A control system for controlling a gas powered appliance includes a hot surface igniter, an igniter relay, and an integrity detection circuit. The integrity detection circuit is configured to be coupled to a power source, the igniter relay, and the hot surface igniter to produce an output indicative of the integrity of the hot surface igniter and the igniter relay. The integrity detection circuit is configured to output a first voltage when the igniter relay is closed and output a second voltage different from the first voltage when the hot surface igniter is in a non-short circuit failure condition.

A furnace a smart furnace monitoring system, comprising: a) a wireless communication module; and b) a control module in communication with the wireless communication module, wherein the wireless communication module is capable of sending one or more status information messages to one or more recipients via a network.

A heat-pump circuit may include an indoor heat exchanger, an outdoor heat exchanger, a compressor adapted to circulate a working fluid between the indoor and outdoor heat exchangers, and an expansion device disposed between the indoor and outdoor heat exchangers. A monitor for the heat-pump system may include a return-air temperature sensor, a supply-air temperature sensor, and a processor. The return-air temperature sensor may be adapted to measure a first air temperature of air upstream of the indoor heat exchanger. The supply-air temperature sensor may be adapted to measure a second air temperature of air downstream of the indoor heat exchanger. The processor may be in communication with the return-air temperature sensor and the supply-air temperature sensor. The processor may be programmed to determine a working-fluid-charge condition of the heat-pump system based on the first and second air temperatures.

A connected-type hot-water supply system includes hot-water supply apparatuses connected in parallel and a control means. The control means sets one main hot-water supply apparatus and sub-hot-water supply apparatuses, and performs leveling control of cumulative loads of the hot-water supply apparatuses by setting the main hot-water supply apparatus based on sequential rotation among the hot-water supply apparatuses. The control means includes a failure sign response mode in which it is determined whether there is a failure sign respectively for components of the hot-water supply apparatuses, and when a component of a part of hot-water supply apparatuses is a failure sign component determined to have a failure sign, a main use time of a hot-water supply apparatus having the failure sign component is increased, and the main use time is a main use time of serving as the main hot-water supply apparatus in the leveling control.

A connected-type hot-water supply system includes hot-water supply apparatuses connected in parallel and a control means. The control means sets one main hot-water supply apparatus and sub-hot-water supply apparatuses, and performs leveling control of cumulative loads of the hot-water supply apparatuses by setting the main hot-water supply apparatus based on sequential rotation among the hot-water supply apparatuses. The control means includes a failure sign response mode in which it is determined whether there is a failure sign respectively for components of the hot-water supply apparatuses, and when a component of a part of hot-water supply apparatuses is a failure sign component determined to have a failure sign, a main use time of a hot-water supply apparatus having the failure sign component is increased, and the main use time is a main use time of serving as the main hot-water supply apparatus in the leveling control.

A method for remotely diagnosing an abnormality in a climate control device includes the following steps: (a) receiving, at a diagnostic device remote from the climate control device, a signal representing one or more operating parameters of the climate control device, (b) generating, at the diagnostic device, an operating state metric at least partially from the signal representing the one or more operating parameters, (c) comparing, at the remote diagnostic device, the operating state metric to a reference metric, and (d) diagnosing, at the remote diagnostic device, the abnormality in response to a difference between the operating state metric and the reference metric.

This invention provides an electronic control for combination (fuel-fired boiler and electric heat pump) building space and water heating systems that optimizes operation of such within the operating temperature limits and heat capability of both the heat pump and boiler unit in the combination system. In a diagnostic mode, the controller assesses the ability of existing heat radiation systems in thermostatically controlled zones to meet heating loads at different operating temperature limits of the heat pump and boiler. The system/controller provides information to guide most effective deployment of system heat-dissipation devices. In its normal operating mode, the controller is capable of receiving input signals from zone thermostats, the boiler and heat pump, along with current outdoor temperature and other data, processing and evaluating inputs over time, and outputting control signals. The controller facilitates use of a combined heat pump and boiler heating system with minimum equipment, installation, and operational cost.

A method for identifying an electric water heater having excessive and abnormal electricity consumption for detecting inefficiency or even a malfunction comprising the following steps: The present invention provides a method for automatic detection of inefficient household heater within a group of monitored households, implemented by a server module and a plurality of household client modules, wherein each of said a server module and plurality of household client modules comprising one or more processors, operatively coupled to non-transitory computer readable storage devices, on which are stored modules of instruction code, wherein execution of said instruction code by said one or more processors implements the following actions: acquiring data relating to each monitored household, including at least part of: environmental conditions, power consumption of each water heater, household profile parameters, and household residents' profile parameters; detect events wherein the water heater's power consumption (P) surpasses a predefined threshold (Pth), and henceforth label said detected events as “water heater activation” events; For each house (i) in the training set, and per each consumption day (d), define a binary label L.sub.id. Said label marks the water heater's activity as either ‘Normal’ or ‘Abnormal’ per house i and day d. Initialize all labels as ‘normal training a machine learning algorithm, to create at least one classification model, wherein all monitored households are classified according to said acquired data and parameters; and Using the Activation Events Classification Model after the training stage, to predict the binary label, L.sub.id, or number activation per day that a specific household (i), from beyond the household training set has surpassed a predefined number of water heater activation events (n) within a day.

A hot water supply device includes a combustion part, a combustion fan, a heat exchange part, a water supply part, a hot water discharge part, and a control part. In the hot water supply device, in a pre-purge step of a heating operation, the presence or absence of a disturbance factor is determined based on rotational responsiveness and deviation of the combustion fan with respect to a scavenging rotation speed. When there is no disturbance factor, in an ignition step, detection of a failure sign is performed based on responsiveness and deviation of the combustion fan with respect to an ignition rotation speed.

A hot water supply device includes a combustion part, a combustion fan, a heat exchange part, a water supply part, a hot water discharge part, and a control part. In the hot water supply device, in a pre-purge step of a heating operation, the presence or absence of a disturbance factor is determined based on rotational responsiveness and deviation of the combustion fan with respect to a scavenging rotation speed. When there is no disturbance factor, in an ignition step, detection of a failure sign is performed based on responsiveness and deviation of the combustion fan with respect to an ignition rotation speed.