Water heater appliance and methods for model identification

Abstract

A water heater appliance may include a housing, a tank, a heating element, one or more temperature sensors, and a controller. The tank may be attached to the housing. The tank may define an interior volume. The heating element may be configured to heat water in the tank. The one or more temperature sensors may be attached to the housing. The controller may be mounted to the housing in operable communication with the heating element and the one or more temperature sensors. The controller may be configured to direct a water heating operation. The water heating operation may include directing a programmed diagnostic heating cycle, detecting an appliance temperature during the programmed diagnostic heating cycle, selecting an appliance model based on the detected appliance temperature, applying a predetermined model setting based on the selected appliance model, and directing a functional heating cycle according to the predetermined model setting.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.