The disclosed technology includes an on-demand water heater which uses an electric heat source to heat the water. The on-demand water heater can have a low fluid capacity heating chamber which has an inlet and an outlet, an electric heat source for heating the water, and a controller to control the electric heat source and maintain the temperature of the water at a predetermined temperature setting. The on-demand water heater can be powered by a direct current power source. The on-demand water heater can also utilize a solar thermal system to provide additional heat to the water.

A hot water supply device (10) is provided with: a first device (for example, a kitchen remote controller (13)) for performing control relating to hot water supply; a second device (for example, a water heater (11)) that is communicably connected to the first device and performs control relating to hot water supply; and a communication unit that is provided in the first device and can be connected to an external communication network. The first device divides data of control software of the second device acquired from an external device (for example, a server (50)) via the communication unit, into a plurality of parts, and transmits to the second device.

A device to store energy includes a phase change material (PCM), with a phase change temperature Tc, contained in a sealed container and constituting a storage core. A source to exchange heat with the PCM, at a temperature TA, to cause a phase change of the PCM. A recuperator to exchange heat with the PCM, at a temperature TB, to cause a phase change of the PCM in the opposite direction to the phase change produced by the source. A controller to control the heat flows between the PCM, the source and the recuperator. An apertured support in contact with the PCM in the sealed container and in thermal contact with the source and the recuperator.

A method for controlling a distribution temperature of domestic hot water implemented in a management unit of an installation for producing domestic hot water and including steps for obtaining mean temperatures of the distributed hot water, determined by time ranges and measured by one or more divisional distribution meters in the course of a reference period; obtaining a minimum value and a maximum value of these temperature averages in order to determine a temperature condition of the distributed hot water from at least the maximum value or the minimum value, and from at least one predefined temperature threshold, and, if the distribution condition determined is met, sending a sequence controlling the production temperature to the production installation. Also, a distribution installation, a distribution meter and a unit for managing the distribution of domestic hot water.

A method for controlling a distribution temperature of domestic hot water implemented in a management unit of an installation for producing domestic hot water and including steps for obtaining mean temperatures of the distributed hot water, determined by time ranges and measured by one or more divisional distribution meters in the course of a reference period; obtaining a minimum value and a maximum value of these temperature averages in order to determine a temperature condition of the distributed hot water from at least the maximum value or the minimum value, and from at least one predefined temperature threshold, and, if the distribution condition determined is met, sending a sequence controlling the production temperature to the production installation. Also, a distribution installation, a distribution meter and a unit for managing the distribution of domestic hot water.

A method for controlling a water heater is provided. The method includes: controlling operation of a blower when a first condition is satisfied; and controlling an air outlet to be partially or fully opened according to a first parameter or a first instruction. Furthermore, a device for controlling a water heater is provided, including a processor and a memory having program instructions stored thereon. When the program instructions are executed, the processor performs the method for controlling the water heater. Moreover, the water heater is provided, including a housing, a blower, an air-out channel, a heating part, and the device for controlling the water heater.

A hot water supply device (10) is provided with: a first device (for example, a kitchen remote controller (13)) for performing control relating to hot water supply; a second device (for example, a water heater (11)) that is communicably connected to the first device and performs control relating to hot water supply; and a communication unit that is provided in the first device and can be connected to an external communication network. The first device divides data of control software of the second device acquired from an external device (for example, a server (50)) via the communication unit, into a plurality of parts, and transmits to the second device.

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.

The present invention improves the user-friendliness of a hot-water supply apparatus when using hot water supply and air conditioning. A switching control unit 27, which switches between heat medium flow paths 4 and 5 according to an air conditioning ready state or a hot-water supply ready state, switches a heat medium flow path to the hot-water supply ready state by a switching valve 21 in the case where air conditioning is not used by the time an air conditioning standby time elapses during standby in the air conditioning ready state.

A system for regulating a building energy supply and distribution installation, the installation including items of energy collection equipment, each of which is in an energy transfer relationship with a respective source; items of energy transformation equipment powered by the collection equipment; items of energy using equipment; the regulation system configured for defining, for the items of equipment, different respective activation states chosen according to parameters, for optimizing with regard to criteria. The system implements a method in the installation, with the following steps: regulation is performed by placing the items of equipment in respective activation states chosen according to demand and parameters, for the purpose of optimizing with regard to criteria; at an intervention instant of regulation, regulation takes forecasts relating to at least one of the parameters into account, the forecasts relating to a period after the intervention instant. A related installation includes the regulation system.