ENERGY MANAGEMENT OF HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES
First Claim
1. A refrigerator system for reducing power consumption during peak hours, comprising:
- a refrigerator with one or more power consuming refrigerator features/functions; and
a refrigerator control system that schedules, delays or adjusts any number of the one or more power consuming refrigerator features to reduce power during peak hours.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method of managing energy use in a home, and more particularly to energy management of household consumer appliances, are provided. Existing appliances can be modified with add-on features or modules, and likewise new energy saving features and functions can be incorporated into new appliances. Communication among a home energy manager, an appliance, and a utility meter measures energy usage and/or a local generator controls operation of various appliances such as a refrigerator, washer, dryer, oven/range, microwave oven, dishwasher, HVAC system hot water heater, and the like.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A refrigerator system for reducing power consumption during peak hours, comprising:
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a refrigerator with one or more power consuming refrigerator features/functions; and a refrigerator control system that schedules, delays or adjusts any number of the one or more power consuming refrigerator features to reduce power during peak hours. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method for reducing power consumption of a refrigeration system during peak hours, comprising:
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providing a refrigerator with one or more power consuming refrigerator functions; and using a refrigerator control system that schedules, delays or adjusts any number of the one or more power consuming refrigerator features to reduce power during peak hours. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. A household energy management system and method for one or more appliances, comprising:
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a controller for managing power consumption within a household; a utility meter for measuring an amount of energy usage to a household from a source utility, the utility meter optionally communicating to the controller one or more parameters of the utility (e.g., occurrence of peak demand, demand limit, etc.); optionally, a user interface through which a user can enter a parameter of energy usage (e.g., peak demand, demand limit, etc.); optionally, a local generator for generating local energy; optionally, a local energy storage device for storing energy (which could also be a form of thermal storage means within the refrigerated space); optionally, a demand server for communicating to the controller one or more parameters of a utility (e.g., occurrence of peak demand, demand limit, etc.); and a communication network connecting the controller to one or more of the utility meter, the local energy storage device, and/or the demand server, wherein the controller communicates, controls or operates the one or more appliances based on communications from one or more of the utility meter, the user interface, the local generator, the local storage device and/or the demand server. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 14)
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13. A household energy management method for one or more household appliances, comprising:
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a) requesting a demand schedule and a peak demand limit from a server; b) determining whether the demand schedule indicates occurrence of peak demand; c) if peak demand, then reading energy usage from a utility meter and determining whether the peak demand limit is exceeded, d) if peak demand is exceeded, then notifying peak demand period to the one or more appliances; and e) determining whether peak demand is over, returning to step a) when determined that peak demand is over, returning to step c) when determined that peak demand is not over.
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15. An appliance control method, comprising:
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a) operating an appliance in a normal mode; b) determining whether peak demand mode is enabled and whether a peak demand alert has been issued, returning to step a) unless determined that both the peak demand mode is enabled and the peak demand alert has been issued; c) determining a priority of the appliance, and returning to step a) when determined that the priority is high, when determined that the priority is low; and d) setting an energy need level for the appliance, e) reading internal sensors of the appliance, f) adjusting an energy need level for the appliance if the appliance is not maintaining goal, and g) returning to step a) when the peak demand alert is removed, otherwise returning to step e).
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16. A household appliance system and method, comprising:
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an appliance having one or more mechanical and/or electrical elements/functions controlled by a main controller; the main controller having a port for receiving information on the operational state of the appliance and an interface or switch associated with the port and operational to override the information received by the controller through the port; one or more communication devices (e.g., one-way or two-way) connected to the port; a remote controller sending signals to the communication devices, the one or more communication devices receiving the signals, processing the signals, and communicating an operational state to the main controller, the signals optionally in a format determined by the appliance, wherein the main controller causes the appliance to run in a predetermined operational mode based on the signals received.
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17. A household appliance control system and method for an appliance, comprising:
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a user interface for receiving energy management input from a user; and a controller operatively connected to the user interface, the controller operating the appliance based on the input received by the user via the user interface in conjunction with signals received on an energy “
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mode or pricing of energy delivered to the appliance. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A household appliance energy management system and method, comprising:
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an appliance having a controller (e.g., a mainboard CPU) for operating functions/features of the appliance, the controller receiving a load shedding command signal; and the controller operating the functions/features of the appliance in a power saving mode when the load shedding command signal is received to reduce energy usage by the appliance (i.e., turndown power consumption), including, for example, turning on, turning off, throttling, adjusting, delaying and/or modifying functions and/or features. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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Specification