CLOTHES WASHER DEMAND RESPONSE BY DUTY CYCLING THE HEATER AND/OR THE MECHANICAL ACTION
First Claim
1. A clothes washer comprising:
- at least one power consuming feature including a heater assembly, a basket for receiving laundry articles therein, and a motor for imparting mechanical action to the basket;
a controller adapted to receive and process a signal indicative of the cost of supplied energy, the controller operating the clothes washer in one of a plurality of operating modes including at least a normal mode and an energy savings mode based on the received signal, the controller configured to modify a duty cycle of at least one of the heater assembly and movement of the basket in response to a signal representing the energy savings mode.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A clothes washer is provided comprising one or more power consuming functions and a controller in signal communication with an associated utility. The controller can receive and process a signal from the associated utility indicative of current state of an associated utility. The controller operates the clothes washer in one of a plurality of operating modes, including at least a normal operating mode and an energy savings mode in response to the received signal. The controller is configured to change the power consuming functions by changing the duty cycling profile of the heater and/or mechanical action of the basket in the energy savings mode.
-
Citations
22 Claims
-
1. A clothes washer comprising:
-
at least one power consuming feature including a heater assembly, a basket for receiving laundry articles therein, and a motor for imparting mechanical action to the basket; a controller adapted to receive and process a signal indicative of the cost of supplied energy, the controller operating the clothes washer in one of a plurality of operating modes including at least a normal mode and an energy savings mode based on the received signal, the controller configured to modify a duty cycle of at least one of the heater assembly and movement of the basket in response to a signal representing the energy savings mode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A clothes washer comprising:
-
a housing; a basket dimensioned to receive laundry items therein; a motor received in the housing for imparting selective mechanical action to the basket; an inlet adapted to selectively provide water to the basket; an outlet adapted to selectively drain water from the basket; a heater assembly for heating water supplied through the inlet; and a controller operatively associated with the basket, inlet, outlet, and heater assembly for controlling operation of the clothes washer through various operating cycles, the controller adapted to receive and process a signal indicative of the cost of supplied energy, the controller operating the clothes washer in one of a plurality of operating modes including at least a normal mode and an energy savings mode and configured to modify a duty cycle of at least one of the heater assembly or movement of the basket in response to a signal representing the energy savings mode. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A method of operating a clothes washer having (i) a controller adapted to receive a signal indicative of the cost of a utility, the controller operating the clothes washer in one of a plurality of operating modes including at least a normal mode and an energy savings mode based on the received signal, (ii) a basket that selectively receives laundry articles placed in the clothes washer, and (iii) a heater assembly for raising a temperature of water introduced into the clothes washer in a selected cycle, the method comprising:
operating at least one of the heater assembly and movement of the basket at a reduced average power in the energy savings mode. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
Specification