Patent ID: 9291383
Filing Date: 2016-03-22
CPC Classification: F25B,F25D

Claim Text:
1. A refrigerator comprising: a housing enclosing a cooled storage compartment, the housing comprising a mullion; at least one sensor configured to detect moisture on a region of the housing, the region being one or more areas of the housing where moisture tends to form including the mullion, the region having less insulation relative to adjacent regions of the housing; at least one anti-sweat heater located in said region and configured to heat said region, the at least one anti-sweat heater comprising an active mode and an inactive mode; a controller operatively connected to one or more power consuming features/functions of the refrigerator, the controller configured to communicate with the at least one sensor to monitor moisture in said region, and receive and process a demand response signal from a utility and in response thereto operate the refrigerator in one of a plurality of operating modes including at least a normal operating mode and an energy savings mode when the demand response signal evokes an energy savings response, wherein the at least one anti-sweat heater is set to the active mode when the refrigerator is in the normal operating mode, and to the inactive mode when the refrigerator is in the energy savings mode, and wherein if the at least one sensor detects a level of moisture exceeding a predetermined acceptable level when the anti-sweat heater is inactive in the energy savings mode, the controller is configured to override the energy savings response and automatically set the anti-sweat heater to the active mode for at least a predetermined time to remove moisture.