resource usage exceeds the base resource usage profile and a second alert signal when the resource usage exceeds the surpassed resource usage profile.

In this way, a base resource usage profile can provide usage indicative of the time e.g. higher when heating will be on, showers being taken or the premises being empty. Thus a first alert is only provided when the usage is above what may be generally expected. The surpassed profile allows for an error margin so that increases which may occur such as someone staying in the shower for longer or a light switched on by a timer when the premises is empty, will be accounted for, but if usage is above this error margin, say, the heating being left on when the premises is empty, the second alert occurs. In this way a user can determine what action should be taken without making all increases in usage a major issue or in just choosing to ignore them as may occur in the prior art. Additionally, if a user wishes to try and reduce their resource usage, they can use the base profile for a desired level and the surpassed level for their current level of usage. In this way, users are provided with the facility to simplify their utility consumption management in a straightforward way and thus take more responsibility for resource usage.

By having the increased value being variable over the time period, the resource is actively managed so that it may be zero when the premises is expected to be empty, representative of a light being turned on or a toilet being flushed if the premises is occupied overnight, or appliances being used if a cleaner is expected to be in. The variability will be non-linear. In this way it is not a cumulative calculation but reflects usage at fixed times. Preferably, the system includes a storage facility to store the data sets and the monitored output. Preferably, the system includes means to display historical resource usage. This means may be on a display or via a web-site or App for a mobile phone or tablet/PC. More preferably, the display provides a graph of level of usage over time which is colour coded to indicate which profile usage is within. In this way, a user can relate excessive usage to an event and obtain reinforcement of the requirement to limit usage for a particular event or adjust a profile, if the event is considered as normal usage. Preferably at least a first base data set and at least a first surpassed data set are provided for at least two utility resources. In this way multiple utilities can be considered, with each utility having its own base data set and surpassed data set; there being a single base data set and single surpassed data set for multiple utilities; or a base data set for each utility resource and a single surpassed data set for the multiple utilities.

Preferably there are a plurality of base data sets and surpassed data base sets. In this way, the user can select different profiles for expected events such as a working day, a weekend or a holiday.

The time period may be selected from a group comprising: a twelve hour period being daytime or nightime, a day, a week, a working week (5 days), a weekend, a fortnight, a month, a quarter or a year. Preferably the alert mechanism may include a transmitter operable to transmit the first and the second alert signal to at least one remote interface. Preferably, the first alert signal is distinct from the second alert signal. In this way a user can immediately determine which usage profile has been exceeded. The remote interface may include but is not limited to a speaker system, a mobile telephone, an electronic messaging system or a computer system.

Preferably, there is a counter on the alert mechanism, the counter providing a timed delay before transmitting an alert signal. In this way, only if resource usage exceeds the profile for a given time duration will an alert signal be transmitted. This reduces the number of false alarms which may be caused by a spike in usage for example. The counter may be programmed to provide variable time durations in a given time period.

Provision of an alert signal to a remote interface enables a user located remotely to the site of the resource usage to be aware when resource usage profile levels are exceeded and thus actively manage the levels of usage more effectively. Additionally, it allows the system to be monitored by someone overseeing the premises such as a landlord, holiday letting agent or a warden of sheltered housing, for example. The alert mechanism may include at least one output mechanism associated with the system which outputs an alert locally. The output mechanism may include, but is not limited to, a speaker system or a display interface.

Provision of a local alert signal output enables users local to the area of resource usage to actively manage the resource usage when a resource usage profile level is exceeded.

Conveniently the alert mechanism may include a transmitter operable to transmit an alert signal to at least one remote interface and at least one output mechanism operable to output an audio alert locally. Such an arrangement enables the alert relating to be identified by users locally as well as by a third party remote to the system.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method for monitoring a utility resource, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a first base resource usage profile associated with at least one utility resource over a time period;

converting the first base resource usage profile to a first base data set;

determining a first surpassed resource usage profile over the time period by determining an increased value over the first base data set, the increased value being variable over the time period;

converting the first surpassed resource usage profile to a first surpassed data set;

inputting said data sets into an interface; monitoring the consumption of the utility resource and generating a monitor output indicative of the resource usage;

providing a processor with said data sets and said monitor output;

generating a processor output which determines resource usage against each data set; and

outputting a first alert signal when the resource usage exceeds the base resource usage profile and a second alert signal when the resource usage exceeds the surpassed resource usage profile. In this way, a user can be provided with a first alert which indicates that the resource usage is outside a normal level during a selected time period, but not excessive. However, when resource usage becomes excessive, a second alert is provided.

Further features of the method may be according to the first aspect.

Utility resources will be understood to herein refer to a service used by the public including, but not limited to a various types of energy supplies such as electricity gas and water as well as renewable supplies. Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the following figures, by way of example only, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a base usage profile and a surpassed usage profile according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a historical usage display according to a further embodiment of the present invention.

In Figure 1 there is shown a system 10 for monitoring the consumption of three resources (not shown), in this case electricity, water and gas which are each provided for use through a conduit (not shown). The system 10 is provided with monitoring transducers 12a, 12b and 12c which are associated with electricity, water and gas respectively. Each transducer has a transmitter 14a, 14b, 14c which transmits the resource usage for each unit to a processor 16. Processor 16 may be a device located in the premises or may be part of a computer system or server accessed via the internet.

An input interface 18 is associated with processor 16. The input interface 18 may be in the form of a touch screen 20 which provides a display 22. Using the input interface 18, first, second and third base data sets 24a, 24b, 24c are input to the processor 16 and stored in a memory 26 associated with the processor 16. Additionally, first, second and third surpassed data sets 28a, 28b, 28c are input to the processor 16 via the input interface 18.

As each utility is used, the resource usage is transmitted to the processor 16. The processor 16 compares the resource usage to the respective base data set 24a, 24b, 24c and if any resource usage value is higher than that contained in the respective base data set 24a, 24b, 24c an alert signal 30 is transmitted to a receiver 29, being a mobile phone or tablet/PC of a user. The signal may be an email, an SMS message, an instant message or a change in the display of a web-site or App. The processor 16 also compares the resource usage to the respective surpassed data set 28a, 28b, 28c and if any resource usage value is higher than that contained in the respective surpassed data set 28a, 28b, 28c a second alert signal 32 is transmitted to the receiver 29. The signals 30,32 are distinct so that a user is aware which signal has been transmitted and they will also indicate the associated utility to which it refers. The display 22 on the touch screen 20 may also indicate alert signals 30,32.

The monitored outputs for resource usage transmitted to the processor 16 and the alert signals 30,32 are all stored in the memory 26. Historical data can be viewed on the display 22.

Each transducer 12a, b, c provides a signal indicative of the flow in the conduit with which it is associated. In this case, the transducers provide signals in the form of a potential difference in the range of 0-10V with a calibration factor selected to correlate to the potential difference range with the full scale range of flow possible in the conduit. However, it will be clearly understood that any suitable potential difference range or any suitable measurement or transducer arrangement may be used with a suitably selected calibration factor if necessary. The transducer 12a can be arranged for use with the electrical conduit so that it provides a voltage signal corresponding to the current flowing in the conduit. The current can be measured by inserting an inline ammeter or in a non-invasive fashion by attaching a clamp meter or transducer to the conduit. As transducers 12b, and 12c are associated with water and gas respectively, they are in-flow transducers capable of producing a voltage signal corresponding to the flow rate of the gas or water respectively. The transducer may determine the flow rate by one of a number of means, for example by a piston meter or a Venturi meter. Alternatively, if the conduits are made of a non-conducting material, a magnetic flow meter can be used to determine the rate of flow of water and a mass flow meter could be used to determine the flow rate of the gas.

In a preferred embodiment the transducers are arranged to measure consumption at or adjacent to a utility meter. In this way each transducer will provide a measurement indicative of overall consumption of the respective utility within a building. As utilities are typically charged by use at a meter, the transducer will obtain a measurement to directly correlate with the meter reading. In alternative embodiments the transducers may be located at the entry point to zones of a building, or indeed, at individual appliances, if desired.

It will be appreciate that processors may also be arranged at each of the transducers, or at one transducer which may act as a master to the other slaves. A single processor may be located within the premises to collect all the resource usage data and transmit it via the internet to a remote processor 16 on a server or the like.

Each base data set 24a, 24b, 24c represents a base resource usage profile 34. Reference is now made to Figure 2 of the drawings which illustrates a base data usage resource profile 34 and a corresponding surpassed resource usage profile 36 for a respective resource utility, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The base resource usage profile 34 is a graph of resource usage 38 e.g. kW of electricity, against time 40. The time period 42 of the entire profile 34 can be selected by a user of pre-programmed. Alternatively, the system can create the profile 34 from monitored outputs stored in the memory 26.

In the simplified example shown, the time period 42 is selected as a twelve hour period representative of overnight in a domestic premises. As can be seen the profile 34 varies with time. From 8pm until 10pm, the heating and lights will be on, televisions and music systems may be on and the kettle is likely to be boiled. The profile 34 is therefore at a first level 44. In this profile 34, the residence will typically go to bed around 10pm, when the heating turns itself off. With everyone in bed, the profile drops to a minimum level 46 sufficient to cover appliances such as fridges and freezers which are constantly powered. At 7am, the heating turns itself on again and the profile 34 rises to a third level 48, with a rise again to a fourth level 50 at 7.30pm as the shower is used and kitchen appliances turned on to make breakfast. The four levels, 44,46,48,50 form the base resource usage profile 34 and a data set 24a is created from resource usage and time values. For the same time period 42 there is also created a surpassed resource usage profile 36. This typically follows the base profile 34 but accounts for possible events with increased usage that may occur. The surpassed profile 36 begins at a higher level 52 than the first level 44, being representative of, say, someone taking a bath and an immersion heater operating. Note that this level 52 does not end at 10pm but continues to account for the occupants deciding to stay up longer than usual. Here this level 52 drops to a lower level 54 at 11pm. The lower level 54, while being greater than the second level 46, also has a smaller increase from the second level 46 than the increase between the first levels 44,52. This small increase represents resource usage indicative of someone having a light on to read a book or visit the bathroom. At 7am, the level 56 rises again with a margin over the third level 48 indicative extra power being used by the heating system if the outside temperature has dropped significantly. At 7.30pm a further rise in the level 58 is observed to account for the possibility of multiple appliances such as showers, kettles and hairdryers being used together above the usage set on level 50. The four levels, 52,54,56,58 form the surpassed resource usage profile 34 and a data set 24a is created from resource usage and time values.

It will be appreciated that profiles 34,36 can be determined for any desired time periods such as a twelve hour period being daytime or overnight, a day, a week, a working week (5 days), a weekend, a fortnight, a month, a quarter or a year. Sets of profiles 34,36 and their respective data sets 24,28 can be stored in the memory 26 and the system 10 programmed to use a desired set of profiles 34,36 as selected by a user so that a the user can select different profiles for expected events such as a working day, a weekend or a holiday.

Sets of profiles 34,36 can be determined separately for a number of utilities or the resource usage from a number of utilities can be combined to provide an overall energy usage profile for a dwelling.

In use, a user will create a set of profiles 34,36 or allow the system 10 to create profiles from stored resource usage data in the memory. A user may use stored data as an initial guide to create the profiles 34,36 from. Inputting the profiles can be done using any suitable input interface including an input key pad, a voice activated command system, or a USB to the display 22, or wireless connection facility to enable input of information from another digital device such as a laptop computer or mobile telephone.

A user will then select which profiles are to be used over differing time periods, so a pattern of profiles may be selected. In this way, a user can set-up the system to operate for days, months or years without having to adjust it. The selection can be made remotely from the transducers 12 with connection being made over the internet. In this way, a user could be a landlord who wishes to monitor usage in a property he lets. Alternatively, a user may wish to change profiles while he is at work, say, in preparation for a holiday.

With the profiles 34,36 selected, data sets are created and stored in the memory 26 for use by the processor 16. The system 10 then monitors resource usage via the transducers 12. Note that the system 10 does not control the resource usage but merely monitors it by recording the output of the transducers 12a,b,c attached to each utility meter. Using the data received from the transducers 12a,b,c and stored data sets 24a,b,c and 28a,b,c the processor 16 can compare the resource usage as measured at the transducers 12 to the respective data sets 24,28 and determine if usage exceeds the level of the base resource usage profile 34 and determine if usage exceeds the level of the surpassed resource usage profile 36. The processor 16 may be configured to perform a variety of functions including metering functions, determining resource consumption associated with a particular load, consumption data indicative of a fault within the utility use system as well as determining resource usage as compared to the profiles.

If the monitored resource usage falls below the level of the base resource usage profile, the processor then takes no action to provide an alarm signal for transmission to the receiver 29. The display 22 may provide a graphic indication such as a green light to show usage is below the level of the base resource usage profile. The green light/bar/icon may be shown on a tablet or app remote from the premises also. In this way, a user can get positive feedback and be assured that their resource usage is below expectation. Alternatively, a further alert signal may be sent which could be used to indicate that someone is not active, for example. This could assist those monitoring usage by an elderly relative.

If the monitored resource usage is determined by the processor to reach and goes beyond the respective level of the base resource usage profile 34 which has been established, the processor 16 acts upon the created data to provide an output to a transmitter which is suitable to transmit the relevant information and the necessity of a first alert output to the receiver 29. The display 22 may turn the green light/bar/icon to an orange light/bar/icon. An audible signal may be heard on the premises while a text/email or other message is relayed to the mobile phone/tablet or PC of a remote user. This may also provide an audible signal. If inside the premises a user can investigate where the additional usage has occurred but will generally be aware that they have performed a task using the resource utility over that which is typical. For example, they have switched on a light during the night or a cleaner has arrived at the house during the day and is using a vacuum cleaner. The first alert signal can be re-set by a user and will continue to activate at regular intervals until the monitored resource usage drops below the respective level of the base resource usage profile 34.

Additionally, a counter can be set so that when usage exceeds the profile, an alert signal is not sent immediately, but only when the profile remains in an exceeded condition after a period of time. This counter may be set to different durations at different time periods in the day. This will reduce the number of false alarms. It may also be used to cover short spikes of high usage such as a kettle being boiled, a door bell being rung or a light being switched on for a short time in the middle of the night.

However, if the monitored resource usage is determined by the processor to reach and goes beyond the respective level of the surpassed resource usage profile 36 which has been established, the processor 16 acts upon the created data to provide an output to a transmitter which is suitable to transmit the relevant information and the necessity of a second alert output to the receiver 29. The display 22 may turn the green or orange light/bar/icon to a red light/bar/icon. An audible signal may be heard on the premises while a text/email or other message is relayed to the mobile phone/tablet or PC of a remote user. This may also provide an audible signal. The audible second alert signal may be higher pitched or have a longer duration than those of the first alert signal, so that there is a distinction between the alert signals with the second prompting a user to investigate the additional usage. In our example of Figure 2, the second alert signal may reflect an outside security light coming on or someone leaving a number of lights on when retiring to bed. The second alert signal can also be re-set by a user and will continue to activate at regular intervals until the monitored resource usage drops below the respective level of the surpassed resource usage profile 36.

These first and second alert signals are in direct contrast to the prior art which provided only a single alert signal regardless of whether the resource usage was just above a threshold set or excessively above the threshold. Additionally as the threshold was cumulative it did not account for the varying levels of usage expected over a time period. As a result the prior art signal was more likely to be ignored by a user if they had received a signal before and in investigating realised it was related to usage which was normal but infrequent. A further feature of the present invention is in the saving of resource usage data and it's presentation in a historical format which is easy to interpret. This is illustrated in Figure 3 which shows a plot 60 of actual or monitored resource usage 62 against time 64 for an overnight time period on which the profiles of Figure 2 had been operating. Of note is the fact that the graph 60 is shaded in different colours/patterns depending on the activity of the first and second alert signals. In a preferred embodiment, resource usage below the base resource usage profile 34 would be in green, resource usage between the base resource usage profile 34 and the surpassed resource usage profile 36 would be in orange and resource usage above the surpassed resource usage profile 36 would be in red. The base resource usage profile 34 and the surpassed resource usage profile 36 are also shown so that a user can review their actual resource usage against the profiles 34,36. In Figure 3, it is seen that two events 66,68 provided first signal alerts while one event 70 triggered a second signal alert. As the time is provided a user can relate the data to the time period and identify that event 66 was someone switching a light on to visit the bathroom at 3am which can be accounted for; event 68 was someone having a bath after everyone else had gone to bed which again was accounted for in the setting of profile 36; and event 70 was a washing machine coming on which had been programmed to start when the electricity is at a lower tariff. For event 70, a user could add a further surpassed level to match the level and duration of the washing machine to the profile 36. By having the historical data available and presented in a user friendly format, a user can better manage their resource usage.

The principle advantage of the present invention is that it provides a system for monitoring a resource utility which provides a meaningful real time alert to indicate an above expected level of usage and excessive usage.

A further advantage of the present invention is that it provides a system for monitoring a resource utility which accounts for varying levels of resource usage over given time periods and expected but infrequent resource usage.

A further advantage of at least one embodiment of the present invention is that it provides a system for monitoring a resource utility which provides easily interpreted feedback on resource usage which allows a user to better manage their resource usage. It will be appreciated to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the invention herein described without departing from the scope thereof. For example, although water, gas and electricity have been given as example utilities, any meterable utility may be monitored by the system, including, but not limited to LPG, oil, chemicals, grain or the like. Additionally, a profile can be set wherein the surpassed usage is negative so that monitoring can be made for healthcare reasons, such as in determining activity of an elderly person living on their own.