METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PREDICTIVELY PREPARING WATER PROVISION SYSTEM

    公开(公告)号:US20240044521A1

    公开(公告)日:2024-02-08

    申请号:US18264512

    申请日:2022-02-07

    发明人: Peter KONOWALCZYK

    摘要: A computer-implemented method predictively prepares a water provision system installed in a building. The water provision system includes a heat pump configured to transfer thermal energy from the surrounding to a thermal energy storage medium and a control module configured to control operation of the heat pump. The water provision system is configured to provide water heated by the thermal energy storage medium to an occupant of the building at one or more water outlets. The method is performed by the control module and includes: receiving a current location of the occupant, estimating an expected arrival time for the occupant to arrive at the building based on the current location, and determining an expected occupancy of the building based on the expected arrival time.

    DISCONNECT LOAD CONTROL RECEIVER FOR RESISTIVE HEATING LOADS

    公开(公告)号:US20230092550A1

    公开(公告)日:2023-03-23

    申请号:US17798783

    申请日:2021-02-10

    摘要: An electrical power distribution control system configured to issue a demand response signal to cut power to a plurality of electrical power consuming loads within an electrical power distribution network to reduce a peak power demand within an electrical power grid during a peak power demand. Unlike conventional demand response systems, the controller in each consumer residence includes both a distributed control based on the ability to track individual 24 hour usage patterns and selectively delay the demand response signal on individual resistive heating loads based on usage patterns for the purpose of reducing a likelihood of consumers experiencing effects of the reduced peak power demand.

    METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PERFORMING A HEAT PUMP DEFROST CYCLE

    公开(公告)号:US20240102671A1

    公开(公告)日:2024-03-28

    申请号:US18264417

    申请日:2022-02-07

    发明人: Peter KONOWALCZYK

    摘要: The present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method of defrosting a heat pump of a water provision system installed in a building, the water provision system comprising the heat pump configured to transfer thermal energy from outside the building to a thermal energy storage medium inside the building and a control module configured to control operation of the heat pump, the water provision system being configured to provide water heated by the thermal energy storage medium to an occupant of the building at one or more water outlets, the method being performed by the control module and comprising: determining, based on performance of the heat pump, an expected start time of a next defrost cycle; and preparing the water provision system before the expected start time of the next defrost cycle.

    ENERGY STORAGE ARRANGEMENT AND INSTALLATIONS

    公开(公告)号:US20240102696A1

    公开(公告)日:2024-03-28

    申请号:US18275981

    申请日:2022-02-07

    发明人: Peter Konowalczyk

    摘要: There is provided a hot water supply system including: a controllable hot water supply outlet having when fully opened a given flowrate; a thermal energy store, containing an energy storage medium comprising a phase change material to store energy as latent heat, that is configured to receive energy from a source of renewable energy; a renewable energy source; the hot water supply system being operable, under the control of the processor, to heat water that is to be supplied to the hot water outlet to a target system supply temperature using a selection of one or more of the renewable energy source, energy from the thermal energy store, and optionally an auxiliary water heater intermediate the thermal energy store and the hot water supply outlet; wherein the thermal energy store has an energy storage capacity, when fully charged, that is sufficient to provide hot water to the hot water outlet, at the given flowrate, and at the target system supply temperature for a period of at least 8 minutes, and preferably at least 10 minutes; wherein the renewable energy source is also configured to provide building heating under control of the processor; the processor being configured to: monitor actual demand for hot water from the hot water supply system; predict future demand for hot water from the hot water supply system based on the monitored actual demand; pre-charge the thermal energy store so that sufficient energy will be stored in the thermal energy store to satisfy the predicted demand; and to temporarily divert heat from the renewable energy source to charge the phase change material rather than to provide building heating. A corresponding method is also provided.

    METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PREDICTIVE HEATED WATER PROVISION

    公开(公告)号:US20240093907A1

    公开(公告)日:2024-03-21

    申请号:US18276005

    申请日:2022-02-07

    发明人: Peter KONOWALCZYK

    摘要: The present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method of predictively preparing a water provision system installed in a building, the water provision system comprising a heat pump configured to transfer thermal energy from outside the building to a thermal energy storage medium inside the building and a control module configured to control operation of the heat pump, the control module having executing thereon a first machine learning algorithm, MLA, having previously been trained to determine a correlation between cold water usage and a subsequent heated water demand, the water provision system being configured to provide water heated by the thermal energy storage medium to an occupant of the building at one or more water outlets, the method being performed by the control module and comprising: receiving first sensor data indicating cold water usage at a first water outlet; determining whether the cold water usage at the first water outlet is correlated to a subsequent heated water demand at a second water outlet by inputting the first sensor data to the first MLA; and upon determining that the cold water usage at the first water outlet is correlated to a subsequent heated water demand at a second water outlet, preparing the water provision system for delivering heated water.

    WATER HEATER WITH RESERVE CAPACITY, AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME

    公开(公告)号:US20230011737A1

    公开(公告)日:2023-01-12

    申请号:US17854512

    申请日:2022-06-30

    发明人: Brian T. Branecky

    摘要: A method of operating a water heater, the method including determining a predicted variation of a hot water consumption rate variable over a future time period and calculating a total required operating time of the water heater over that time period. The method further includes determining multiple possible operating profiles of the water heater that provide the total required operating time, and calculating a minimum hot water reserve for each profile. One of the profiles is selected based at least partially on that profile providing a minimum hot water reserve that is not less than a predetermined desired reserve capacity and the water heater is operated over the time period using that profile. The selected profile may be the profile that is calculated to have the lowest operational cost.