Methods of remotely managing water heating units in a water heater and related water heaters
First Claim
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1. A method of managing electrical power storage comprising:
- remotely controlling operation of one of at least two water heating units included in a single water heater, separately from one another, at a customer location in response to a determination that an imbalance exists in a distribution of electricity to a power grid coupled to the single water heater, wherein the imbalance comprises a greater supply of electricity to the power grid than a demand for electricity on the power grid, the method of further comprising;
determining, using a system that is remote from the single water heater, that the single water heater is available for activation; and
providing an indication from the remote system to the customer location to operate the single water heater in a utility controlled mode of operation within less than about one minute of determining existence of the imbalance;
wherein the imbalance further comprises a phase imbalance between voltages distributed to first and second power grid regions wherein the single water heater is included in the first power grid region, the method further comprising;
determining, using the system that is remote from the single water heater, that the single water heater is available for activation based on a phase of a voltage signal distributed to the single water heater compared to the phase imbalance.
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Abstract
Methods of managing electrical power storage can include remotely controlling operation of one of at least two water heating units included in a single water heater, separately from one another, at a customer location in response to a determination that an imbalance exists in a distribution of electricity to a power grid coupled to the single water heater.
66 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of managing electrical power storage comprising:
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remotely controlling operation of one of at least two water heating units included in a single water heater, separately from one another, at a customer location in response to a determination that an imbalance exists in a distribution of electricity to a power grid coupled to the single water heater, wherein the imbalance comprises a greater supply of electricity to the power grid than a demand for electricity on the power grid, the method of further comprising; determining, using a system that is remote from the single water heater, that the single water heater is available for activation; and providing an indication from the remote system to the customer location to operate the single water heater in a utility controlled mode of operation within less than about one minute of determining existence of the imbalance; wherein the imbalance further comprises a phase imbalance between voltages distributed to first and second power grid regions wherein the single water heater is included in the first power grid region, the method further comprising; determining, using the system that is remote from the single water heater, that the single water heater is available for activation based on a phase of a voltage signal distributed to the single water heater compared to the phase imbalance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 12)
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6. A method of managing electrical power storage comprising:
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remotely controlling operation of one of at least two water heating units included in a single water heater, separately from one another, at a customer location in response to a determination that an imbalance exits in a distribution of electricity to a power grid coupled to the single water heater; wherein the power grid comprises first and second power grid regions and the single water heater is included in the first power grid region and the imbalance comprises a phase imbalance between voltages distributed to the first and second power grid regions, the method further comprising; determining, using a system that is remote from the single water heater, that the single water heater is available for activation; and providing an indication to the customer location to operate the single water heater in a utility controlled mode of operation responsive to determining that the single water heater is available for activation. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of managing electrical power storage comprising:
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remotely controlling operation of one of at least two water heating units included in a single water heater, separately from one another, at a customer location in response to a determination that an imbalance exists in a distribution of electricity to a power grid coupled to the single water heater, wherein the imbalance comprises a greater supply of electricity to the power grid than a demand for electricity on the power grid, the method further comprising; determining, using a system that is remote from the single water heater, that the single water heater is available for activation; and providing an indication from the remote system to the customer location to operate the single water heater in a utility controlled mode of operation within less than about one minute of determining existence of the imbalance, the method further comprising; selectively coupling/de-coupling power to a water heating element in the single water heater to reduce a determined phase imbalance. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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13. A water heater comprising
a water heater housing; -
a water tank in the water heater housing; a first water heating unit associated with a first portion of the water tank and configured to heat water in the first portion of the tank responsive to power, the first portion of the water tank comprising an upper portion of the water tank and an intermediate portion of the water tank below the upper portion, the first water heating unit further comprising; an un upper water heating element located in the upper portion of the water tank; and an intermediate heating element located in the intermediate portion of the water tank; a second water heating unit associated with a second portion of the water tank and configured to heat water in the second portion of water the tank responsive to the power, the second portion of the water tank comprising a lower portion of the water tank below the intermediate portion, the second water heating unit further comprising; a lower heating element located in the lower portion of the water tank; and a load control module configured to electrically couple the power to the first water heating unit responsive to a first state of a remote signal received by the load control module over a network from a remote system, and configured to electrically decouple the power from the first water heating unit and couple the power to the second water heating unit responsive to a second state of the remote signal. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification