Energy management system for an appliance

• US 20030178894A1
• Filed: 10/23/2002
• Published: 09/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Original Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Inventors: Ghent, Bobby A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,110,832 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 307/140
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 15/0047 Energy or water consumption, e.g. by saving energy or water
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 15/0063 using remote monitoring or controlling of the dishwasher operation, e.g. networking systems
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2301/08 Other manual input
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2401/20 Time, e.g. elapsed operating time
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2401/34 Other automatic detections
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2501/28 Machine starting, e.g. normal start, restart after electricity cut-off or start scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 2101/14 Time settings
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 25/00 Washing machines with receptacles, e.g. perforated, having a rotary movement, e.g. oscillatory movement, the receptacle serving both for washing and for centrifugally separating water from the laundry and having further drying means, e.g. using hot air control of washing or of washing and drying D06F33/00, D06F34/00; domestic laundry dryers D06F58/00
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 33/72 Control of the energy or water consumption
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/28 Arrangements for program selection, e.g. control panels therefor; Arrangements for indicating program parameters, e.g. the selected program or its progress
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2400/36 Visual displays
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/14 The load or loads being home appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/64 The condition being economic, e.g. tariff based load management
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/14 by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/30 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/20 End-user application control systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 : Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/242 : Home appliances

Abstract

An energy management system for an appliance comprising an interface to receive a schedule having an off-peak time segment and an on-peak time segment; a control to determine an operation to be performed by the appliance; a mode selecting device to select between an energy management mode and an immediate start mode; and a controller connected to the interface, the control, and the mode selecting device. The controller is arranged such that upon selection of the energy management mode, the controller initiates the operation only when a current time is within the off-peak time segment; and upon selection of the immediate start mode, the controller initiates the operation immediately.

Claims

1. A method for managing energy usage of an appliance comprising:

receiving a schedule having an off-peak time segment and an on-peak time segment;

storing the schedule in a memory;

determining a current time;

determining an operation that needs to be performed by the appliance; and

initiating the operation only if the current time is within the off-peak time segment.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

selecting between an energy management mode and an immediate start mode;

initiating the operation only if a current time is within the off-peak time segment upon selection of the energy management mode; and

initiating the operation immediately upon selection of the immediate start mode.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

determining a first amount of time between the current time and an end of the off-peak time segment;

determining a second amount of time required to complete the operation; and

initiating the operation only if the first amount of time is greater than the second amount of time.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

receiving a deadline by which the operation must be completed; and

initiating the operation such that it is completed prior to the deadline.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of receiving a schedule includes inputting the schedule via a user interface on the appliance.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the step of storing the schedule includes storing the schedule in a memory located in the appliance.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of receiving a schedule includes receiving the schedule from another appliance via a local area network.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of receiving a schedule includes receiving the schedule from a computer via a local area network.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of storing the schedule includes storing the schedule in a memory located in the computer.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of receiving a schedule includes downloading the schedule from a server via an internet connection.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining an operation includes selecting an operation via a control panel on the appliance.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining an operation includes receiving an operation automatically requested by a control in the appliance.

13. An energy management system for an appliance comprising:

means for determining a schedule having an off-peak time segment and an on-peak time segment;

means for determining a current time;

means for determining an operation to be performed by the appliance; and

means for initiating the operation only if the current time is within the off-peak time segment.

14. The energy management system of claim 13 further comprising:

means for selecting between an energy management mode and an immediate start mode;

means for initiating the operation only if a current time is within the off-peak time segment upon selection of the energy management mode; and

means for initiating the operation immediately upon selection of the immediate start mode.

15. The energy management system of claim 14 further comprising:

means for determining a first amount of time between the current time and an end of the off-peak time segment;

means for determining a second amount of time required to complete the operation; and

means for initiating the operation only if the first amount of time is greater than the second amount of time.

16. The energy management system of claim 15 further comprising:

means for receiving a deadline by which the operation must be completed; and

means for initiating the operation such that it is completed prior to the deadline.

17. The energy management system of claim 13 wherein the means for receiving a schedule includes a user interface to input the schedule.

18. The energy management system of claim 17 wherein the means for storing the schedule includes a memory located in the appliance.

19. The energy management system of claim 13 wherein the means for receiving a schedule includes means for receiving the schedule from another appliance via a local area network.

20. The energy management system of claim 13 wherein the means for receiving a schedule includes means for receiving the schedule from a computer via a local area network.

21. The energy management system of claim 13 wherein the means for storing the schedule includes a memory located in the computer

22. The energy management system of claim 13 wherein the means for receiving a schedule includes means for downloading the schedule from a server via an internet connection.

23. The energy management system of claim 13 wherein the means for determining an operation includes a control panel on the appliance to select an operation.

24. The energy management system of claim 13 wherein the means for determining an operation includes means for receiving an operation automatically requested by a control in the appliance.

25. An energy management system for an appliance comprising:

an interface to receive a schedule having an off-peak time segment and an on-peak time segment;

a control to determine an operation to be performed by the appliance;

a mode selecting device to select between an energy management mode and an immediate start mode; and

a controller connected to the interface, the control, and the mode selecting device;

wherein upon selection of the energy management mode, the controller is arranged to initiate the operation only when a current time is within the off-peak time segment; and

upon selection of the immediate start mode, the controller is arranged to initiate the operation immediately.

26. The energy management system of claim 25 wherein upon selection of the energy management mode, the controller is arranged to initiate the operation only if an amount of time between the current time and an end of the off-peak time segment is greater than an amount of time required to complete the operation.

27. The energy management system of claim 26 wherein the controller includes a memory for storing the schedule and firmware to determine whether the current time is within the off-peak time-segment.

28. The energy management system of claim 27 wherein the interface is a user interface located on the appliance.

29. The energy management system of claim 28 wherein the control is a control panel located on the appliance and configured to allow user selection of the operation.

30. The energy management system of claim 29 further comprising a clock for providing the current time.

31. The energy management system of claim 25 wherein the appliance is a washing machine.

32. The energy management system of claim 25 wherein the appliance is a dishwasher.

33. The energy management system of claim 25 wherein the appliance is an oven.

34. The energy management system of claim 25 wherein the appliance is a refrigerator.