JPS59189236A - Shower unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the heat exchange efficiency of the shower unit by a method wherein the amount of heat discharged after a bather's taking a shower is transferred to water supplied to a hot water feeder by utilizing a characteristic peculiar to the shower in which hot water is discharged in a stabilized condition at the time of the bather's taking a shower. CONSTITUTION:The hot water feeder is of automatic temperature control type and constructed such that the hot water feeding temperature detected by a sensor 16 and the temperature set by a remote controller 17 are compared to each other by a controller 15 in the hot water feeder 7 so that the hot water feeding temperature is automatically controlled to coincide with the set temperature and a heat exchanger 18 is provided in a drain passage so that the amount of heat of the hot water discharged at the time of one's taking a shower is transferred to the water supplied to the hot water feeder. With the above structure, when a shower begins to be used, there is almost no discharge of hot water and the water supplied to the hot water feeder 7 is cold. Accordingly, the amount of consumption of heat by the hot water feeder 7 required for performing a supply of hot water of a suitable temperature does not change as compared to the conventional shower unit but when discharged hot water reaches the heat exchanger 18, the temperature of the supply water rises rapidly and as a result, the amount of consumption of heat by the hot water feeder 7 required for performing the supply of hot water of a suitable temperature reduces sharply automatically.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to provide an energy-saving shower unit.

A block diagram of a conventional shower unit is shown in FIG. 1 is the outer body, 2Fi shower room, and 3 is the equipment room. 4 is the door and 6 is the floor. The supplied water is sent to a water heater 7 via a water supply pipe 6, heated and sent to a hot water supply pipe 8, and reaches a mixing valve 9. On the other hand, a part of the water supply pipe 6 is connected to the water supply pipe 10 and reaches the mixing valve 9. The shower user 11 appropriately operates the mixing valve to emit appropriate temperature from the shower head 12 for use. Drainage water after showering flows along the floor 6 and is drained from the drain pipe 13. Moreover, when the fuel of the water heater 7 is gas, the gas is sent from the gas pipe 14.

In the configuration described above, the thermal efficiency of a normal water heater is about 80%, and it is difficult to save more energy than that.

The present invention takes advantage of the unique usage of showers, in which hot water is stably drained when using the shower, and has a configuration that exchanges the heat of the waste water after using the shower with the water supplied by the water heater.
This increases the heat exchange rate to over 100%.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a shower unit according to the present invention. The difference from FIG. 1 is that the water heater is not an automatic temperature control water heater, and the controller 16 inside the water heater compares the temperature setting set by the remote controller 17 with the sensor 16 that detects the hot water temperature. In addition to automatically controlling the water supply temperature so that it matches the set temperature, a heat exchanger 18 is installed in the drainage path, and the heat that is constantly drained and thrown away when using the shower is exchanged with the water supplied from the water heater. be.

- In the configuration described in (1), since no water is used when the shower is first used, the water supply in the hot water supply booklet is cold. When this temperature is reached, the water supply temperature rises rapidly, and the amount of heat consumed by the water heater 7, which supplies hot water at the same appropriate temperature as described above, is automatically significantly reduced. 3 Generally, the heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger 18 is about 70%, so the overall thermal efficiency of this system is as follows.

100(%) X −x (1+−fossil)==136(
%) 00 In this way, an extremely high energy saving effect can be obtained, and the size of the water heater 7 can also be considerably smaller than the conventional one, so resources can be saved.

Also, the reason why we used an automatic temperature control water heater rather than one that manually adjusts the combustion amount to obtain the appropriate temperature is because the temperature of the water supplied by the water heater rises rapidly at the beginning of the shower.
This is because, in the case of manual adjustment, extremely hot water is supplied at the end of the readjustment, which is dangerous and requires a lot of effort to readjust at the beginning of use. It is likely that the user will be using it to check on the situation while the temperature of the water is stable, which is not a good idea as gas and water will be wasted during that time. However, when using an automatic temperature control water heater, the water supply temperature is kept constant even if the water supply temperature changes rapidly, so you can take a shower immediately, reducing waste and making it more convenient.

FIG. 3 shows a circuit diagram of an embodiment of an automatic temperature controller employed in the automatic temperature control water heater 7. As shown in FIG. 19 is a power source; 20 is a coil of a gas proportional valve that continuously controls the amount of gas burned; 16 is the sensor; 21 is a temperature setting volume within the remote controller; 22.23.
24.25 is the resistance. The sensor 16, the temperature setting volume 21, and the resistors 22 and 23 constitute a bridge circuit, and the midpoint potentials of each are compared by the transistor 26. For example, when the hot water temperature is low, the resistance value of the sensor 16 is large, and the transistor 26 is energized and its output is connected to transistor 2
7, a current is passed through the coil 20, the gas proportional valve is opened, the amount of gas combusted is increased, and the hot water temperature is raised to the set temperature.

When the temperature of the water heater becomes higher than the hot water temperature due to an increase in the water supply temperature, the water heater is kept at the set temperature by reducing the amount of gas combusted by performing the opposite operation.

The cut 28 is for absorbing the back electromotive force of the coil 20, and the 29 is a flow switch that closes when hot water supply starts to supply power to the control circuit.

As described above, the shower unit of the present invention takes advantage of the unique method of showers in which hot water is stably drained when the shower is used, and has a configuration that exchanges the heat of the waste water after using the shower with the water supplied by the water heater. High energy savings can be achieved.

(- example thermal efficiency 136%) hand ■As the frying device is small, it saves resources.

In addition, by adopting an automatic temperature control water heater as the water heater, the water supply temperature will be maintained at an appropriate temperature even if the water supply temperature of the water heater changes rapidly at the beginning of using the shower, so that the 0 water supply temperature will suddenly become hot. It is safe without any problems.

Since you can take a shower immediately, there is no need to waste gas or water.

0 It is easy to use because there is no need to re-adjust the temperature in response to a sudden rise in the water supply temperature.

It has the following characteristics.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of a conventional shower unit, Figure 2 is
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the shower unit of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of an automatic temperature controller employed in an automatic temperature control water heater. 1...Shower unit outer body, 6...Water supply pipe, 7...Water heater, 8...Hot water supply pipe, 12
... Shower head, 13 ... Drain pipe,
15... Controller, 16... Sensor, 17...
... Remote controller, 18 ... Heat exchanger, 20 ... Gas proportional valve, 21 ... Temperature setting volume, 29 ... Flow switch. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
Figure 2

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A shower unit equipped with a heat exchanger that exchanges heat from waste water after shower use to the water supplied by the water heater. (2) The shower unit according to claim 1, wherein the water heater is equipped with an automatic temperature controller that detects the temperature of hot water and controls the amount of heat supplied.