JP6628831B2 - Controller, schedule creation method, and program - Google Patents

Description

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

  2. Description of the Related Art A technique for centrally managing facilities installed in a house via a communication network is known. For example, Patent Literature 1 describes controlling the operation of an air-conditioning system (demand control) such that the power consumption of the entire load equipment is equal to or less than a threshold value in any time period in a day.

JP 2013-106367 A

  In recent years, contracts for electricity rates with different unit prices for each time zone have been known. In addition, due to the liberalization of the electric power retail in the future, it is possible to select an electric power company even in ordinary households, and it is assumed that the types of such contracts are diversified.

  In the invention described in Patent Literature 1, equipment is demand-controlled so that power consumption does not exceed a threshold, but the above-mentioned contract details of an electricity bill are not taken into consideration. In other words, the invention described in Patent Document 1 does not sufficiently meet the needs of the user who wants to reduce the electricity bill as much as possible.

  In addition, it is also practiced to store heat in the hot water supply equipment during the late night hours when the unit price of electricity is low to reduce the electricity bill. However, in this case, since a fixed amount of heat is uniformly stored in the middle of the night without considering the usage tendency of the user, there is a possibility that the heat is insufficiently stored at the time of hot water supply or the 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 facilities so as not to impair user's convenience and to reduce the electricity bill as much as possible.

To achieve the above object, the controller of the present invention comprises:
A controller for managing an air conditioner having a heat storage function installed in a house,
A prediction unit that predicts a required amount of power required to bring the air conditioning equipment into a heat storage state suitable for use by a user,
A schedule creation unit that creates a schedule of heat storage by the air conditioner based on the hourly unit price of the electricity rate and the estimated required power amount;
With
The schedule creation unit,
Heat is stored in a space where no one can enter the house in the cheap time zone where the unit price of the electricity rate is lower than other time zones, and after the cheap time zone, the stored heat is transferred to the space where the house is occupied. Create the schedule of the plan ,
The house further includes a power generation facility,
The prediction unit further predicts a surplus power generated by the power generation equipment and a surplus time zone in which the surplus power occurs,
The schedule creation unit,
It is better to use the surplus power for heat storage by the air conditioner, to determine whether it is better to sell the power,
If it is determined that it is better to use the heat storage, the schedule is changed so that the heat is stored during the surplus time zone .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to control facilities so that a user's convenience may not be impaired and an electricity rate may be reduced as much as possible.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a facility management system according to a first embodiment. It is a figure showing composition of a hot-water supply facility concerning Embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a controller according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a storage unit of the controller according to the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a schedule creation process in the first embodiment. It is a flow chart for explaining operation of prediction processing. It is a figure for explaining the relation between power consumption and output of a heat pump unit. It is a figure showing the composition of the equipment management system concerning Embodiment 2. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a storage unit of a controller according to a second embodiment. 9 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a schedule creation process according to the second embodiment. It is a figure showing the composition of the equipment management system concerning Embodiment 3. FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a storage unit of a controller according to a third embodiment. 13 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a schedule creation process in the third embodiment. It is a figure for explaining the example which calculates | requires the schedule of the thermal storage driving | operation of an air conditioner.

  Hereinafter, each embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts have the same reference characters allotted.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a facility control system 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The equipment control system 1 is a system that controls the hot water supply equipment 10 installed in the user's house 80. The equipment control system 1 includes a hot water supply apparatus 10, a controller 20, a power measurement device 30, an operation terminal 40, and a cloud server 50.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the hot water supply facility 10. Hot water supply facility 10 is a facility for supplying hot water to bathtub 13 of house 80. Hot water supply apparatus 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 generates warm water by heating water flowing in through the pipe 12A by using heat in the atmosphere. The temperature of the hot water is, for example, 90 ° C. Then, the heat pump unit 11 supplies the generated hot water to the pipe 12B.

  Hot water supply unit 12 uses hot water supplied from heat pump unit 11 to supply hot water to bath tub 13 for a user who takes a bath, or to add water in bath tub 13 to cook. Hot water supply unit 12 has hot water storage tank 12C, circulation pumps 12D, 12E, 12F, temperature sensors 12G, 12H, 12I, three-way valve 12J, heat exchanger 12K, flow rate sensor 12L, and hot water controller 12M.

  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 an 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.

  The circulation pump 12D is a pump provided on the pipe 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. Due to this circulation, relatively high temperature hot water 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.

  Temperature sensors 12G and 12H are arranged on the upper and lower side walls of hot water storage tank 12C, respectively. Temperature sensors 12G and 12H detect the temperature of water in hot water storage tank 12C. The result of this detection is notified to the hot water supply controller 12M, and is used to measure the temperature distribution of 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 with water supplied from the water pipe 12Q, and supplies the mixed water to the pipe 12R. Mixing by the three-way valve 12J is performed at a ratio specified by the hot water supply controller 12M so that the temperature of the hot water supplied to the pipe 12R becomes a predetermined value. The hot water supplied through the pipe 12R is further injected into the bathtub 13 through the pipe 12S.

  The heat exchanger 12K is used for performing heat exchange between hot water in the hot water storage tank 12C and water in the bathtub 13 to further cook the water in the bathtub 13. The heat exchanger 12K is connected to pipes 12P and 12O through which hot and cold water in the hot water storage tank 12C flows, and pipes 12S and 12T through which water in the bathtub 13 flows.

  The circulation pump 12E is a pump provided on 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 120, and the heat exchanger 12K in this order.

  The circulation pump 12F is a pump provided on 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 bath 13 in this order.

  The flow rate sensor 12L detects a flow rate of water flowing through the pipe 12S. Further, the temperature sensor 12I detects the temperature of the water flowing through the pipe 12S. The results of the 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.

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

  Returning to FIG. 1, the controller 20 is a computer that controls the hot water supply equipment 10. The controller 20 is connected to the hot water supply equipment 10, the power measuring device 30, and the operation terminal 40 via the home network 60 so as to be able to perform data communication. 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 home communication unit 21 is, for example, an access point for a wireless LAN connection, and performs data communication with the hot water supply facility 10, the power measurement device 30, and the operation terminal 40 via the 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 has a role as a so-called secondary storage device (auxiliary storage device), and is configured by, for example, a readable and writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory. As shown in FIG. 4, the storage unit 23 stores equipment history data 231, power history data 232, scheduled data 233, electricity rate unit price data 234, weather record data 235, weather forecast data 236, and schedule data. And data 237 are stored.

The equipment history data 231 is data indicating the history of the operation of the hot water supply equipment 10 (eg, start and end of heat storage).
The power history data 232 is data indicating a history of power consumption of the hot water supply equipment.
The schedule data 233 is data indicating the schedule of each user of the house, such as going out or staying at home.
The electricity rate unit price data 234 is data indicating the unit price of the electricity rate for each time zone. Note that the electricity rate unit price data 234 is automatically updated to the latest data downloaded from a power company server or the like (not shown) when the electricity rate contract is changed.
The weather record data 235 is data in which information on 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 periodically to the latest data downloaded from a server (not shown) via the Internet 70.
The schedule data 237 is data that defines a heat storage schedule by the hot water supply facility 10 and is 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.

  Referring back 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 above-described units are controlled by appropriately executing various programs stored in the ROM and the storage unit 23. The control unit 24 functionally includes a prediction unit 241, a schedule creation unit 242, and a control execution unit 243.

  The prediction unit 241 predicts a necessary amount of power required to bring the hot water supply apparatus 10 into a heat storage state suitable for use by the user on the next day. Specifically, the prediction unit 241 obtains parameters of a model formula for calculating the power consumption of the hot water supply equipment 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 and the weather forecast data 236 and the scheduled data 233 for the next day.

  The schedule creating unit 242 creates a schedule of heat storage by the hot water supply equipment 10 based on the predicted required power amount and the electricity rate unit price data 234 so that the electricity rate is as low as possible.

  Control execution unit 233 transmits a control signal to hot water supply equipment 10 based on the created schedule to control heat storage by hot water supply equipment 10.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the power measuring device 30 monitors the power consumption of the hot water supply equipment 10 as needed, and notifies the controller 20 of the power consumption. Note that, instead of the power measuring device 30, the hot water supply equipment 10 may include a mechanism for measuring its own power consumption, and notify the controller 10 of the measured power consumption.

  The operation terminal 40 is, for example, a tablet terminal and includes a touch panel. The operation terminal 40 is used for transmitting instructions such as hot water supply and stop to the hot water supply equipment 10 and for displaying various states. The operation terminal 40 is also used to input a user's schedule. The input schedule is transmitted to the controller 20 and registered as the 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 uploads the data to the database in the cloud server 50.

  Subsequently, a process performed by the controller 20 will be described. The controller 20 executes the schedule creation processing 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 of predicting a required electric energy required for storing heat in the hot water supply equipment 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 in the past month (step S111). For example, the prediction unit 241 may acquire the temperature and humidity values recorded hourly in the past month from the weather record data 235 stored in the storage unit 23 as the values of the parameters.

  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 equipment 10 (Step S113). For example, when the selected parameter is the temperature, the prediction unit 241 acquires the value of the temperature measured in the past month and the value of the power consumption of the air conditioner from the weather record data 235 and the power history data 232, A correlation coefficient between the temperature and the power consumption may be obtained from each value.

  Subsequently, the prediction unit 241 determines whether or not the obtained correlation coefficient is larger than a preset threshold (Step S114). If the correlation coefficient is larger 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 is understood that the selected parameter hardly affects the power consumption of the hot water supply equipment 10. Therefore, the prediction unit 241 excludes this parameter from targets 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 and calculates a correlation coefficient with the power consumption. Is repeated (steps S112 to S115).

  On the other hand, when all the parameters have been selected (Step S116; Yes), the prediction unit 241 calculates the coefficient of each parameter of the prediction formula for predicting power consumption by using a parameter such as a regression analysis. It is determined by a known method (step S117).

  Here, an example of the prediction formula is shown in the following formula (1). In this equation, Y indicates the power consumption of the hot water supply equipment 10 to be predicted. Xi is a parameter for prediction that is not excluded in step S115. Α is a coefficient of this parameter, which is calculated in step S117. Here, u indicates the standby power of the hot water supply equipment 10. In addition, member indicates the number of people at home in the house 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 due to these.

  Returning to FIG. 6, subsequently, the prediction unit 241 uses the values of the parameters of the next day (for example, the forecast value of the temperature of the next day acquired from the weather forecast data 236) in the prediction formula using the coefficient obtained in step S117. By substituting, the required amount of power (Y in equation (1)) is obtained (step S118). Thus, the prediction processing ends. The average of the power consumption of the heat pump unit 11 and the hot water supply equipment 10 for the latest one month may be used as the required power amount without using the above-described prediction formula, and a method of obtaining the required power amount is arbitrary.

  Returning to FIG. 5, when the prediction process (step S11) ends, the schedule creating unit 242 of the controller 20 estimates a time (use time) at which the user will use the bathtub 13 on the next day (step S12). For example, the schedule creating unit 242 may estimate the average of the time when the hot water was supplied to the bathtub 13 as the use time from the equipment history data 231 for the past week. The use time of bathtub 13 may be set in advance by the user.

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

  Here, it is assumed that the electricity rate of the hot water supply equipment 10 is given as in the following equation (2).

  In this equation, h indicates each time zone of the day, and takes a value from 0 to 24. Also, R (h) indicates the electricity rate of the hot water supply equipment 10 in the time zone h. For example, R (0) indicates the electricity rate of hot water supply equipment 10 from 0:00 to 1:00.

  K indicates 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. Since the hot water in the hot water storage tank 12C is easily cooled as the outside air temperature is low, a small value (inefficient value) is used. Show.

  W represents the power consumption of hot water supply equipment 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 is understood that the lower the power consumption, the higher the efficiency of heat storage by the heat pump unit 11.

  In addition, ts indicates a time when heat storage starts (heat storage start time), and te indicates a time when heat storage ends (heat storage end time). T is the use time at which the user uses the bathtub 13 and is obtained in step S12. Also, 1 indicates the amount of water in the hot water storage tank 12C, and a fixed value that matches the capacity of the tank is given. L (T-te, K, l) indicates a relative loss of heat storage due to the lapse of time from the heat storage end time te to the use time T. C (h) is a unit price of the electricity rate in the time zone h, and is obtained from the electricity rate unit price data 234.

  The schedule creation unit 242 sets the heat storage start time ts and the heat storage such that the daily electricity bill ΣR (h) (h = 0 to 24) of the hot water supply equipment in Expression (2) is minimized as the heat storage schedule. The end time te and the power consumption w may be obtained. Expression (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 larger than the required power amount obtained in the prediction processing.
Condition (2): In order to operate the heat pump unit 11 efficiently, te-ts is set to be 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 loss caused by the passage of time of the heat stored in the hot water storage tank 13C.

  Subsequently, the schedule creating unit 242 registers the schedule data 237 in the storage unit 23 with the obtained heat storage start time, heat storage end time, and power consumption during the heat storage as a heat storage schedule for the next day (step S14). Thus, the schedule creation processing ends.

  Here, the above-described schedule creation processing will be described with a specific example. For example, consider a case where a cheap time zone is set from 10:00 to 14:00, unlike the normal price system in which the electricity price is cheaper at 23:00 to 7:00 the following midnight than in other time zones. . It is assumed that the user's scheduled bathing time T is set after 18:00. First, from the above conditions (2) and (3), the heat storage start time ts = 10 (hour) and the heat storage end time te = 14 (hour) are set so that heat is stored in the set cheap time zone. . Further, 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 heat storage is also a negative number. In that case, the effect is small. Further, the heat storage time (te-ts) is shorter than 8 hours, which is a cheap time zone during normal times (23:00 to 7:00 the following day), so that the output P of the heat pump unit 11 is satisfied to satisfy the condition (1). Must be increased, and the power consumption W of the heat pump unit 11 is set higher than usual. Therefore, in this case, in the schedule creation processing, the heat storage start time ts = 10 (hour), the heat storage end time te = 14 (hour), and the power consumption W of the heat pump unit 11 during heat storage is set to a value larger than the normal time. A schedule is created.

  As described above, according to the controller 20 according to the present embodiment, the required power amount required to make the heat storage state suitable for the use of the user is predicted, and the hourly unit price of the electricity rate and the predicted required power amount Based on the quantity, a schedule of heat storage by hot water supply equipment 10 is created. Therefore, the hot water supply facility 10 can be used with the optimal amount of heat storage when the user uses it, and the electricity bill can be reduced.

  In the above embodiment, the heat storage schedule of the hot water supply equipment 10 is created, but the present invention is also applicable to the creation of a heat storage schedule of another equipment having a heat storage function. For example, like the hot water supply equipment 10, the present invention is applicable to a water type air conditioner requiring a heat pump unit 11 and a heat storage tank.

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

  As shown in FIG. 8, the equipment control system 2 according to the second embodiment further includes a power generation equipment 90, and can sell the generated power to a power company (not shown) or the like (power sale). 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 DC to AC.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the storage unit 23 of the controller 20 according to the present embodiment further stores power sale unit price data 238 and power generation history data 239. The power selling unit price data 238 is data indicating the power selling unit price of the electricity rate for each time zone. The power generation history data 239 is data in which the power generation history (power generation time, power generation amount, and the like) of the power generation facility 90 is recorded.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the schedule creation process executed by the controller 20 according to the present 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, and predicts a surplus time zone in which the power generation amount on the next day exceeds the power consumption amount and the surplus power amount ( Step S21).

  Subsequently, the prediction unit 241 determines whether to use the predicted surplus power for heat storage of the hot water supply equipment 10 or sell the power, whichever is more economical (step S22). Specifically, the prediction unit 241 may determine that the heat storage use is obtained when the determination value J of the following equation (3) is positive, and that the power sale is obtained 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 indicates the ratio of the heat storage efficiency depending on the outside air temperature, and specifically, (heat storage efficiency in the surplus time zone) / (heat storage efficiency in the currently scheduled heat storage time zone). Further, Cp indicates the unit price of the electricity rate in the currently scheduled heat storage time zone, and is obtained from the electricity rate unit price data 234. Cs indicates the predicted power selling unit price in the surplus time zone, and is obtained from the power selling unit price data 238.

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

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the use of heat storage is more advantageous (step S22; use of heat storage), the schedule creation unit 242 sets the scheduled heat storage start time and the heat storage stop time so that the heat is stored in the predicted surplus time zone. Change (step S24). Thus, the schedule creation processing ends.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the power generation facility 90 is provided, it is not only simple to perform the heat storage operation to lower the electricity rate, but also to sell the power compared to the case of selling the power. If not, priority is given to selling electricity. Therefore, a more efficient heat storage schedule can be created.

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

  As shown in FIG. 11, the equipment control system 3 according to the present embodiment differs from the first and second embodiments in that the equipment to be managed is not the hot water supply equipment 10 but the air conditioning equipment 100 (100A, 100B, 100C). different. The air conditioner 100 differs from the hot water supply system 10 in that it does not include a heat storage tank (oil storage tank 12C). Therefore, in this embodiment, a room where the user is absent is used as a pseudo thermal storage tank. In addition, a feature is provided in which heat is stored in a room where the user is absent (cooling in the case of cooling) in a time period when the unit price of electric power is low, so that the electricity rate is reduced as much as possible. The air conditioner 100A is located in the living room of the house 80, the air conditioner 100B is located in the child room of the house 80, and the air conditioner 100C is located in the bedroom of the house 80.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 12, occupancy status data 240 is further stored in the storage unit 23 of the controller 20 according to the present embodiment. The occupancy status data 240 indicates the occupancy / absence schedule of the user in each room in each future time zone. The occupancy status data 240 is input from the operation terminal 40 by a user, for example.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the 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 cooling and heating by comparing today's average temperature indicated by the weather forecast data 236 with a threshold value (step S31).

  If it is determined that there is no need for cooling and heating (step S31; cooling and heating unnecessary), 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) to the set temperature for heat storage (excess heat) (step S31). S32).

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

  Subsequently, the schedule creating 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 in which the unit price of electricity is lower than others (low-cost time zone). It is determined whether or not the room is changed from an empty room to an existing room (step S35).

  When the room selected from the low-priced time zone to the lapse of the predetermined time (1 hour) becomes occupied (step S35; Yes), the schedule creation unit 242 determines the last one hour of the low-priced time zone of the room in step S31. Alternatively, the schedule data 237 is updated to a schedule for performing the heat storage operation (pre-cooling or residual heat) at the heat storage set temperature obtained in step S32 (step S36). If the room is not occupied 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 or not all rooms have been selected. If there is an unselected room (step S37; No), the schedule creation unit 242 repeats the process of selecting that room and determining whether or not to perform the heat storage operation. When all the rooms have been selected (Step S37; Yes), the schedule creation processing ends.

  Here, the above-described schedule creation processing will be described with a specific example. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, it is known that the occupancy and absence of each room are known, and the time from 10:00 to 14:00 is set to a cheap time zone in which the unit price of electricity is lower than other time zones. Think. In this case, the living room and the children's room are changed from absent to occupied within one hour after the end of the cheap time zone. Therefore, from 13:00 to 14:00, which is the last hour of the low-cost time zone, the air-conditioning equipment 100A and 100B in the living room and the children's room are subjected to the heat storage operation (pre-cooling operation or residual heat operation). On the other hand, the air conditioner 100C in the bedroom does not stay in the room within one hour after the end of the low-priced time zone, so that the heat storage operation is not performed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the specific condition is satisfied in consideration of the vacant state of the room, heat is stored in the vacant room during the cheap time zone, so that the electricity rate of the air conditioner 100 can be reduced. It becomes possible.

  In the above-described embodiment, a schedule in which a room that becomes an occupied room from an empty room until the predetermined time elapses is determined and the heat is stored in the room. On the other hand, a room that is vacant for a long time (more than a predetermined time) is determined, heat is stored in that room, and then heat is transferred to another room that has become occupied by a fan via a duct connecting the rooms. A schedule of heat storage for transfer may be created. For example, in FIG. 14, since the bedroom is not used until 22:00 at night, heat is stored in the air conditioner 100C in the bedroom during the low-priced time zone, and after the low-priced time zone, the heat of the bedroom is transferred to the living room or the children's room by the fan. This makes it possible to reduce the electricity bill. In addition, the room which is a vacant room for a long time may be a space where no one can enter in a house such as a floor or an attic.

  Further, in the above embodiment, heat is stored in each room of the house 80, but heat may be stored in cold storage equipment for low-temperature storage. For example, by storing heat in a refrigerator in each room at a temperature lower than usual in a cheap time zone, power consumption after the cheap time zone can be reduced. Further, in the case of a refrigerator, heat may be intensively stored in a freezing room having a lower temperature, and power consumption may be reduced after a low-cost period to transfer heat to each room.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, the above-described schedule creation processing does not need to be performed at a predetermined time every day, and may be performed only when, for example, the power rate unit price data 234 is changed. Further, a heat storage schedule for the next week or one month may be created, and the period of the schedule created in the schedule creation process may be arbitrary.

  Further, 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 can also function as the controller 20 according to the present invention. It is possible.

  The method of distributing such a program is arbitrary. For example, a computer readable medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read-Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), an MO (Magneto Optical Disk), and a memory card can be used. The program may be stored in a recording medium and distributed, or may be distributed via a communication network such as the Internet.

1, 2, 3 equipment management system, 10 hot water supply equipment, 20 controller, 21 home communication unit, 22 external communication unit, 23 storage unit, 24 control unit, 231 equipment history data, 232 power history data, 233 scheduled data, 234 electricity Unit price data, 235 weather record data, 236 weather forecast data, 237 schedule data, 238 unit price data, 239 power generation history data, 240 occupancy status data, 241 prediction unit, 242 schedule creation unit, 243 control execution unit

Claims (4)

A controller for managing an air conditioner having a heat storage function installed in a house,
A prediction unit that predicts a required amount of power required to bring the air conditioning equipment into a heat storage state suitable for use by a user,
A schedule creation unit that creates a schedule of heat storage by the air conditioner based on the hourly unit price of the electricity rate and the estimated required power amount;
With
The schedule creation unit,
Heat is stored in a space where no one can enter the house in the cheap time zone where the unit price of the electricity rate is lower than other time zones, and after the cheap time zone, the stored heat is transferred to the space where the house is occupied. Create the schedule of the plan ,
The house further includes a power generation facility,
The prediction unit further predicts a surplus power generated by the power generation equipment and a surplus time zone in which the surplus power occurs,
The schedule creation unit,
It is better to use the surplus power for heat storage by the air conditioner, to determine whether it is better to sell the 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,
controller. The schedule creating unit, when the user of the air conditioning equipment is used, completes the heat storage for the predicted required amount of power, and creates the schedule such that the electricity rate required for the heat storage is the lowest,
The controller according to claim 1. Predict the amount of power required to bring an air conditioner with a heat storage function into a heat storage state suitable for user use,
Based on the hourly unit price of the electricity rate and the predicted required power amount, create a schedule of heat storage by the air conditioning equipment,
A plan to store heat in a space where no one can enter the house in a low-priced time zone in which the unit price of the electricity rate is lower than other time zones, and to transfer the stored heat to the space where the people in the home are located after the end of the low-priced time zone. create a of the schedule,
Further predicting the surplus power generated by the power generation equipment and the surplus time zone in which the surplus power occurs,
It is better to use the surplus power for heat storage by the air conditioner, to determine whether it is better to sell the 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,
How to create a schedule. A computer that manages air conditioning equipment with a heat storage function installed in the house,
A prediction unit that predicts a necessary amount of power required to bring the air conditioning equipment into a heat storage state suitable for use by a user;
Based on the hourly unit price of the electricity rate and the estimated required power amount, function as a schedule creation unit that creates a schedule of heat storage by the air conditioning equipment,
The schedule creation unit,
Heat is stored in a space where no one can enter the house in the cheap time zone where the unit price of the electricity rate is lower than other time zones, and after the cheap time zone, the stored heat is transferred to the space where the house is occupied. Create the schedule of the plan ,
The house further includes a power generation facility,
The prediction unit further predicts a surplus power generated by the power generation equipment and a surplus time zone in which the surplus power occurs,
The schedule creation unit,
It is better to use the surplus power for heat storage by the air conditioner, to determine whether it is better to sell the 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,
program.

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