JP7109210B2 - Hot water supply system, hot water supply route construction method and program - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a hot water supply system, a hot water supply route construction method, and a program.

A system is known in which hot water in a hot water storage tank is supplied to other houses. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a system in which hot water storage tanks provided in two houses are connected to each other by piping, and hot water in the hot water storage tanks is shared by controlling electromagnetic valves.

JP 2015-78797 A

In a system where hot water is shared between houses, the greater the number of houses, the greater the benefits. However, although Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique for supplying hot water between two houses, it does not mention a technique for supplying hot water between three or more houses. Therefore, there is a demand for a technology that allows hot water to be shared among many houses. However, in a system that allows hot water to be shared among a large number of houses, it is conceivable that the piping configuration would be complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a hot water supply system, a hot water supply route construction method, and a program capable of accommodating hot water among a large number of houses with a simple piping configuration.

In order to achieve the above object, the hot water supply system according to the present invention includes:
A hot water supply system capable of accommodating hot water in a hot water storage tank among a plurality of houses having the hot water storage tank,
a plurality of first pipes having one end connected to the hot water tank and the other end connected to each house;
a second pipe connected to each of the plurality of first pipes via a pipe connection portion ;
a first on-off valve provided at each of the pipe connection portions and connecting the first pipe and the second pipe;
a plurality of second on-off valves provided on the second pipe between respective locations where the pipe connection portions are provided;
a hot water supply management device;
with
The hot water supply management device
a supply destination determination means for determining a supply destination, which is a house to which hot water is to be supplied;
supply source determination means for determining a supply source that is a residence that supplies hot water to the supply destination;
valve control means for controlling the opening and closing of each first on-off valve and the opening and closing of each second on-off valve to construct a hot water supply path between the supply source and the supply destination;
Prepare.

In the present invention, the first pipe provided in each house is connected to the second pipe via the first on-off valve, and the second pipe is connected between each connection portion between the first pipe and the second pipe. A hot water supply path can be constructed between the supply source and the supply destination by providing the on-off valve. Therefore, hot water can be shared among many houses with a simple piping configuration.

A diagram showing the configuration of a hot water supply system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the structure of the 1st piping and 2nd piping which concern on embodiment of this invention. A diagram showing a hot water supply route from house C to house A constructed by the hot water supply system according to the embodiment of the present invention. A diagram showing a functional configuration of a hot water supply management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. A diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a hot water supply management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Flowchart showing operation of inter-residential accommodation by the hot water supply control unit of the hot water supply management apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention Flowchart showing the operation of incentive calculation by the incentive calculation unit of the hot water supply management apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention

A hot water supply system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same code|symbol is attached|subjected to the same or equivalent part.

(Embodiment)
A configuration of a hot water supply system 1 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The hot water supply system 1 is a hot water supply system that includes a water heater 20 capable of storing hot water and is capable of accommodating hot water among a plurality of houses. Further, the hot water supply system 1 can calculate an incentive according to the amount of hot water supplied. In FIG. 1, four houses, house A, house B, house C, and house D are illustrated. Hot water supply system 1 is an example of a hot water supply system according to the present invention.

The hot water supply system 1 includes a hot water supply management device 10, a plurality of water heaters 20 provided for each residence, a valve control device 30, a plurality of first pipes 40 provided for each residence, and each first pipe. A second pipe 50 connected to 40 and a flow monitoring device 60 are provided.

The hot water supply management apparatus 10 supplies hot water to a residence to which hot water is to be supplied and to a residence to which hot water is supplied according to the remaining amount of hot water in a hot water storage tank 22 provided in a water heater 20 provided in each residence. determine the source of supply. The hot water supply management device 10 controls the opening and closing of the on-off valves provided in the first pipe 40 and the second pipe 50 via the valve control device 30, thereby supplying hot water between the supply destination and the supply source. Build a flexible hot water supply route. The hot water supply management device 10 transmits an outflow instruction to the hot water supply machine 20 provided in the house of the supply source to flow out the hot water in the hot water storage tank 22 for accommodation. The hot water supply management device 10 transmits a stop command for stopping the outflow to the hot water heater 20 to which the outflow command is transmitted. The hot water supply management apparatus 10 calculates incentives to be paid by the resident of the supply destination to the resident of the supply source based on the flow rate information received from the flow rate monitoring device 60 . A functional configuration of the hot water supply management device 10 will be described later. Hot water supply management device 10 is an example of a hot water supply management device according to the present invention.

The water heater 20 includes a hot water storage controller 21 and a hot water storage tank 22 . The water heater 20 heats city water to generate hot water and stores the hot water in the hot water storage tank 22 . The water heater 20 supplies the hot water in the hot water storage tank 22 into the house via the first pipe 40 . Water heater 20 transmits stored hot water amount information indicating the amount of hot water stored in hot water storage tank 22 to hot water supply management device 10 . Water heater 20 causes the hot water in hot water storage tank 22 to flow out for accommodation in accordance with the outflow command received from hot water supply management device 10 . Water heater 20 stops the outflow of hot water in accordance with the stop command received from hot water supply management device 10 . The water heater 20 is, for example, a heat pump water heater.

The hot water storage control device 21 monitors the amount of hot water stored in the hot water storage tank 22 . The stored hot water control device 21 transmits information indicating the monitored stored hot water amount to the hot water supply management device 10 as stored hot water amount information. The hot water storage control device 21 receives an outflow command from the hot water supply management device 10, and performs control for causing the hot water in the hot water storage tank 22 to flow out for accommodation. The hot water storage control device 21 receives a stop command from the hot water supply management device 10 and performs control to stop the outflow of hot water.

The valve control device 30 controls opening and closing of the on-off valves provided in the first pipe 40 and the second pipe 50 based on the valve control command received from the hot water supply management device 10 .

The configurations of the first pipe 40 and the second pipe 50 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 as well. The first pipe 40 has one end connected to the hot water storage tank 22 in the water heater 20 and the other end connected to the inside of the house. The water heater 20 can supply hot water into the house via the first pipe 40 .

3, the first pipe 40, the first on-off valve 41, and the second on-off valve 51 are denoted by A, B, AB, and the like for the sake of explanation later.

The first pipe 40 has a hot water storage side flow meter 42 near the connection point with the hot water storage tank 22, and a home side flow meter 43 near the connection point with the inside of the house. The hot water storage side flow meter 42 measures the amount of hot water flowing into the hot water storage tank 22 or the amount of hot water flowing out of the hot water storage tank 22 (these two are hereinafter collectively referred to as the hot water storage side flow rate). The housing-side flow meter 43 measures the amount of hot water flowing into the house (hereinafter referred to as housing-side flow rate). The hot water storage side flow meter 42 and the residential side flow meter 43 are used for calculating incentives, which will be described later. The hot water storage side flow meter 42 and the residential side flow meter 43 are connected to the flow monitoring device 60 via a communication line (not shown). As described above, the term "flow rate" is used as a term indicating the amount of hot water that flows out or flows in. Therefore, the term "flow rate" is used in the sense of "integrated flow rate" rather than "instantaneous flow rate".

The first pipe 40 is connected to the pipe connection portion 52 of the second pipe 50 . Also, the first pipe 40 is provided with a first on-off valve 41 at a connection location with the pipe connection portion 52 . That is, the first pipe 40 is connected to the second pipe 50 via the first on-off valve 41 . The first on-off valve 41 is connected to the valve control device 30 via a communication line (not shown). The first on-off valve 41 is controlled to open and close by the valve control device 30 . The first on-off valve 41 is, for example, an electromagnetic valve. The 1st piping 40 is an example of the 1st piping which concerns on this invention. The first on-off valve 41 is an example of a first on-off valve according to the present invention.

The second pipe 50 includes a pipe connection portion 52 corresponding to each first pipe 40 . As shown in FIG. 3 , the second pipe 50 includes second on-off valves 51 between respective portions where the pipe connection portions 52 are provided. The second on-off valve 51 is connected to the valve control device 30 via a communication line (not shown). The second on-off valve 51 is controlled to open and close by the valve control device 30 . The second on-off valve 51 is, for example, an electromagnetic valve. The second piping 50 is an example of the second piping according to the present invention. The second on-off valve 51 is an example of a second on-off valve according to the present invention.

The valve control device 30 controls the opening and closing of the first on-off valves 41 and the opening and closing of the second on-off valves 51 to supply hot water flowed out by the water heater 20 as the supply source to the supply destination. A route is constructed.

FIG. 3 shows a case where a hot water supply route from house C to house A is constructed. The first on-off valve 41A corresponding to house A and the first on-off valve 41C corresponding to house C are open. Other first on-off valves 41 are closed. The second on-off valve 51AB provided between the residences A and B and the second on-off valve 51BC provided between the residences B and C are open. Other second on-off valves 51 are closed. In this case, when the water heater 20 of the house C causes hot water to flow out, the discharged hot water flows into the second pipe 50 via the first pipe 40C and the first on-off valve 41C. The hot water that has flowed into the second pipe 50 flows into the first pipe 40A via the second on-off valve 51BC, the second on-off valve 51AB, and the first on-off valve 41A. Then, the hot water that has flowed into the first pipe 40A flows into the house A.

In the above case, since the second on-off valve 51CD is closed, hot water does not flow into the house D side. Also, since the second on-off valve 51AA is closed, hot water does not flow into other houses (not shown). Since the first on-off valve 41B is closed, hot water does not flow into the house B. Therefore, by appropriately controlling the opening and closing of each first on-off valve 41 and the opening and closing of each second on-off valve 51, a hot water supply path from the supply source to the supply destination can be established.

Refer to FIG. 1 again. The flow rate monitoring device 60 acquires the hot water storage side flow rate and the residential side flow rate from each hot water storage side flow meter 42 and each residential side flow meter 43, and provides the hot water supply management device 10 with the flow rate information associated with these flow rates for each house. Send.

Next, a functional configuration of hot water supply management device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. Hot water supply management device 10 includes first communication unit 100 , hot water supply control unit 110 , valve information storage unit 120 , second communication unit 130 , third communication unit 140 , incentive calculation unit 150 , and incentive notification unit 160 . And prepare.

The first communication unit 100 is connected to each water heater 20 via a communication line. First communication unit 100 receives stored hot water amount information from water heater 20 and transmits the information to hot water supply control unit 110 . The first communication unit 100 transmits the outflow command and the stop command created by the hot water supply control unit 110 to the water heater 20 .

Hot water supply control unit 110 includes supply destination determination unit 111 , supply source determination unit 112 , and valve control command unit 113 . Hot water supply control unit 110 receives stored hot water amount information from water heater 20 via first communication unit 100 . Hot water supply control unit 110 uses supply destination determination unit 111 to determine a supply destination based on the received hot water storage amount information. Hot water supply control unit 110 uses supply source determination unit 112 to determine a supply source based on the received hot water storage amount information. Hot water supply control unit 110 creates an outflow command and a stop command for hot water heater 20 of the determined supply source. The hot water supply control unit 110 transmits the created outflow command and stop command to the water heater 20 via the first communication unit 100 . Hot water supply control unit 110 uses valve control instruction unit 113 to create a valve control instruction necessary for constructing a hot water supply route from a supply source to a supply destination. The hot water supply control unit 110 transmits the created valve control command to the valve control device 30 via the second communication unit 130 by the valve control command unit 113 .

The supply destination determination unit 111 determines the supply destination based on the received hot water storage amount information. For example, the supply destination determining unit 111 determines, as a supply destination, a house that is running out of hot water or likely to run out of hot water. More specifically, for example, a house where the amount of hot water stored in the hot water storage tank 22 is 10% or less is specified, and the house is determined as the supply destination. Therefore, there may be multiple supply destinations. The supply destination determination unit 111 is an example of a supply destination determination unit according to the present invention.

The supply source determination unit 112 determines the supply source based on the received hot water storage amount information. For example, the supply destination determining unit 111 determines a house having a sufficient amount of hot water storage as a supply source. More specifically, for example, the supply destination determining unit 111 identifies a residence in which the amount of hot water stored in the hot water storage tank 22 is 50% or more, and determines the residence as the supply source. Therefore, there may be multiple suppliers. The supply source determination unit 112 is an example of a supply source determination unit according to the present invention.

The valve control instruction unit 113 refers to the valve information stored in the valve information storage unit 120, and controls each first on-off valve 41 and each second on-off valve to construct a hot water supply path from the supply source to the supply destination. Determine how 51 should be opened or closed. A valve control instruction unit 113 creates a valve control instruction based on the determination result. The valve control command unit 113 transmits the created valve control command to the valve control device 30 via the second communication unit 130 . The valve control instruction unit 113 is an example of valve control means according to the present invention.

The valve information storage unit 120 stores valve information, which is information relating to correspondence between each house, each first on-off valve 41 and each second on-off valve 51 . For example, in the case shown in FIG. 3, the information about the correspondence relationship is the second opening/closing valve 41A corresponding to the first opening/closing valve 41A corresponding to the house A, and the second opening/closing valve 41A corresponding to the house B and C. 51BC is the second on-off valve 51BC. Therefore, by referring to the valve information stored in the valve information storage unit 120, it is possible to determine which valve should be opened and which valve should be closed when constructing a hot water supply route from the supply source to the supply destination. can.

The second communication unit 130 is connected to the valve control device 30 via a communication line. Second communication unit 130 transmits the valve control command created by valve control command unit 113 of hot water supply control unit 110 to valve control device 30 .

The third communication section 140 is connected to the flow monitoring device 60 via a communication line. The third communication unit 140 receives flow information from the flow monitoring device 60 and transmits the information to the incentive calculation unit 150 .

The incentive calculator 150 receives the flow rate information from the flow monitor 60 via the third communication section 140 . The incentive calculation unit 150 calculates the supply amount of hot water from the supply source and the supply amount of hot water from the supply destination based on the flow rate information. The incentive calculation unit 150 calculates an incentive to be paid by the resident of the supply destination to the resident of the supply source based on the calculated amount of supply and amount of supply. A method of calculating incentives will be described later. The incentive calculation unit 150 transmits to the incentive notification unit 160 incentive information indicating incentives that residents of each supply destination should pay to residents of each supply source. The incentive calculation unit 150 is an example of incentive calculation means according to the present invention.

Incentive notification unit 160 notifies the administrator of hot water supply system 1 of the content based on the incentive information received from incentive calculation unit 150 . The incentive notification unit 160 causes, for example, a display device (not shown) to display incentives to be paid by the residents of each house and to whom the payments are to be made.

Next, an example of the hardware configuration of hot water supply management apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG. Hot water supply management apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 5 is implemented by a computer such as a personal computer or a microcontroller.

Hot water supply management apparatus 10 includes processor 1001 , memory 1002 , interface 1003 , and secondary storage device 1004 , which are connected to each other via bus 1000 .

The processor 1001 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Each function of hot water supply management apparatus 10 is realized by processor 1001 reading a dedicated program stored in secondary storage device 1004 into memory 1002 and executing the program.

The memory 1002 is, for example, a main memory configured by RAM (Random Access Memory). The memory 1002 stores a dedicated program read by the processor 1001 from the secondary storage device 1004 . The memory 1002 also functions as a work memory when the processor 1001 executes the dedicated program.

The interface 1003 is an I/O (Input/Output) port such as a serial port or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port.

The secondary storage device 1004 is, for example, a flash memory, HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive). A secondary storage device 1004 stores a dedicated program executed by the processor 1001 . Further, it functions as the valve information storage unit 120 by storing the valve information described above.

In the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 5 , hot water supply management device 10 includes secondary storage device 1004 . However, the configuration is not limited to this, and secondary storage device 1004 may be provided outside hot water supply management device 10 and hot water supply management device 10 and secondary storage device 1004 may be connected via interface 1003 . In this form, removable media such as USB flash drives, memory cards, etc. can also be used as the secondary storage device 1004 .

Further, instead of the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 5, the hot water supply management device 10 may be configured by a dedicated circuit using an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or the like. good. Further, in the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 5, part of the functions of the hot water supply management apparatus 10 may be realized by a dedicated circuit connected to the interface 1003, for example.

The configuration of the hot water supply system 1 has been described above. Next, operation of inter-residential accommodation by hot water supply control unit 110 of hot water supply management apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG. In the initial state, each first on-off valve 41 and each second on-off valve 51 are all closed.

Hot water supply control unit 110 receives hot water storage amount information from water heater 20 of each house (step S101).

Destination determining unit 111 of hot water supply control unit 110 determines whether there is a house in which the amount of hot water stored in hot water storage tank 22 is equal to or less than a threshold based on the stored hot water amount information of each house (step S102). The threshold in this case is, for example, 10%. If there is no residence in which the amount of hot water stored is equal to or less than the threshold value (step S102: No), the operation flow from step S101 is repeated. If there is a residence whose amount of hot water storage is equal to or less than the threshold (step S102: Yes), all such residences are determined as supply destinations (step S103).

Supply source determination unit 112 of hot water supply control unit 110 determines whether there is a house in which the amount of hot water stored in hot water storage tank 22 is equal to or greater than a threshold based on the stored hot water amount information of each house (step S104). The threshold in this case is, for example, 50%. If there is no residence in which the amount of stored hot water is greater than or equal to the threshold value (step S104: No), the operation flow from step S101 is repeated. If there is a house with a hot water storage amount equal to or greater than the threshold (step S104: Yes), all such houses are determined as supply sources (step S105).

The valve control instruction unit 113 of the hot water supply control unit 110 refers to the valve information in the valve information storage unit 120 and performs valve control for constructing a hot water supply route from the supply source to the supply destination (step S106). In the case shown in FIG. 3, several specific examples will be described below.

As described in the description of the configuration of the first pipe 40 and the second pipe 50, for example, when the supply source is the house C and the supply destination is the house A, the first on-off valve 41A, the first on-off valve By opening the valve 41C, the second on-off valve 51AB, and the second on-off valve 51BC, and closing the other first on-off valve 41 and the second on-off valve 51, a hot water supply route from the house C to the house A is constructed. be done.

Further, for example, when the supply sources are houses A and B and the supply destination is house D, the first on-off valve 41A, the first on-off valve 41B, the first on-off valve 41D, the second on-off valve 51AB, By opening the second on-off valve 51BC and the second on-off valve 51CD and closing the other first on-off valve 41 and the second on-off valve 51, the hot water supply route from the house A to the house D and from the house B to the house A hot water supply route to D is constructed.

Hot water supply control unit 110 transmits an outflow command to all hot water heaters 20 that supply hot water (step S107), and causes hot water to flow out from hot water storage tank 22 in the hot water heater 20 concerned. Hot water is supplied from the supply source to the supply destination through the constructed hot water supply path by causing the hot water to flow out.

Hot water supply control unit 110 waits until the stop condition is satisfied (step S108). The stop condition is, for example, "when the amount of stored hot water at any of the supply destinations becomes 40% or more, or when the amount of stored hot water at any of the supply sources becomes 30% or less". By setting the stop condition in this way, it is possible to prevent an excessive supply of hot water.

When the stop condition is satisfied, the hot water supply control unit 110 transmits a stop command to all the water heaters 20 of the supply source, and the valve control command unit 113 closes all the first on-off valves 41 and all the second on-off valves 51. Close (step S109). This operation stops the supply of hot water. Thereafter, hot water supply control unit 110 repeats the operation flow from step S101 again.

Next, an incentive calculation operation by incentive calculation unit 150 of hot water supply management apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The incentive calculation operation described below is executed immediately after step S109 shown in FIG. 6, for example. Further, the incentive calculation operation is performed based on the amount of hot water measured by each hot water storage side flow meter 42 and each residential side flow meter 43 from step S107 to step S109 shown in FIG. 6, for example.

The incentive calculator 150 receives flow rate information from the flow rate monitoring device 60 (step S201). The incentive calculation unit 150 calculates the supply amount of hot water supplied by each supply source based on the hot water storage side flow rate and the residence side flow rate included in the flow rate information (step S202). The supply amount of the supply source can be calculated by the following formula. The hot water storage side flow rate of the supply source is the amount of hot water flowing out from the hot water storage tank 22 of the supply source.
(Amount supplied by supply source) = (Flow rate on hot water storage side of supply source) - (Flow rate on residential side of supply source)

The incentive calculation unit 150 selects one supply destination for which incentives have not yet been calculated (step S203). The incentive calculation unit 150 calculates the amount of supplied hot water at the selected supply destination based on the hot water storage side flow rate and the residential side flow rate included in the flow rate information (step S204). The supplied amount of the supply destination can be calculated by the following formula. The hot water storage side flow rate of the supply destination is the amount of hot water that has flowed into the hot water storage tank 22 of the supply destination.
(Amount supplied to supply destination) = (Flow rate of hot water storage side of supply destination) + (Flow rate of residential side of supply destination)

The incentive calculation unit 150 calculates an incentive to be paid by the resident of each supply source to the resident of each supply source based on the supply amount of each supply source and the supplied amount of the selected supply destination (step S205). Specifically, the total amount of incentives to be paid is calculated based on the supplied amount, and the total incentives to be paid to each supply source are calculated by distributing the total amount of incentives based on the ratio of the supplied amounts.

One specific example is given. It is assumed that the amount of supply to house A, which is the supply destination, is a [liter]. Also, the incentive per unit amount of hot water is assumed to be i [yen/liter]. i is, for example, based on the amount of money required for the water heater 20 to generate hot water during the daytime hours when the electricity rate is the highest. The reason why the highest electricity rate during the daytime is used as the standard is that if the hot water generated during the nighttime when the electricity rate is cheaper is supplied during the daytime at the same rate, it would be disadvantageous to the supplier. be. In this case, the total amount of incentives I [yen] to be paid by the residents of House A is
I [yen] = i [yen/liter] x a [liter]
becomes.

Next, assume that the supply volume of house B, which is one of the supply sources, is b [liter], and the supply volume of house C, which is another supply source, is c [liter]. In this case, the incentive IB [yen] to be paid by the resident of the house A to the resident of the house B and the incentive IC [yen] to be paid to the resident of the house C can be calculated by the following formulas.
IB [yen] = I [yen] x (b/(b+c))
IC [yen] = I [yen] x (c/(b+c))
The above calculation formulas are summarized as follows.
IB [yen] = i [yen/liter] x a [liter] x (b/(b+c))
IC [yen] = i [yen/liter] x a [liter] x (c/(b+c))

If there are still supply destinations for which incentives have not been calculated (step S206: No), the incentive calculation unit 150 repeats the flow of operations from the selection of the supply destination in step S203. If incentives for all supply destinations have been calculated (step S206: Yes), the incentive calculation unit 150 sends incentive information indicating incentives that residents of each supply destination should pay to residents of each supply source to the incentive notification unit 160. By transmitting, the content based on the incentive information is notified to the administrator of hot water supply system 1 (step S207). The incentive calculation unit 150 then ends the incentive calculation operation.

The configuration and operation of the hot water supply system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention have been described above. According to the hot water supply system 1, the first pipe 40 provided in each house is connected to the second pipe 50 via the first on-off valve 41, and the first pipe 40 and the second pipe 50 are connected. By providing the second on-off valve 51 between the connecting portions, a hot water supply path can be constructed between the supply source and the supply destination. Therefore, according to the hot water supply system 1, hot water can be shared among many houses with a simple piping configuration.

Further, according to the hot water supply system 1, by providing the hot water storage side flow meter 42 and the residential side flow meter 43 in each first pipe 40, the supply amount of each supply source and the supply amount of each supply destination can be calculated. , the incentives can be calculated properly. Since an incentive is generated, residents of the supply source will benefit from supplying hot water.

(Modification)
In the embodiment, the first on-off valve 41 and the second on-off valve 51 only open and close. Then, for example, when constructing a hot water supply path, the opening degrees of each first on-off valve 41 and each second on-off valve 51 may be adjusted according to the amount of hot water stored in each supply source. As a specific example, consider a case where the amount of hot water stored in house A, which is one of the supply sources, is 100%, and the amount of stored hot water in house D, which is another supply source, is 50%. In this case, the degree of opening of the first on-off valve 41A corresponding to the house A may be set to 100%, and the degree of opening of the first on-off valve 41D corresponding to the house D may be set to 50%. By controlling the degree of opening in this way, more hot water is supplied to a house with a larger amount of stored hot water, so that the amount of stored hot water between houses can be balanced. Also, by controlling the degree of opening of the second on-off valve 51 in place of the first on-off valve 41 or together with the first on-off valve 41, the hot water storage amount can be similarly balanced.

In the embodiment, in the operations from step S108 to step S109 shown in FIG. 6, when the stop condition is satisfied, a stop command is sent to all the hot water heaters 20 of the supply source all at once, and all the on-off valves are closed at once. closed control. However, according to the amount of hot water stored in each supply source and supply destination, a stop command may be individually transmitted to each hot water heater 20, and each on-off valve may be controlled to be closed individually. For example, consider a case where the amount of hot water stored in residence A, which is the supply source, has become 30% or less, but the amount of stored hot water in other supply sources is still 50% or more. In this case, a stop command is transmitted only to the water heater 20 of the house A, and control is performed to close only the first on-off valve 41A corresponding to the house A and the second on-off valve 51AB corresponding to between the house A and the house B. By doing so, it is possible to appropriately stop only the supply from House A.

In the embodiment, a hot water storage side flow meter 42 is provided near the connection point between each first pipe 40 and the hot water storage tank 22, and the residential side flow rate is provided near the connection point between each first pipe 40 and the inside of the house. By providing a total of 43, incentives can be calculated. However, the installation location of the flow meter is not limited to these. For example, by providing a flow meter inside each pipe connection portion 52, the amount of hot water flowing out of the house or the amount of hot water flowing in from the outside of the house can be measured. The amount of hot water flowing out of the house at the supply source is the supply amount, and the amount of hot water flowing in from the outside of the house at the supply destination is the supplied amount. Therefore, incentives can also be calculated by providing these flowmeters.

In the embodiment, the supply destination determination unit 111 determines residences having a hot water storage amount equal to or less than a threshold as supply destinations, and the supply source determination unit 112 determines residences having a hot water storage amount equal to or greater than the threshold as supply sources. However, the method of determining the supply destination and supply source is not limited to these. For example, consider a case where the hot water in the hot water storage tank 22 of the house C needs to be treated early due to a long business trip, moving house, construction work, or the like. Assuming such a case, water heater 20 is provided with a function of notifying hot water supply management device 10 of a request for early processing, and hot water supply management device 10 determines the supply source and supply destination in consideration of the request. good. For example, the residence that has made the request may be determined as the supply source, and all other residences whose hot water storage capacity is not 100% may be determined as the supply destination.

1 hot water supply system 10 hot water supply management device 20 hot water heater 21 hot water storage control device 22 hot water storage tank 30 valve control device 40, 40A, 40B, 40C, 40D first pipe 41, 41A, 41B, 41C, 41D First on-off valve 42 Hot water storage side flow meter 43 Residential side flow meter 50 Second pipe 51, 51AA, 51AB, 51BC, 51CD, 51DD Second on-off valve 52 Pipe connection part 60 Flow rate monitoring device , 100 first communication unit, 110 hot water supply control unit, 111 supply destination determination unit, 112 supply source determination unit, 113 valve control instruction unit, 120 valve information storage unit, 130 second communication unit, 140 third communication unit, 150 incentive Calculation unit 160 incentive notification unit 1000 bus 1001 processor 1002 memory 1003 interface 1004 secondary storage device.

Claims (6)

A hot water supply system capable of accommodating hot water in a hot water storage tank among a plurality of houses having the hot water storage tank,
a plurality of first pipes having one end connected to the hot water tank and the other end connected to each house;
a second pipe connected to each of the plurality of first pipes via a pipe connection portion ;
a first on-off valve provided at each of the pipe connection portions and connecting the first pipe and the second pipe;
a plurality of second on-off valves provided on the second pipe between respective locations where the pipe connection portions are provided;
a hot water management device;
with
The hot water supply management device
a supply destination determination means for determining a supply destination, which is a house to which hot water is to be supplied;
supply source determination means for determining a supply source that is a residence that supplies hot water to the supply destination;
valve control means for controlling the opening and closing of each first on-off valve and the opening and closing of each second on-off valve to construct a hot water supply path between the supply source and the supply destination;
hot water system. The hot water supply management device further comprises incentive calculation means for calculating an incentive to be paid by a resident of the supply destination to the resident of the supply source based on the amount of hot water flowing out of the supply source and the amount of hot water flowing into the supply destination.
The hot water supply system according to claim 1. Each of the first on-off valves is a valve whose opening degree can be adjusted,
The valve control means controls the degree of opening of each of the first on-off valves based on the amount of hot water stored at the supply source.
The hot water supply system according to claim 1 or 2. Each of the second on-off valves is a valve whose opening degree can be adjusted,
The valve control means controls the degree of opening of each of the second on-off valves based on the amount of hot water stored at the supply source.
The hot water supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. a plurality of first pipes having one end connected to the hot water tank and the other end connected to each house ;
a second pipe connected to each of the plurality of first pipes via a pipe connection portion ;
a first on-off valve provided at each of the pipe connection portions and connecting the first pipe and the second pipe;
a plurality of second on-off valves provided on the second pipe between respective locations where the pipe connection portions are provided;
A hot water supply route construction method in a hot water supply system comprising
Determine the supply destination, which is the residential area to which the hot water is to be supplied,
determining a supply source that is a residence that supplies hot water to the supply destination;
Controlling opening and closing of each first on-off valve and opening and closing of each second on-off valve to construct a hot water supply path between the supply source and the supply destination;
Hot water supply route construction method. a plurality of first pipes having one end connected to the hot water tank and the other end connected to each house ;
a second pipe connected to each of the plurality of first pipes via a pipe connection portion ;
a first on-off valve provided at each of the pipe connection portions and connecting the first pipe and the second pipe;
a plurality of second on-off valves provided on the second pipe between respective locations where the pipe connection portions are provided;
a computer ;
A program to be executed by the computer in a hot water supply system comprising
said computer,
a supply destination determination means for determining a supply destination that is a residence to which hot water is to be supplied;
supply source determination means for determining a supply source that is a residence that supplies hot water to the supply destination;
valve control means for controlling the opening and closing of each first on-off valve and the opening and closing of each second on-off valve to build a hot water supply path between the supply source and the supply destination;
A program that acts as a

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