JPH02251042A - Air conditioning prediction control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable rational decision of an air conditioning starting time by providing a predicting means for an air conditioning time, an evaluating means for a delay in rise during the starting of air conditioning, an estimating means for a necessary energy quantity classified by an air conditioning starting time, and a means to decide an air conditioning starting time based on a value obtained from each means. CONSTITUTION:A prediction means 1 outputs a predicting result from matching of an air conditioning working state with an environment condition, e.g. an open air temperature. A rise delay evaluating means 2 calculates a time, in which temperature is adjusted to a set value to evaluate uncomfortability prevailing during a time between a current point of time and a time when temperature is adjusted to a set value, based on device capacity. An estimating means 3 for necessary energy air conditions temperature to a set value according to an air conditioning starting time prediction time and at said prediction time, and estimates an energy quantity necessary to continue air conditioning during a specified time starting from the prediction time. A deciding means 4 to decide an air conditioning starting time decides an optimum air conditioning starting time based on a value set by a resident regarding counting for comparing uncomfortability during air conditioning rise with useless air conditioning energy by prediction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic operation control method for air conditioners in homes, stores, offices, etc.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventionally, air conditioning in homes, stores, and offices has been controlled using an intermittent air conditioning system in which air conditioners are operated only during necessary times. Therefore, if we take heating as an example, the basic idea is to turn on the heating when the resident feels cold and turn off the heating when the resident feels that heating is not necessary.If the temperature rises above the set temperature during heating operation - The function of the air conditioning control was to stop heating at a certain point in time, and then restart heating when the room temperature dropped below the set temperature. Therefore, in order to avoid leaving occupants in a cold state for a long period of time, it is necessary to control the operation of the air conditioner so that the set temperature is reached within a short time (10 to 15 minutes) after the start of operation. However, when starting air conditioning, it is necessary to handle the heat storage load of the building, so a larger heat source capacity is required than the capacity of only 3 pages to compensate for heat loss from the building in a steady state.

Inverters have been developed to obtain this temporary heat source capability.

On the other hand, the problem of heat storage load at the start of air conditioning can be taken to an extreme of 24
- This problem can be solved by continuous air conditioning that keeps the room at a constant temperature for hours on end.

Such 24-hour continuous air conditioning is a common air conditioning method in the United States, but it has the problem that it uses significantly more energy than intermittent air conditioning. In Japan, in extremely cold regions such as Hokkaido, buildings are highly insulated and highly classified to reduce heat loss, making it possible to achieve 24-hour air conditioning using small air conditioners with the same energy consumption as intermittent air conditioning. However, in warm regions south of the Kanto region, 24-hour air conditioning is not used in homes because it costs more energy than intermittent air conditioning.

As an intermediate method between these methods, there is a preheating method that handles the heat storage load in stages by starting heating several hours before the start of air conditioning, and is generally used in buildings where air conditioning hours are fixed. Although it has become possible to perform preheating operation even in homes by setting a timer,
Since equipment originally designed for intermittent air conditioning is used, the start time of air conditioning is simply shifted by the amount of time the air conditioning is turned on, which does not lead to a reduction in equipment capacity.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention As described above, the conventional intermittent air conditioning system requires excessive equipment capacity to handle the heat storage load at the time when air conditioning is started. Therefore, under normal operating conditions other than when air conditioning is started, the capacity of the equipment is excessive and the load factor decreases, so 0N10FF
There was a problem in which the operating efficiency decreased.

In addition, even if an inverter is used, there is a limit to its control range, and when the load is light during periods other than the extremely cold season (or the extremely hot season in cooling mode), the ON-OF range is outside the inverter range.
This problem cannot be solved because the vehicle is forced to operate in the F region.

On the other hand, if the air conditioning start time is given in advance, the heat storage load can be handled with smaller equipment by heating the air conditioner slowly by 5 pages in time to meet the time, and the timer reservation can be saved. This time must be given by prediction, since it is not always possible to do so. However, predictions inevitably contain errors, and if air conditioning is requested before the predicted start time, even if air conditioning is started from that point on, the environment will be unpleasant during the start-up period. That is undeniable. Also,
In many cases, the predicted value of the air conditioning start time is expressed in the form of a probability distribution in which multiple times each have a probability, rather than a single time. In addition, when driving based on prediction, problems caused by prediction errors must be taken into account.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in using prediction in air conditioning control, and to provide a means for rationally determining an air conditioning start time.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above eight problems, the present invention provides a means for predicting the start time of air conditioning, a means for evaluating the start-up delay at the start of air conditioning, and an estimation of the amount of energy required at times other than when starting air conditioning. and a means for determining an air conditioning start time based on values obtained from each of these means.

Therefore, according to the present invention, by obtaining the predicted air conditioning start time, air conditioning can be performed using smaller equipment than in conventional intermittent air conditioning.

Example Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described using heating as an example.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a prediction means for predicting the air conditioning start time, which outputs prediction results as shown in the table based on matching with the air conditioning usage status and environmental conditions such as outside temperature.

(Unit: hours later) In the table, the unit time for prediction is shown as 30 minutes, but this can be set to any time range. In addition, the range of prediction is set to a certain time, and is set as a break in the daily life time zone. For example, if the predicted time is in the morning, it is assumed to be 6 o'clock in the morning, and if it is in the afternoon, it is assumed to be 2 o'clock in the morning, which is the bedtime.

2 is a means of evaluating the discomfort at startup, that is, the startup delay.In order to evaluate the discomfort until the set temperature is reached when the air conditioning is started from the current time, the time required to reach the set temperature is evaluated by the equipment capacity. , and the PMV value (comfort index) during that time is accumulated.

At this time, the time it takes to reach the set temperature is determined by using historical data on the outside temperature and room temperature using the response factor, which is a heat response factor to the room due to the outside temperature and room temperature, calculated in advance using the response factor method. It is known that it can be calculated using the predicted value of the future outside temperature and the maximum capacity value of the air conditioning equipment.

As a result, it is possible to calculate the temperature change from that point until the set temperature is reached when operating at maximum capacity. By calculating the PMV at each minute interval (for example, every minute) with respect to this room temperature fluctuation and taking the total sum, it is possible to quantitatively evaluate the discomfort at the time of rising.

In this manner, the evaluation means 2 determines the degree of discomfort in each case in correspondence with the expected air conditioning start time shown in the table.

Although PMV is used here as a comfort index, other appropriate indexes such as simple room temperature, effective temperature (ET), discomfort index, or a composite value thereof may also be used.

3 is a method for estimating the required energy for each air conditioning start probability, which estimates the amount of energy required to condition the air to the set temperature at that time and continue air conditioning until a certain time in accordance with the expected air conditioning start time. . This air conditioning continuation termination time is adjusted to the prediction range of the start time prediction.

4 is a determining means for determining the air conditioning start time, and the optimal air conditioning start time is determined as follows based on the author's settings on page 9 for the coefficient α, which is used to compare the discomfort when the air conditioning starts up and the predicted wasted air conditioning energy. Determine using the following method.

In other words, regarding the probability distribution of the air conditioning start time shown in the table, let Pi be the probability of starting air conditioning after i unit time, and if the air conditioning is not turned on until i unit time and the air conditioning is started because the person returns home at that point, The degree of discomfort during the rising period is [14,j
Let Qi be the amount of energy consumed when air conditioning is started after a unit time. Further, if the difference of Qi with respect to i is qi, qi is expressed by the following formula.

q i=Q i-Q 1-1 (Formula 1) At this time, the optimal air conditioning start time is i* that minimizes the expected value E of the demerit due to the prediction error expressed by the following formula.

i*-1n E=Σ Pj・α・UjtenΣ qj j=1 j:i* (Formula 2) In the above example, when air conditioning is performed based on prediction, the normal air conditioning set temperature is used as the target temperature for air conditioning control. However, by setting the target temperature lower than the set temperature, Q
It is possible to reduce i. However, if the target temperature θ* is set low, even if the room is heated in advance based on predictions, there will be a waiting time for the room to start up when someone enters the room.

Therefore, the way to set θ* is to set it to about 10 minutes, which is the same level of time delay when someone enters the room as the delay caused by intermittent air conditioning with normal equipment capacity, and then There is no comparison.

When such θ* is introduced, Equation 2 becomes θ
It can be expanded as follows using the amount of heat Q'j required to maintain * and the degree of discomfort U'j that occurs during the rising period when raising the temperature from θ* to the set temperature 0SET.

(Margins below) Page 11 i*-1n E=ΣPj・α・Uj+Σ(Pj・α・U 'j+q
'j)j=1 j:i* (Formula 3) Furthermore, in the second 3rd section, in the above explanation, θ* was determined based on the rise time, but U, Uj, and qj are all functions of θ*. Therefore, it is also possible to loosen the standard for the rise time to some extent and perform optimization using θ*.

Note that although the embodiment has been described using heating as an example, it goes without saying that the same holds true for cooling.

Furthermore, although room temperature has been described as an air conditioning control target, a comprehensive comfort index including radiant temperature, humidity, etc. may also be used.

Effects of the Invention As seen above, according to the present invention, by obtaining the predicted air conditioning start time, air conditioning can be performed using smaller equipment than in conventional intermittent air conditioning, and the risk of prediction errors that occur at this time can be reduced. Since the problems can be solved in accordance with the preferences of both parties, the present invention has a high level of flexibility in meeting the needs of the users and is easily accepted by the users, so the industrial effects of the present invention are very large.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an air conditioning predictive control device of the present invention. 1... Prediction means, 2... Evaluation means, 3.
...Estimation method.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A means for predicting the air conditioning start time, a means for evaluating the start-up delay at the time of starting the air conditioning, a means for estimating the amount of energy required for each air conditioning start time, and determining the air conditioning start time based on the values obtained from each of these means. An air conditioning predictive control device comprising: (2) The air conditioning predictive control device according to claim 1, wherein the start-up delay evaluation means uses an uncomfortable state until the indoor environment reaches the air conditioning setting state as an index. (3) The air conditioning predictive control device according to claim 1, wherein the output of the air conditioning start time prediction means is a start probability set for each unit time after the prediction time. (4) The air conditioning predictive control device according to claim 1, wherein the air conditioning temperature during air conditioning based on the prediction is controlled so that the time delay until reaching the air conditioning set temperature is a constant time.