Hybrid residential heater and control system therefor

A non-industrial hybrid heating system for use with a gas supply and an electricity supply to provide a temperature controlled environment, the hybrid heating system comprising:

• a residential hybrid heater, the residential hybrid heater including a firebox, which includes a top, a bottom, a back, a pair of sides, a front, a gas burner housed in the firebox and providing a first heat source, a variable pressure gas valve in fluid communication with the gas burner, a modulating actuator in mechanical communication with the variable pressure gas valve, a housing attached to the firebox, the housing including a top, a bottom, a back, a pair of sides, an ambient air inlet, an ambient air outlet, a first safety barrier and a second safety barrier, the first safety barrier and the second safety barrier defining a first interstitial space and the second safety barrier and the front defining a second interstitial space, a fan mounted between the first interstitial space and the second interstitial space, the first interstitial space in fluid communication with the ambient air intake and the second interstitial space via the fan, a heat exchanger housed in the housing and located proximate the top of the firebox, a refractory chamber defined by the back of the firebox and the back of the housing, an air flow path extending sequentially from the air intake through the first interstitial space, the second interstitial space, the heat exchanger, the refractory chamber and the ambient air outlet, an electric element housed in the housing downstream from the heat exchanger, the electric element providing a second heat source, a high duty cycle on off switch in electrical communication with the electric element, a printed circuit board which is in electronic communication with both the modulating actuator and the high duty cycle on off switch, and a microprocessor which is in electronic communication with the printed circuit board, wherein the high duty cycle on off switch is configured to switch at between 30 times and 10,000 times per second;
• and a computing device which includes a wired link or a wireless link to the microprocessor and is remote to the residential hybrid heater, wherein the computing device includes a memory and a processor, the memory configured to instruct the processor to instruct the microprocessor to modulate the first heat source and the second heat source based on parameters including two or more of, the selected rate of heating, the current system load, the cost of a heat source and the availability of the heat source.