Programmable temperature control system for pools and spas

• US 20070244576A1
• Filed: 02/09/2007
• Published: 10/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hayward Industries, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Hayward Industries, Inc.
• Inventors: Murdock, James, Potucek, Kevin, Conover, Gilbert
• Granted Patent: US 9,501,072 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/55
• CPC Class Codes: E04H 4/129 Systems for heating the water content of swimming pools solar collectors using pools F24S10/17, F24S10/10; by solar radiation F24S20/02
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1902 characterised by the use of a variable reference value
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1923 using thermal energy, the cost of which varies in function of time
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1931 to control the temperature of one space

Abstract

A system and method are provided for controlling water temperature in a body of water. The temperature control system includes a processor, a user interface for receiving a desired temperature and a desired time for reaching the desired temperature, a sensor interface for receiving sensor information from one or more sensors, and an actuator interface for controlling a plurality of heat sources. The processor determines one or more optimal heat sources for heating the body of water to the desired temperature by the desired time. The processor controls the one or more optimal heat sources through the actuator interface and periodically polls the sensor interface to determine whether changes in the operating environment require additional or alternate heat sources to be activated to ensure that the body of water is heated to the desired temperature by the desired time.

Claims

1. A programmable temperature control system for a body of water, comprising:

a user interface for allowing a user to specify a desired temperature for a body of water and a desired time by which the body of water is to be heated to the desired temperature;

an actuator interface for controlling a plurality of heat sources; and

a processor in electrical communication with the user interface and the actuator interface, the processor executing a stored temperature control program for automatically selecting an optimal heat source from the plurality of heat sources for heating the body of water to the desired temperature by the desired time and actuating the optimal heat source using the actuator interface.

2. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, further comprising a sensor interface for measuring information from one or more sensors.

3. The programmable temperature control system of claim 2, wherein the sensor interface is connected to a temperature sensor for measuring a temperature of the body of water and the processor controls the optimal heat source based upon the temperature measured by the temperature sensor.

4. The programmable temperature control system of claim 3, wherein the processor actuates an alternate heat source based upon the temperature measured by the temperature sensor.

5. The programmable temperature control system of claim 4, wherein the processor actuates a second heat source in addition to the optimal heat source based upon the temperature measured by the temperature sensor.

6. The programmable temperature control system of claim 2, wherein the sensor interface is connected to a depth level sensor that measures a depth of the body of water.

7. The programmable temperature control system of claim 6, wherein the processor calculates a volume of the body of water based upon the depth of the body of water and selects the optimal heat source based upon the calculated volume.

8. The programmable temperature control system of claim 2, wherein the sensor interface is connected to a flow rate sensor for measuring a rate of flow between the body of water and the plurality of heat sources.

9. The programmable temperature control system of claim 2, wherein the sensor interface is connected to a temperature sensor for measuring ambient air temperature.

10. The programmable temperature control system of claim 9, wherein the processor actuates an alternate heat source in response to a change in the ambient air temperature.

11. The programmable temperature control system of claim 2, wherein the sensor interface is connected to a light sensor for measuring ambient light intensity.

12. The programmable temperature control system of claim 11, wherein the processor actuates an alternative heat source in response to a change in the ambient light intensity.

13. The programmable temperature control system of claim 2, wherein the sensor interface is connected to a humidity sensor for measuring ambient humidity.

14. The programmable temperature control system of claim 13, wherein the processor actuates an alternative heat source in response to a change in ambient humidity.

15. The programmable temperature control system of claim 2, wherein the sensor interface is connected to an electrical power sensor for monitoring electrical power levels supplied to the control system.

16. The programmable temperature control system of claim 15, wherein the processor actuates an alternative heat source in response to measured electrical power levels.

17. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, further comprising means for receiving energy cost information, said means in electrical communication with said processor.

18. The programmable temperature control system of claim 17, wherein the processor selects an optimal heat source based on received energy cost information.

19. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, further comprising a receiver for receiving a remotely-generated power control signal, the receiver in electrical communication with the processor.

20. The programmable temperature control system of claim 19, wherein the processor actuates one or more heat sources based on the power control signal.

21. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, wherein the processor includes a manual mode for manually controlling one or more of the plurality of heat sources.

22. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, wherein the processor includes a list of the plurality of heat sources.

23. The programmable temperature control system of claim 22, wherein the processor sorts the list based on power outputs of the plurality of heat sources.

24. The programmable temperature control system of claim 23, wherein the processor sorts the list based on efficiencies of the heat sources.

25. The programmable temperature control system of claim 24, wherein the processor selects the optimal heat source from the list of plurality of heat sources.

26. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of heat sources connected to the actuator interface.

27. The programmable temperature control system of claim 26, wherein the plurality of heat sources includes an electric heater.

28. The programmable temperature control system of claim 27, wherein the plurality of heat sources includes a solar heater.

29. The programmable temperature control system of claim 28, wherein the plurality of heat sources includes a heat pump.

30. The programmable temperature control system of claim 29, wherein the plurality of heat sources includes a gas heater.

31. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, further comprising a pump in fluid communication with the body of water and the plurality of heat sources.

32. The programmable temperature control system of claim 31, wherein the pump is a variable speed pump and the processor varies a speed of the pump in response to information measured by the sensor interface.

33. The programmable temperature control system of claim 32, further comprising a filter in fluid communication with the pump and the plurality of heat sources.

34. The programmable temperature control system of claim 26, further comprising a plurality of valve actuators operationally associated with said plurality of heat sources and connected to said actuator interface.

35. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, further comprising an automatic pool cover in electrical communication with the processor.

36. The programmable temperature control system of claim 35, wherein the processor actuates the automatic pool cover at a predetermined time.

37. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, further comprising an actuator in electrical communication with the processor for controlling a water feature associated with the body of water.

38. The programmable temperature control system of claim 37, wherein the processor actuates the water feature at a desired time.

39. The programmable temperature control system of claim 37, wherein the processor controls the water feature in response to a change in temperature of the body of water.

40. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, further comprising a pH sensor in electrical communication with the processor for measuring pH levels of the body of water.

41. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, further comprising a pressure sensor in electrical communication with the processor for measuring pressure levels of a filter operatively associated with the body of water.

42. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, wherein the stored temperature control program automatically selects an optimal heat source from the plurality of heat sources for heating a plurality of bodies of water to the desired temperature by the desired time and actuating the optimal heat source using the actuator interface.

43. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, wherein the processor monitors for changes in environmental conditions after execution of the stored temperature control program begins, and selects a new optimal heat source based upon detected changes in the environmental conditions.

44. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, wherein execution of the stored temperature program can be selectively overrided and resumed by a user.

45. The programmable temperature control system of claim 44, wherein the stored temperature control program monitors current environmental conditions after resumption of the stored temperature control program and selects a new optimal heating source based upon the current environmental conditions.

46. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, wherein a user can specify a volume corresponding to the body of water.

47. The programmable temperature control system of claim 1, wherein a user can specify a surface area corresponding to the body of water.

48. A programmable temperature control system for a plurality of bodies of water, comprising:

a user interface for allowing a user to specify a first desired temperature for a first body of water, a first desired time by which the first body of water is to be heated to the desired temperature, a second desired temperature for a second body of water, and a second desired time by which the second body of water is to be heated to the desired temperature;

an actuator interface for controlling a plurality of heat sources; and

a processor in electrical communication with the user interface and the actuator interface, the processor executing a stored temperature control program for automatically heating the first body of water to the first desired temperature by the first desired time and for automatically heating the second body of water to the second desired temperature by the second desired time using at least one of the plurality of heat sources.

49. The programmable temperature control system of claim 48, wherein the actuator interface actuates a valve for diverting heated water from one of the plurality of heat sources to one of the first or second bodies of water.

50. A method for controlling temperature of a body of water, comprising:

acquiring a desired temperature for said body of water and a desired time for reaching said desired temperature;

selecting an optimal heat source from a plurality of heat sources operationally associated with said body of water; and

heating said body of water to said desired temperature by said desired time using said optimal heat source.

51. The method of claim 50, further comprising receiving environmental information from one or more sensors.

52. The method of claim 51, further comprising controlling the optimal heat source based upon the received environmental information.

53. The method of claim 51, further comprising actuating an alternative heat source based upon the received environmental information.

54. The method of claim 51, further comprising actuating a second heat source in addition to said optimal heat source based up said received environmental information.

55. The method of claim 50, wherein the step of selecting said optimal heat source includes:

calculating a required time value for each of the plurality of heat sources to heat the body of water to the desired temperature by the desired time;

calculating an efficiency value for each of the plurality of heat sources to heat the body of water to the desired temperature by the desired time;

generating a heat source priority list containing an entry for each of the plurality of heat sources; and

sorting the heat source priority list by the required time values and the efficiency values.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein the step of selecting the optimal heat source includes selecting a heat source with the highest priority from the heat source priority and actuating the optimal heat source to heat the body of water to the desired temperature by the desired time.

57. The method of claim 55, wherein the step of calculating the efficiency values includes determining an amount of energy required by each of the plurality of heat sources to heat the body of water to said desired temperature by the desired time.

58. The method of claim 55, wherein the step of calculating the efficiency values includes determining a monetary cost for each of the plurality of heat sources to heat the body of water to the desired temperature by the desired time.