Abstract: In a method of apparatus for obtaining thermal property data on thermal properties of a temperature controlled system which includes temperature control apparatus, said data being suitable for use in predicting the temperature of at least part of the system, the following steps are performed: (a) the monitoring the temperature of at least part of the system over a succession of portions or points of a data acquisition period and recording said temperature for each portion or point in an electronic memory; (b) the determining heat transfer data for the period, said heat transfer data being indicative of the amount of heat energy supplied to, or removed from said part over the acquisition period; and determining the thermal property data from the recorded temperatures and heat transfer data, wherein the thermal property data is determined by a process of statistical inference.

Abstract: A controller for a temperature management system for heating and/or cooling a room in accordance with a schedule of set point temperatures over a control period as a data processor arrangement (10). A signal indicative of the current temperature of the room is received at a temperature input (9) for receiving a signal indicative of the current temperature in the room and a control output (18) for supplying control signals to the system. The controller has at least one electronic memory for storing said schedule of set point temperatures, a relationship, based on known heating or cooling characteristics of the room, between the energy supplied to the system in a portion of the control period and the predicted temperature of the room during that portion and subsequent portions of the control period.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods for monitoring a hot water tank (10) of a hot water heating system, particularly with a view to minimising the energy consumed in supplying sufficient hot water. The apparatus comprises at least two tank temperature sensors (4, 5, 6) for sensing the temperature at at least two different tank heights and generating respective sensor signals in response to the sensed temperatures; a processing arrangement (22) configured to receive the tank sensor signals, determine therefrom a hot water level parameter value which is indicative of the proportion of the total volume of water in the tank which is above a predetermined temperature threshold, and output the hot water level parameter value; and an electronic memory (24) for receiving and storing the hot water level parameter value.