Methods and compositions for controlling and monitoring residential and commercial pumping systems. Preferably, the controlling and monitoring functions include a remotely located controller component capable of displaying alerts and/or from which a user may input commands regulating the functioning of the plumbing system. In particularly preferred examples, the plumbing system is an on command hot water system in which hot water availability, use and energy efficiencies and conservation are monitored and maximized.

A method for determining a preferential minimum power set point by a consumer i, said consumer including an electric water heater, the method including determining the state of the consumer i at an instant k; determining a minimum power set point P.sub.c.sup.min(i,k) at the instant k as a function of the state of the consumer i determined during the determining of the state of the consumer i at an instant k; determining a minimum power set point P.sub.c.sup.min(i,k+1:K) at the instants k+1 to K as a function of the predicted state of the consumer i estimated from the state of the consumer i determined during the determining of the state of the consumer i at an instant k; determining a preferential minimum power set point P.sub.c.sup.min_pref(i,k) as a function of the minimum power set point P.sub.c.sup.min(i,k) at the instant k and of the minimum power set point P.sub.c.sup.min(i,k+1:K) at the instants k+1 to K.

Appliances, such as hot water heaters, hot water heater controllers, and methods of operating such hot water heaters, that take into consideration the availability and capacity of alternative energy sources so that additional efficiencies can be realized by sensing the availability of an alternative energy source and adjusting the control algorithms used to control the use of the available electric power is provided.

This invention relates to a domestic hot water installation (1, 51, 61, 71) comprising a hot water cylinder (3), an external heating circuit (4) such as a boiler (5) in combination with a heat exchanger (7), a pump (9), and a control circuit (11). The control circuit comprises a pair of sensors (15, 17), at least one of which is a temperature sensor, and a programmable controller (13) in communication with the sensors. The programmable controller has a processor (19), an accessible memory (21), and means (23) to operate the pump. The programmable controller monitors the data from the sensors and accurately calculates the amount of hot water that has been delivered to the hot water cylinder. When the correct amount of water, according to a domestic hot water profile, has been delivered to the hot water cylinder, the programmable controller stops hot water from being delivered into the tank by shutting off the pump. By providing such an installation, the amount of hot water delivered can be accurately controlled and waste of energy is minimized.

A solar thermal assisted water heating system includes a thermal collector comprising a plurality of fluid channels configured to collect heat from a surface of a photovoltaic module, a drain-back tank coupled to the thermal collector, a first pump coupled to the drain-back tank and configured to pump fluid from the drain-back tank to the thermal collector, a first heat exchanger configured to receive fluid from the thermal collector, a heat pump coupled to the first heat exchanger and configured to remove heat from the fluid and heat water with the removed heat, and a controller configured to control the first pump and heat pump. The system may include a photovoltaic module and a hot water tank. These systems improve the efficiency of water heating, and the drain-back tank may serve as a thermal battery that stores heat and provides the stored heat when environmental temperatures decrease.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for metering water are disclosed. In one aspect, a method includes the actions of receiving, from a first meter that is connected to a first pipe, first audio data collected during a time period and first temperature data collected during the time period. The actions further include receiving, from a second meter that is connected to a second pipe, second audio data collected during the time period and second temperature data collected during the time period. The actions further include, based on the first audio data, the first temperature data, the second audio data, and the second temperature data, determining a first amount of material that has flowed through the first pipe during the time period relative to a second amount of material that has flowed through the second pipe.

Provided is a method of signalling energy usage to a user of a hot water outlet of a hot water supply system, the hot water supply system including: a thermal energy store that is supplied with energy from a source of renewable energy; a renewable energy source; an auxiliary water heater coupled to a networked energy supply; a flow transducer operable, when a water flow passes through the hot water outlet, to provide flow rate data for the water flow; and a processor coupled to the flow transducer; the hot water supply system being operable, under the control of the processor, to heat water that is to be supplied to the hot water outlet to a target system supply temperature using a selection of one or more of the auxiliary water heater, the renewable energy source, and energy from the thermal energy store.

The present disclosure relates to modulating energy consumption by a water provision system installed in a building, including one or more electrical heating elements operable to heat water, a heat pump configured to transfer thermal energy from outside the building to a thermal energy storage medium inside the building and a control module configured to control operation of the water provision system, the water provision system being configured to provide water heated by the one or more electrical heating elements and/or the thermal energy storage medium to one or more water outlets, This can include: determining a level of energy demands of a geographical region comprising the building; and upon determining that the level of energy demands is high, controlling the water provision system to switch from using the one or more electrical heating elements to the thermal energy storage medium for provision of heated water.

A heating system (100), a controller (110) for a heating system and a method of controlling a heating system (100) suitable for responding to grid stress events are disclosed. A heating system (100) comprises a tank (104) for holding water; a heat pump (102) arranged to provide heat to the tank (104); an electric heating element (108) disposed in the tank for heating water; and, a controller (110) configured to: control electric power from an electric power grid to the heat pump (102) and the electric heating element (108); detect a grid stress event; determine a heat pump energy penalty for providing heat in response to the grid stress event under a present operating condition; and, vary, in dependence on the determined heat pump energy penalty, a power provided to the electric heating element (108).

The present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method of modulating energy consumption by a water provision system, the water provision system comprising a heat pump configured to transfer thermal energy from the surrounding to a thermal energy storage medium and a control module configured to control operation of the water provision system, the water provision system being configured to provide water heated by the thermal energy storage medium to a water outlet, the method being performed by the control module and comprising: upon determining that the water outlet is turned on, determining an elapse time from an initial time when the method is implemented; setting a temperature for heated water being provided to the water outlet based on the elapse time; and progressively reducing the temperature for heated water being provided to the water outlet as the elapse time increases until a target temperature is reached.