System and method for operating an appliance based on water hardness

Abstract

An appliance, system, and method for operating an appliance is provided. The appliance, system, and method include performing a wash cycle and draining wash water from the wash chamber, flowing a quantity of water to a wash chamber, determining a water hardness value based on a water conductivity measurement and a temperature measurement, and draining the quantity of water from the wash chamber.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An appliance, the appliance comprising a controller configured to execute operations, the operations comprising:
 flowing a quantity of water to a wash chamber; and   determining a water hardness value based on a water conductivity value and a water temperature value.   
     
     
         2 . The appliance of  claim 1 , the operations comprising:
 dispensing a quantity of detergent to the wash chamber based on the determined water hardness value.   
     
     
         3 . The appliance of  claim 1 , the operations comprising:
 adjusting a wash cycle based on the water hardness value, wherein adjusting the wash cycle comprises adjusting one or more of a ratio of water to detergent, a water temperature, a wash cycle duration, or a wash cycle agitation.   
     
     
         4 . The appliance of  claim 3 , wherein adjusting the ratio of water to detergent comprises increasing a quantity of detergent dispensed to the wash chamber relative to a nominal wash cycle when the quantity of water is determined to be hard water. 
     
     
         5 . The appliance of  claim 1 , the operations comprising:
 performing a wash cycle based on the determined water hardness value.   
     
     
         6 . The appliance of  claim 5 , wherein flowing the quantity of water to the wash chamber and determining the water hardness value occurs after an iteration of performing the wash cycle and draining wash water from the wash chamber. 
     
     
         7 . The appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the quantity of water flowed to the wash chamber is less than a quantity of water for a wash cycle. 
     
     
         8 . The appliance of  claim 1 , wherein flowing the quantity of water to the wash chamber comprises:
 flowing a first quantity of water to the wash chamber, the first quantity of water comprising a first temperature value; then   obtaining the water conductivity value based at least on the first quantity of water flowed to the wash chamber.   
     
     
         9 . The appliance of  claim 8 , wherein flowing the quantity of water to the wash chamber comprises:
 flowing a second quantity of water to the wash chamber, the second quantity of water comprising a second temperature value; then   obtaining a second water conductivity value based at least on the second quantity of water flowed to the wash chamber.   
     
     
         10 . The appliance of  claim 9 , wherein determining the water hardness value is based on one or more water conductivity values and one or more water temperature values. 
     
     
         11 . The appliance of  claim 10 , wherein determining the water hardness value is based on averaging the water conductivity values. 
     
     
         12 . A method for operating a washing appliance, the method comprising:
 flowing a quantity of water to a wash chamber; and   determining a water hardness value based on a water conductivity value and a water temperature value.   
     
     
         14 . The method of claim  13 , the method comprising:
 dispensing a quantity of detergent to the wash chamber based on the determined water hardness value.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , the method comprising:
 adjusting a wash cycle based on the water hardness value, wherein adjusting the wash cycle comprises adjusting one or more of a ratio of water to detergent, a water temperature, a wash cycle duration, or a wash cycle agitation.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein adjusting the ratio of water to detergent comprises increasing a quantity of detergent dispensed to the wash chamber relative to a nominal wash cycle when the quantity of water is determined to be hard water. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , the method comprising:
 performing a wash cycle based on the determined water hardness value, wherein flowing the quantity of water to the wash chamber and determining the water hardness value occurs after an iteration of performing the wash cycle and draining wash water from the wash chamber.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the quantity of water flowed to the wash chamber is less than a quantity of water for a wash cycle. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein flowing the quantity of water to the wash chamber comprises:
 flowing a first quantity of water to the wash chamber, the first quantity of water comprising a first temperature value; then   obtaining the water conductivity value based at least on the first quantity of water flowed to the wash chamber.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein flowing the quantity of water to the wash chamber comprises:
 flowing a second quantity of water to the wash chamber, the second quantity of water comprising a second temperature value; then   obtaining a second water conductivity value based at least on the second quantity of water flowed to the wash chamber.