Patent Description:
Unfortunately, this type of system cannot anticipate frozen precipitation so the heating system must be over-sized so it can quickly heat-up and overcome any accumulation that has occurred from the time the precipitation was first detected to the time the system gained sufficient heat to melt the snow or ice. This can be problematic, especially for snow melt heating systems that are embedded in concrete. Such systems must be sized sufficiently large to quickly heat the concrete slab to begin melting the snow and ice. This adds additional cost in materials and energy to provide such a quick heat-up. This delay in heat-up leads to unsafe accumulation of snow and ice. In addition, the snow detector must be placed on or near the structure to be heated, which requires additional labor and material to run control wiring out to the structure. Further, the sensors are more susceptible to damage when placed at the scene of the structure due to exposure to the environment or physical damage from a snow plow, for example. <CIT> Al discloses a controller for a heat pump system. The heat pump system is configured to operate at least two defrost cycles. The controller is configured to receive weather data for a defined geographic area proximate to an installed location of the heat pump system; and select, based on said weather data, one of the at least two defrost cycles. <NPL>, discloses a statistical analysis of meteorological data for icing and ice shedding on overhead power-line conductors. The analysis aimed at establishing shape and statistical parameters of the transfer functions representing the correlations between hourly icing rate and the variations of the following meteorological variables. The set of fitting regression curves obtained is the statistical base for creating an empirical probabilistic icing, and ice shedding model for studying and forecasting atmospheric-icing loads on overhead power-line conductors. Further relevant prior art document is <CIT>. The present invention is defined by the independent claims <NUM> and <NUM>.

The present invention is directed to an apparatus according to claim <NUM> and a method according to claim <NUM> for heating a structure during frozen precipitation (snow or ice). The apparatus comprises a heater for heating the structure, a control unit for controlling the operational state of the heater (e.g., On or Off), and a processor-based frozen precipitation forecast sensor. The frozen precipitation forecast sensor is programmed to receive weather data for the geographic region in which the structure to be heated is located and, based on the received weather data, determine whether precipitation is occurring in a geographic zone
around the structure. When frozen precipitation is detected in the zone, the frozen precipitation forecast sensor sends a command signal to the control unit that the heater should be in the On state. Conversely, if no precipitation is detected in the zone, the frozen precipitation forecast sensor sends a command signal to the control unit that the heater should be in the Off state.

The frozen precipitation forecast sensor can receive the weather data from reliable weather data sources, such as Internet-connected weather service servers and/or radio broadcasts that transmit digital weather codes. That way, the frozen precipitation forecast sensor does not need to be physically located at the scene of the structure being heated. Further, the frozen precipitation can be detected before it actually begins precipitating at the structure, so long as the frozen precipitation is detected in the geographic zone around the structure. These and other benefits and embodiments of the present invention will be apparent from the description that follows.

Various embodiments of the present invention are described herein in connection with the following figures, wherein:.

A heating apparatus can be a snow melt heating system used to melt the snow and/or ice accumulation from structures that are impaired by snow and/or ice accumulation or where snow and/or ice accumulation is otherwise undesirous due to safety, reliability, convenience or other reasons, such as roofs, gutters, driveways, sidewalks, train tracks, roadways, etc. <FIG> and <FIG> are block diagrams, according to various embodiments of the present invention, of heating apparatuses <NUM> according to claim <NUM> with a frozen precipitation forecast sensor <NUM> (sometimes referred to hereinafter as the "sensor <NUM>") that detects whether frozen precipitation is expected in a near-term time horizon based on weather data that the sensor <NUM> receives. When the sensor <NUM> determines that frozen precipitation is expected in a near-term time horizon, it sends a signal to the control unit <NUM> of the heating apparatus <NUM> to turn on the heater. That way, the heater is turned on before the frozen precipitation arrives, rather than waiting to turn it on until after there has been substantial accumulation on the structure <NUM>. Further, the sensor <NUM> does not need to be located near the heater or the structure <NUM> being heated, but instead can be located in a safer location to prevent physical damage, such as from snow plows and other equipment or objects that could physically damage the sensor <NUM>. Such remote location of the sensor <NUM> can also reduce installation costs.

The embodiment shown in <FIG> is for an electrical (e.g., resistive) heating system whereas the embodiment shown in <FIG> is for a hydronic system that heats the structure <NUM> with a mixture of hot water and antifreeze. The embodiments shown in <FIG> and <FIG> both include the frozen precipitation forecast sensor <NUM> that is in communication with a control unit <NUM> for the heating apparatus <NUM>. The heater in the embodiment of <FIG> comprises a resistive wire <NUM> that when conducting electricity, generates heat to melt snow and/or ice from the structure <NUM> to be heated. The heater in the embodiment of <FIG> comprises a pipe <NUM> for circulating the heating fluid, where the heat from the fluid melts the snow and/or ice from the structure <NUM>. As mentioned above, the structure <NUM> could be a roof, a gutter, a driveway, a sidewalk, a train track, a roadway, or any other structure where it is desirous to melt away snow and ice for safety or other reasons.

The control unit <NUM> for the resistive heating apparatus of <FIG> may comprise a power source <NUM>, a regulator <NUM>, and a controller <NUM>. The power source <NUM> supplies electrical current to the resistive wire heater <NUM> via the regulator <NUM> and a conducting wire <NUM>, which conducts electrical current to the resistive wire heater <NUM>. The power source <NUM> may be an AC or DC power source. An AC power source can include AC mains power, e.g., <NUM>-<NUM> VAC three phase. A DC power source could comprise a battery, an uninterruptable power supply, or an AC-to-DC power supply, for example. The regulators <NUM> controls the voltage from the power source <NUM> applied to a circuit loop that includes the resistive wire heater <NUM>. In various embodiments, the regulator <NUM> can comprise a silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) or a linear or switching regulator. The controller <NUM> controls whether the regulator <NUM> is on or off, and when it is on, can control the operation of the regulator (e.g., its duty cycle) to thereby control the voltage applied to the connected resistive wire heater <NUM>.

In the embodiment of <FIG>, the control unit comprises a fluid source <NUM>, a pump system <NUM>, and a controller <NUM>. The pump system <NUM> pumps the fluid from the fluid source <NUM> to the heating pipe <NUM> via an insulated pipe system <NUM>. The controller <NUM> controls the valves and pumps of the pump system <NUM> to turn it on and off, and, when turned on, the flow rate and/or temperature of the fluid flowing to the heating pipe <NUM>.

The control units <NUM> of <FIG> and <FIG> may comprise additional components that are not shown for sake of simplicity and clarity. For example, the control unit <NUM> of <FIG> may comprise circuit breakers, ground fault detection circuits, etc. The control unit <NUM> of <FIG> may comprise, for example, valves and/or a heater to heat the fluid, and the controller <NUM> could also control the heater so that the fluid is at the desired temperature.

The controller <NUM> may be implemented as a smart, microprocessor-based, computing device that, through programming, controls the operation of the regulator <NUM> or pump system <NUM>, as the case may be. In that connection, the controller <NUM> may comprise at least one microprocessor and at least one memory unit that stores instructions, e.g., software or firmware, that is executed by the controller's processor(s). The controller <NUM> may control or implement several functions of the control unit through appropriate circuitry and/or programming, including system diagnostics, ground fault detection, sensor manual override (such as for the sensor <NUM>), etc. In addition, as mentioned above, the controller <NUM> can control the whether the regulator <NUM> or pump system <NUM>, as the case may be, is turned on and, if turned on, the voltage or flow rate provided to the heaters <NUM>, <NUM>.

The heating systems could also include feedback loops that control the operation of the heaters <NUM>, <NUM>. That is, the systems could include a temperature sensor(s) (not shown) that detects the temperature of the heater <NUM>, <NUM> and reports the detected temperature back to the controller <NUM>. The controller <NUM> controls the regulator <NUM> or the pump system <NUM> as the case may be to increase or decrease the temperature of the heater <NUM>, <NUM>. Published <CIT>. , discloses heating systems with temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the heating element and reports the sensed temperature back to a control unit.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the heating apparatuses <NUM> comprise the frozen precipitation forecast sensor <NUM>. In various embodiments, the sensor <NUM> receives weather-related data feeds via the Internet and/or radio broadcasts and, based on the received weather-related data, determines whether a frozen precipitation event (e.g., precipitating snow or ice) is expected in a near-term time horizon for the structure <NUM>. When the sensor <NUM> determines that a frozen precipitation event is expected in a near-term time horizon, the sensor <NUM> can transmit a signal to the controller <NUM> of the control unit <NUM> to turn on the heater <NUM>, <NUM>. The controller <NUM> can then turn on the voltage regulator <NUM> or pump system <NUM> as the case may be to commence heat generation by the associated heater <NUM>, <NUM>, so that the heater <NUM>, <NUM> can reach the desired temperature before the frozen precipitation event starts, instead of waiting until after there is a threshold accumulation amount of snow or ice on the structure <NUM> before starting the heaters <NUM>, <NUM>. Allowing more time for the heater <NUM>, <NUM> to heat up in this manner lowers the energy demand of the system. Also, the sensor <NUM> can determine when the frozen precipitation event is expected to end based on the ongoing weather data feed and, at the expected end time, send a signal to the control unit to turn off the heating system. The system could also implement a time delay to leave the heater <NUM>, <NUM> on for a predetermined (e.g., user-defined) time period after the frozen precipitation event is expected to end.

The sensor <NUM> may be in wired or wireless communication with the control unit <NUM>. For a wired connection, the sensor <NUM> is preferably located physically near the control unit <NUM> (e.g., "co-located" with the control unit <NUM>) and the components could be connected by USB, Ethernet or other suitable wired connection types. For a wireless connection, the sensor <NUM> could be located remotely from the control unit <NUM>, with the remoteness dependent upon the capabilities of the wireless communication protocol employed. For example, the sensor <NUM> could be in wireless communication with the control unit <NUM> via a Bluetooth network or an infrastructure or ad hoc WiFi (IEEE <NUM>) network or any other suitable wireless network type (e.g., ZigBee, WiMax, etc.). Whether in wired or wireless communication with the control unit <NUM>, the sensor <NUM> does not need to be physically near the structure <NUM> to sense how much snow and/or ice has accumulated on the structure <NUM>. Instead, the sensor <NUM> could be located remotely from the structure <NUM> in a location where the sensor <NUM> is less likely to be damaged than if it was located near the structure <NUM>.

<FIG> and <FIG> provide a simplified block diagram of the sensor <NUM> according to various embodiments of the present invention. In the illustrated embodiment, the sensor <NUM> comprises an antenna <NUM>, an RF module <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, and a memory unit <NUM>. The antenna <NUM> and RF module <NUM> provide wireless communication capability for the sensor <NUM> so that the sensor <NUM> can receive wireless data from the Internet <NUM> or other type of data network, such as RSS and/or XML feeds of weather-related data. In various embodiments, the sensor <NUM> may be connected to a wireless network (e.g., a Wi-Fi network) provided by a wireless access point (WAP) <NUM> that is connected (e.g., via a router <NUM>) to the Internet <NUM>. In that connection, the RF module <NUM> can be an electronic circuit or device that is in communication with the processor <NUM> and that is used to transmit and receive wireless communications via a wireless communication link <NUM>.

The WAP <NUM> can be part of a wireless network installation in a building that is near or includes the structure <NUM>, although in other embodiments the WAP <NUM> could be part of a wireless network installation that is remote from the structure <NUM>. Also, in other embodiments, the sensor <NUM> could have a wired connection to the router <NUM>, such a via an Ethernet cable connection. Also, instead of being connected to a WiFi or other type of wireless network using a WAP <NUM>, the RF module <NUM> could connect to the Internet <NUM> via a digital cellular network, such as <NUM>, <NUM>, GSM, Edge, UMTS, or LTE cellular networks, for example. Also, in various embodiments, the RF module <NUM> and antenna <NUM> can be replaced with an Ethernet port that connects directly to router <NUM> via an Ethernet cable.

The processor <NUM> of the sensor <NUM> can comprise one or more microprocessors or digital signal processors (DPSs), for example. The memory unit <NUM> can store instructions, e.g., software and/or firmware, that are executed by the processor <NUM>. To that end, the memory unit <NUM> may comprise RAM, ROM or flash memory, or any other suitable primary secondary data storage device or secondary data storage device (including magnetic and/or optical memory devices). In particular, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the memory unit <NUM> may comprise a frozen precipitation forecast module <NUM> (sometimes referred to herein as "the module <NUM>") that comprises software that when executed by the processor <NUM> causes the processor <NUM> to determine, based on the weather data feed, whether there frozen precipitation event expected in the geographic location of the structure <NUM>, including when the frozen precipitation event is expected to commence and end in the geographic location of the structure <NUM>. As mentioned previously, the processor <NUM>, executing the module <NUM>, can send signals to the control unit <NUM> to turn the heating system on and off (or keep it on or off as the case may be).

In various embodiments, the processor <NUM>, through execution of the software of the module <NUM>, periodically fetches the weather-related data from one or more data sources <NUM> (e.g., implemented as servers) on the Internet <NUM>. As mentioned previously, the fetched data could be RSS and/or XML data feeds from Internet-connected weather services host server systems <NUM>. For example, the U. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) currently provides RSS and/or XML weather feeds for approximately <NUM> locations across the U. via Internet-connected weather service servers. The sensor <NUM> can subscribe to the feed(s) for the location that is geographically closest to the structure <NUM> to determine the weather conditions near the structure <NUM> and, in particular, whether there is or expected to be a frozen precipitation event. Other Internet data sources besides the NOAA could also be used. For example, the sensor <NUM> could download the local base reflectivity weather radar from public and/or commercial weather sources and determine from that data if there is frozen precipitation approaching a user-defined zone that includes the structure <NUM>.

<FIG> is a flow chart of an example process flow that can implemented by the processor <NUM> when executing the code of the module <NUM>. At step <NUM>, the processor <NUM> downloads the relevant weather-related data from pre-programmed Internet weather data sources <NUM>. That is, the sensor <NUM> can be provided and store the IP addresses of the desired Internet weather data sources <NUM> and contact those Internet weather data sources <NUM> to fetch the data. At step <NUM>, the processor <NUM> determines if there is, at the present moment, a likelihood that there is frozen precipitation in a pre-defined geographic zone around the structure <NUM> based on the received weather data. <FIG> provides an illustrative example of this determination. <FIG> shows a zone <NUM> around the structure <NUM>. If, from the received weather data, frozen precipitation <NUM> is presently expected to be occurring within the geographic zone <NUM>, then at step <NUM> (see <FIG>), the sensor <NUM> instructs the control unit <NUM> that the heater <NUM>, <NUM> should be in the "on" state (e.g., turn the heater on if it is off, or leave it on if it is already on). On the other hand, if at step <NUM> is determined from the received weather data that frozen precipitation is not presently expected to be occurring within the geographic zone <NUM>, then at step <NUM>, the sensor <NUM> instructs the control unit <NUM> that the heater <NUM>, <NUM> should be in the "off' state (e.g., turn the heater off if it is on, or leave it off if it is already off). From both steps <NUM> and <NUM> the process can advance to step <NUM>, where the sensor <NUM> waits a predefined period of time (e.g., a number of seconds or minutes) before returning to step <NUM> to fetch the weather data again and repeat the process.

At step <NUM>, the processor <NUM> can determine whether the frozen precipitation <NUM> is within the zone <NUM> by determining, from the weather data, whether latitude-longitude coordinates within the zone <NUM> are likely experiencing frozen precipitation at the present moment. The memory unit <NUM> stores latitude-longitude coordinates that are within the zone <NUM>. The weather data can indicate the latitude-longitude coordinates where the frozen precipitation is occurring and when the latitude-longitude coordinates where the frozen precipitation is occurring corresponds to one (or more) of the zone's latitude-longitude coordinates, the processor <NUM> can conclude that there is frozen precipitation within the zone <NUM>. In the example of <FIG> the zone <NUM> is a circle around the structure <NUM> with a radius of, for example, one to several miles (from <NUM> to several kilometers). That way, the occurrence of frozen precipitation can be detected before it reaches the structure <NUM> so that the heater <NUM>, <NUM> can turn on before the snow or ice begins to accumulate. In other embodiments, the structure <NUM> does not need to be located at the center of the zone <NUM>. In addition, in other embodiments the zone does not need to be circular in shape. For example, if weather patterns in the vicinity of the structure <NUM> generally approach from the west, the zone could have a shape, such as an ellipse or oval, that extends further to the west than to the east.

Particularly when the periodicity at which the weather data is fetched is short (e.g., time period of step <NUM>), it may not be desirable to turn off the heater as soon as it is determined that there is no present occurrence of frozen precipitation in the zone. Instead, the sensor <NUM> could wait a delay period before instructing the control unit <NUM> to turn off the heater. <FIG> is flow chart for the sensor <NUM> that is similar to <FIG>, except that the sensor <NUM> waits N time periods (i.e., the time periods for fetching the data) of consecutive determinations of no frozen precipitation before sending a command to turn off the heater. That way, if within those N time periods it is determined at step <NUM> that there is a likelihood of frozen precipitation in the zone, the counter (j in <FIG>) is reset to zero and from that point there would have to be N consecutive time periods of no frozen precipitation before the heater is turned off. In another embodiment, there could also be another counter of consecutive time periods of frozen precipitation before the heater is turned on. Other ways of implementing the delays, besides multiples of the data update time periods, could also be used in various embodiments.

The memory unit <NUM> can also store software that when executed by the processor <NUM>, causes the processor <NUM> to act as a web server so that a user can log into the sensor <NUM> in order to input parameters for the frozen precipitation detection, such as the size and shape of the precipitation zone and location of the sensor <NUM> (e.g., longitude and latitude), as described further herein. In such a manner, the user could program the sensor <NUM> remotely from any suitable device having a web browser (assuming the user is authorized), such as PC, laptop, smartphone, etc. In various embodiments, the sensor <NUM> could have Bluetooth capability that permits the user to program the sensor <NUM> via a Bluetooth connection. Also, in various embodiments, the sensor <NUM> can periodically connect to a "back-end" or administrative server system on the Internet <NUM> so that the sensor <NUM> can check for software updates or data source updates, etc..

Another embodiment of the sensor <NUM> is shown in <FIG>. The sensor <NUM> of <FIG> is similar to that shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, except that the <FIG> embodiment additionally includes a radio antenna <NUM> and a receiver <NUM>, as well as a decoder <NUM> that is in communication with the receiver <NUM> and the processor <NUM>. In such an embodiment, the radio receiver <NUM> can be tuned to pick up a radio broadcast from a radio transmitter <NUM> that transmits digital weather alert codes via radio. For example, NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from the nearest National Weather Service office. NWR broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information <NUM> hours a day, <NUM> days a week. The NWR stations broadcast "Specific Area Message Encoding" (SAME) codes that are digital codes that encode weather related messages and data from the NWR. Additionally or alternatively, the sensor <NUM> can receive and decode other digital weather reports, such as METAR or TAF codes from automated weather stations or airports. The decoder <NUM> can decode the digital weather codes that it receives and provide the decoded messages to the processor <NUM>. The processor <NUM> can use the decoded messages from the radio broadcasts in its determination of whether there is frozen precipitation in the zone <NUM> around the structure <NUM> (see <FIG>). Preferably the radio receiver <NUM> is tuned to a transmitter <NUM> that transmits weather codes pertinent to the geographic area in which the structure <NUM> is located.

It should be noted that in various embodiments the decoded radio messages could be used in addition to the fetched Internet weather data described above or in lieu of the Internet weather data. That is, in various embodiments, the sensor <NUM> could comprise (i) both the radio receiver <NUM>/decoder <NUM> for receiving the radio digital weather codes and the RF module <NUM> for receiving the Internet weather data, (ii) just the RF module <NUM>, or (iii) just the radio receiver <NUM>/decoder <NUM> for receiving the radio digital weather codes. Where the sensor <NUM> uses multiple data sources, the sensor <NUM> can employ a suitable data fusion or weighting algorithm to combine the data from the different sources.

In another embodiment exemplified by <FIG>, a host server system <NUM> on the Internet monitors the frozen precipitation expectations for numerous heaters <NUM>, <NUM>, which may be geographically disperse, and transmits the control signals via the Internet <NUM> to the control units <NUM> for those heaters. In such an embodiment, the host server <NUM> may store location coordinates (e.g., longitude and latitude coordinates) for structures <NUM> being heated and an IP address for the control units <NUM> that control each heater. The host server <NUM> may perform the process of <FIG> simultaneously for each of the heaters. To that end, the host server <NUM> may receive (e.g., fetch) weather related data feeds from one or more relevant weather data sources <NUM> connected to the Internet <NUM>. The host server <NUM> should receive weather related data from a sufficient number of Internet weather data sources <NUM> to reliably cover the geographic areas in which the heaters/structures are located. By comparing the coordinates of the frozen precipitation to the coordinates for the zone <NUM>, the host server <NUM> can determine if there is frozen precipitation in the zone <NUM>. Whenever the host server <NUM> determines that there is frozen precipitation in the zone around one of the structures <NUM>, the host server <NUM> sends a control signal to the control <NUM> for that heater/structure, using the stored IP address for the control unit <NUM>, to turn on the heater (or keep it on if it is already on). Conversely, whenever the host server <NUM> determines that there is no frozen precipitation in the zone around a structure <NUM>, the host server <NUM> sends a control signal to the control <NUM> for that heater/structure, using the stored IP address for the control unit <NUM>, to turn the heater off (or keep it off if it is already off).

In such an embodiment, the control units <NUM> need a way to communicate with the host server <NUM>. The control units <NUM> could have a wired connection to the Internet <NUM> or, as shown in <FIG>, a wireless connection. For control units <NUM> that have a wireless Internet connection, the control unit <NUM> may comprise an RF module <NUM> that sends and receives wireless communications for the control unit <NUM> using a wireless communication protocol. For example, the RF module <NUM> could comprise a WiFi circuit that connects to a WiFi WAP that is connected to the Internet <NUM>. In another embodiments, the RF module <NUM> could comprise a cellular telephone network interface that connects to the Internet <NUM> via a cellular telephone network.

The present invention is defined by the independent claims <NUM> and <NUM>. The apparatus according to claim <NUM> comprises: (i) heating means <NUM>, <NUM> located near the structure <NUM> for heating the structure; a control unit <NUM> connected to the heating means for controlling operation of the heating means; and a frozen precipitation forecast sensor <NUM> that is in communication with the control unit (see <FIG> and <FIG>). The frozen precipitation forecast sensor comprises one or more programmed processors <NUM> that program the frozen precipitation forecast sensor to: receive, over a time frame, weather data for a geographic region of the structure; determine, at time instances during the time frame, whether there is a likelihood of frozen precipitation in a geographic zone around the structure based on the received weather data; and transmit command signals to the control unit based on the determinations of whether there is a likelihood of frozen precipitation in the geographic zone around the structure. The command signals are commands to the control unit for the operational state of the heating means. For example, upon a determination that there is a likelihood of frozen precipitation in the geographic zone around the structure, the frozen precipitation forecast sensor transmits a first command signal to the control unit that the heating means should be in an ON state. Conversely, upon a determination that there is not a likelihood of frozen precipitation in a geographic zone around the structure, frozen precipitation forecast sensor transmits a second command signal to the control unit that the heating means should be in an OFF state.

In another embodiment, the apparatus comprises, in addition to the heating means and control unit, a host server <NUM> that is in communication with the control unit via the Internet. The host server is programmed to: (i) receive, over a time frame, weather data for a geographic region of the structure, wherein the weather data are received via the Internet from one or more Internet-connected weather service servers that serve weather data via the Internet; (ii) determine, at time instances during the time frame, whether there is a likelihood of frozen precipitation in a geographic zone around the structure based on the received weather data; and (iii) transmit command signals to the control unit via the Internet based on the determinations of whether there is a likelihood of frozen precipitation in the geographic zone around the structure, wherein the command signals comprise commands signals for the operational state of the heating means, and wherein the control unit controls the heating means based on the commands signals transmitted by the frozen precipitation forecast sensor.

A method according to the present invention is defined by the independent claim <NUM>. A method according to claim <NUM> includes the steps of: receiving, over a time frame, by a frozen precipitation forecast sensor that comprises one or more programmed processors, weather data for a geographic region of the structure; (ii) determining, by the one or more programmed processors of the frozen precipitation forecast sensor at time instances during the time frame, whether there is a likelihood of frozen precipitation in a geographic zone around the structure based on the received weather data; (iii) transmitting, by the frozen precipitation forecast sensor, command signals to a control unit that controls the operation of a heater used for heating the structure, wherein the command signals comprise commands signals for the operational state of the heater and the command signals are based on the determinations of whether there is a likelihood of frozen precipitation in the geographic zone around the structure; and (iv) controlling, by the control unit, the operational state of the heater based on the command signals received from the frozen precipitation forecast sensor.

In various implementations, the frozen precipitation forecast sensor receives periodic weather data from one or more Internet-connected weather service servers <NUM> that serve weather data via the Internet <NUM> and determines whether there is a likelihood of frozen precipitation in the geographic zone around the structure based on the periodic weather data received from the one or more Internet-connected weather service servers. In addition to or in lieu of the Internet-connected weather service servers, the frozen precipitation forecast sensor can receive and decode digital weather codes via a radio broadcast, with the decode digital weather codes being used to determine whether there is a likelihood of frozen precipitation around the structure to be heated.

In various implementations, the frozen precipitation forecast sensor is in wireless or wired communication with the control unit. Also, the heating means could comprise an electric resistive heater or a hydronic heating system.

The servers described herein may be implemented as computer servers that execute software and/or firmware code. As such, the servers may include one or more processors or other programmable circuits to execute the software and firmware code. The software may use any suitable computer software language type, using, for example, conventional or object-oriented techniques. Such software may be stored on any type of suitable computer-readable medium or media of the computing devices, such as, for example, primary or secondary computer memory. The primary memory can include main memory (such as RAM and ROM), processor registers and processor cache. The secondary memory can include magnetic or optical storage systems, or flash memory, for example, such as HDDs and/or SSDs.

Claim 1:
An apparatus (<NUM>) for heating a structure (<NUM>) during frozen precipitation, the apparatus (<NUM>) comprising:
heating means (<NUM>, <NUM>) located near the structure (<NUM>) for heating the structure (<NUM>);
a control unit (<NUM>) connected to the heating means (<NUM>, <NUM>) for controlling operation of the heating means (<NUM>, <NUM>); and
a frozen precipitation forecast sensor (<NUM>) that is in communication with the control unit (<NUM>), wherein the frozen precipitation forecast sensor (<NUM>) comprises one or more programmed processors (<NUM>) that program the frozen precipitation forecast sensor (<NUM>) to:
receive, over a time frame, weather data for a geographic region of the structure (<NUM>);
determine, at time instances during the time frame, whether there is a likelihood of frozen precipitation in a geographic zone (<NUM>) around the structure (<NUM>) based on the received weather data; and
transmit command signals to the control unit (<NUM>) based on the determinations of whether there is a likelihood of frozen precipitation in the geographic zone (<NUM>) around the structure (<NUM>), wherein the command signals comprise command signals for the operational state of the heating means (<NUM>, <NUM>), and wherein the control unit (<NUM>) controls the heating means based on the command signals transmitted by the frozen precipitation forecast sensor (<NUM>), and.
wherein:
upon a determination that there is a likelihood of frozen precipitation in the geographic zone (<NUM>) around the structure (<NUM>), the frozen precipitation forecast sensor (<NUM>) transmits a first command signal to the control unit (<NUM>) that the heating means (<NUM>, <NUM>) should be in an ON state;
upon a determination that there is not a likelihood of frozen precipitation in a geographic zone (<NUM>) around the structure (<NUM>), the frozen precipitation forecast sensor (<NUM>) transmits a second command signal to the control unit (<NUM>) that the heating means (<NUM>, <NUM>) should be in an OFF state; and
characterised in that the control unit (<NUM>) is configured, when the frozen precipitation sensor (<NUM>) determines that a frozen precipitation is expected, to commence heat generation by controlling the heating means (<NUM>, <NUM>) so that the heating means can reach a desired temperature before a frozen precipitation event starts.