A monitoring, control and feedback system for a refrigeration unit is provided that includes a wireless transceiver operably connected to the control circuitry of a refrigeration unit. The transceiver is operably connected to the central processing unit (CPU) of the refrigeration unit and receives signals from the CPU regarding the operation of the refrigeration unit. The transceiver wireless communicates these signals to a program or application stored and operating on a suitable u ser device that displays the signals illustrating the current operational parameters of the refrigeration unit on the user device while also enabling the user to control the operation of refrigeration unit remotely.

An actuator includes a motor, a drive member coupled to the motor and structured to transfer movement from the motor to an external mechanism, and a control chip configured to host a web server, connect with a wireless communication network and provide access to the web server via the wireless communication network, and control the motor using reprogrammable control logic. The reprogrammable control logic is adjustable by a user via the web server and the wireless communication network.

An actively heated or cooled food container can have a lid movable between an open and a closed position and an insulated body to which the lid can be attached. The insulated body can have a sidewall that defines a perimeter of the container body and a base, the sidewall and base defining one or more chambers that can be sealed by the lid. The food container can have a temperature control system that can include one or more heating or cooling elements in thermal communication with one or both of the sidewall and the base and operable to heat or cool one or both of the sidewall and the base to thereby heat or cool the one or more chambers in the food container.

Remote control of energy consumption is realized using a readily installable, flexible approach. According to an example embodiment of the present invention, a remote source communicates with a wireless controller for executing energy usage control. The remote source sends signals to the wireless controller via a gateway located near or, in one implementation, forming part of the wireless controller. In response to the signals, the wireless controller sets control settings for operating one or more of a variety of equipment types, such as a furnace, air conditioner, water heater or heat pump. With this approach, wired connections from the gateway to energy-consuming equipment do not necessarily need to be made in order to affect remote energy-consumption control. For instance, when used in connection with a controller wired to the energy-consuming equipment, the gateway need only communicate wirelessly with the controller and does not necessarily need to be coupled to the energy-consuming equipment. In addition, access to the energy-consuming equipment for establishing remote energy control is not necessary; rather, the remote energy control can be effected by accessing user-friendly locations, such as those where thermostats and other controllers are typically located.

A domestic appliance for cooling and heating food items and/or beverage items may include a shell, a door, a cooling compartment defined at least in part by the shell and the door, the compartment being configured store the food items and/or the beverage items in a cooled environment and at least one solid state heating element inside of the cooling compartment, the at least one solid state heating element configured to emit infrared radiation to heat at least one of the food items and/or the beverage items without heating the surroundings or other contents of the cooling compartment.

A method for testing a normal operation of a refrigerator, the method including allowing a user to implement an application of a terminal for testing the refrigerator; displaying a list of controllable loads on a display unit of the terminal; allowing the user to select a desired load and input a setting command for the load; implementing a controller of the refrigerator to operate the load according to the setting command received from the terminal via the tag unit; and implementing the terminal to display state information of the operated load on the display unit.

A floor system for detecting refrigerant includes one or more tiles. Each tile includes a tile body having a cavity formed therein and a grille element positioned within the cavity of the tile body. The grille element is configured to receive air from at least one of above or below the tile body. Each tile further includes a control assembly associated with the grille element. The control assembly includes a refrigerant sensing device to detect refrigerant in the received air. The control assembly is configured to output a signal indicating a detection of refrigerant.

An air conditioning and ventilating system S including: an air conditioning device A including a heat exchanger 22 configured to generate conditioned air by heat exchange with a refrigerant, and configured to send the conditioned air to an air conditioned space R; a ventilation device 30 configured to ventilate the air conditioned space R; a refrigerant sensor 24 configured to detect concentration of the refrigerant in the air conditioned space R; and a control unit 40 configured to control operations of the air conditioning device A and the ventilation device 30. On determination that the refrigerant concentration acquired from the refrigerant sensor 24 exceeds a first predetermined value, the control unit 40 sets an operation of a compressor 13 of the air conditioning device A to a stop state and sets the ventilation device 30 to an operating state. On determination that the refrigerant concentration that has exceeded the first predetermined value becomes equal to or less than the first predetermined value, the control unit 40 continues the stop state of the compressor 13 of the air conditioning device A and the operating state of the ventilation device 30 until predetermined timing.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed toward systems and method for cooling a refrigerant flow of a refrigerant circuit with a cold cooling fluid flow from a thermal storage unit to generate a warm cooling fluid flow, thermally isolating the cold cooling fluid flow and the warm cooling fluid flow in the thermal storage unit, and cooling the warm cooling fluid flow from the thermal storage unit in a chiller system to at least partially produce the cold cooling fluid flow.