FIELD OF INVENTION

[001] The present invention relates to the field of electrical water heaters. The present invention in particular relates to an electrical water heater and sensorless methodology to gauge the electrical water heater health.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

[002] In a typical electrical water heater using a heating element, the element efficiency degrades over time due to accumulation of salts present in the water which in turn reduces the heating efficiency. The speed at which the heating efficiency will degrade will depend upon a) initial condition of the heating element b) quality of water c) amount of time for which unit is turned on d) temperature setting e) inlet water temperature. Given the multiple factors involved, and the complexity of the relationships between the factors, it can vary significantly from household to household, geography to geography. Given the failure mode in this case is severe (no hot water or very inefficient heating), it is important to know the health of the heating element without opening the water heater itself. Traditional methodologies will involve the usage of some sensors (e.g. water quality) but still may not predict the life that is left in the element and even so, will add to cost significantly.

[003] Patent No. 7,804,047 discloses a method and apparatus for determining a health status of a water heating device. The water heating device may have a controller that incorporates logic to regulate the heater responsive to water temperatures detected at different areas within the water heating device by first and second sensors. To detect fault conditions or otherwise determine the heath status of the water heating device, a logic unit in the controller may perform a test on the first and/or second sensors so as to provide a test output. The logic unit may also determine whether the test output satisfies one or more predetermined thresholds.

[004] Publication No. CN105069276 (A) discloses an electric water heater magnesium rod consumption condition assessment method, system and server; the method comprises the following steps: the server obtains a mobile number or position information of a mobile terminal; the server obtains a mobile terminal user location region according to the mobile terminal mobile number or position information; the server obtains water quality information of the user location region, and determines the life of the electric water heater magnesium rod according to the water quality; the server obtains a present time and a starting time of the electric water heater magnesium rod, and calculates a usage time period of the electric water heater magnesium rod according to the present time and the starting time; the server determines remaining time of the electric water heater magnesium rod according to the life and usage time period of the electric water heater magnesium rod, and pushes the information to the mobile terminal. The method allows the user to check the electric water heater magnesium rod usage conditions; after the electric water heater magnesium rod is consumed, the user can timely replace the electric water heater magnesium rod, thus reducing water leakage conditions caused by a corroded inner container.

[005] Publication No. JP2010002146 (A) discloses a water heater enabling effective and planned repair and inspection by informing a remaining service life time after which a component outlives its usefulness and is incapable of preventing failure. The water heater is provided with a measuring means for measuring use time of each component; a storage means for storing a predetermined service life time with respect to each component; a calculation means for calculating a remaining service life time with respect to each component by subtracting the use time from the service life time; and an informing means for informing the remaining service life time.

[006] US Publication No. 20070246551 discloses a water heater having a modular control system. The water heater comprises a tank, a heating element, a first controller, and a second controller. The heating element is coupled to the tank. The first controller is mounted on the tank and has a first communication port. The second controller has a second communication port communicatively coupled to the first communication port of the first controller. The first controller is configured to control the heating element in accordance with any desired algorithm in an absence of the second controller, and the second controller is configured to perform at least one function in addition to or in lieu of the first controller. Once the controllers are interfaced, the control logic begins monitoring the heating element to define a usage history of the element. The control logic may be configured to notify the control logic each time the heating element is activated or deactivated. Based on these notifications, the control logic can define the heating element's usage history.

[007] However, some of the sensorless methods available involving logic units are predicting the life of the heating element or service time based on quality of the water regionally. This approach is very generic as the water quality is predicted based on regional information which may vary case to case basis and does not provide information specifically for each heater.

[008] Further the prior arts are predicting service time or life of the heater or heating element based on its working time or working hour. These are not taking into account temperature of heated water at all.

[009] The present invention aims to provide sensorless methodology to gauge electrical water heater health based on the time to raise the temperature of water from a particular point to another point. The present invention can be used in a standalone electronic water heater and/or with a connected/remotely controllable water heater with the algorithm embedded within the water heater or a smart phone or in a remote server such as a ‘cloud”. The scope of the invention includes displaying the water heater health information either at the water heater and/or a mobile/web application.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The principal object of the present invention is to provide an electrical water heater system and a method to predict the life of the heating element.

[0011] Another object of the present invention is to provide heating element health status regularly and every time the water heater is being used.

[0012] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a sensorless way of measuring water heating element health.

[0013] Still another object of the present invention is to provide water heater health based on the time to raise the temperature of water from a particular point to another point.

[0014] Another object of the present invention is to predict heating element health so that consumer can optimize usage of water heater.

[0015] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide prediction of heating element health so that consumer can take preventive maintenance measure just in time.

[0016] Yet another object of the present invention is to use the invention in a “connected aka IoT” water heater platform that includes the heating device, a smart mobile phone and cloud based servers. The information processed can be delivered to the end user by a variety of means including dashboards, push notifications, emails, SMS etc.

[0017] At the outset of the description that follows, it is to be understood that the ensuing description only illustrates a particular form of this invention. However, such a particular form is only an exemplary embodiment and is not intended to be taken restrictively to imply any limitation on the scope of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0018] The present invention provides an electrical water heater system and a method to predict the life of the heating element by using an algorithm based on time and temperature and in doing so, provide a prompt to do maintenance in time. The invention predicts the life of element taking the parameters into considerations individually and specifically for each water heater.

[0019] Health status of heating element is calculated at pre-determined intervals based on time taken to raise the temperature of water from one point to another point. This includes using slope calculations at different time and temperature intervals to ensure accurate gauging of the water heater heating health. The present invention can be used in a standalone electronic water heater and/or with a connected/remotely controllable water heater with the algorithm embedded within the water heater or a smart phone or in a remote server such as a ‘cloud”. The scope of the invention includes displaying the water heater health information either at the water heater and/or a mobile/web application. The invention may be used in a “connected aka IoT” water heater platform that includes the heating device, a smart mobile phone and cloud based servers. The information processed can be delivered to the end user by a variety of means including dashboards, push notifications, emails, SMS etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of the present subject matter and are therefore not to be considered for limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

[0021] Fig1 – shows the block diagram of the system according to the present invention.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0022] It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative systems embodying the principles of the present subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

[0023] In the present disclosure, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

[0024] While the present disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however that it is not intended to limit the present disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the present disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the spirit and the scope of the present disclosure.

[0025] The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or apparatus.

[0026] In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

[0027] Referring to Fig. 1, a system (100) to gauge health of heating element of an electrical water heater is disclosed. The system (100) comprises of a time module (10) configured to evaluate the time difference (?t) of heating water to a particular temperature (T1 and T2) between successive intervals (t1 and t2) wherein t is the time taken to heat water and T is the temperature to which water is heated.

[0028] The system (100) further comprises of a temperature module (20) configured to evaluate the temperature difference (?T) between successive intervals (T1 and T2) corresponding to time t1 and t2 respectively.

[0029] An assessment module (30) is also configured to evaluate a factor (f1-n) based upon ?T and ?t. Preferably, the factor (f1-n) is the ratio between ?t/?T.

[0030] Time (t) is further a function of ?T and the scaling of the water heating element. In other words, t = f (?T, scaling). The scaling of the water heater element is dependent on lot of external factors such as, but not limiting to, the geographical location of the water heater, the environmental conditions around water heater, the usage profile i.e. the number of users, the number of hours the water heater is in use, the type of water (the pH value of the input water) and the voltage supplied to the water heater, etc.

[0031] The system (100) resides partially or fully a cloud network or the electrical heater.

[0032] A comparison module (40) is also configured to compare the factor (f) with a set of predefined data or previously evaluated factor (f). The values of f and the predefined data are stored in an internal memory or a database in the cloud or on the water heater to which the comparison module (40) is communicably connected through a wireless or a wired network. The wireless or a wired network may be an Internet of Things (IOT).

[0033] A display module (50) is also configured to display the health of heating element on user device and/or the water heater. The user device could be a portable or hand-held communication device such as pager, mobile phone, satellite phone or the like. The output associated with the display module (50) is one of dashboards, push notifications, emails, SMS, audio, video and tactile.

[0034] The system (100) is a sensorless system for gauging the health of water heating element.

[0035] The different modules (10, 20, 30,40 & 50) as described with respect to the system (100) are interconnected with each other and are configured to send and receive instructions and data from each other.

[0036] It should be noted that the description and figures merely illustrate the principles of the present subject matter. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present subject matter. It should also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that by devising various assembly that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the present subject matter and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the present subject matter, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures.

[0037] These and other advantages of the present subject matter would be described in greater detail with reference to the following figures. It should be noted that the description merely illustrates the principles of the present subject matter. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its scope.

[0038] It will be further appreciated that functions or structures of a plurality of components or steps may be combined into a single component or step, or the functions or structures of one-step or component may be split among plural steps or components. The present invention contemplates all of these combinations. Unless stated otherwise, dimensions and geometries of the various structures depicted herein are not intended to be restrictive of the invention, and other dimensions or geometries are possible. In addition, while a feature of the present invention may have been described in the context of only one of the illustrated embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of other embodiments, for any given application. It will also be appreciated from the above that the fabrication of the unique structures herein and the operation thereof also constitute methods in accordance with the present invention. The present invention also encompasses intermediate and end products resulting from the practice of the methods herein. The use of “comprising” or “including” also contemplates embodiments that “consist essentially of” or “consist of” the recited feature.

[0039] Although embodiments for the present subject matter have been described in language specific to structural features, it is to be understood that the present subject matter is not necessarily limited to the specific features described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as embodiments for the present subject matter. Numerous modifications and adaptations of the system/component of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and thus it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and adaptations which fall within the scope of the present subject matter.

We Claim:
1. A system (100) to gauge health of heating element of an electrical heater, comprising:
A time module (10) configured to evaluate the time difference (?t) between successive intervals (t1 and t2);
A temperature module (20) configured to evaluate the temperature difference (?T) between successive intervals (T1 and T2) corresponding to t1 and t2 respectively;
An assessment module (30) configured to evaluate a factor (f1-n) based upon ?T and ?t;
A comparison module (40) configured to compare the factor (f) with a set of predefined data or previously evaluated factor (f); and
A display module (50) configured to display the health of heating element on user device.

2. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system (100) resides partially or fully on a cloud network or the electrical heater.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system (100) is communicably connected through a wireless or a wired network.
4. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system (100) includes a database or a memory configured to store the factors (f1-n), ?T, ?t and pre defined data.

5. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein ?t is a factor dependent on ?T and scaling of the heating element.

6. The system (100) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the scaling is depends upon the geographical location, usage profile, type of water, voltage, number of users.

7. The system (100) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the wired or wireless network is an Internet of Things (IoT).

8. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system (100) does not have any sensor for gauging the health of water heating element.

9. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein an output associated with the display module (50) is one of dashboards, push notifications, emails, SMS, audio, video and tactile.

10. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the output associated with the display module (50) is displayed on a portable device or hand-held device or the water heater.