Patent ID: 8803040

Claim:
A system for reducing peak power usage of an electromechanical device comprising: at least one of an infinite switch and a thermostat; one or more power consuming elements, each power consuming element comprising at least two separately controllable zones; a control in communication with a demand signal module and said one or more power consuming elements, said control being configured to receive and process a signal from said demand signal module indicative of the current state of an associated utility including a first state indicative of a utility peak demand period and a second state indicative of a utility off-peak demand period, wherein the control operates the electromechanical device in an energy savings mode during a peak demand period and in a normal operating mode during an off-peak demand period; and at least one throw relay configured to control the delivery of power to at least one of said at least two separately controllable zones; wherein (i) in the energy savings mode, the control is configured to open said at least one throw relay, cutting off power delivery to at least one but not all of the at least two separately controllable zones to enable duty cycling of the at least one but not all of the at least two separately controllable zones to reduce power consumption of the electromechanical device during a peak demand period, and (ii) in the normal operating mode the control is configured to supply power and enable duty cycling of all of the at least two separately controllable zones during an off-peak demand period.