Development of Smart HVAC Thermostat with AI Using Passive Infrared Sensors for Energy Saving

Abstract

Global warming is causing climate change, disrupting the national economy, and affecting people's living habits. Numerous papers point out that human activity shows that large amounts of waste heat or energy are being continuously released into the climate system. This heat is thought to be responsible for the current global warming. In particular, there is strong evidence that HVAC systems consume more than 50% of total electricity consumption. Therefore, today's social products are environmentally friendly and energy efficient to reduce heat and energy waste. In addition, homeowners who use programmable thermostats correctly can save a lot of electricity. The reduction in energy consumption is due to the automatic use of energy-saving settings, i.e., shutting down the HVAC system when not needed. However, many programmable thermostats have user interfaces that are difficult to navigate and program. To overcome the shortcomings of programmed thermostats, smart thermostats can recognize occupancy and create schedules automatically without human involvement. The project aims to develop a system for sensing room occupants through passive infrared sensors. It then adjusts the thermostat temperature and fan speed accordingly to ensure thermal comfort. To some extent, energy savings can also be achieved through intelligent automatic control settings. Results show that using flow simulations, fluid motion in a room can be assessed, a database developed, and a smart thermostat can be used to automatically configure HVAC systems to reduce energy consumption while maintaining acceptable comfort levels for most indoor occupants. The results showed that the average energy consumption of an HVAC system controlled by a smart thermostat was 22.36% lower than that of a manually programmed thermostat.