Companion Water Heater
AssigneeThe Marley-Wylain Company
InventorsRyan Hardesty, Dan Karch, David King, Aaron Smith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hot water heater appliance includes a boiler, a companion water heater and a controller. The controller is configured to control the water heater appliance in response to a scheduled plurality of performance modes based on a preset schedule. A first performance mode is scheduled to be performed at an expected low usage time and a second performance mode is scheduled to be performed at an expected high usage time relative to the expected low usage time.
Claims20
A hot water heater appliance, comprising:
- a boiler;
- a companion water heater;
- and
- a controller configured to control the water heater appliance in response to a scheduled plurality of performance modes based on a preset schedule, wherein a first performance mode is scheduled to be performed at an expected low usage time and a second performance mode is scheduled to be performed at an expected high usage time relative to the expected low usage time.
A companion water heater comprising:
- a hot water storage tank;
- a heat exchange coil disposed in the hot water storage tank;
- a lower sensor disposed in thermal contact with a lower portion of the hot water storage tank;
- an upper sensor disposed in thermal contact with an upper portion of the hot water storage tank;
- a circulator pump to urge a flow of a heating fluid to circulate between a boiler and the heat exchange coil;
- and
- an insulating jacket disposed around, below, and above the hot water storage tank, the insulating jacket having an expanded polypropylene insulation layer and the insulating jacket including a plurality of segments releasably fastened to each other.
A method of heating water in a water heater appliance, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving a plurality of upper portion temperature measurements over a time period at a controller configured to control the water heater appliance, the plurality of upper portion temperature measurements being associated with an upper portion of a hot water storage tank disposed in the water heater appliance;
- receiving a plurality of lower portion temperature measurements over the time period at the controller from a lower portion of a hot water storage tank;
- determining an upper temperature profile over the time period by the controller based on the plurality of upper portion temperature measurements;
- determining a lower temperature profile over the time period by the controller based on the plurality of lower portion temperature measurements;
- determining a domestic hot water usage amount by the controller in response to at least one of the upper temperature profile and the lower temperature profile being at a relatively steeper slope than a standby temperature profile;
- and
- heating the water in response to the domestic hot water usage being relatively greater than an amount of thermal energy in the hot water storage tank.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.