JP6328283B2 - Controller, schedule creation method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a controller, a schedule creation method, and a program.

  A technique for centrally managing facilities installed in a house via a communication network is known. For example, Patent Literature 1 describes that the operation of the air conditioning system is controlled (demand control) so that the power consumption of the entire load facility is equal to or less than a threshold value in any time zone of the day.

JP 2013-106367 A

  In recent years, there is also known an electricity bill contract with a different unit price for each time zone. In addition, due to future liberalization of power retailing, it will be possible for ordinary households to select power companies, and the types of such contracts may be diversified.

  In the invention described in Patent Document 1, although the equipment is demand-controlled so that the power consumption does not exceed the threshold value, the above-described contract of the electricity bill is not taken into consideration. In other words, it cannot be said that the invention described in Patent Document 1 sufficiently meets the needs of users who want to make electricity charges as cheap as possible.

  In addition, the electricity rate is reduced by storing heat in the hot water supply facility at midnight hours when the electricity rate unit price is low. However, in this case, since a certain amount of heat storage is performed uniformly in the midnight hours without considering the user's usage tendency, there is a risk that heat storage is insufficient when hot water is supplied or that heat is stored more than necessary. is there.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a controller or the like that controls equipment so as to make electricity charges as cheap as possible without impairing user convenience.

In order to achieve the above object, the controller of the present invention provides:
A controller for managing an air conditioning facility having a heat storage function installed in a house,
A predicting unit that predicts the amount of electric power necessary to make the air conditioning equipment in a heat storage state suitable for user use ;
And power said the time zone unit price of the gas fee based on the predicted required amount of power, schedule creation unit to create a schedule of the heat storage by the air-conditioning equipment,
Equipped with a,
The schedule creation unit
Based on the occupancy status of the room where the air conditioning equipment is installed, it is determined whether or not the heat storage operation is performed in an inexpensive time zone where the unit price of the electricity bill is lower than other time zones,
When it is determined that the heat storage operation is performed, the schedule is changed so that the heat storage operation is performed.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to control an installation so that an electricity bill may become as cheap as possible, without impairing a user's convenience.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the equipment management system which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the hot water supply equipment which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a controller according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a storage unit of a controller according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a schedule creation process in the first embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of a prediction process. It is a figure for demonstrating the relationship between the power consumption of a heat pump unit, and an output. It is a figure which shows the structure of the equipment management system which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a storage unit of a controller according to Embodiment 2. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a schedule creation process in the second embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the equipment management system which concerns on Embodiment 3. FIG. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a storage unit of a controller according to a third embodiment. 10 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a schedule creation process in the third embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the example which calculates | requires the schedule of the thermal storage driving | operation of an air conditioning facility.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals.

(Embodiment 1)
The whole structure of the equipment control system 1 which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention is shown in FIG. The equipment control system 1 is a system that controls the hot water supply equipment 10 installed in the user's house 80. The facility control system 1 includes a hot water supply facility 10, a controller 20, a power measuring device 30, an operation terminal 40, and a cloud server 50.

  The configuration of the hot water supply facility 10 is shown in FIG. The hot water supply facility 10 is a facility for supplying hot water to the bathtub 13 of the house 80. The hot water supply facility 10 includes a heat pump unit 11, a hot water supply unit 12, and a bathtub 13.

  The heat pump unit 11 has a circulation pump, an expansion valve, a heat exchanger, a compressor, and the like for constituting a heat pump cycle. The heat pump unit 11 uses the heat in the atmosphere to heat the water flowing in through the pipe 12A and generate hot water. The temperature of this hot water is 90 ° C., for example. And the heat pump unit 11 supplies the produced | generated hot water to the piping 12B.

  The hot water supply unit 12 uses hot water supplied from the heat pump unit 11 to fill the bathtub 13 with hot water for the user to take a bath or to cook up the water in the bathtub 13. The hot water supply unit 12 includes a hot water storage tank 12C, circulation pumps 12D, 12E, 12F, temperature sensors 12G, 12H, 12I, a three-way valve 12J, a heat exchanger 12K, a flow rate sensor 12L, and a hot water supply controller 12M.

  The hot water storage tank 12C is a cylindrical tank for storing hot water, and has a capacity of, for example, 500L. Pipes 12B, 12N, and 120 are connected to the upper portion of the hot water storage tank 12C. Further, pipes 12A and 12P and a water pipe 12Q are connected to the bottom of the hot water storage tank 12C.

  Circulation pump 12D is a pump provided in piping 12A. The water sent out by the circulation pump 12D circulates in this order through the pipe 12A, the heat pump unit 11, the pipe 12B, and the hot water storage tank 12C. By this circulation, hot water having a relatively high temperature is stored in the upper part of the hot water storage tank 12C. Also, relatively low temperature water is stored in the lower part of the hot water storage tank 12C.

  Each of the temperature sensors 12G and 12H is disposed on the upper and lower side walls of the hot water storage tank 12C. The temperature sensors 12G and 12H detect the temperature of water in the hot water storage tank 12C. The detection result is notified to the hot water supply controller 12M and used to measure the temperature distribution of the water in the hot water storage tank 12C.

  The three-way valve 12J is an electromagnetic valve that mixes hot water supplied from the hot water storage tank 12C via the pipe 12N and water supplied from the water supply pipe 12Q and supplies the mixed water to the pipe 12R. Mixing by the three-way valve 12J is performed at a ratio instructed by the hot water supply controller 12M so that the temperature of the hot water supplied to the pipe 12R becomes a predetermined value. Moreover, the hot water supplied via the pipe 12R is further poured into the bathtub 13 via the pipe 12S.

  The heat exchanger 12K is used for exchanging heat between the hot water in the hot water storage tank 12C and the water in the bathtub 13 to catch up the water in the bathtub 13. Pipes 12P, 12O through which hot water in the hot water storage tank 12C flows and pipes 12S, 12T through which water in the bathtub 13 flows are connected to the heat exchanger 12K.

  The circulation pump 12E is a pump provided in the pipe 12P. The water sent out by the circulation pump 12E circulates through the pipe 12P, the hot water storage tank 12C, the pipe 12O, and the heat exchanger 12K in this order.

  The circulation pump 12F is a pump provided in the pipe 12S. The water sent out by the circulation pump 12F circulates through the pipe 12S, the heat exchanger 12K, the pipe 12T, and the bathtub 13 in this order.

  The flow rate sensor 12L detects the flow rate of water flowing through the pipe 12S. The temperature sensor 12I detects the temperature of water flowing through the pipe 12S. The results of detection by the flow rate sensor 12L and the temperature sensor 12I are notified to the hot water supply controller 12M and used to manage the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub 13.

  The hot water supply controller 12M includes a microcontroller and a drive circuit for driving the circulation pumps 12D, 12E, and 12F. The hot water supply controller 12M drives the circulation pumps 12D, 12E, and 12F and controls the three-way valve 12J based on the detection results of the temperature sensors 12G, 12H, and 12I and the flow rate sensor 12L. In addition, the hot water supply controller 12M notifies the controller 20 of the temperature distribution of the water in the hot water storage tank 12C.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the controller 20 is a computer that controls the hot water supply facility 10. The controller 20 is connected to the hot water supply facility 10, the power measuring device 30, and the operation terminal 40 via the home network 60 so that data communication is possible. Further, the controller 20 is connected to the external cloud server 50 via the Internet 70 so that data communication is possible.

  Next, the configuration of the controller 20 will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the controller 20 includes a home communication unit 21, an external communication unit 22, a storage unit 23, and a control unit 24.

  The in-home communication unit 21 is, for example, an access point for wireless LAN connection, and performs data communication with the hot water supply facility 10, the power measuring device 30, and the operation terminal 40 through the in-home network 60 under the control of the control unit 24. Do. The external communication unit 22 includes a communication interface such as a NIC (Network Interface Card), and performs data communication with the external cloud server 50 via the Internet 70 under the control of the control unit 24.

  The storage unit 23 plays a role as a so-called secondary storage device (auxiliary storage device), and includes, for example, a readable and writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory. As shown in FIG. 4, the storage unit 23 includes facility history data 231, power history data 232, schedule data 233, electricity unit price data 234, weather record data 235, weather forecast data 236, schedule Data 237 is stored.

The facility history data 231 is data indicating a history of operations of the hot water supply facility 10 (such as start and end of heat storage).
The power history data 232 is data indicating a history of power consumption of the hot water supply facility.
The schedule data 233 is data indicating a schedule of going out or staying at home for each user in the house.
The electricity bill unit price data 234 is data indicating the unit price of the electricity bill for each time zone. The electricity bill unit price data 234 is automatically updated to the latest data downloaded from a server of an electric power company (not shown) when the electricity bill contract is changed.
The weather record data 235 is data in which information related to the weather recorded in the past (weather, temperature, humidity, sunshine duration, etc.) is recorded. The weather forecast data 236 is data indicating a future weather forecast, and indicates, for example, an hourly temperature, humidity, and weather forecast for the next day. The weather record data 235 and the weather forecast data 236 are automatically updated to the latest data downloaded from a server (not shown) via the Internet 70 periodically.
The schedule data 237 is data defining a heat storage schedule by the hot water supply facility 10 created by a schedule creation process described later. Specifically, the schedule data 237 includes a time for starting boiling (heat storage), a time for ending, and an output value (kW) at the time of boiling.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the control unit 24 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like (none of which are shown), and the CPU uses the RAM as a work memory. The various units described above are controlled by appropriately executing various programs stored in the ROM and the storage unit 23. Functionally, the control unit 24 includes a prediction unit 241, a schedule creation unit 242, and a control execution unit 243.

  The prediction unit 241 predicts the amount of electric power necessary to make the hot water supply facility 10 into a heat storage state suitable for use on the next day of the user. Specifically, the prediction unit 241 obtains a parameter of a model formula for calculating the power consumption amount of the hot water supply facility 10 from the power history data 232 and the scheduled data 233 recorded in the past certain period. Then, the required power amount is predicted using the model formula to which the obtained parameters are applied, the weather forecast data 236 and the schedule data 233 for the next day.

  The schedule creation unit 242 creates a schedule for heat storage by the hot water supply facility 10 based on the predicted required power amount and the electricity bill unit price data 234 so that the electricity bill is as cheap as possible.

  Based on the created schedule, control execution unit 233 transmits a control signal to hot water supply facility 10 to control heat storage by hot water supply facility 10.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the power measuring device 30 monitors the power consumption of the hot water supply facility 10 as needed and notifies the controller 20 of the power consumption. Instead of the power measuring device 30, the hot water supply facility 10 may be provided with a mechanism that measures its own power consumption, and the measured power consumption may be notified to the controller 10.

  The operation terminal 40 is, for example, a tablet terminal and includes a touch panel. The operation terminal 40 is used to transmit instructions such as hot water supply and stop to the hot water supply facility 10 and to display various states. The operation terminal 40 is also used to input a user's schedule, and the input schedule is transmitted to the controller 20 and registered as schedule data 233.

  The cloud server 50 performs data communication with the controller 20 in the house 80 via the Internet 70. For example, the controller 20 periodically transmits the power history data 232 and the schedule data 233 to the cloud server 50 and is uploaded to the database in the cloud server 50.

  Subsequently, processing performed by the controller 20 will be described. The controller 20 executes the schedule creation process shown in FIG. 5 at a time determined every day (for example, 9:00).

  First, the prediction unit 241 of the controller 20 executes a prediction process for predicting the required power amount necessary for heat storage of the hot water supply facility for the next time (step S11). Details of the prediction processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the prediction unit 241 of the controller 20 acquires the value of each parameter for prediction measured during the past month (step S111). For example, the prediction unit 241 may acquire the temperature and humidity values recorded every hour of the past month from the weather record data 235 stored in the storage unit 23 as the values of each parameter.

  Subsequently, the prediction unit 241 selects one unselected parameter from the parameters whose values have been acquired in Step S111 (Step S112).

  Subsequently, the prediction unit 241 obtains a correlation coefficient between the selected parameter and the power consumption of the hot water supply facility 10 (step S113). For example, when the selected parameter is the temperature, the prediction unit 241 acquires the temperature value measured during the past month and the power consumption value of the air conditioning equipment from the weather record data 235 and the power history data 232, What is necessary is just to obtain | require the correlation coefficient between temperature and power consumption from each value.

  Subsequently, the prediction unit 241 determines whether or not the obtained correlation coefficient is larger than a preset threshold value (step S114). If the correlation coefficient is greater than the threshold (step S114; Yes), the process proceeds to step S116.

  When the correlation coefficient is not larger than the threshold value (step S114; No), it can be seen that the selected parameter hardly affects the power consumption of the hot water supply facility 10. Therefore, the prediction unit 241 excludes this parameter from the target used in the prediction formula (step S115). Then, the process proceeds to step S116.

  In step S116, the prediction unit 241 determines whether all parameters have been selected in step S112. When there is a parameter that has not been selected (step S116; No), the prediction unit 241 selects the parameter, obtains a correlation coefficient with the power consumption, and excludes it from the target of the prediction formula if it is equal to or less than the threshold value. Is repeated (steps S112 to S115).

  On the other hand, when all the parameters are selected (step S116; Yes), the prediction unit 241 uses the parameters of the prediction formula for predicting power consumption for parameters that are not excluded, such as regression analysis. It calculates | requires by a well-known method (step S117).

  Here, an example of a prediction formula is shown in the following formula (1). In this equation, Y indicates the power consumption of the hot water supply facility 10 to be predicted. Xi is a parameter for prediction that is not excluded in step S115. Α is a coefficient of this parameter, and is calculated in step S117. Note that u represents standby power of the hot water supply facility 10. Further, member indicates the number of people at home 80 obtained from the schedule data 233, time indicates the time at home, and E is a function for obtaining a correction value of power consumption caused by these.

  Returning to FIG. 6, the prediction unit 241 then adds the value of each parameter of the next day (for example, the predicted value of the temperature of the next day acquired from the weather forecast data 236) to the prediction formula to which the coefficient obtained in step S <b> 117 is applied. By substituting it, the required electric energy (Y in equation (1)) is obtained (step S118). Thus, the prediction process ends. In addition, the average of the power consumption of the heat pump unit 11 and the hot water supply equipment 10 for the last one month may be used as the required power amount without using the prediction formula as described above, and a method for obtaining the required power amount is arbitrary.

  Returning to FIG. 5, when the prediction process (step S <b> 11) ends, the schedule creation unit 242 of the controller 20 estimates a time (usage time) when the user uses the bathtub 13 on the next day (step S <b> 12). For example, the schedule creation unit 242 may estimate the average time of hot water supplied to the bathtub 13 as the use time from the equipment history data 231 for the past week. In addition, the use time of the bathtub 13 may be preset by the user.

  Subsequently, the schedule creation unit 242 refers to the electricity rate unit price data 234 and completes at the use time when the electricity rate is the cheapest and at least the heat storage for the required power amount predicted by the prediction process is estimated. The heat storage start time and end time of the hot water supply facility 10 and the power consumption during heat storage are obtained (step S13).

  Here, let us consider a case where the electricity rate of the hot water supply facility 10 is given by the following equation (2).

  In this equation, h represents each time zone of the day and takes a value from 0 to 24. R (h) represents an electricity bill in the hot water supply facility 10 in the time zone h. For example, R (0) indicates the electricity charge of the hot water supply facility 10 between 0:00 and 1:00.

  K represents the outside air temperature. α (K) is a function indicating the efficiency at the time of heat storage when the outside air temperature is K, and the lower the outside air temperature, the easier the hot water in the hot water storage tank 12C is cooled, so a small value (inefficient value). Show.

  W represents the power consumption of the hot water supply facility 10 (heat pump unit 11) during heat storage. P (W) indicates the output (capacity) of the heat pump unit 11 when the heat pump unit 11 is operated with the power consumption W. Here, it is known that the power consumption W and P (W) have a relationship as shown in FIG. That is, it can be seen that the lower the power consumption, the better the efficiency of heat storage by the heat pump unit 11.

  Also, ts indicates the time when heat storage is started (heat storage start time), and te indicates the time when it ends (heat storage end time). Moreover, T is the use time when a user uses the bathtub 13, and is calculated | required by step S12. In addition, l indicates the amount of water in the hot water storage tank 12C, and is given a fixed value that matches the capacity of the tank. L (T-te, K, l) indicates a relative loss of heat storage due to the passage of time from the heat storage end time te to the use time T. C (h) is an electricity bill unit price in the time zone h, and is obtained from the electricity bill unit price data 234.

  The schedule creation unit 242 uses the heat storage start time ts and the heat storage so that the electric charge ΣR (h) (h = 0 to 24) of the hot water supply facility for one day is minimized in the formula (2) as the heat storage schedule. What is necessary is just to obtain | require end time te and power consumption w. In addition, Formula (2) needs to satisfy the following conditions (1) to (3).

Condition (1): {α (K) · P (W) · (te−ts) −L (T−te, K, l)} is equal to or greater than the required electric energy obtained in the prediction process.
Condition (2): In order to operate the heat pump unit 11 efficiently, te-ts takes a value as large as possible (the heat pump unit 11 is operated as long as possible).
Condition (3): T-te is set to be as small as possible in order to prevent heat dissipation loss due to the passage of time of heat stored in the hot water storage tank 13C.

  Subsequently, the schedule creation unit 242 registers, in the storage unit 23, schedule data 237 in which the obtained heat storage start time, heat storage end time, and power consumption at the time of heat storage are set as the heat storage schedule for the next day (step S14). This completes the schedule creation process.

  Here, the above-described schedule creation process will be described with a specific example. For example, let us consider a case in which a low-cost time zone is set from 10:00 to 14:00, unlike a normal fee structure in which the electricity rate unit price is lower than other time zones at midnight from 23:00 to 7:00 the following day. . It is assumed that the scheduled bathing time T of the user is set after 18:00. First, from the above conditions (2) and (3), the heat storage start time ts = 10 (hours) and the heat storage end time te = 14 (hours) are set so as to store heat in the set inexpensive time zone. . Moreover, since the time (T-te) from the heat storage end time te to the use time T is shorter than the normal time, the relative loss L of the heat storage is also a negative number, but since the heat storage loss due to the passage of time is small, In that case, the effect is small. Further, since the heat storage time (te-ts) is shorter than 8 hours which is a normal low-cost time zone (23:00 to 7:00 the next time), the output P of the heat pump unit 11 is satisfied in order to satisfy the condition (1). The power consumption W of the heat pump unit 11 is set higher than normal. Therefore, in this case, in the schedule creation process, the heat storage start time ts = 10 (hours), the heat storage end time te = 14 (hours), and the power consumption W of the heat pump unit 11 at the time of heat storage is set to a larger value than normal. A schedule is created.

  As described above, according to the controller 20 according to the present embodiment, the necessary power amount necessary for achieving a heat storage state suitable for the use of the user is predicted, and the predicted power amount and the predicted power amount according to the time zone of the electricity rate. Based on the amount, a heat storage schedule by the hot water supply facility 10 is created. Therefore, it is possible to use the hot water supply facility 10 with an optimum amount of stored heat when the user is used, and to reduce the electricity bill.

  In the above embodiment, the heat storage schedule of the hot water supply facility 10 is created, but the present invention is also applicable to the heat storage schedule creation of other facilities having a heat storage function. For example, the present invention can be applied to a water-type air conditioner that requires a heat pump unit 11 and a heat storage tank as well as the hot water supply facility 10.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, the second embodiment will be described focusing on the differences from the first embodiment. In addition, about the structure same or equivalent to the said Embodiment 1, while using an equivalent code | symbol, the description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the facility control system 2 according to the second embodiment further includes a power generation facility 90 and can sell (sell) the generated power to a power company (not shown). The power generation facility 90 is, for example, a solar power generation facility including a solar panel that generates power from sunlight and a power conditioner that converts generated power from direct current to alternating current.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, unit price data 238 and power generation history data 239 are further stored in the storage unit 23 of the controller 20 according to the present embodiment. The electric power selling unit price data 238 is data indicating the electric power selling unit price of the electric charge for each time zone. The power generation history data 239 is data in which a history of power generation by the power generation facility 90 (power generation time, power generation amount, etc.) is recorded.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the schedule creation process executed by the controller 20 according to this embodiment.

  First, the prediction unit 241 refers to the power history data 232, the power generation history data 239, and the weather forecast data 236 to predict the surplus time zone in which the power generation amount of the next day exceeds the power consumption amount and the surplus power amount ( Step S21).

  Subsequently, the prediction unit 241 determines whether the predicted surplus power is used for storing heat in the hot water supply facility 10 or selling power, which is more economical (step S22). Specifically, the prediction unit 241 may determine that the use of heat storage is obtained when the determination value J of the following expression (3) is positive, and that the sale of electricity is better when the determination value J is negative. In this equation, Q is the surplus power amount of the next day predicted in step S21. Further, τ represents the ratio of the heat storage efficiency depending on the outside air temperature, specifically, (heat storage efficiency in surplus time zone) / (heat storage efficiency in the currently scheduled heat storage time zone). Cp represents the unit price of the electricity charge in the currently scheduled heat storage time period, and is obtained from the electricity charge unit price data 234. Cs indicates the predicted power selling unit price in the surplus time zone, and is acquired from the power selling unit price data 238.

  When it is determined that the power sale is better (step S22; power sale), the schedule creation unit 242 does not change the heat storage schedule of the hot water supply facility 10 and immediately sells power when surplus power is generated. The mode is switched to the operation mode (power sale mode) (step S23).

  On the other hand, when it is determined that it is better to use the heat storage (step S22; heat storage use), the schedule creation unit 242 sets the scheduled heat storage start time and heat storage stop time so as to store heat in the predicted surplus time zone. Change (step S24). This completes the schedule creation process.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the power generation facility 90 is provided, not only the heat storage operation is simply performed to reduce the electricity bill, but also the person who sells the power is compared with the case where the power is sold. If it is profitable, power sale is given priority. Therefore, it is possible to create a heat storage schedule that is more economical.

(Embodiment 3)
Next, the third embodiment will be described focusing on differences from the first embodiment. In addition, about the structure same or equivalent to the said Embodiment 1, while using an equivalent code | symbol, the description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the facility control system 3 according to the present embodiment is different from the first and second embodiments in that the facility to be managed is not the hot water supply facility 10 but the air conditioning facility 100 (100A, 100B, 100C). Different. Unlike the hot water supply facility 10, the air conditioning facility 100 does not include a heat storage tank (oil storage tank 12C). Therefore, in this embodiment, the room where the user is absent is used as a pseudo heat storage tank. And it has the feature which makes an electricity bill as cheap as possible by storing heat in a room where a user is absent (cooling in the case of cooling) in a time zone when the power unit price is low. It is assumed that the air conditioner 100A is disposed in the living room 80, the air conditioner 100B is disposed in the child room of the house 80, and the air conditioner 100C is disposed in the bedroom of the house 80.

  Further, the occupancy status data 240 is further stored in the storage unit 23 of the controller 20 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. The occupancy status data 240 represents the user's occupancy / absence schedule for each room in each future time zone. The occupancy status data 240 is input from the operation terminal 40 by the user, for example.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation of a schedule creation process executed by the controller 20 according to the present embodiment.

  First, the prediction unit 241 of the controller 20 determines the necessity of today's air conditioning by comparing the today's average temperature indicated by the weather forecast data 236 with a threshold (step S31).

  When it is determined that there is no need for air conditioning (step S31; no air conditioning is required), the process ends.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that heating is necessary (step S31; heating), the prediction unit 241 sets the current heating set temperature + T (for example, 2 degrees) as the set temperature for heat storage (residual heat) (step S31). S32).

  On the other hand, when it is determined that cooling is necessary (step S31; cooling), the prediction unit sets the current cooling set temperature -T (for example, 2 degrees) as the set temperature for heat storage (pre-cooling) (step S31). S33).

  Subsequently, the schedule creation unit 242 selects one unselected room (step S34). Then, the schedule creation unit 242 refers to the occupancy status data 240 and selects the time until a predetermined time (one hour) elapses from a time zone (inexpensive time zone) where the unit price of electricity charges is lower than others. It is determined whether or not the room changes from an empty room to an existing room (step S35).

  If the selected room is in the room from the low-cost time zone until the predetermined time (one hour) has elapsed (step S35; Yes), the schedule creation unit 242 uses the last one hour of the low-cost time zone of the room as step S31. Alternatively, the schedule data 237 is updated to a schedule for performing the heat storage operation (pre-cooling or remaining heat) at the heat storage set temperature obtained in step S32 (step S36). When the user does not stay in the room within one hour from the cheap time zone (step S35; No), the process proceeds to step S37.

  In step S37, the schedule creation unit 242 determines whether all rooms have been selected. When there is an unselected room (step S37; No), the schedule creation unit 242 repeats the process of selecting the room and determining whether to perform the heat storage operation. When all the rooms are selected (step S37; Yes), the schedule creation process ends.

  Here, the above-described schedule creation process will be described with a specific example. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, when the presence or absence of each room is known and 10:00 to 14:00 is set to an inexpensive time zone where the unit price of electricity charges is lower than other time zones. Think. In this case, the living room and the children's room become absent from the room within one hour after the cheap time period ends. Therefore, from 13:00 to 14:00, which is the last hour of the inexpensive time zone, the air conditioning facilities 100A and 100B in the living room and the child room are subjected to a heat storage operation (pre-cooling operation or preheat operation). On the other hand, the air conditioning facility 100C in the bedroom does not stay in the room within one hour after the low-price period ends, and therefore the heat storage operation is not performed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a specific condition is satisfied in consideration of a vacant state of a room, heat is stored in the vacant room during a low-cost time period. It becomes possible.

  In the above embodiment, a schedule is created in which a room that becomes a vacant room is determined before a predetermined time elapses and heat is stored in the room. On the other hand, a room that has been vacant for a long time (more than a predetermined time) is identified and stored in that room, and then the fan is used to heat the other room through a duct that connects the rooms. You may create the schedule of heat storage which conveys. For example, in FIG. 14, since the bedroom is not used until 22:00 at night, heat is stored in the bedroom air-conditioning system 100C during the low-cost period, and the bedroom heat is transferred to the living room or child room by a fan after the low-cost period ends. Thus, it becomes possible to reduce the electricity bill. Note that a room that is a vacant room for a long time may be a space where a person cannot enter in a house such as an underfloor or an attic.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although heat storage is performed with respect to each room of the house 80, you may heat-store with respect to the cold insulation apparatus aiming at low temperature preservation | save. For example, by storing heat in the refrigerator in each room at a temperature lower than usual in an inexpensive time zone, it is possible to reduce power consumption after the inexpensive time zone. In the case of a refrigerator, heat may be intensively stored in a freezer room having a lower temperature, and power consumption may be reduced after a low-cost time period to transfer heat to each room.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Of course, the various correction in the part which does not deviate from the summary of this invention is possible.

  For example, the above-described schedule creation process does not have to be performed at a time determined every day, and may be performed only when the power unit price data 234 is changed, for example. In addition, a heat storage schedule for the next week or month may be created, and the schedule period created in the schedule creation process may be arbitrary.

  In addition, for example, by applying an operation program that defines the operation of the controller 20 according to the present embodiment to an existing personal computer, an information terminal device, or the like, the personal computer or the like may function as the controller 20 according to the present invention. Is possible.

  Further, the distribution method of such a program is arbitrary. For example, the program can be read by a computer such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read-Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), an MO (Magneto Optical Disk), or a memory card. It may be distributed by storing in a recording medium, or distributed via a communication network such as the Internet.

1, 2, 3 Equipment management system, 10 hot water supply equipment, 20 controller, 21 in-home communication section, 22 external communication section, 23 storage section, 24 control section, 231 equipment history data, 232 power history data, 233 schedule data, 234 electricity Unit price data, 235 Weather record data, 236 Weather forecast data, 237 Schedule data, 238 Power sale unit price data, 239 Power generation history data, 240 Occupancy status data, 241 Prediction unit, 242 Schedule creation unit, 243 Control execution unit

Claims (5)

A controller for managing an air conditioning facility having a heat storage function installed in a house,
A predicting unit that predicts the amount of electric power necessary to make the air conditioning equipment in a heat storage state suitable for user use ;
And power said the time zone unit price of the gas fee based on the predicted required amount of power, schedule creation unit to create a schedule of the heat storage by the air-conditioning equipment,
Equipped with a,
The schedule creation unit
Based on the occupancy status of the room where the air conditioning equipment is installed, it is determined whether or not the heat storage operation is performed in an inexpensive time zone where the unit price of the electricity bill is lower than other time zones,
When it is determined that the heat storage operation, the schedule is changed to perform the heat storage operation.
controller. The schedule creation unit creates the schedule such that when the user of the air conditioning equipment is used, heat storage for the predicted required power amount is completed, and the electricity charge required for the heat storage is the cheapest.
The controller according to claim 1. The house further includes a power generation facility,
The prediction unit predicts surplus power generated by the power generation facility and a surplus time zone in which the surplus power is generated,
The schedule creation unit
Determine whether it is better to use the surplus power for heat storage by the air conditioning equipment, or to sell power,
If it is determined that it is better to use for heat storage, change the schedule to store heat in the surplus time zone,
The controller according to claim 1 or 2. Predicting the amount of power required to make an air conditioning facility with a heat storage function into a heat storage state suitable for user use,
On the basis of the necessary amount of power and time zone unit price of electricity rates was the prediction, to create a schedule of the heat storage by the air-conditioning equipment,
Based on the occupancy status of the room where the air conditioning equipment is installed, it is determined whether or not the heat storage operation is performed in an inexpensive time zone where the unit price of the electricity bill is lower than other time zones,
When it is determined that the heat storage operation, the schedule is changed to perform the heat storage operation.
Schedule creation method. A computer that manages the air-conditioning equipment with heat storage function installed in the house
A predicting unit that predicts the amount of power required to make the air conditioning equipment a heat storage state suitable for use by the user ;
Electricity based on the time zone cost-per-fee and the predicted required amount of power, schedule creation unit to create a schedule of the heat storage by the air-conditioning equipment, to function as,
The schedule creation unit
Based on the occupancy status of the room where the air conditioning equipment is installed, it is determined whether or not the heat storage operation is performed in an inexpensive time zone where the unit price of the electricity bill is lower than other time zones,
When it is determined that the heat storage operation, the schedule is changed to perform the heat storage operation.
program.

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