Water heater and method of controlling the same
AssigneeAOS Holding Company
InventorKenneth Bradenbaugh
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A water heater including a water inlet line having an inlet opening that introduces cold water to a tank, a water outlet line having an outlet opening that withdraws heated water from the tank, and a heating element. The water heater further includes a control circuit. The heating element can be an electrical resistance heating element, a gas heating element, or a combination thereof. In one construction, the gas heating element includes a first combustive section and a second combustive section separately controlled from the first combustive section.
Claims40
A water heater comprising:
- a tank;
- an inlet that adds cold water to the tank;
- an outlet that withdraws heated water from the tank;
- a water temperature sensor operable to sense a water temperature;
- a combustion chamber having a thermal relation to the tank;
- a gas heating element disposed in the combustion chamber;
- a valve connectable to a gas source and connected to the gas heating element;
- a controller in communication with the valve and the temperature sensor, the controller being operable to selectively generate a control signal based on the sensed temperature, the selectively generated control signal controlling the valve to provide fuel to the heating element in bursts, each burst followed by a period during which gas is not supplied to the heating element.
A method for controlling a water heater comprising a tank for storing water, a combustion chamber having a thermal relation to the tank, a gas heating element disposed in the combustion chamber, and a valve connectable to a gas source and connected to the gas heating element, said method comprising:
- storing water in the water tank so that the water can be heated to a selected temperature during periods of non-use;
- and
- controlling fuel through the valve in bursts, each burst of fuel followed by a period during which fuel is not provided to the heating element.
A storage-type water heater comprising:
- a tank;
- an inlet that adds cold water to the tank;
- an outlet that withdraws heated water from the tank;
- a combustion chamber having a thermal relation to the tank;
- a gas heating element disposed in the combustion chamber;
- a valve connectable to a gas source and connected to the gas heating element;
- a relational temperature controller in communication with the valve and the temperature sensor, the controller selectively generating a control signal based on the sensed temperature, the selectively generated control signal controlling the valve so that only a decreasing portion of fuel is supplied to the heating element as the temperature of the water approaches a set point temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.