Back to results
US 2025/0035320 A1Published application
Water heating system and a controller therefor
AssigneeMixergy Limited
InventorsPeter ARMSTRONG, Christopher RANDALL
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeMixergy Limited
InventorsPeter ARMSTRONG, Christopher RANDALL
Estimating the term…
A heating system is provided. The heating system includes a heat pump to provide heat. The heating system includes a circuit of heat transfer fluid to transfer heat to or from the heat pump. The heating system includes a space heating system configured to transfer heat from the heat transfer fluid to an environment. The heating system includes a water heating system comprising a water tank for storing hot water to be provided to a user, a cold water inlet, a hot water outlet for drawing off hot water for supply to a user, and a heat exchanger configured to exchange heat between the heat transfer fluid and water from the cold water inlet. The heating system includes a means of sensing a tank status, the tank status being indicative of a quantity of thermal energy stored in the tank. The heating system includes a controller adapted to control the transfer of heat to and from the tank in dependence on the tank status.
A heating system including:
The system of any preceding claim, wherein the controller is configured to control a transfer of heat from the water heating system to the space heating system.
The system of any preceding claim, wherein the tank status indicates whether the tank can safely receive heat.
The system of any preceding claim, wherein the tank status indicates a quantity of thermal energy stored in the tank above a temperature threshold.
The system of any preceding claim, wherein the tank status is a state of charge of the tank.
The system of any preceding claim, wherein the tank status is a temperature profile of the tank.
The system of any preceding claim, wherein the tank status is in dependence on a position of a thermocline.
The system of any preceding claim, wherein the means of sensing a tank status comprises a plurality of temperature sensing units arranged vertically along the tank.
The system of any preceding claim, wherein the controller is configured to determine an amount of available thermal energy to transfer from the tank in dependence on the tank status and, optionally, an anticipated heating demand, preferably wherein the anticipated heating demand is an anticipated defrosting demand, and/or an anticipated space heating demand, and/or an anticipated hot water demand.
The system of any preceding claim, further comprising one or more actuators controlled by the controller to configure the heating system to one of several configurations, wherein:
The system of any preceding claim, wherein a first actuator is configured to control a transfer of heat to and from the tank and a second actuator is configured to control a transfer of heat to the space heating system.
The system of any preceding claim, wherein the water heating system further comprises a baffle arranged in the tank, preferably with the heat exchanger arranged to receive water from below the baffle and return water below the baffle.
A controller for a heating system, the controller including:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.