US 8,942,835 B2 · System and method of operating household appliances

Abstract

A household appliance configured to communicate with a second household appliance, a network of household appliances that can communication with each other, and method of controlling an operation of a primary function unit of a first household appliance based on one of a priority scheme and synchronized duty cycles of the first household appliance and the second household appliance, wherein the first household appliance is configured to communicate with the second household appliance. The household appliance includes a primary function unit, a controller that controls an operation of the primary function unit, a two-way communication module that transmits and receives signals between the controller and the second household appliance.

Claims29

Dependent claims

A household appliance comprising:

a primary function unit that performs a primary function of the household appliance;
a controller that controls an operation of the primary function unit;
and
a two-way communication module that transmits and receives signals between the controller and a second household appliance,
wherein the controller is programmed to control the operation of the primary function unit based on the signals transmitted and received by the two-way communication module and based on one of a priority scheme of the household appliance and the second household appliance and synchronized duty cycles of the household appliance and the second household appliance to reduce peak energy consumption by the first household appliance and the second household appliance.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

System and method of operating household appliances

Life of this patent

System and method of operating household appliances

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims29