Apparatus and method for controlling the energy usage of an appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10135245-B2
Application number	US-201615134826-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 21, 2016
Priority date	Apr 4, 2012
Publication date	Nov 20, 2018
Grant date	Nov 20, 2018

Abstract

A system and method for controlling an appliance with respect to the appliance's energy usage, in which a signal relating to the energy used by the appliance is received, and a determination of whether to continue or interrupt a cycle of operation being conducted by the appliance is made based at least on part upon the receipt of the signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An appliance configured to perform a cycle of operation comprising:
a treating chamber for receiving an article for treatment according to the cycle of operation; and
a controller configured to implement the cycle of operation on the article in the treating chamber, the controller comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory storage medium storing machine readable instructions that when executed by the processor causes the controller to at least:
receive a signal of an energy event;
determine whether a current cycle in operation will be impacted by the event;
determine an interruption point in the current cycle of operation;
determine a recovery cost for the appliance as the energy cost of interrupting the current cycle of operation at the interruption point and completing the current cycle of operation at a later time;
determine a continued operation cost as the energy cost needed to continue the current cycle of operation without interruption;
compare the recovery cost to the continued operation cost; and
if the recovery cost is less than the continued operation cost, interrupt the current cycle of operation on the article in the treating chamber at the interruption point and if the recovery cost is equal to or greater than the continued operation cost, continuing the current cycle of operation without interruption.

2. The appliance of claim 1 , further comprising a user interface operably coupled with the controller.

3. The appliance of claim 2 , wherein the user interface comprises a display for notifying a user of the appliance that the cycle of operation has been interrupted.

4. The appliance of claim 2 , wherein the user interface comprises a button for activating at least one of a power saving setting, a money saving setting, and/or an ignore setting.

5. The appliance of claim 2 , wherein the user interface is in one of a console on the appliance and a mobile device remote from and in communication with the appliance.

6. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the appliance is at least one of a dishwasher, a refrigerator, a freezer, a range, a stove, an oven, a cooktop, a clothes washing machine, or a clothes dryer.

7. An appliance configured to perform a cycle of operation comprising:
a treating chamber for receiving an article for treatment according to the cycle of operation; and
a controller configured to implement the cycle of operation on the article in the treating chamber, the controller comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory storage medium storing machine readable instructions that when executed by the processor causes the controller to at least:
receive a signal of an energy event;
determine whether a current cycle in operation will be impacted by the event;
determine an interruption point in the current cycle of operation;
determine a recovery cost for the appliance as the energy cost of interrupting the current cycle of operation at the interruption point and completing the current cycle of operation at a later time;
determine a continued operation cost as the energy cost needed to continue the current cycle of operation without interruption, including determining a normal operation cost, which is the cost of continuing the cycle of operation without interruption in a normal mode, and determining a reduced power operation cost, which is the cost of continuing the current cycle of operation without interruption in a reduced power mode;
compare the recovery cost to the continued operation cost, including comparing the recovery cost to the normal operation cost and comparing the recovery cost to the reduced power operation cost; and
control the cycle of operation at the interruption point based on comparing the recovery cost to the continued operation cost.

8. The appliance of claim 7 , further comprising a user interface operably coupled with the controller.

9. The appliance of claim 8 , wherein the user interface comprises a display for notifying a user of the appliance of a change in the cycle of operation.

10. The appliance of claim 8 , wherein the user interface comprises a button for activating at least one of a power saving setting, a money saving setting, and/or an ignore setting.

11. The appliance of claim 8 , wherein the user interface is in at least one of a console on the appliance and a mobile device remote from and in communication with the appliance.

12. The appliance of claim 8 , wherein the user interface is in a console on the appliance.

13. The appliance of claim 8 , wherein the user interface is in a mobile device.

14. The appliance of claim 8 , wherein the user interface is in a console on the appliance and a mobile device remote from and in communication with the appliance.

15. The appliance of claim 7 , wherein the appliance is at least one of a dishwasher, a refrigerator, a freezer, a range, a stove, an oven, a cooktop, a clothes washing machine, or a clothes dryer.

16. The appliance of claim 2 , wherein the user interface is in a console on the appliance.

17. The appliance of claim 2 , wherein the user interface is in a mobile device.

18. The appliance of claim 2 , wherein the user interface is in a console on the appliance and a mobile device remote from and in communication with the appliance.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Tuller Barry E

Classifications

• H02J2105/55

  according to an economic condition, e.g. tariff-based load management · CPC title

• H02J2105/42

  Home appliances · CPC title

• F24C7/08

  Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices · CPC title

• F25D29/00

  Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices · CPC title

• Y04S20/242

  Home appliances · CPC title