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US 12,092,342 B2Granted
Direct current electric on-demand water heater
AssigneeRheem Manufacturing Company
InventorsChristopher Mark Hayden, Sergiu G. Mihu, Eric Robert Jurczyszak
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The disclosed technology includes an on-demand water heater which uses an electric heat source to heat the water. The on-demand water heater can have a low fluid capacity heating chamber which has an inlet and an outlet, an electric heat source for heating the water, and a controller to control the electric heat source and maintain the temperature of the water at a predetermined temperature setting. The on-demand water heater can be powered by a direct current power source. The on-demand water heater can also utilize a solar thermal system to provide additional heat to the water.
Claims20
A direct current (DC) electric fluid heating system comprising:
- a DC electric fluid heating device comprising:
- a heating chamber having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, the heating chamber being configured to hold a fluid and having a fluid capacity from 0.5 gallons to 5 gallons;
- an electric heat source comprising a resistive heating element configured to heat the fluid;
- a flow sensor configured to detect a flow of a fluid to or from the heating chamber;
- a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of a fluid flowing to or from the heating chamber or within the heating chamber;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- receive flow data from the flow sensor, the flow data indicative of the fluid flow;
- receive temperature data from the temperature sensor, the temperature data indicative of the fluid temperature;
- determine whether a heat output of the electric heat source should be adjusted based on at least two of the flow data, the temperature data, or a temperature setting;
- and
- output instructions for modulating an amount of DC power supplied to the electric heat source from a DC power source in response to determining that the heat output of the electric heat source should be adjusted.
9 more elements
A direct current (DC) electric fluid heating system comprising:
- (i) a DC electric fluid heating device comprising:
- a heating chamber having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, the heating chamber being configured to hold water and having a fluid capacity from 0.5 gallons to 5 gallons;
- an electric heat source comprising a resistive heating element configured to heat the water;
- a flow sensor configured to detect a flow of water to or from the heating chamber;
- a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of water flowing to or from the heating chamber or within the heating chamber;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- receive flow data from the flow sensor, the flow data indicative of the water flow;
- receive temperature data from the temperature sensor, the temperature data indicative of the water temperature;
- determine whether a heat output of the electric heat source should be adjusted based on at least two of the flow data, the temperature data, or a temperature setting;
- and
- output instructions for modulating an amount of DC power supplied to the electric heat source from a DC power source in response to determining that the heat output of the electric heat source should be adjusted;
- and
- (ii) a solar thermal fluid heating system in fluid communication with the DC electric fluid heating device, wherein the solar thermal fluid heating system is configured to receive solar energy, convert solar energy to supplemental heat, and transfer at least some of the supplemental heat to the water.
11 more elements
A direct current (DC) electric fluid heating system comprising:
- a DC electric fluid heating device comprising:
- a heating chamber having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, the heating chamber being configured to hold a fluid;
- an electric heat source comprising a heat pump configured to heat the fluid;
- a flow sensor configured to detect a flow of a fluid to or from the heating chamber;
- a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of a fluid flowing to or from the heating chamber or within the heating chamber;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- receive flow data from the flow sensor, the flow data indicative of the fluid flow;
- receive temperature data from the temperature sensor, the temperature data indicative of the fluid temperature;
- determine whether a heat output of the electric heat source should be adjusted based on at least two of the flow data, the temperature data, or a temperature setting;
- and
- output instructions for modulating an amount of DC power supplied to the electric heat source from a DC power source in response to determining that the heat output of the electric heat source should be adjusted.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.