US-12624861-B2 - Methods and systems for modulating energy usage

US12624861B2US 12624861 B2US12624861 B2US 12624861B2US-12624861-B2

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method of modulating energy consumption by a water provision system installed in a building, the water provision system comprising 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 thermal energy storage medium to one or more water outlets and further configured to supply heated water to a central heating system configured to raise an indoor temperature of the building, the method being performed by the control module and comprising: determining a level of energy demands of a geographical region comprising the building; and upon determining that the level of energy demands is low, operating the heat pump to store thermal energy in the thermal energy storage medium, and operating the water provision system to supply heated water to the central heating system using thermal energy stored in the thermal energy storage medium.

Inventors

Peter Konowalczyk

Assignees

OCTOPUS ENERGY HEATING LIMITED

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20220207
Priority Date: 20210207

Claims (14)

1 . A non-transitory computer-implemented method of modulating energy consumption by a water provision system installed in a building structure, the water provision system comprising a heat pump configured to transfer thermal energy from outside the building structure to a thermal energy storage medium inside the building structure 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 one or more water outlets and further configured to supply heated water to a central heating system configured to raise an indoor temperature of the building structure, the non-transitory computer-implemented method being performed by the control module and comprising: determining a level of energy demands of a geographical region comprising the building structure; and upon determining that the level of energy demands is low, operating the heat pump to store thermal energy in the thermal energy storage medium, and operating the water provision system to supply heated water to the central heating system using thermal energy stored in the thermal energy storage medium so as to heat the building structure, whereby the building structure is usable as a thermal energy buffer in addition to, or as an alternative to, the thermal energy storage medium; or upon determining that the level of energy demands is high, extracting thermal energy stored in the building structure as a result of raising the indoor temperature of the building structure.
2 . The non-transitory computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the heat pump is operated until the thermal energy storage reaches a predetermined operating temperature.
3 . The non-transitory computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the heat pump is operated until the thermal energy storage reaches a temperature higher than a predetermined operating temperature.
4 . The non-transitory computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the predetermined operating temperature is in a range between 47° C. and 49° C.
5 . The non-transitory computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising continue monitoring the level of energy demands of the geographical region.
6 . The non-transitory computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising upon determining that the level of energy demands has changed from low to high, cease to operate the heat pump.
7 . The non-transitory computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the water provision system is operated to supply heated water to the central heating system using thermal energy stored in the thermal energy storage medium until the indoor temperature reaches a predetermined indoor temperature.
8 . The non-transitory computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the water provision system comprises at least one electrical heating element configured to heat water for provision by the water provision system.
9 . The non-transitory computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising, upon determining that the level of energy demands is low, operating the at least one electrical heating element to supply heated water to the central heating system.
10 . The non-transitory computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the level of energy demands is determined based on tariff data obtained from an energy supplier.
11 . The non-transitory computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the level of energy demands is determined to be low when the tariff data indicates an off-peak tariff.
12 . A control module for controlling operation of a water provision system installed in a building structure, the water provision system comprising a heat pump configured to transfer thermal energy to a thermal energy storage medium, the water provision system being configured to provide water heated by the thermal energy storage medium to one or more water outlets, the control module being configured to carry out the non-transitory computer-implemented method of claim 1 .
13 . A water provision system for provisioning water to one or more water outlets disposed within a building structure and to supply heated water to a central heating system configured to raise an indoor temperature of the building structure, comprising: a thermal energy storage disposed inside the building structure configured to store thermal energy; a heat exchanger arranged proximal to the thermal energy storage configured to heat water for provision by the water provision system using thermal energy stored in the thermal energy storage; a heat pump configured to transfer thermal energy from outside the building structure to the thermal energy storage; and a control module configured to control operation of the water provision system, the control module further configured to: determine a level of energy demands of a geographical region comprising the building structure; and upon determining that the level of energy demands is low, operate the heat pump to store thermal energy in the thermal energy storage medium, and operate the water provision system to supply heated water to the central heating system using thermal energy stored in the thermal energy storage medium so as to heat the building structure, whereby the building structure is usable as a thermal energy buffer in addition to, or as an alternative to, the thermal energy storage medium; or upon determining that the level of energy demands is high, extract thermal energy stored in the building structure as a result of raising the indoor temperature of the building structure.
14 . A computer program stored on a computer readable non-transitory storage medium for, when executed on a computer system, instructing the computer system to carry out the non-transitory computer-implemented method according to claim 1 .

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a U.S. national stage application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Patent Application No. PCT/IB2022/051076, filed Feb. 7, 2022, which claims priority from GB Application No. 2111078.8, filed on Aug. 2, 2021, GB Application No. 2109600.3, filed on Jul. 2, 2021, GB Application No. 2109599.7, filed on Jul. 2, 2021, GB Application No. 2109598.9, filed on Jul. 2, 2021, GB Application No. 2109597.1, filed on Jul. 2, 2021, GB Application No. 2109596.3, filed on Jul. 2, 2021, GB Application No. 2109594.8, filed on Jul. 2, 2021, GB Application No. 2109593.0, filed on Jul. 2, 2021, and GB Application No. 2101678.7, filed on Feb. 7, 2021, all of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety. The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for managing utility consumption. In particular the present disclosure relates to methods and systems for actively modulating water and/or energy consumption in a domestic setting, as well as commercial, public and other settings with water and/or energy provisions. BACKGROUND Whether it is in a commercial or domestic setting, heated water is required throughout the day all year round. It goes without saying that the provision of heated water requires both clean water and a source of heat. To provide heated water, a heating system is provided to an often centralised water provision system to heat water up to a predetermined temperature e.g. set by a user, and the heat source used is conventionally one or more electric heating elements or burning of natural gas. Generally, during periods of high energy (e.g. gas or electricity) demand utilities providers would implement a peak tariff which increases the unit cost of energy, partly to cover the additional cost of having to purchase more energy to supply to customers and partly to discourage unnecessary energy usage. Then, during periods of low energy demand utilities providers would implement an off-peak tariff which lowers the unit cost of energy to incentivise customers to switch to using energy during these off-peak periods instead of peak periods to achieve an overall more balanced energy consumption over time. However, such strategies are only effective if customers are always aware of the changes in tariffs and in addition make a conscious effort to modify their energy consumption habits. Clean water as utility is currently receiving much attention. As clean water becoming scarcer, there has been much effort to educate the public on the conservation of clean water as well as development of systems and devices that reduce water consumption, such as aerated showers and taps to reduce water flow, showers and taps equipped with motion sensors that stop the flow of water when no motion is detected, etc. However, these systems and devices are restricted to a single specific use and only have limited impact on problematic water consumption habits. With growing concerns over the environmental impact of energy consumption, there has been a recent growing interest in the use of heat pump technologies as a way of providing domestic heated water. A heat pump is a device that transfers thermal energy from a source of heat to a thermal reservoir. Although a heat pump requires electricity to accomplish the work of transferring thermal energy from the heat source to the thermal reservoir, it is generally more efficient than electrical resistance heaters (electrical heating elements) as it typically has a coefficient of performance of at least 3 or 4. This means under equal electricity usage 3 or 4 times the amount of heat can be provided to users via heat pumps compared to electrical resistance heaters. The heat transfer medium that carries the thermal energy is known as a refrigerant. Thermal energy from the air (e.g. outside air, or air from a hot room in the house) or a ground source (e.g. ground loop or water filled borehole) is extracted by a receiving heat exchanger and transferred to a contained refrigerant. The now higher energy refrigerant is compressed, causing it to raise temperature considerably, where this now hot refrigerant exchanges thermal energy via a heat exchanger to a heating water loop. In the context of heated water provision, heat extracted by the heat pump can be transferred to a water in an insulated tank that acts as a thermal energy storage, and the heated water may be used at a later time when needed. The heated water may be diverted to one or more water outlets, e.g. a tap, a shower, a radiator, as required. However, a heat pump generally requires more time compared to electrical resistance heaters to get water up to the desired temperature. Since different households, workplaces and commercial spaces have different requirements and preferences for heated water usage, new ways of heated water provision are desirable in order to enable heat pumps to be a practical alternative to electrical heaters. Moreover, in order to conserve energy a