SMART WATER HEATER WITH IMPROVED TEMPERATURE CONTROL

Abstract

A system is disclosed that allows a user to set a temperature of a water heater by remote control where the water heater controls temperature based on waster use as measured by a water flow meter. The temperature can be an override temperature that is applied temporarily. The temperature can also be a profile that changes water temperature based on use such as dishwashing and clothes washing. The profile can also changed based on season of the year such as when children are in school and on summer vacation or there is a holiday period such as thanksgiving.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The embodiments discussed herein are directed to water temperature control of a water heater.

2. Description of the Related Art

Typical water heaters maintain a water temperature at a fixed setting throughout the day. Energy can be saved by allowing the temperature to be controlled based on need rather than a fixed setting.

SUMMARY

It is an aspect of the embodiments discussed herein to provide a water heater that allows water temperature to be controlled based on need.

The above aspect can be attained by a system that allows a user to set a temperature of a water heater by remote control where the water heater controls temperature based on waster use as measured by a water flow meter. The temperature can be an override temperature that is applied temporarily. The temperature can also be a profile that changes water temperature based on use, such as bathing, dishwashing and clothes washing. The profile can also changed based on season of the year such as when children are in school versus on summer vacation or there is a holiday period such as thanksgiving.

These together with other aspects and advantages which will be subsequently apparent, reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a water heater system in which temperature can be controlled based on water use as measured by a water flow meter.

FIG. 2 shows a system in which a smart controller can remotely control the water heater system.

FIG. 3 depicts a table for controlling temperature based on time and day.

FIG. 4 shows a family profile table.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The water heater 10 of FIG. 1 can provide significant energy saving when compared to the typical water heater. The system, depicted in FIG. 1, includes smart water heater 10 that learns a family's water use pattern. It turns off the heating unit 12 in the tank 13 when the pattern shows that there is no or low use expected, such as when a family of two is away at work or asleep. The system includes a micro-controller 14 that determines the water use pattern via readings of a digital water flow meter 16. The programmable micro-controller 14 manages the power use via a switching unit 18 that turns on or off the energy source of the water heater 10. The switching unit 18 can be implemented as an electrical, gas or oil switching unit. For example, in a gas powered water heater a gas flow shut off valve is utilized to control the energy source. As the family uses hot water, the micro-controller 14 measures the amount of water used, such as when a dish washer or clothes washer is being used. When the use is above a threshold, such as when a shower is in use or a bath is drawn, the use and time of use can be recorded by the controller 14. In this way a usage pattern, including water amounts, is created that can be used to turn off the unit when appropriate. When a water use period is approaching, such as when the family returns from work, the controller 14 can turn on the power source via switch 18 in time to bring the water up to a desired set temperature at or just before the period starts. A temperature sensor 20 can be used to determine a lead time required for heating the appropriate of amount of water to the desired temperature.

A water heater is typically located in a space in a residence or building that is not conveniently accessible, such as a basement or attic. To allow for more flexibility in using the water heater 10 of FIG. 1 a remotely controllable and programmable temperature control system 30 or thermostat can be provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the microcontroller 14 can be associated with an RF (radio frequency) receiver module 32, such as a Bluetooth™ receiver, that receives an RF signal from a transmitter module 36, such as a Bluetooth™ transmitter. The transmitter module 34 receives a control signal from a wall type programmable temperature controller 36, such as a thermostat (or microcontroller) that controls the temperature of water heater 10 by sending a temperature signal to the microcontroller 14 through the receiver 32. In this way the set temperature of the water heater can be overridden as desired. For example, assume while the members of the family are away from the house, the temperature of the water in the tank 13 is allowed to drop. If a member of the family unexpectedly arrives home and wants to take a shower, the controller 36 can be used to override the current temperature setting and change the temperature to the previous period or a later period when the setting is more appropriate for a shower. Or, the user can set a desired temperature, such as 110 degrees F. When the next period of control for the smart water heater 10 arrives the temperature will again be controlled by the temperature program based on water use.

Another override may be needed when the family has house guests and the need for hot water rises. For example, if the two person family is visited by a number of family members over a holiday period, such as thanksgiving and the weekend that follows, it may be appropriate that a higher temperature be maintained throughout the period when visitors are in the house. As a result, the override discussed above set at the controller 36 can allow the user to set the length of the override periods as well as the override temperature. The set temperature 42, such as the evening temperature, may be stored in an override table 44 (see FIG. 3) in the controller 36 along with a start time/date 46 and a stop time/date 48 where the example in FIG. 3 shows the temperature of the water heater being set to 170 degrees F. at 8 am Nov. 27, 2013 and kept at that temperature until 11 pm Dec. 1, 2013 at which time the control returns to the expected water use controlled temperature.

The system 8 can also be used to provide a desired temperature at specific times and periods during the day that can be in addition to the control of temperature based on the water use pattern. For example, the water temperature recommended for a dishwasher is between 130 and 170 degrees F. If the temperature of the water during a dish wash cycle is too low, a dishwasher typically turns on an electric heating element to bring the water temperature up to the desired setting. If this type of heating can be avoided by supplying water at a sufficient temperature to the dishwasher, savings of energy can occur. The recommendation for a shower is between about 95 and 107 degrees F. and the recommendation for a hot water clothes wash is about 130 degrees F. and a warm water wash is 90-110 degrees F. The controller 36 of FIG. 2 can be a smart or programmable controller that allows a family to set temperatures at times of the day or days of the week for needs such as dishwashing, clothes washing and bathing. For example, if a shower is typically taken in the morning the controller can set the temperature of the water heater to 100 degrees from 6:30 am to 8:00 am each day and after 8:00 am the temperature can return to a setting that may allow the temperature to fall to a lower temperature while the family is at work. And if a family typically washes dishes in the evening after supper, the temperature can be set to 170 degrees from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm and after 7:00 pm the temperature can return to a setting that may allow the temperature to fall while the family is active and not asleep and may need hot water for hand washing, evening hot tea, etc.

The smart system 10 may be provided with a controller 36 that initially includes a variety of typical family profiles that can be selected during installation as a starting point for water use control. These profiles could be displayed on a display of the controller 36 to a user at the time of installation from a profile table 60 (see FIG. 4) that includes the number 62 of members of the family and temperature settings 64 associated with times of day 66 and days of the week 68. FIG. 4 shows partial profiles for a family of two and a family of three.

The profiles can also change depending on the season of the year. For example, in the spring while school is in session, a family profile for a family of five (two adults and three children) may set the daytime temperature of the water heater to 85 degrees F. from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm on week days. However, when summer vacation arrives, the temperature from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm on weekdays could be set at 100 degrees F.

The controller 36 has been discussed as being a type of thermostat that can be mounted on a wall next to a house air temperature thermostat. However, the controller 36 could be other devices such as a tablet computer, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a desk top computer, etc.

The learning period of the smart system for learning a water use pattern can be set to a day, a week, a month, a season, a year, etc depending on the needs of the user. For example, a mountain cabin in snow country that is used in the winter could have a learning period of the first week of January each year.

During the no use period that is discovered by the smart water heater, such as when a family is asleep, the temperature is allowed to continuously drop or fall until a period arrives when the temperature setting is above the current temperature. The system controller 36 may allow the setting of a minimum temperature, such as 85 degrees F. below which the water temperature in the tank 13 is not allowed to fall.

The smart controller 36 could be hardwired to the microcontroller 14 much like air temperature thermostats are hardwired to a furnace/air-conditioner unit.

The embodiments can be implemented in computing hardware (computing apparatus) and/or software, such as (in a non-limiting example) any computer that can store, retrieve, process and/or output data and/or communicate with other computers. The results produced can be displayed on a display of the computing hardware. A program/software implementing the embodiments may be recorded on computer-readable media comprising computer-readable recording media. The program/software implementing the embodiments may also be transmitted over transmission communication media. Examples of the computer-readable recording media include a magnetic recording apparatus, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and/or a semiconductor memory (for example, RAM, ROM, etc.). Examples of the magnetic recording apparatus include a hard disk device (HDD), a flexible disk (FD), and a magnetic tape (MT). Examples of the optical disk include a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a DVD-RAM, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), and a CD-R (Recordable)/RW. An example of communication media includes a carrier-wave signal.

Further, according to an aspect of the embodiments, any combinations of the described features, functions and/or operations can be provided.

The many features and advantages of the embodiments are apparent from the detailed specification and, thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the embodiments that fall within the true spirit and scope thereof. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the inventive embodiments to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope thereof.

Claims

1. A water heater temperature control system, comprising: a water tank with a heating element and a water flow meter;a temperature setting device allowing a user to set a temperature;a controller that controls the water temperature of water in the tank via the heating element responsive to a use pattern learned by the controller based on water flow detected by the flow meter and allows the water temperature to be set by the setting device.

2. A system as in claim 1, wherein the temperature to be set comprises temperature and time profiles that can be selected by a user.

3. A system as in claim 2, wherein the profiles are indexed by a number of people in a family.

4. A system as in claim 2, wherein the profiles are indexed by seasons of a year.

5. A system as in claim 2, wherein the profiles comprise temperature settings for devices that use hot water.

6. A system as in claim 5, wherein the devices that use hot water comprise a dishwasher, a clothes washer and a bathroom.

7. A system as in claim 1, wherein the setting device controls the controller via remote control.

8. A system as in claim 7, wherein the setting device communicates with the controller via a radio signal.

9. A system as in claim 1, wherein the temperature to be set comprises an override of a temperature maintained based on water flow where the override is maintained until a new period of control based on water flow starts.

10. A system as in claim 1, wherein a temperature maintained based on water flow is a minimum temperature.

11. A method, comprising: controlling water temperature of water in a hot water heater responsive to water use measured by a water flow meter;allowing a temperature of the water to be changed during the controlling.

12. A non-transitory computer readable storage storing a method, the method, comprising: controlling water temperature of water in a hot water heater responsive to water use measured by a water flow meter;allowing a temperature of the water to be changed during the controlling.