Water heater with power consumption reporting

• US 8,525,083 B2
• Filed: 09/17/2010
• Issued: 09/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc. DBA GE Appliances (Haier Group Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Broniak, Jay Andrew, Brian, Joseph Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): PASCHALL, MARK H
• Application Number:
  US12/884,471
• Publication Number:
  US 20120067860A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,082 Days
• Field of Search: 219/494, 219/492, 219/497, 219/506, 219/507, 219483-486, 219412-414, 307 38- 41
• US Class Current: 219/494
• CPC Class Codes: F24D 19/1063 counting of energy consumption
• CPC Class Codes: F24D 2200/08 Electric heater
• CPC Class Codes: F24D 2200/123 Compression type heat pumps
• CPC Class Codes: F24H 1/185 using electric energy supply F24H1/201 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F24H 15/144 Measuring or calculating energy consumption
• CPC Class Codes: F24H 15/156 Reducing the quantity of energy consumed; Increasing efficiency
• CPC Class Codes: F24H 15/269 Time, e.g. hour or date
• CPC Class Codes: F24H 15/37 of electric heaters
• CPC Class Codes: F24H 15/395 Information to users, e.g. alarms
• CPC Class Codes: F24H 15/421 using pre-stored data
• CPC Class Codes: F24H 15/45 remotely accessible
• CPC Class Codes: F24H 9/2021 Storage heaters
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/002 Remote reading of utility meters
• 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 90/20 Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/244 the home appliances being or involving heating ventilating and air conditioning [HVAC] units
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/30 Smart metering, e.g. specially adapted for remote reading

Abstract

A hot water heater and method that includes power consumption reporting to enable consumers to better understand and control the energy usage and/or efficiency of the hot water heater. Monitoring energy consumption of an electric hot water heater having at least one electrical load that is selectively activated by a controller of the hot water heater includes sensing the amount of time the at least one electrical load is activated multiplying the amount of time by a known value corresponding to a power rating of the electrical load to determine energy consumed, and displaying on a display device an indicator corresponding to the energy consumed.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring energy consumption of an electric hot water heater, the hot water heater comprising a plurality of electrical loads that are selectively activated by a controller of the hot water heater, the method comprising:

sensing the amount of time each of the plurality of electrical loads of the hot water heater are activated;

multiplying the amount of time sensed for each of the plurality of electrical loads of the hot water heater by a corresponding power rating of each of the plurality of electrical loads to determine energy consumed; and

displaying on a display energy consumption data comprising energy consumed by each of the plurality of electrical loads of the hot water heater and total energy consumed by the hot water heater.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the sensing is performed by a microprocessor that senses when the controller activates each of the plurality of electrical loads.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1, further comprising accessing a lookup table having values corresponding to the power ratings for each of the plurality of electrical loads.

4. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the displaying step further includes displaying at least one of annual energy consumption, monthly energy consumption, weekly energy consumption, daily energy consumption, hourly energy consumption, and instantaneous power consumption.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the displaying step further includes displaying an indicator on a display that is remote from the hot water heater.

6. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the displaying step further includes displaying at least one of a numerical value, graphical or tabular representation, color, or shape corresponding to energy consumed.

7. An electric hot water heater for supplying hot water comprising:

a cold water inlet;

a hot water outlet;

a plurality of electrical loads including an electric heat source for applying heat to a volume of water between the inlet and the outlet;

a controller for selectively activating each of the plurality of electrical loads including the electric heat source; and

a sensor unit comprising;

a sensor configured to sense an amount of time each of the plurality of electrical loads including the electric heat source is activated; and

a processor configured to multiply the amount of time each of the plurality of electrical loads including the electric heat source is activated by a known value corresponding to a power rating of each of the plurality of electrical loads including the electric heat source to determine energy consumption data comprising energy consumed by each of the plurality of electrical loads including the electric heat source and the total energy consumed by the electric hot water heater.

8. The electric hot water heater as set forth in claim 7, further comprising a display for displaying an indicator corresponding to the energy consumed by each of the plurality of electrical loads including the electric heat source and the total energy consumed by the hot water heater.

9. The electric hot water heater as set forth in claim 8, wherein at least one of, annual energy consumption, monthly energy consumption, weekly energy consumption, daily energy consumption, hourly energy consumption, and instantaneous power consumption is displayed on the display.

10. The electric hot water heater as set forth in claim 8, wherein the display is remote from the hot water heater.

11. The electric hot water heater as set forth in claim 8, wherein at least one of a numerical value, graphical or tabular representation, color, or shape corresponding to energy consumed is displayed on the display.

12. The electric hot water heater as set forth in claim 7, further comprising a lookup table stored in a memory associated with the processor, the lookup table comprising at least one value corresponding to the power rating of the electric heat source.

13. The electric water heater as set forth in claim 12, wherein the lookup table further comprises values corresponding to the power rating of each of the plurality of electrical loads.

14. A device for monitoring energy usage of an electric hot water heater comprising a plurality of electrical loads, the device comprising:

a sensor configured to sense an amount of time each of the plurality of electrical loads are activated; and

a processor configured to multiply the amount of time each of the plurality of electrical loads are activated by a known value corresponding to a power rating of each of the electrical loads to determine energy consumption data comprising energy consumed by each of the plurality of electrical loads and the total energy consumed by the hot water heater.

15. The device as set forth in claim 14, further comprising a lookup table stored in a memory associated with the processor, the lookup table comprising the power rating of each of the plurality of electrical loads.