Thermostat with remote temperature sensors and incorporating a measured temperature feature for averaging ambient temperatures at selected sensors

Claim 1

A thermostat for controlling an environmental modification unit in accordance with differences between a reference temperature and a measured temperature comprising: A) setpoint means for establishing the reference temperature; B) at least two temperature sensors, at least one of which temperature sensors is remotely positioned with respect to said thermostat and one temperature sensor which is integral with the thermostat; C) sensor select switch means for selecting which temperature sensors are used by said averaging means to obtain the average measured temperature; D) processing means for developing an average measured temperature and for comparing the averaged measured temperature to a current reference temperature to generate control signals based on the difference therebetween for selectively controlling the environmental modification unit, said processing means including: 1) a processor; 2) program entry means coupled to said processor for establishing the current reference temperature; 3) analog switch means for selectively coupling voltages representative of the ambient temperatures sensed only by temperature sensors selected by said sensor select switch means to said processing means; and 4) an analog-to-digital converter coupled to periodically receive voltages representative of temperatures measured by the temperature sensors selected by said sensor select switch means from said analog switch means, said analog-to-digital converter converting each voltage applied thereto to a digital count and providing the digital count to said processor for use in developing the averaged measured temperature; E) said processor summing said digital counts received during each period to obtain a total digital count and dividing the total digital count by the number of temperature sensors selected by said sensor select switch means to establish an average digital count representative of the average measured temperature which is compared to the digital value representative of the reference temperature to determine the difference therebetween.