JP2005030743A - Energy-saving electric water heater and electric hot water supply method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an energy-saving electric water heater and an electric hot water supply method that are simple in structure, low in cost and low in power consumption. <P>SOLUTION: The electric water heater 10 has an upper heating part 14 and a cold/warm water mixing part 16 in an upper part 12A and a lower part 12C of a hot water storage tank 12 respectively, and when boiling water in the upper heating part reaches a given value, introduces the boiling water into the cold/warm water mixing part to mix it with cold water and generate warm water. The warm water is introduced uniformly to the lower part and a middle part of the hot water storage tank via a diffusion member 24 to generate cold/warm water, which is supplied to the upper heating part. Boiling water can be thus generated efficiently. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

Industrial application fields

The present invention relates to an electric water heater, and more particularly, to an energy-saving rapid heating electric water heater and an electric hot water method.

Conventional technology

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-280655, a separator plate is disposed below the hot water storage tank, a lower heating part is formed below the hot water storage tank, a heater is accommodated in the heating part, and extends from the separator plate to above the hot water storage tank. A hot water guide pipe is arranged, an opening / closing valve is installed at the lower end of the hot water guide pipe, and when the hot water in the lower heating part reaches a predetermined temperature, the hot water is opened via the hot water guide pipe by opening the on / off valve. An immediate heating type electric water heater having a structure that guides to the upper part of the hot water storage tank is disclosed.

Problems to be solved by the invention

  In this configuration, since the lower heating unit is always in contact with a large amount of cold water in the lower part of the hot water storage tank via the separator plate, a part of the heating energy of the lower heating part is in the lower part of the cold hot water storage tank. It was absorbed in water. Furthermore, since the water supply port is opened on the upper side of the lower heating unit and adjacent thereto, fresh cold water supplied from the water supply port directly flows into the lower heating unit to reduce the temperature of the hot water inside. When the hot water reaches a predetermined temperature in the lower heating part, the on-off valve is opened to supply the hot water to the upper part of the hot water storage tank. However, as described above, cold water always flows into the lower heating part. The time until the on-off valve is opened becomes longer, and hot water is not supplied to the upper part of the hot water storage tank where the outlet is located for a relatively long time. Therefore, the heating time until the water supply at the upper part of the hot water storage tank becomes hot water becomes extremely long, and the waiting time until the hot water is boiled and taken out after reaching the hot water time is nearly one hour, which is extremely long. there were. In order to solve this problem, a heat insulation mechanism comprising an air reservoir is provided on the lower side of the separation plate, but a sufficient heat insulation effect cannot be obtained, and it is difficult to shorten the waiting time. Therefore, once the hot water is used up, a large current continuously flows through the electric heater until the hot water is boiled and taken out, so a large amount of power is consumed. A countermeasure was desired. Further, the electric water heater has a drawback that the structure is complicated, the number of parts is large, and the manufacturing cost is inevitably high.

The present invention solves the above problems and provides an energy-saving electric water heater and an electric hot water supply method that are simple in structure, low in cost, and capable of supplying hot water with extremely low power consumption. Objective.

Means to solve the problem

  According to 1st invention of this application, the hot water storage tank which has a hot water outlet in the upper part, the upper heating part arrange | positioned at the upper part of the said hot water storage tank, and the hot water which is arrange | positioned at the lower part of the said hot water storage tank and has several opening part A hot / cold water mixing section provided with a diffusion member; a hot water circulation pipe connected between the upper heating section and the cold / hot water mixing section; a circulation pump disposed in the hot water circulation pipe; and an upper portion of the hot water storage tank And when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor reaches a predetermined value, the circulating pump is driven to circulate the hot water in the upper heating part to the cold / hot water mixing part, thereby supplying the hot water and cold water. The hot water obtained by mixing is circulated from the lower part of the hot water storage tank to the upper heating part through the diffusion member.

According to the electric water heater of the first invention of the present application, the upper heating part is provided at the upper part of the hot water storage tank, the cold / hot water mixing part is provided at the lower part of the hot water storage tank, and when the hot water in the upper heating part reaches a predetermined temperature, The hot water is circulated through the cold / hot water mixing unit and mixed with the cold water to produce hot water, and the hot water is heated evenly in contact with the cold water in the lower and intermediate parts of the hot water storage tank via the hot water diffusion member. The hot water obtained in this way was circulated again to the upper heating part, so that the flow of cold water into the upper heating part was prevented and hot water could be taken out in a very short time at the upper part of the hot water storage tank.

According to the electric hot water supply method of the second invention of the present application, the step of preparing a hot water storage tank having a hot water outlet in the upper part, the step of preparing an upper heating part in the upper part of the hot water storage tank, and the lower part of the hot water storage tank are arranged. Preparing a hot / cold water mixing part having a hot water diffusion member having a plurality of openings, supplying electric power to the upper heating part to generate hot water, detecting the temperature of the hot water, Circulating the hot water of the upper heating unit to the cold / hot water mixing unit when the temperature of the hot water reaches a predetermined value, and generating hot water by mixing the hot water and cold water in the cold / hot water mixing unit; And the step of bringing the hot water into contact with cold water from the lower part to the middle part of the hot water storage tank via the hot water diffusing member to generate cold / warm water, and supplying the cold / hot water to the upper heating part. .

According to the electric hot water supply method of the second invention of the present application, when the hot water in the upper heating part reaches a predetermined temperature, the hot water in the upper part of the hot water storage tank is circulated to the cold / hot water mixing part in the lower part of the hot water storage tank. To produce hot water, and the hot water is heated evenly through the hot water diffusion member and brought into contact with the cold water in the middle part from the bottom of the hot water storage tank, and the hot and cold water obtained by heating is supplied again to the upper heating part. Thus, hot water can be taken out with extremely low power consumption at the top of the hot water storage tank.

  Hereinafter, an energy saving electric water heater according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The electric water heater 10 includes a hot water storage tank 12 having a hot water outlet 12a and a water supply port 12b connected to the upper part 12A and the lower part 12C, respectively. The hot water storage tank 12 includes an upper heating unit 14 disposed in the upper part 12A of the hot water storage tank 12 adjacent to the hot water outlet 12a, and a cold / hot water mixing unit 16 disposed in the lower part 12C of the hot water storage tank 12. The upper heating unit 14 includes a partition plate 18 having a plurality of communication ports 18 disposed at the top of the hot water storage tank 12, a heating chamber 20 formed between the hot water storage tank 12 and the partition plate 18, and a heating chamber 20. And a housed electric heater 22.

The cold / hot water mixing unit 16 includes a hot water diffusion member 24 that is disposed at the upper portion thereof and has a plurality of openings 24a that open to the lower part 12C and the intermediate part 12B of the hot water storage tank. In FIG. 1, the end of the water supply port 12 b is connected to a cold / hot water mixture 16. A hot water circulation pipe 26 is connected between the upper heating unit 14 and the cold / hot water mixing unit 16, and hot water of the upper heating unit 14 is introduced into the cold / hot water mixing unit 16 as described later. For this reason, a circulating pump 28 is disposed in the hot water circulation pipe 26 and is controlled as described later.

A temperature sensor 30 is disposed in the upper part 12 </ b> A of the hot water storage tank 12 to detect the temperature of hot water in the upper heating unit 14. Further, a temperature sensor 32 is disposed in the lower part 12C of the hot water storage tank 12 to detect the temperature of water in the lower part 12C of the hot water storage tank 12. The temperature signals detected by these temperature sensors 30 and 32 are supplied to the controller 36. The controller 36 stores first and second temperature control maps corresponding to the temperature sensors 30 and 32. For example, in the first and second temperature control maps, the predetermined value is set to an appropriate value between 90 ° C. and 99 ° C., for example.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a basic sequence of the operation of the controller 36 and shows the electric hot water supply method of the present invention. When a power switch (not shown) is turned on, the controller 36 supplies power to the electric heater 22 in step S10 to heat the water stored in the upper portion 12A of the hot water storage tank 12, that is, the water stored in the upper heating chamber 14. Thus, hot water (high temperature water) is generated. At this time, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 30 does not reach the predetermined value in the first control map, the circulation pump 28 is kept OFF. On the other hand, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 30 reaches a predetermined value in the first control map, the circulation pump 28 is turned on in step S14. At this time, hot water of the upper heating unit 14 is circulated to the cold / hot water mixing unit 16 via the circulation pipe 26 (step S16), and is mixed with the cold water that has already stayed therein to generate hot water (step S18). . This hot water is uniformly supplied to the lower part 12C and the intermediate part 12B of the hot water storage tank 12 through a plurality of openings 24a of the hot water diffusion member 24 and diffused, and the cold water of the lower part 12C and the intermediate part 12B of the hot water storage tank 12 is added. Cold / warm water is generated while being heated, and the cold / warm water is supplied into the upper heating unit 14 through the communication port 18a of the partition plate 18 (step S20). The above-described cycle is continuously performed, and the water in the lower portion 12C of the hot water storage tank 12 is also heated to increase the temperature. In step S22, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 32 reaches a predetermined value in the second control map, the circulation pump 28 and the heater 22 are turned off, and the entire cycle is completed. On the other hand, when the detected temperature is not more than the predetermined value, the control flow is returned to step S14.

FIG. 3 shows the temperature rise effect by experiments when the hot water storage tank of the energy-saving electric water heater of the present invention and the conventional rapid heating electric water heater have a capacity of 30 liters and the heater is set at 3 KW (3 KW). . In FIG. 3, curves A and B show the temperature rise characteristics of the upper part 12A and the intermediate part 12B of the hot water storage tank of the energy-saving electric water heater of the present invention, respectively, and curves C and D show the temperature of the conventional rapid heating electric water heater. Each of the rising characteristics is shown. More specifically, in the conventional electric water heater, as described above, since the cold water is directly supplied to the lower heating part of the hot water storage tank and the hot water is cooled, the temperature of the upper part of the hot water storage tank is It takes about 1 hour to gradually rise from 15 ° C. and reach a predetermined temperature of 92 ° C. Furthermore, the water storage in the intermediate part of the hot water tank gradually rises almost linearly. On the other hand, in the electric water heater of the present invention, since cold water does not flow into the upper heating part, the water stored in the upper part 12A of the hot water storage tank is heated rapidly, so that the water stored in the upper part 12A of the hot water storage tank is about 10 minutes. The hot water (high temperature water) is 92 ° C. (predetermined value), and the temperature rise of the water stored in the intermediate portion 12B is more efficient than the temperature rise of the curve C. Therefore, the power consumption is 3 kWh (= 3 kWx60 / 60) until the hot water of 92 ° C. can be taken out in the past, whereas in the present invention, the power consumption is only 0.5 kWh (= 3 kWx10 / 60). -83% energy saving is achieved, and the contribution to global environmental measures is significantly increased.

In the above embodiment, the present invention has been described as the water supply port directly opening into the cold / hot water mixing unit, but the water supply port may be configured to be connected to the lower part of the hot water storage tank on the upper side of the diffusion member. good. In addition, although shown as what provided the partition plate in the upper part of the hot water storage tank, you may delete this partition plate as needed. Moreover, although the hot water diffusing member is illustrated as being made of a flat plate, it may be constituted by a pipe or a porous member having a plurality of openings. Although not shown, a heat insulating material may be disposed on the outer periphery of the hot water storage tank.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of an energy saving electric water heater according to the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the basic sequence of an effect | action of the controller of FIG. 1 for performing the electric hot water supply method of this invention. It is a graph which shows the temperature rise characteristic of the energy-saving electric water heater of this invention, and the conventional electric water heater.

Explanation of symbols

12 Hot Water Storage Tank 14 Upper Heating Unit 16 Cold / Hot Water Mixing Unit 18 Partition Plate 26 Circulation Pipe 28 Circulation Pumps 30 and 32 Temperature Sensor 36 Controller

Claims (3)

A hot water storage tank having a hot water outlet in the upper part, an upper heating part arranged at the upper part of the hot water storage tank, and a cold / hot water mixing part provided with a hot water diffusion member arranged at the lower part of the hot water storage tank and having a plurality of openings A hot water circulation pipe connected between the upper heating unit and the cold / hot water mixing unit, a circulation pump arranged in the hot water circulation pipe, a temperature sensor arranged in an upper part of the hot water storage tank, When the detected temperature of the temperature sensor reaches a predetermined value, the hot water obtained by mixing the hot water and cold water by driving the circulation pump and circulating the hot water of the upper heating part to the cold / hot water mixing part An electric water heater that circulates from a lower part of the hot water storage tank to the upper heating unit via a diffusion member. In Claim 1, the above-mentioned upper heating part has a partition plate which has a plurality of communicating ports arranged in the upper part of the above-mentioned hot water storage tank, the heating chamber formed between the upper part of the above-mentioned hot water storage tank, and the above-mentioned partition plate, An electric water heater comprising an electric heater housed in a heating chamber. A step of preparing a hot water storage tank having a hot water outlet at an upper portion; a step of preparing an upper heating portion at an upper portion of the hot water storage tank; and a hot water diffusion member disposed at a lower portion of the hot water storage tank and having a plurality of openings. Preparing a cold / hot water mixing unit, supplying electric power to the upper heating unit to generate hot water, detecting the temperature of the hot water, and when the temperature of the hot water reaches a predetermined value Circulating the hot water of the upper heating unit to the cold / hot water mixing unit; mixing the hot water and cold water in the cold / hot water mixing unit to generate hot water; and passing the hot water through the hot water diffusion member A process for generating cold / hot water by contacting cold water from a lower part to an intermediate part of the hot water storage tank, and supplying the cold / hot water to the upper heating part.

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