JPH0350366Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention is a hot water storage type self-operating water heater configured to automatically stop the operation of the water heater when no one is active in the house, such as at night. It's about machines.

[Prior Art] A hot water storage type water heater includes a hot water storage tank and a heating device such as a boiler. In such conventional hot water storage type water heaters, the general method of use is to turn on the switch when a person wakes up in the morning and turn it off at night before going to bed. Note that a timer may be used instead of such a manually operated switch.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, in a system in which the operation of the water heater is controlled by a person operating a switch, operating the switch is cumbersome and it is easy to forget to turn the switch off. If you forget to turn off the switch,
Even at night when the water heater is not in use, if the water temperature in the hot water storage tank drops below a predetermined temperature, the boiler will be activated, resulting in energy loss and the problem of loud combustion noise late at night.

According to the timer, there is no problem like this, but if you forget to turn off the timer when you are away, the boiler will start operating when the water temperature in the tank drops, causing the same problem as above.

[Means for solving the problem] The self-driving water heater of the present invention includes a means for detecting power consumption in the house in which the water heater is installed, and a comparison of the power detected by the detecting means with a set value. a determination means for determining whether the electric power is within or outside the range of the activity value of the person in the house, and a determination result of the determination means is within the range of the activity value of the person in the house; At some point, the heating device of the hot water storage tank (e.g. boiler)
The present invention is characterized in that a control device is provided with means for activating the control device.

[Function] This invention focuses on the fact that hot water is generally required only when people are living and doing activities in the house.
Based on the idea that people almost inevitably use electrical appliances when they are active, it is configured to detect the usage status of electrical appliances in the house and control the water heater based on changes in the status. It is.

That is, in the present invention, if another electrical appliance is being used in the house in addition to the refrigerator, it is determined that a person is active in the house, and the heating device of the water heater can be activated. controlled so that Further, for example, when only the refrigerator is operating or when no electrical appliances are used, the heating device of the water heater is in a stopped state.

[Example] Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an automatically operating water heater according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes a hot water storage tank, and a heating device 2 (in this embodiment, a boiler using gas or oil as fuel) is provided. A boiler controller 3 is connected to the boiler 2, and a control device 12, which will be described later, is connected to the boiler controller 3.
A control signal is input from the signal line 4 through the signal line 4. Reference numeral 5 denotes a power supply line, which is branched on the demand side from the wattmeter 6 into an electric line 7 to the indoor circuit and an electric line 8 to the boiler circuit. The electric line 7 is provided with a power (current in this embodiment) detection means 9, and the detection means 9 constitutes a control device 12 together with the determination means 10 and the actuation means 11.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of the control device 12. The current detection means 9 detects the alternating current flowing through the indoor electric circuit 7, and detects the direct current voltage D corresponding to this current.
It is equipped with a current transformer 12 that generates a current. The state determining means 10 includes three comparators 13, 14, and 15 to which the direct voltage D is input, and the comparator 1
The outputs of comparators 14 and 15 are input to the OR circuit 16 via an AND circuit 17. Note that reference DC voltages A, B, and C are input to each of the comparators 13, 14, and 15, respectively. code 18
and 19 indicate a resistor and a variable resistor for setting this reference voltage.

The output of the OR circuit 16 is connected to the delay circuit 20, AND
It is input to a circuit 21 and an inverter 22.
The output of the delay circuit 20 is input to the AND circuit 21, and the output of the AND circuit 21 is input to the base of a transistor 25 via a latch circuit 23 and a resistor 24. The output of the inverter 22 is input to a clear terminal of a latch circuit 23 via a timer circuit 28. A control relay 26 is connected to the collector of the transistor 25. A signal from this control relay 26 is input to the boiler controller 3.

Note that in this embodiment, the comparator 13,
Reference voltages A, B, and C of 14 and 15 are set as follows.

The set value A of the comparator 13 is an arbitrary set value and is set to the upper limit of the D signal value that constantly appears when a person is inactive (in this embodiment, the maximum value of the fluctuation width of the compressor operating current of the refrigerator).

The set value B of the comparator 14 is an arbitrary set value and is set to the lower limit of the D signal value that constantly appears when a person is inactive (in this embodiment, the minimum value of the fluctuation range of the compressor operating current of the refrigerator).

The set value C of the comparator 15 is an arbitrary set value and is set to the lower limit value of the D signal value that constantly appears during human activity (in this embodiment, the current value of the appliance with the lowest power consumption).

Next, the operation of the control device 12 will be explained.

In the current detection means 9, a current transformer 12 detects the alternating current flowing through the indoor electrical circuit 7, and generates a direct current voltage D commensurate with this current (for example, generates DC1 to 5V corresponding to AC0 to 30A). .

In the state determining means 10, the DC voltage D is compared by comparators 13, 14, and 15, and the active state or inactive state of the person is determined based on the states of the respective outputs e, f, and g.

As shown in FIG. 3, when people are not active, only the automatically operating equipment (in this embodiment, the compressor of the refrigerator) automatically repeats ON and OFF. At this time, the output D of the current transformer is smaller than the set value A and larger than the set value B in the ON state. Further, in the OFF state, the set value is smaller than any of the set values A, B, and C.

Therefore, the output sides of the comparators 13, 14, and 15 are e=0, f=0, and g=1 when the compressor of the refrigerator is in the ON state.

When the compressor of the refrigerator is OFF, e
=0, f=1, g=0.

Furthermore, since various electrical devices are used during human activities, the value of D changes and becomes larger than the set value A, or smaller than the set value B and larger than the set value C. The output state of each comparator at this time is e=1, f=0, g=1 when D>A, and e=0, f= when D<B and D>C.
0, g=1.

Output e of each comparator 13, 14, 15,
The relationship between f, g and the output i of the state determining means 10 is as follows:
It is expressed by the logical formula i=e+f×g.

The relationship between each of the above states and i is determined by the logical formula: Inactive e=0, f=0, g=1 i=0+0×1=0 ... e=0, f=1, g=0 i=0+1 ×0=0 ... During activity e=1, f=0, g=1 i=1+0x1=1 ... e=0, f=1, g=1 i=0+1x1=1 ... The output i of the state determining means 10 becomes 1 when the person is active, and becomes 0 when the person is inactive.

The delay circuit 20 is for canceling the instantaneously generated i signal. For example, if the delay time of the delay circuit is set to 0.5 seconds, 1 of the i signal
The j signal becomes 1 only when the state continues for 0.5 seconds or more, and 1 does not appear in j when it continues for 0.5 seconds or less.

The latch circuit 23 outputs 1 at the rising edge of the j signal. Further, when the clear signal n becomes 0, the output is set to 0.

When the input signal is 1, the timer circuit 28 changes the output n from 1 to 0 after a set time. Also 0
When , the timer circuit 28 is cleared and the output is 1.
becomes.

With the above circuit configuration, as shown in FIG. 4, when the person is in an active state, the i signal becomes 1, and when this state continues for more than the delay time, the j signal generates a rising signal, and the latch circuit 23 outputs k. 1, the control relay 26 is operated, and the boiler control circuit 3 is turned on by closing this contact. Also, when a person becomes inactive, the i signal becomes 0, and if this state continues for more than the timer time, the timer output n
becomes 0, the latch circuit 23 is cleared, the output k becomes 0, and the control relay 26 is turned off.
do. When the contact of the control relay 26 is opened, the boiler control circuit 3 is turned off.

In the above embodiment, the reason why the current in the indoor electric circuit 7 is detected is to detect the net indoor current consumption excluding the current when the boiler control circuit 3 is activated.

In the present invention, the term "house" refers to not only a detached house but also a single unit of a housing complex such as an apartment or a condominium.

[Effects] As mentioned above, in the self-driving water heater of the present invention, the water heater is activated only when people are active indoors, so energy for heating hot water is wasted. energy costs are reduced. Furthermore, combustion noise is prevented from being emitted late at night, making the surrounding environment quiet.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an automatic water heater according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a circuit diagram of the same, Fig. 3 is a graph showing changes in current conversion value over time, and Fig. 4 is a circuit diagram. This is an operating time chart. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Hot water storage tank, 2...Boiler, 9...Current (power) detection means, 10...State determination means, 11
. . . Actuation means, 12 . . . Control device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] In a water heater that has a heating device and a hot water storage tank and is installed in a house, means for detecting power consumption in the house; comparing the electric power detected by the detecting means with a set value; , a determination means for determining whether the power consumption is within the range of the activity value of the person in the house or outside the range; a determination result of the determination means is within the range of the activity value of the person in the house; An automatic water heater characterized in that it is provided with a control device comprising: means for operating the heating device when the heating device is in the water heater.