Apparatus and method for controlling the energy usage of an appliance
First Claim
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1. An appliance configured to perform a cycle of operation comprising:
- a treating chamber for receiving an article for treatment according to the cycle of operation; and
a controller configured to implement the cycle of operation on the article in the treating chamber, the controller comprising;
a processor; and
a non-transitory storage medium storing machine readable instructions that when executed by the processor causes the controller to at least;
receive a signal of an energy event;
determine whether a current cycle in operation will be impacted by the event;
determine an interruption point in the current cycle of operation;
determine a recovery cost for the appliance as the energy cost of interrupting the current cycle of operation at the interruption point and completing the current cycle of operation at a later time;
determine a continued operation cost as the energy cost needed to continue the current cycle of operation without interruption;
compare the recovery cost to the continued operation cost; and
if the recovery cost is less than the continued operation cost, interrupt the current cycle of operation on the article in the treating chamber at the interruption point and if the recovery cost is equal to or greater than the continued operation cost, continuing the current cycle of operation without interruption.
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Abstract
A system and method for controlling an appliance with respect to the appliance'"'"'s energy usage, in which a signal relating to the energy used by the appliance is received, and a determination of whether to continue or interrupt a cycle of operation being conducted by the appliance is made based at least on part upon the receipt of the signal.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An appliance configured to perform a cycle of operation comprising:
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a treating chamber for receiving an article for treatment according to the cycle of operation; and a controller configured to implement the cycle of operation on the article in the treating chamber, the controller comprising; a processor; and a non-transitory storage medium storing machine readable instructions that when executed by the processor causes the controller to at least; receive a signal of an energy event; determine whether a current cycle in operation will be impacted by the event; determine an interruption point in the current cycle of operation; determine a recovery cost for the appliance as the energy cost of interrupting the current cycle of operation at the interruption point and completing the current cycle of operation at a later time; determine a continued operation cost as the energy cost needed to continue the current cycle of operation without interruption; compare the recovery cost to the continued operation cost; and if the recovery cost is less than the continued operation cost, interrupt the current cycle of operation on the article in the treating chamber at the interruption point and if the recovery cost is equal to or greater than the continued operation cost, continuing the current cycle of operation without interruption. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 16, 17, 18)
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7. An appliance configured to perform a cycle of operation comprising:
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a treating chamber for receiving an article for treatment according to the cycle of operation; and a controller configured to implement the cycle of operation on the article in the treating chamber, the controller comprising; a processor; and a non-transitory storage medium storing machine readable instructions that when executed by the processor causes the controller to at least; receive a signal of an energy event; determine whether a current cycle in operation will be impacted by the event; determine an interruption point in the current cycle of operation; determine a recovery cost for the appliance as the energy cost of interrupting the current cycle of operation at the interruption point and completing the current cycle of operation at a later time; determine a continued operation cost as the energy cost needed to continue the current cycle of operation without interruption, including determining a normal operation cost, which is the cost of continuing the cycle of operation without interruption in a normal mode, and determining a reduced power operation cost, which is the cost of continuing the current cycle of operation without interruption in a reduced power mode; compare the recovery cost to the continued operation cost, including comparing the recovery cost to the normal operation cost and comparing the recovery cost to the reduced power operation cost; and control the cycle of operation at the interruption point based on comparing the recovery cost to the continued operation cost. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification