Patent attributes
An energy conservation system to selectively control the operation of the heating elements of a water heater including a water storage tank operable in an automated mode to control the temperature of water within the water storage tank comprising a flow detector such as temperature sensor to sense the inlet or outlet water temperature to detect a change in temperature measured in time and duration and a tank temperature to sense the water temperature within the storage tank and generate corresponding temperature signals and a microprocessor coupled to the flow detector and tank temperature sensor to receive the corresponding signals including means to determine when there is a demand for hot water and means to determine a pattern of hot water usage over a water usage cycle to maintain the water in the water storage tank at a minimum temperature to supply a minimum quantity of hot water and increase the temperature of the water to a maximum temperature to supply a maximum quantity of hot water corresponding to the pattern of hot water usage over the water usage cycle.
