Patent ID: 7886985

Claim:
A domestic heat and power system comprising a dchp unit, a dchp unit controller, a programmer module and an energy scheduler arranged to communicate with a domestic appliance, wherein: the dchp unit controller, the programmer module and the energy scheduler are linked to allow communication therebetween; the dchp unit is operable under command of the dchp unit controller to generate heat for heating a home or to provide hot water for the home and to generate electricity for supply to the home; the energy scheduler is operable to receive power requirement information from the domestic appliance and to cause the domestic appliance to operate; the programmer module is operable to receive data input by a consumer and to generate a corresponding heating or hot water schedule therefrom; the dchp unit controller is operable to determine operating times of the dchp unit in accordance with the heating or hot water schedule provided by the programmer module and to provide the dchp unit operating times to the energy scheduler; and the energy scheduler is operable to receive the dchp unit operating times and to determine operating times of the domestic appliance using the dchp unit operating times.