Patent ID: 8423198

Claim:
A method for managing energy usage of an appliance comprising: receiving, in a controller of the appliance, a schedule having an off-peak time segment and an on-peak time segment; storing the schedule in a memory of the controller; determining a current time from a time device integrated into the appliance; detecting a request for an operation to be performed by the appliance and a deadline for completing the operation; determining, in the controller, a first amount of time between the current time and the deadline, and if the first amount of time includes a time sub-segment period and the off-peak time segment; determining, in the controller, a second amount of time required to complete the operation under a normal power consumption mode; determining, in the controller, a third amount of time required to complete the operation under a reduced power consumption mode wherein the third amount of time is greater than the second amount of time; the controller polling the time device in the appliance to determine the current time and comparing the current time to a start time and an end time of the off-peak time segment; the controller automatically delaying an initiation of the operation of the appliance under the normal power consumption mode until the start time of the off-peak time segment and if the first amount of time is greater than the second amount of time; and the controller automatically initiating the operation of the appliance under the reduced power consumption mode if the first amount of time includes the time sub-segment period, the controller detects a condition corresponding to the time sub-segment period and if the first amount of time is greater than the third amount of time, wherein the controller is configured to: automatically switching an initiated operation of the appliance from the normal consumption mode to the reduced power consumption mode when, during the off-peak time segment, the controller determines that the first amount of time is greater than the third amount of time and the condition corresponding to the time sub-segment period is detected; and automatically switching an initiated operation of the appliance to the normal consumption mode from the reduced power consumption mode when the third amount of time is greater than the first amount of time.