A heating assembly for a vapour generating device includes a heating device arranged in use to heat a body, the body comprising including a vaporisable substance, the heating assembly being arranged in use to supply power to the heating device to heat the body, the vaporisable substance volatilising on heating, the quantity of vaporisable substance in the body thereby reducing on heating; a passage arranged in use to allow gas to be drawn over the body; and a controller arranged in use to monitor and store vaporisable substance quantity information of vaporisable substance quantity in the body by determining the amount of previous usage of the body based on stored time the body has been heated for and/or the stored number of times gas has been drawn over the body during heating.

A modular multi-channel syringe pump assembly includes a chassis in which are mounted two or more parallel syringe banks. Each syringe bank includes a syringe for retaining a fluid in a chamber with a syringe plunger for drawing fluid into or forcing fluid out of the chamber. A syringe drive actuator includes a syringe drive motor and a mechanical linkage for activating the syringe. At least one position sensor detects syringe position and generates a position signal corresponding to the syringe position. A controller receives the position signal for each syringe bank and generates control signals for operation of the two or more syringe banks.

The present disclosure relates to a method for detecting an unusual condition of a gas appliance, and a water heating device. The method for detecting the unusual condition of the gas appliance equipped with a heat generator including a burner to which gas is supplied as a fuel includes a first step of obtaining a required heating value that the burner has to output to create a predetermined state, a second step of obtaining an indicated heating value corresponding to a control value transmitted to the heat generator for control of the heat generator in the predetermined state, and a third step of determining whether the gas is unusually used, based on the required heating value and the indicated heating value.

An electric water heater tank adapted for connection to a controller, the tank including one or more electrical heating elements temperature sensing means mounted on the exterior of the tank wall and adapted to obtain a measurement of the temperature of the water in the tank, the temperature sensing means and each heating element being connected to an externally accessible connection means. The tank can include one or more heating element control means each connected to a corresponding one of the heating elements. The element control means can be connected to the externally accessible connection means.

A heating assembly for a vapour generating device includes a heating device arranged to heat, in use, a body, the body including a vaporisable substance located in use in a heating compartment of the heating assembly, the heating assembly being arranged to supply, in use, power to the heating device to heat the body; a temperature sensor arranged to monitor, in use, a temperature related to heat generated from the body, temperature information related to heat generated from the body being determinable from the monitored temperature; and a memory accessor arranged to access, in use, a memory that holds a relationship between the temperature information, the amount of power supplied to the heating device or the profile of power supplied to the heating device, and at least one condition including an age of the body, or a type of the body, or the presence of the body.

A modular multi-channel syringe pump assembly includes a chassis in which are mounted two or more parallel syringe banks. Each syringe bank includes a syringe for retaining a fluid in a chamber with a syringe plunger for drawing fluid into or forcing fluid out of the chamber. A syringe drive actuator includes a syringe drive motor and a mechanical linkage for activating the syringe. At least one position sensor detects syringe position and generates a position signal corresponding to the syringe position. A controller receives the position signal for each syringe bank and generates control signals for operation of the two or more syringe banks.

An in-ground geothermal heat pump (GHP) closed loop optimization method is disclosed for designing, analyzing, optimizing, controlling, and simulating a detailed model and analysis of a building's in-ground geothermal heat pump system, including borehole length, number of boreholes, heat pump capacity, grid layout, total electric operating costs, efficiency ratios, and hybrid designs, among others. In one aspect of the disclosure described herein, the GHP optimization method can reliably and efficiently predict and optimized the fluctuations of the GHP equipment performance in very small increments which enable the determination of energy consumption and demand information on a specific and unique hourly schedule basis for the building design, including incorporating thermal load data for each individual zone of the building. More specifically, the small increment method here can be used to eliminate overly broad approximations by evaluating GHP performance that is specific to building dynamics, constants, and variables for all of the building individual zones and the building's hourly operating schedule, thereby providing an efficient, reliable, simple, and effective geothermal heat pump design and simulation model.

A system for heating water to improve safety and efficiency. The system may have normal operation measured in time. After a time of normal operation, a water temperature setpoint may be checked. If the setpoint is not at a certain level, normal operation may continue. If the setpoint is within the certain level, water temperature may be measured. If the water temperature is less than a desired level, one or more draws of water may be measured for a preset temperature drop. If the draws do not meet the temperature drop, a return to check the setpoint may be made. If the draws meet the temperature drop, the setpoint may be reduced and a time of normal operation may be measured to determine whether a burn cycle occurs within the time. If not, normal operation may continue; but if so, a return to check the setpoint may be made.

A system for heating water to improve safety and efficiency. The system may have normal operation measured in time. After a time of normal operation, a water temperature setpoint may be checked. If the setpoint is not at a certain level, normal operation may continue. If the setpoint is within the certain level, water temperature may be measured. If the water temperature is less than a desired level, one or more draws of water may be measured for a preset temperature drop. If the draws do not meet the temperature drop, a return to check the setpoint may be made. If the draws meet the temperature drop, the setpoint may be reduced and a time of normal operation may be measured to determine whether a burn cycle occurs within the time. If not, normal operation may continue; but if so, a return to check the setpoint may be made.

A heating assembly for a vapour generating device includes a heating device arranged to heat, in use, a body, the body including a vaporisable substance located in use in a heating compartment of the heating assembly, the heating assembly being arranged to supply, in use, power to the heating device to heat the body; a temperature sensor arranged to monitor, in use, a temperature related to heat generated from the body, temperature information related to heat generated from the body being determinable from the monitored temperature; and a memory accessor arranged to access, in use, a memory that holds a relationship between the temperature information, the amount of power supplied to the heating device or the profile of power supplied to the heating device, and at least one condition including an age of the body, or a type of the body, or the presence of the body.