A water heating assembly, related kit, use and method make use of a temperature control near a point of use of water, so as to reduce a time response for hot water at this point of use are provided. The water heating assembly includes a tank for containing water, an inlet temperature sensor for sensing an inlet temperature of the water upstream of the tank, and a valve located upstream of the tank. The valve is actuated when the sensed inlet temperature reaches a given temperature set-point such that the water is bypassed from the tank and directly sent to the point of use. The water heating assembly is configured such that the point of use can be fed with water at the desired temperature in a reduced time, the water coming directly from the hot water source and/or the water heating assembly, thereby saving water, energy and time.

Disclosed are system 100 and method of energy efficient hot and cold water management. The system 100 comprises: a control unit 101 for dynamically controlling the functioning of the system 100; at least a water storage tank 102 with at least one of a water level sensor, at least a heating element 1021, at least a temperature sensor 1022 or any combination thereof; at least an auxiliary water storage tank 103 with at least one of a water level sensor, at least a temperature sensor 1032; at least a water mixer unit 105 having at least a temperature sensor 1051; a user interface unit 1012 for controlling and monitoring different parameters including temperature, water level, opening and closing of valves 108 and 109; and a power supply with power backup unit 104 for providing basic power for proper functioning of the system 100.

The invention relates to a sensible heat storage apparatus that comprises a core material that can be heated to a high temperature while it has been placed in a heat transfer fluid that absorbs essentially all the heat that is lost by any heat leakages from the core material. Accordingly, there is a very low, or almost absent overall heat loss, even though the sensible heat storage apparatus can store heat at a very high temperature. The gist of the invention is further that the high amount of heat can gradually be transferred to the HTF, which heat can in turn be put to use for domestic applications (e.g. domestic hot water and/or space heating) or for steam generation.

A heat pump water heater and systems and methods for its control. The systems are configured to heat water within a water storage tank of a heat pump water heater wherein a controller within the system is operatively connected to a plurality of heat sources including at least one electric heating element and a heat pump and sensors in order to selectively energize one of the plurality of heat sources. The controller is configure to process data representative of the temperature of water within the tank near the top of the water storage tank, and rate of water flowing out of the water storage tank, in order to automatically selectively energize the heat sources. The selection of heat sources by the controller is determined by a mode of operation selected by the user and the data processed by the controller in view of the selected mode of operation.

A hybrid water heater incudes a storage tank, a first temperature sensor, a tankless heater fluidly coupled to the storage tank, and a controller configured to determine a target output temperature range for the tankless heater based on a temperature setpoint, measure a temperature of hot water stored in an upper portion of the storage tank using the first temperature sensor, determine whether the measured temperature of the hot water is less than a first minimum temperature setpoint, generate an adjusted target output temperature range for the tankless heater based on a determination that the measured temperature is less than the first minimum temperature by increasing a value of both the lower threshold and the upper threshold, and control the tankless heater to produce the heated water according to the adjusted target output temperature range.

A water heater system includes an intermediate water heater having a storage tank in which water is initially received at an initial temperature. The intermediate water heater is controllable to heat the water to an intermediate temperature that is higher than the initial temperature. The water heater system also includes at least one point-of-use water heater coupled to the intermediate water heater for receiving the water from the intermediate water heater after the water has been heated to the intermediate temperature. The point-of-use heater is controllable to heat the received water to a point-of-use temperature, the point-of-use temperature being higher than the intermediate temperature.

An electric water heater having a water holding tank defined by a cylindrical side wall, a top wall and a dome-shaped bottom wall. A cold water inlet is disposed for releasing water under pressure in a lower portion of the tank. Two or more resistive heating elements heat water in an upper and lower region of the tank. The lower portion of the cylindrical side wall and the outer circumferential portion of the dome-shape bottom wall form a circumferential cavitated area inside the tank in which sediments deposit forming a bed in which bacteria can proliferate. A conduit is secured about at least a substantial circumferential portion of an outer surface of the cylindrical side wall adjacent the cavitated area. A resistive heating wire is disposed in the conduit and has connection leads extending out of a free open end of the conduit to an access area to provide connection to power terminals and a control for controlling the supply of power to the resistive heating wire.

A smart circulation control instantaneous-heating storage heat exchanger includes a heat exchanger, a cold-water pipe, a hot-water pipe, an internal circulation pipe, and a control unit. The heat exchanger includes a storage space. The internal circulation pipe includes a two-way valve and a circulation pump. The control unit is connected to the two-way valve and the circulation pump. The internal circulation pipe functions to return a part of heated water back to the storage space to enhance thermal conversion efficiency and save energy and improve controllability. Positions for supplying cold water and returning water are made at different sites, and the circulation pump and the internal circulation pipe are used to selectively execute functions of anti-freezing, pre-heating, and heat balancing. An external circulation pipe is additionally included such that by means of the two-way valve and the circulation pump, switching can be made between internal and external circulations.

A heating and hot-water-supply apparatus is provided with: a control unit that performs control on the basis of detection parameters of a plurality of detection means installed at the aforementioned locations and a setting parameter set in an operation unit. The distribution means can adjust the distribution ratio so as to correspond to a heating operation, a hot-water supply operation, and the simultaneous heating and hot-water-supply operation. The control unit prohibits the simultaneous heating and hot-water-supply operation in a case in which the required heating capacity for the hot-water supply operation calculated on the basis of the detection parameters and the setting parameter is equal to or greater than a predetermined standard capacity.

An electric water heater is described and wherein the bottom portion of the water holding tank is provided with various forms of electric heating elements to heat the water in the lowermost region of the tank adjacent the dome-shaped bottom wall to a temperature sufficient to prevent the proliferation of bacteria growth such as the Legionella bacteria in such lowermost region. The insulating foam support base of the water heater also provides a thermal barrier to the heating elements while biasing the heating element on the dome-shaped bottom wall in a region to insure excellent heat transfer to the cavitated zone surrounding the dome-shaped bottom wall where sedimentary deposits occur to create a culture medium for bacteria growth.