Supplemental vehicle heating method and apparatus with long heating cycle

Abstract

An auxiliary burner provides supplemental thermal energy to a vehicle having a room and domestic water to be heated. The auxiliary burner operates efficiently at a rated thermal output when it is operated for at least the duration of a minimum operational cycle. A reservoir contains heat transfer liquid having a selected thermal energy storage capacity, measured by the amount of thermal energy required to heat the liquid from a minimum to a maximum operating temperature. The heat transfer liquid receives heat from the auxiliary burner. The thermal energy storage capacity is selected so that the auxiliary burner must operate at its rated thermal output for at least the duration of the minimum desired operational cycle to provide the selected thermal energy storage capacity to the reservoir. Methods of the present invention include heating the reservoir containing the heat transfer liquid having the selected thermal energy storage capacity by operating the auxiliary burner at the rated thermal output for at least the duration of the minimum desired operational cycle. With the heat transfer liquid in the thermal reservoir at the maximum operating temperature and the auxiliary burner off, heat is transferred from the thermal reservoir to meet thermal demands for heated room air and domestic hot water. These demands decrease the temperature of the heat transfer liquid to the minimum operating temperature, whereupon the auxiliary burner is operated for at least the duration of the minimum desires operational cycle to raise the temperature of the heat transfer liquid to the maximum operating temperature.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.