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US 5,927,598 AGranted
Energy management method and apparatus
AssigneeWeXL
InventorThomas Kenneth Broe
Life of this patent
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AssigneeWeXL
InventorThomas Kenneth Broe
Estimating the term…
An energy management system designed to reduce the costs of electrical energy particularly applicable to service businesses such as restaurants, service stations, convenience and grocery stores and the like. The system includes controllers to sequentially and in a predetermined manner initiate operation of a plurality of loads such as appliances and other devices thereby to reduce the demand rate for electricity. A plurality of operating modes are designed for the particular loads or devices and determine the quantity of energy needed under various operating conditions, the operating modes consuming reduced power and generally being associated with a duty cycle. A capacitance bank is associated with those loads having motors to increase the power factor when the motors are under operation. A timer may automatically initiate and terminate operation of the motor and the associated capacitance bank. The devices may be independently controlled or combined with other loads as the operating conditions of the establishment may dictate.
An energy management system to monitor energy requirements for a plurality of loads, said system comprising a controller operably connected to said loads for monitoring energy consumed by and controlling the operation of said loads, said controller designating one of at least two modes of operation for each of said loads, one of said modes of operation being an active mode wherein said energy consumed by said load is at a first value and one of said modes of operation being a standby mode wherein said power consumed by said load is at a second value, said mode of operation of said load being said standby mode when said energy requirements of said load, during operation, are relatively less, said controller changing said standby mode to said active mode when said energy requirements of said load, during operation, are relatively high.
Energy management system to monitor the power requirements for a plurality of loads, said system comprising a controller operably connected to said loads for monitoring the energy consumed by and controlling the operation of said loads, said controller designating one of at least two modes of operation for each of said loads, said modes of operation being an active mode wherein said energy consumed by said load is at a first value and a standby mode wherein said energy consumed by said load is at a second value, said first value being higher than said second value, said controller further being operably connected to a sensor for sensing the intended energy consumption of said loads, said sensor determining said mode of operation of said loads, said sensor designating said active mode of said load when said power requirements are relatively high, said sensor designating said standby mode of said load when said power requirements are relatively low.
Method of conserving energy for a plurality of loads having energy requirements, said method comprising assigning at least two operating modes to at least one of said loads, said first operating mode being an active mode wherein said load draws energy at a first value, said second operating mode being a standby mode wherein said load draws energy at a second value, said first value being higher than said second value, said method further comprising returning said standby mode to said active mode when said power requirements are relatively high and returning said active mode to said standby mode when said power requirements are relatively low.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.