Patent attributes
A controller is provided for controlling the operation of a gas-fired water heating appliance. In one embodiment of the present invention, a controller is provided that comprises a switching means for connecting an electrical power source to an igniter for igniting gas, a voltage sensing means for sensing the voltage value of the electrical power source, and a processor that is capable of determining whether the power source is of a first rated voltage level or a second rated voltage level. The processor is capable of responsively selecting an appropriate switching sequence from a look-up table having a plurality of switching sequences corresponding to a plurality of voltage values for either the first rated voltage or the second rated voltage, where the processor controls the switching means based on the selected switching sequence to effect switching of power to supply an average predetermined voltage to the igniter that will heat the igniter to a desired temperature.