Patent ID: 8434317

Claim:
A refrigerated appliance comprising: a housing enclosing a cooled storage compartment; an anti-sweat heater for warming at least a portion of the housing; a controller operatively connected to one or more power consuming devices of the refrigerated appliance, the controller being configured to receive and process a demand response signal and in response thereto operate the appliance in one of a plurality of operating modes including at least a normal operating mode and an energy savings mode, the controller being configured in at least the energy savings mode to inactivate the anti-sweat heater and to at least selectively activate the anti-sweat heater for at least a limited time period during the energy savings mode to limit incipient moisture formation; a first temperature sensor and a humidity sensor operative to detect an air dry-bulb temperature and humidity, respectively, of an ambient environment near the refrigerated appliance and convey ambient temperature and humidity data to the controller to calculate a dew point temperature; and a second temperature sensor disposed in a preselected area of the housing defining an indentation where moisture is likely to accumulate due to condensation, the second temperature sensor being operative to detect a surface temperature of the preselected region of the housing and convey preselected region surface temperature data to the controller, wherein the controller compares the preselected region surface temperature data with the calculated dew point temperature to determine whether to activate the anti-sweat heater.