The present disclosure relates to a thermostat including a control base configured to couple with and support a portable thermostat, wherein the control base is configured to determine a measure of an environmental condition of a local environment of the control base and communication circuitry of the control base configured to communicate the measure to facilitate control of an HVAC system.

An insulated heating-unit cover having an opening to permit air to circulate around the heating-source when a vent disposed at the top of the cover is opened, allowing heat into a space. The cover can include a heating-unit temperature sensor disposed within a space covered by the cover and a controller in wireless communication with a space temperature sensor located at a distance away from the heating-unit. The controller can be configured to operate an actuator such that the vent is open when the space temperature sensor indicates that the ambient temperature is below a set point temperature and such that the vent is closed when the ambient temperature is greater than the set point temperature. The controller can communicate with a plurality of other similar controllers and a central server to effect changes in the output of a central heating source coupled to a plurality of individual heating-units.

Techniques are described for providing remote device (e.g., thermostat, lighting, appliance, etc.) control and/or energy monitoring. A system monitors sensor data captured by one or more sensors that sense attributes relevant to user presence at one or more monitored properties and status of one or more energy consuming devices associated with the one or more monitored properties. The system analyzes the monitored sensor data and the monitored device status with respect to a set of one or more rules and performs an operation related to controlling the one or more energy consuming devices based on the analysis of the monitored sensor data and the monitored device status with respect to the set of one or more rules.

A method of managing energy use at a site includes opening a session with a first remote server and then communicating with the at least one remote server at a periodic interval. The method proceeds by determining whether energy management information is located at the at least one remote server and then receiving the energy management information at a controller located at the site. The method then includes processing the energy management information.