JP2013181667A - Storage type water heater - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a storage type water heater to cope with rapid decrease in demands for hot water supply.SOLUTION: A storage type water heater includes a heater 10 for heating water, a tank 20 for storing the hot water, and a controller 30 for detecting a remaining amount of hot water in the tank 20 and controlling a heating device 20. The controller 30 functions as: an operation mode control means that executes, in accordance with a set operation mode, a boiling operation of storing hot water in a target storage amount in the tank 20 or an additional boiling operation of additionally boiling water depending on a remaining amount of hot water in the tank 20 reduced by hot water supply; and a head-count mode control means that changes the target storage amount in the boiling operation in each operation mode in accordance with a set head-count mode.

Description

  A technique relating to a hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus that stores hot boiled water in a tank and uses it for hot water supply is disclosed below.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus that stores hot water boiled using a heat pump in a tank and supplies hot water to a hot water supply terminal such as a bath or a shower has become widespread. In this type of hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus, several kinds of operation modes such as “auto mode” and “midnight mode” are prepared, and the user can select and use them according to their preference (see Patent Documents 1 to 3). ).
For example, in the “Omakase Mode”, the daily amount of hot water used by the user is learned, and control is performed so that an appropriate amount of hot water corresponding to the tank capacity is stored by combining the boiling operation at midnight and the daytime boiling operation. Done. In the “midnight mode”, only the midnight boiling operation is performed, and the daytime boiling operation is suppressed even if the remaining amount of hot water in the tank becomes insufficient due to use. Therefore, the electricity bill is small.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-233003 JP 2006-183939 A JP 2011-247479 A

  Currently, in each operation mode as described above, it is possible to finely adjust the amount of hot water such as “less”, “standard”, and “more”, and it becomes possible to finely adjust the amount of hot water stored in the boiling operation and the additional heating operation. There are also products. However, there is no product in which the mode can be changed so that the amount of stored hot water is greatly changed according to the demand for hot water supply.

  As an example, because there was a family of five at the time of purchasing the device, a hot water storage water heater with a relatively large tank capacity was purchased, but the number of families has decreased to two due to a child becoming independent several years later, etc. Assuming In this case, the demand for hot water supply greatly decreases as the number of family members decreases, so even if the operation mode is set to the current “less” mode, the original amount of stored hot water is designed to match the tank capacity. Therefore, it is assumed that there is a considerable margin in the amount of hot water stored in the tank for demand, and that the hot water stored in the tank always remains. In other words, useless electricity is always consumed to boil unused hot water. Furthermore, if the number of family members is reduced to two, it is possible to adjust the amount of hot water stored in the operation mode to “less”, but it is well below the installed tank capacity, which is commensurate with the reduced number of people. The “less”, “standard” and “more” operation modes cannot be set.

  As mentioned above, the current hot water storage hot water supply system can select various operation modes according to the user's preference. However, in the “Omakase Mode” and “Midnight Mode” that are currently set and in operation, etc. The above-mentioned sudden decrease in hot water supply demand cannot be accommodated. In this regard, there is room for improvement in current hot water storage type hot water supply devices.

The present invention proposes a heating device that heats water, a tank that stores hot water heated by the heating device, a control device that detects the amount of hot water in the tank and controls the heating device; A hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus comprising:
The control device executes a boiling operation in which hot water of a target hot water storage amount is stored in the tank, and a boiling operation in which hot water is heated in accordance with a remaining hot water amount of the tank that is reduced by hot water supply, according to a set operation mode. It is a hot water storage type hot water supply device that operates as an operation mode control means and a number of people mode control means for changing a target hot water storage amount for the heating operation for each operation mode according to a set number of people mode.

  The hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus according to the above proposal is provided with a number mode as a settable mode, and changes the target hot water storage amount in each operation mode according to the set number mode. That is, in the currently set operation mode, it is possible to reduce or increase the amount of hot water to be boiled according to the hot water supply demand, thereby responding to changes in hot water supply demand.

Schematic which showed embodiment of the hot water storage type hot-water supply apparatus. The figure explaining the threshold value in the operation mode of the 1st example. The figure explaining the threshold value in the operation mode of the 2nd example. The figure explaining the threshold value in the operation mode of the 3rd example.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus using a heat pump as a heating device. A modification such as using a gas heating device to generate hot water to be stored in the tank is also possible.
The hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus of the present embodiment includes a heating device 10 that heats water by a heat pump system that uses a refrigeration cycle of CO ₂ , a tank 20 that stores hot water generated by the heating device 10, and the amount of hot water in the tank 20. And a control device 30 that controls the heating device 10 by detecting the above.

  The heating device 10 includes an air-refrigerant heat exchanger 11, a compressor 12, a refrigerant-heat medium heat exchanger 13, and an expansion valve 14. After the refrigerant that has absorbed heat from the atmosphere in the atmosphere-refrigerant heat exchanger 11 is compressed by the compressor 12, the refrigerant-heat medium heat exchanger 13 exchanges heat with water, which is a heat medium, so that the water is heated and the hot water is Generated. The refrigerant after heat exchange with water is again sent to the air-refrigerant heat exchanger 11 after expansion by the expansion valve 14.

  The tank 20 is a hot water storage tank of a predetermined capacity such as 460 L, for example, and first to sixth remaining hot water sensors th1 to th6 are arranged at regular intervals in order from bottom to top in order to detect the amount of remaining hot water. Each of the remaining hot water sensors th1 to th6 is a temperature sensor using a thermistor and is used to detect, for example, water of 45 ° C. or lower and hot water of 50 ° C. or higher. A water supply pipe 21 is connected to the bottom of the tank 20, and water is supplied from a water supply source such as a water supply. This water supply pipe 21 is provided with a water supply temperature sensor 22. A water supply pipe 23 that supplies water from the tank 20 to the refrigerant-heat medium heat exchanger 13 of the heating device 10 is also connected to the bottom of the tank 20. The water supply pipe 23 is provided with a water supply pump 15 for supplying water to the heating device 10, and a water supply temperature sensor 24 is provided.

  Hot water that has been sent from the water supply pipe 23 to the refrigerant-heat medium heat exchanger 13 and exchanged heat with the refrigerant is fed into the tank 20 through the hot water supply pipe 25 from the top of the tank 20. Connected to the upper portion of the tank 20 is a hot water supply pipe 26 that sends hot water to a hot water supply terminal such as a shower or a bath.

  The control device 30 is configured using a circuit board in which a central processing unit (CPU) is incorporated, and operates according to an operation signal from an operation panel 31 disposed in the room. The user can set various modes by operating various buttons on the operation panel 31. In accordance with the determined mode, the control device 30 is based on the water supply temperature by the water supply temperature sensor 22, the hot water supply temperature to the hot water supply terminal, and the detected temperatures by the first to sixth remaining hot water sensors th1 to th6 and the water supply temperature sensor 24. , At least the compressor 12, the expansion valve 14, and the water pump 15 of the heating device 10 are controlled.

  In the hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus according to the present embodiment, the operation panel 31 allows the user to select an operation mode of “auto mode”, “midnight mode”, and “manual mode”, and in each of these operation modes, “ It is possible to select the amount of hot water stored in “less”, “standard” and “more”. The control device 30 that operates as operation control means according to the built-in program has these 3 × 3 = 9 operation modes, that is, “Random / Less Mode”, “Random / Standard Mode”, “Random / Large Mode”, “Midnight” / Lower Mode "," Late Night / Standard Mode "," Late Night / Higher Mode "," Manual / Lower Mode "," Manual / Standard Mode "," Manual / Higher Mode " The operation and the reheating operation are executed. The boiling operation is an operation in which the heating device 10 is operated by using late-night power, that is, for example, from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am, and the hot water of the target hot water storage amount is stored in the tank 20. Further, in the boiling increase operation, when the hot water in the tank 20 is used and reduced by hot water supply during the daytime (time other than the boiling operation time), the heating device 10 is operated according to the amount of remaining hot water in the tank 20, In this operation, the hot water is heated to increase the amount of hot water stored in the tank 20.

  The operation panel 31 of this embodiment can further set a “number of people mode”. In this number of people mode, a “basic mode” and a “small number of people mode” can be selected. The “basic mode” is a factory setting mode at the time of shipment, for example, and the “small group mode” is a mode in which the conditions are automatically changed according to the hot water supply demand when the number of family members decreases as described above. . The control device 30 that operates as the number-of-people mode control means according to the set number-of-people mode changes the determination condition set for each of the above-described operation modes according to the set number-of-people mode. This number mode will be described with reference to the examples in FIGS.

  The first example shown in FIG. 2 is a difference in threshold value between the “basic mode” (FIG. 2A) and the “small group mode” (FIG. 2B) in the “automatic mode”. The control device 30 that operates as the operation control means performs the “automatic mode” boiling operation and the additional heating operation based on the detected temperatures of the first to sixth remaining hot water sensors th1 to th6 and the water supply temperature sensor 24 of the tank 20. Run. And the control apparatus 30 which operate | moves as a person number mode control means changes the threshold value which complete | finishes the boiling operation, and the threshold value which starts a heating increase operation according to the set person number mode.

  In the “basic mode / automatic mode” of FIG. 2A, when the “automatic / low mode” is set, the control device 30 first performs a boiling operation performed at midnight with the second remaining hot water sensor th2 being 50 ° C. or higher. It ends when it is detected. That is, the threshold value for determining the end of the boiling operation is the detected temperature of the second remaining hot water sensor th2. When the heating operation is activated, the control device 30 determines the amount of boiling required up to the target hot water storage amount based on the amount of remaining hot water at the time of activation detected by any of the first to sixth remaining hot water sensors th1 to th6. The time required to boil the amount of boiling is calculated backward from 7 am based on the temperature of outside air, water supply, and hot water supply. And the control apparatus 30 starts the heating apparatus 10 at the time when boiling is in time at 7:00 am, starts water supply by the water supply pump 15, and starts boiling operation. Thereafter, the control device 30 ends the boiling operation and stops the heating device 10 when the second remaining hot water sensor th2 detects 50 ° C. or higher. Thereby, hot water of the target hot water storage amount is stored in the tank 20.

The control device 30 that has finished the boiling operation monitors the detected temperatures of the first to sixth remaining hot water sensors th1 to th6, and determines the activation of the use boiling increase operation and the hot water boiling increase operation.
The use reheating operation is a reheating operation that is performed extraordinarily during the day in order to secure a predetermined amount of heat. In the “automatic / small mode”, the control device 30 indicates that the fourth remaining hot water sensor th4 is 45 ° C. When the following is detected, the boiling operation is activated. The control device 30 in this reheating operation starts the heating device 10, starts water supply by the water supply pump 15, and performs reheating operation for the operation time determined based on the learning function installed in the control device 30. Run.
The hot water run-up operation is a hot run operation that is performed temporarily during the day to prevent running out of hot water in the tank 20, and in the “automatic / low mode”, the control device 30 uses the sixth remaining hot water sensor th6. When the temperature of 45 ° C or lower is detected, the boiling operation is started. The control device 30 in this reheating operation starts the heating device 10, starts water supply by the water supply pump 15, and performs reheating operation for the operation time determined based on the learning function installed in the control device 30. Run.

  In the “basic mode / automatic mode” of FIG. 2A, when “automatic / standard mode” or “automatic / multiple mode” is set, the control device 30 performs the boiling operation as described above. When the threshold value for judging the end of the raising operation is “Random / Standard Mode”, the first remaining hot water sensor th1 detects 50 ° C. or more, and when it is “Random / Multi Mode”, the water temperature sensor 24 is when 50 ° C. or higher is detected. In addition, in the “auto / standard mode” or “auto / multiple mode”, the control device 30 performs the daytime reheating operation as described above, but the threshold value for invoking the use reheating operation is “auto / standard”. The “mode” is when the third remaining hot water sensor th3 detects 45 ° C. or lower, and the “automatic / high mode” is when the second remaining hot water sensor th2 detects 45 ° C. or lower. Furthermore, the threshold value for invoking the hot water boiling operation is when the fifth remaining hot water sensor th5 detects 45 ° C. or less in the “automatic / standard mode”, and in the “automatic / high mode”. This is when the fourth remaining hot water sensor th4 detects 45 ° C. or lower.

  FIG. 2B shows threshold values when the “basic mode” in FIG. 2A is changed to the “small group mode”. In FIG. 2B, when the “automatic / small mode” is executed in the “small group mode”, the control device 30 determines the threshold value for ending the boiling operation from the detection of 50 ° C. or more by the second remaining hot water sensor th2. The third remaining hot water sensor th3 is changed to 50 ° C. or more detection. Thereby, the target hot water storage amount stored in the tank 20 in the boiling operation is changed so as to be reduced by, for example, about 80 L corresponding to one remaining hot water sensor. Therefore, in the currently set “Omakase / Small Mode”, the target boiling hot water storage volume is reduced according to the hot water supply demand, and it is possible to cope with changes in hot water supply demand (decrease in the number of families, etc.). is there.

  In the case of the example in FIG. 2B, the remaining amount of hot water at the threshold value that activates the additional heating operation in the “automatic / small mode” is also changed according to the setting of the “small number of people mode”, and the control device 30 performs the additional heating operation. Is activated when the fifth remaining hot water sensor th5 detects 45 ° C. or lower. Therefore, the amount of stored hot water that is heated by the additional heating operation is also reduced according to the hot water supply demand.

  The threshold value is similarly changed when “Random / Standard Mode” or “Random / Large Mode” is executed in the “small group mode”. That is, in the “automatic / standard mode”, the determination of the end of the boiling operation is changed from the first remaining hot water sensor th1 to the second remaining hot water sensor th2, and in the “automatic / multiple mode”, the boiling operation ends. Is changed from the water supply temperature sensor 24 to the first remaining hot water sensor th1. Further, in the “automatic / standard mode”, the determination of activation of the additional boiling water operation is performed from the third remaining hot water sensor th3 to the fourth remaining hot water sensor th4, and the determination of activation of hot water boiling increased operation is performed from the fifth remaining hot water sensor th5. 6 is changed to the 6 remaining hot water sensor th6, and in the “automatic / multiple mode”, the determination of activation of the additional boiling water operation is performed from the second remaining hot water sensor th2 to the third remaining hot water sensor th3 and the determination of activation of the increased hot water boiling operation is first. It changes from 4 remaining hot water sensor th4 to 5th remaining hot water sensor th5.

  The second example shown in FIG. 3 is a difference in threshold between “basic mode” (FIG. 3A) and “small group mode” (FIG. 3B) in “midnight mode”. The control device 30 that operates as the operation control means executes the boiling operation based on the detected temperatures of the first to sixth remaining hot water sensors th1 to th6 and the water supply temperature sensor 24 of the tank 20. In the “midnight mode”, only the heating operation using the midnight power is executed, and the daytime heating operation is not executed. Therefore, control device 30 operating as the number-of-people mode control means in this case changes the threshold value for ending the boiling operation in accordance with the set number-of-people mode.

  In the “basic mode / midnight mode” of FIG. 3A, when “midnight / less mode” is set, the control device 30 performs the boiling operation performed at midnight similarly to the above, when the second remaining hot water sensor th2 is 50 ° C. The process ends when the above is detected. Similarly, when the “midnight / standard mode” is set, the control device 30 ends the boiling operation when the first remaining hot water sensor th1 detects 50 ° C. or more, and the “midnight / high mode”. When the water temperature sensor 24 detects 50 ° C. or higher, the boiling operation is terminated.

  In the “small group mode / midnight mode” of FIG. 3B, when the “midnight / less mode” is executed in the “small group mode”, the control device 30 determines whether or not the boiling operation has ended, based on the second remaining hot water sensor th2. Is changed to the third remaining hot water sensor th3. When the “late night / standard mode” is executed in the “small group mode”, the determination of the end of the boiling operation is changed from the first remaining hot water sensor th1 to the second remaining hot water sensor th2, and the “late night / higher mode” "Is executed in the" small number of people mode ", the determination of the end of the boiling operation is changed from the water supply temperature sensor 24 to the first remaining hot water sensor th1. Therefore, in the “midnight mode” currently set, the target hot water storage amount to be heated can be changed according to the hot water supply demand.

  The third example shown in FIG. 4 is a difference in threshold value between the “basic mode” (FIG. 4A) and the “small group mode” (FIG. 4B) in the “manual mode”. The control device 30 operating as the operation control means performs the “manual mode” boiling operation and the additional heating operation based on the detected temperatures of the first to sixth remaining hot water sensors th1 to th6 and the water supply temperature sensor 24 of the tank 20. Run. And the control apparatus 30 which operate | moves as a person number mode control means changes the threshold value which complete | finishes the boiling operation, and the threshold value which starts a heating increase operation according to the set person number mode. The difference between the “manual mode” and the “automatic mode” is that the learning function is not used in the “manual mode”.

  In the “basic mode / manual mode” of FIG. 4A, when the “manual / less mode” is set, the control device 30 performs the boiling operation performed at midnight similarly to the above, when the first remaining hot water sensor th1 is 50 ° C. The process ends when the above is detected. Similarly, when “manual / standard mode” or “manual / more mode” is set, the control device 30 ends the boiling operation when the water supply temperature sensor 24 detects 50 ° C. or more.

The control device 30 that has finished the boiling operation determines whether to activate the use boiling increase operation and the hot water boiling increase operation as described above. The operation time is not determined based on the learning function, but is a time preset in the control device 30.
When the “manual / less mode” or “manual / standard mode” is set, the control device 30 activates the use boiling increase operation when the fourth remaining hot water sensor th4 detects 45 ° C. or less, When the sixth remaining hot water sensor th6 detects that the temperature is 45 ° C. or less, the operation for increasing the boiling point is activated. In addition, when “manual / more mode” is set, the “control device 30 is activated when the third remaining hot water sensor th3 detects 45 ° C. or less, and the hot water boiling is increased. Is activated when the fifth remaining hot water sensor th5 detects 45 ° C. or lower.

  In the “small group mode / manual mode” of FIG. 4B, when the “manual / small mode” is executed in the “small group mode”, the control device 30 determines whether or not the boiling operation has ended, using the first remaining hot water sensor th1. To the second remaining hot water sensor th3. Further, when “manual / standard mode” or “manual / more mode” is executed in the “small number of people mode”, the determination of the completion of the boiling operation is changed from the water supply temperature sensor 24 to the first remaining hot water sensor th1. . Therefore, in the “manual mode” currently set, the target hot water storage amount to be heated can be changed according to the hot water supply demand.

  In the case of the third example of FIG. 4, the activation determination of the use boiling increase operation and the hot water boiling increase operation is not changed between the “basic mode” and the “small group mode”. That is, the threshold value for the completion of the heating operation and the threshold value for starting the heating operation can be changed by changing the number of people mode, or only one of them can be changed.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the operation mode can be selected has been described. However, the present invention can be applied even to a device that only has a boiling operation with a bottom price single-function hot water supply device. That is, it is sufficient that at least the target hot water storage amount for the heating operation can be changed according to the number of people mode. In addition, although an example in which “basic mode” and “small group mode” are set as the number of people mode has been described, there are three modes such as “basic mode”, “small group mode”, and “very small group mode” The above can also be made configurable. The display of these modes is also a specific number display such as “5-6 person mode”, “3-4 person mode”, “˜2 person mode”, “460L”, “400L”, “360L”. It may be a specific hot water storage display.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Heating device 11 Air-refrigerant heat exchanger 12 Compressor 13 Refrigerant-heat medium heat exchanger 14 Expansion valve 15 Water supply pump 20 Tank 21 Water supply pipe 22 Water supply temperature sensor 23 Water supply pipe 24 Water supply temperature sensor 25 Hot water supply pipe 26 Hot water supply pipe 30 Control device 31 Operation panel

Claims (2)

A heating device for heating water;
A tank for storing hot water after heating by the heating device;
A control device that detects the amount of hot water in the tank and controls the heating device;
A hot water storage hot water supply device comprising:
The control device is
Operation mode control means for performing a boiling operation for storing hot water of a target hot water storage amount in the tank and a reheating operation for boiling hot water according to the remaining hot water amount of the tank that is reduced by hot water supply according to a set operation mode; And operating as a person mode control means for changing a target hot water storage amount for the boiling operation for each operation mode according to a set person mode.
Hot water storage water heater. The control device that operates as the number of people mode control means,
The amount of remaining hot water that activates the additional heating operation for each operation mode is changed according to the set number of people mode,
The hot water storage type hot water supply apparatus according to claim 1.

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