TWI575204B - Method for controlling hot water pre-heating of water heater according to hot water using pattern of user - Google Patents

Description

Method for preheating control of hot water in water heater according to user's hot water usage mode

The invention relates to a method for hot water preheating control in a water heater according to a user's hot water usage mode, and more particularly to a hot water preheating control in a water heater according to a user's hot water usage mode as follows Method: using the accumulated average value of the hot water usage mode of the user who uses the water heater or the boiler as a reference, so that the hot water preheating action is performed only when the time required to use the hot water is controlled; The hot water preheating control method in the water heater of the user's hot water usage mode not only shortens the hot water supply time according to the set temperature, but also prevents the waste of cold water removed before the hot water is used.

In a combustion machine with a hot water supply system, it can be roughly classified into a boiler and a water heater. The boiler used in ordinary households or public buildings is used for heating or heating water, and the water heater is a device that heats the raw water to a specific temperature in a short time, and then supplies it in a manner that the user can conveniently use the hot water.

Such a boiler and a water heater are constructed by burning oil or gas as a fuel by a burner, and then heating the water by using the heat of combustion generated in the combustion process, and then providing according to the needs of the user. The heated water.

Generally, in a boiler and a water heater, a raw water inflow pipe is provided, which supplies cold water; a heat exchanger having a burner for mixing the air sucked into the blower with the fuel to be burned to heat the cold water supplied by the raw water inflow pipe; the hot water supply pipe for supplying a hot water heated by the heat exchanger; a hot water temperature regulator that sets a temperature desired by the user; and a controller that is based on an input signal of a set temperature input by the user using the hot water temperature regulator Control the flow of water heaters and the flow of hot water.

However, in the conventional boiler or water heater constructed as described above, the hot water preheating function is not provided, so when the hot water is used, the user turns on (ON) the hot water temperature regulator switch and operates to After the temperature is set, the flow sensor is installed in the hot water supply pipe to sense the flow of the hot water when the hot water tap is turned on, so that the controller receives the signal of the flow sensor and burns and circulates the pump to the burner. The operation is controlled, so there is a problem that after the user turns on the hot water tap, the hot water operation is performed, and during the heating of the hot water to the appropriate temperature, the cold water is discharged by the hot water tap and directly removed, thereby causing the water The waste of resources, and the user must wait until the hot water of the appropriate temperature is supplied, so there is inconvenience in using hot water.

Further, in the case where the preheating function is set, the preheating operation is continued even when hot water is not used, so there is a problem that energy is wasted.

As a prior art for solving such a problem, the following hot water preheating control method is described in Registered Patent No. 10-0422856: If the hot water preheat setting button is actuated, whether or not the hot water tap is activated The hot water preheating combustion operation is performed irrespectively until the temperature of the intermediate circulating water reaches the preset hot water preheating set temperature, but the preheating operation ends when the set warming restriction time elapses.

According to the hot water preheating control method as described above, there is an advantage that when the user actually turns on the hot water tap and uses hot water, the release time of the hot water heated to the set temperature is shortened. Therefore, the amount of cold water to be removed is reduced, but after the user activates the preheat setting button, the user cannot wait for the hot water to be warmed up during the heating time for the hot water preheating. Therefore, there is inconvenience in using hot water.

In addition, before the hot water is used, the preheating function is selected, and when the hot water is used, the operation of re-interrupting the warm-up function needs to be performed manually, so that there is the following problem: not only inconvenience, but also setting the warm-up time. There is a need for other timing functions inside the controller, so the configuration of the controller becomes complicated and the setting operation of the hot water warm-up time is cumbersome.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a method for hot water preheating control in a water heater according to a user's hot water usage mode, which is performed by performing a hot water usage mode of the water heater user. The preset hot water preheating operation shortens the supply time of the hot water heated to the set temperature when the user turns on the hot water discharge port and uses hot water, thereby not only facilitating the use of hot water, but also using heat. The cold water removed below the set temperature is minimized before the water, thereby saving resources.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for hot water preheating control in a water heater that can perform hot water based on a user's hot water usage mode even if there is no other time setting device for hot water preheating. The preheating action, whereby the control structure for hot water preheating in the water heater can be simplified.

The method for achieving hot water preheating control in a water heater according to a user's hot water usage mode according to the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned purposes includes the following steps: a first step, which is based on flow sensing The flow sensing signal of the device is used as a reference to determine whether hot water is being used. In the second step, it is determined in the first step that the hot water use time is calculated according to the set time interval when the hot water is used; In the third step, the hot water use time of the second step is calculated according to the date during the set date, and the cumulative time of the hot water use in the date period is calculated according to the time interval; and the fourth step is performed according to the fourth step. In the time interval calculated in the third step, the hot water use mode of the user is determined according to the cumulative average time of the hot water use, and when the hot water is not used, the warming up according to the time zone is performed according to the hot water use mode. action.

In the above aspect, it is possible to perform the following steps in the period before the first date period in the third step, based on the hot water use time in each time zone calculated on the day before the date. Preheating action set in time interval.

In addition, it is possible to configure the cumulative average time of the hot water use in each time zone calculated in the third step as the reference after the second time period has elapsed, and to calculate the cumulative average time of the hot water use in each time zone. , perform the fourth step above.

Further, in the second step, the time zone is set in units of one hour, and the warm-up operation set in the fourth step is the cumulative time of the hot water use in the one hour period. In the case of less than 5 minutes, the preheating operation is not performed, and when the cumulative average time of hot water use in the 1 hour period is more than 5 minutes and less than 10 minutes, the execution time is 10 minutes before the start time of the time interval. 1 preheating operation, when the cumulative average time of hot water use during the 1 hour period is more than 10 minutes and less than 20 minutes, the preheating action is performed an unlimited number of times from the start time of the time interval 10 minutes. When the cumulative average time of hot water use in the one-hour period is 20 minutes or more, the preheating operation is performed an unlimited number of times from the start time of the time interval 10 minutes, but the preheated hot water is used. When the temperature reaches the preheating target temperature, The circulation pump is continuously operated.

Further, it can be configured such that the date period is set in units of 7 days.

According to the method of the hot water preheating control in the water heater according to the hot water usage mode of the user, the hot water use time of the user is calculated according to the set time interval, and the set date is calculated according to the time interval. The cumulative average time of the hot water during use is determined, and after determining the hot water usage mode of the user, the preheating operation set according to the time interval is performed based on the mode, thereby having the following advantages: when using hot water, The hot water of the set temperature is quickly supplied to increase the convenience of use of the hot water, and the amount of cold water to be removed is minimized to reduce waste of resources.

In addition, according to the present invention, the hot water warm-up operation of the user can be automatically recognized and the set hot water warm-up operation can be performed, thereby having the following advantages: for the control of the hot water warm-up, no additional timing setting is required, so that The control structure for hot water preheating is simplified.

100‧‧‧Water heater

101‧‧‧ hot water circulation pipe

102‧‧‧ raw water inflow pipe

110‧‧‧Circulating pump

120‧‧‧ check valve

130‧‧‧Flow Sensor

140‧‧‧burner

141‧‧‧ gas supply pipe

150‧‧‧Heat Converter

160‧‧‧Water tank

170‧‧‧ hot water tap

181‧‧‧1st temperature sensor

182‧‧‧2nd temperature sensor

183‧‧‧3rd temperature sensor

S1‧‧‧Step S1

S2‧‧‧Step S2

S3‧‧‧Step S3

S4‧‧‧Step S4

S5‧‧‧Step S5

S6‧‧‧Step S6

S7‧‧‧Step S7

S8‧‧‧Step S8

S9‧‧‧Step S9

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing the structure of a water heater to which the present invention is applied.

Fig. 2 is a flow chart showing a method of hot water preheating control in a water heater according to a user's hot water usage mode in the present invention.

Hereinafter, the structure and function of the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to Fig. 1, a water heater 100 to which the present invention is applied includes: a hot water circulation pipe 101, It circulates hot water internally; raw water flows into the pipe 102, which is connected to one side of the hot water circulation pipe 101 for supplying raw water to the hot water flowing along the hot water circulation pipe 101; the check valve 120, which will be along The flow direction of the water flowing through the hot water circulation pipe 101 is restricted to one direction; the flow sensor 130 senses whether or not the water flowing along the inside of the hot water circulation pipe 101 flows and flows; the heat exchanger 150 has combustion The burner 140 is configured to combust the air flowing in through the gas supply pipe 141 to be mixed with the fuel so as to be heated for the low temperature raw water flowing in through the raw water inflow pipe 102; the water tank 160 is stored in the heat exchanger The hot water heated by the combustion heat of the absorption burner 140 is 150; the hot water tap 170 releases hot water by the opening operation of the user; and the first temperature sensor 181 detects the flow into the heat exchanger 150. a temperature of the water; a second temperature sensor 182 that detects the temperature of the water passing through the heat exchanger 150; and a third temperature sensor 183 that detects the water that is moved to the water of the hot water tap 170 after being stored in the water tank 160 temperature. In addition, a control unit (not shown) is provided, and the control unit stores data corresponding to the hot water use time of the user, and calculates an average time of hot water use, and the user's hot water corresponding to the average time of the hot water use. The operation mode is used as a reference to control the operation of the circulation pump 110 for hot water preheating and the combustion operation of the burner 140.

Hereinafter, a hot water preheating control method of the water heater 100 configured as described above will be described with reference to a flowchart of Fig. 2 .

The present invention is constructed in such a manner that the time zone in which the water heater 100 is used by the user within 24 hours and the hot water usage time mode in the time zone are used to perform the warm-up operation of the hot water at the time when the hot water is not used at all. The belt is controlled by interrupting the warm-up operation mode of the water heater, thereby preventing unnecessary waste of energy, and when hot water is used, the hot water heated to the set temperature can be quickly supplied to the user.

First of all, when initially using the water heater, first turn on (ON) the water heater The power source (S1) initializes the system with the data corresponding to the hot water usage mode of the user remaining in the control unit (S2).

The control unit calculates the current time zone (S3), and distinguishes between 0 hours and 24 hours in units of one hour on the basis of one day, thereby determining the current time and the time zone in the time zone divided by one hour. Corresponds to (S4).

Next, if the user sets the hot water mode and turns on the hot water tap 170 in order to use the hot water, the circulation pump 110 operates while flowing the raw water through the raw water inflow pipe 102, and senses the flow of water by the flow sensor 130. Change (S5).

The flow rate information signal sensed by the flow sensor 130 is transmitted to the control unit, and the control unit determines that it is in the hot water used according to the input flow rate information signal, and is heated by the raw water passing through the heat exchanger 150 to The combustion operation of the burner 140 is controlled in such a manner as to set the temperature (S6).

Next, the control unit calculates the time of using the hot water according to the set time interval, and calculates the hot water use time by the date in the set date period, thereby calculating the cumulative average time of the hot water use in the date period according to the time interval. (S7). This step will be described with reference to Table 1 below.

In the present embodiment, one day is divided into 24 sections based on one hour, and the hot water use time is calculated according to the time interval, and the hot water use is calculated for one week (7 days) in accordance with the one-hour interval. Average time.

In the above Table 1, if the time interval from 0:00 to 1 hour is taken as an example, the hot water use time on the first day and the second day is 15 minutes, and the third day is 20 minutes, the fourth day. When the hot water was not used for 10 minutes, the sixth day, and the seventh day on the fifth day, the cumulative average time of the hot water use during the 7 days was calculated to be 10 minutes. The calculation of the other time intervals and the calculation of the cumulative average time of the hot water use in the time interval are also calculated by the same method.

As described above, in the use of hot water, the hot water use time is calculated according to the set time interval, and the cumulative average time of the hot water use during the set date period is calculated, thereby determining the time zone relative to the user. The hot water usage mode of the user who uses the hot water for how many minutes.

Based on the flow rate information sensed by the flow sensor 130, it is determined that the hot water is not required to be warmed up when the hot water is used (S8).

In this case, a hot water warm-up operation (S9) according to the user's hot water use mode is performed, and the user's hot water use mode is the cumulative use of the hot water used by the user obtained in the above (S7) step. The average time is determined based on the reference, and as an embodiment, as shown in the following Table 2, the weighting value is set according to the hot water use time in accordance with the time interval based on the user's hot water use mode, so that the hot water warm-up operation can be performed. .

Here, the reference time refers to the time within the corresponding time interval.

In the present embodiment, the time interval of one day is set in units of one hour, and when the cumulative average time of hot water use in one hour period is 5 minutes or less, the preheating operation can be set. The reason for this is that the situation is a case where the hot water use time is short, and thus unnecessary energy waste due to the execution of the warm-up action is prevented.

When the cumulative average time of the hot water use during the one hour period is more than 5 minutes and less than 10 minutes, the preheating operation is performed once before the reference time of 10 minutes. Here, the preheating operation is performed by the circulation pump 110, and the water circulates along the hot water circulation pipe 101, passes through the heat exchanger 150 by the combustion of the burner 140, and the water is heated to circulate along the hot water circulation pipe 101. The operation of the circulation pump 110 and the combustion operation of the burner 140 are performed once before the temperature of the water reaches the warm-up target temperature. At this time, the temperature of the water circulated along the hot water circulation pipe 101 can be sensed by the first to third temperature sensors 181, 182, and 183.

When the cumulative average time of the hot water use during the one hour period is more than 10 minutes and less than 20 minutes, the preheating operation is performed an unlimited number of times before the reference time of 10 minutes. That is, when the temperature of the water flowing in the hot water circulation pipe 101 reaches the warm-up target at the time when the warm-up operation is completed once, the operation of the circulation pump 110 and the combustion operation of the burner 140 are interrupted, and the heat is heated after a fixed time. When the temperature of the water inside the water circulation pipe 101 falls from the preheating target temperature to a temperature lower than the set temperature range, the operation of the circulation pump 110 and the combustion operation of the burner 140 are started again, and the preheating operation is performed until the hot water The temperature of the water inside the circulation pipe 101 reaches the warm-up target temperature.

It can also be configured such that when the cumulative average time of the hot water use in the one-hour period is 20 minutes or more, the warm-up operation is performed an unlimited number of times from the start time of the corresponding time interval 10 minutes, but When the temperature of the preheated hot water reaches the preheating target temperature, The circulation pump 110 is continuously operated. That is, in the case of the normal warm-up operation, the operation of the circulation pump 110 and the combustion operation of the burner 140 are collectively performed or interrupted, but in this case, the configuration is as follows, that is, When the temperature of the water flowing inside the hot water circulation pipe 101 reaches the warm-up target temperature and the combustion of the burner 140 is interrupted, the circulation pump 110 is also continuously operated, thereby solving the problem that when the circulation pump 110 is interrupted The temperature of the hot water inside the hot water circulation pipe 101 near the heat exchanger 150 provided with the second temperature sensor 182 is generated, and the third temperature sense is set after the water tank 160 that is relatively far from the heat exchanger 150 is disposed. The deviation between the hot water temperatures inside the hot water circulation pipe 101 of the detector 183.

Further, if the temperature of the water inside the hot water circulation pipe 101 is lowered from the preheating target temperature to a temperature lower than the set temperature range after a fixed period of time, the burner 140 is restarted in a state where the circulation pump 110 is continuously operated. The preheating operation is performed by the combustion operation until the temperature of the water inside the hot water circulation pipe 101 reaches the warming target temperature.

On the other hand, in the present invention, it is possible to configure the data corresponding to the cumulative average time of the hot water use in the period before the date (1 week) set during the initial operation of the water heater. Since the state is set, the warm-up operation set in accordance with the time interval is performed as described above based on the hot water use time in each time zone calculated on the previous day of the corresponding date. Further, it is possible to be configured to update the hot time of each time zone that is re-acquired during the re-set date period after the accumulated average time of the hot water use in each time zone of the period elapsed after the set date period The water uses the cumulative average time to perform the warm-up operation set as described above based on the updated usage mode.

However, in the present embodiment, the case where the cumulative average time of the hot water use time during the 7-day period is calculated by dividing one day into 24 hours, but the interval setting of one day and the use of hot water are used. The date setting for the cumulative average time calculation is not limited thereto, and can be set to a shorter or longer time interval and date. The present invention is not only applicable to a water heater, but can of course be applied to all hot water supply devices such as boilers.

S1‧‧‧Step S1

S2‧‧‧Step S2

S3‧‧‧Step S3

S4‧‧‧Step S4

S5‧‧‧Step S5

S6‧‧‧Step S6

S7‧‧‧Step S7

S8‧‧‧Step S8

S9‧‧‧Step S9

Claims (4)

A method for preheating control of hot water in a water heater according to a hot water usage mode of a user, comprising the following steps: the first step, determining whether the hot water is used based on the flow sensing signal of the flow sensor In the second step, when it is determined in the first step that the hot water is used, the hot water use time is calculated according to the set time interval; and the third step is performed during the set date. The date is calculated as the hot water use time in the second step, and the accumulated hot water use time in the date period is calculated according to the time interval. The fourth step is based on the heat of each time interval calculated in the third step. The cumulative use time of the water is used to determine the hot water usage mode of the user. When the hot water is not used, the warm-up operation set according to the time interval is performed according to the hot water use mode; and the calculation is performed in the third step. The cumulative average time of hot water use in each time interval is calculated after two times of the above-mentioned date period to recalculate the cumulative use of hot water in each time interval. The average time reference, the implementation of the above-described fourth step. The method of claim 1, wherein the method of performing the hot water use time in each time interval calculated on the day before the corresponding date is performed during the period before the first date period of the third step The warm-up action set according to the time interval. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the second step, the time interval is set in units of one hour, and the preheating operation set in the fourth step is performed in a heat of one hour. Water use accumulation When the average time is less than 5 minutes, the warm-up action is not performed. When the cumulative average time of hot water use during the 1 hour period is more than 5 minutes and less than 10 minutes, the start time of the corresponding time interval is 10 minutes. Before the first warm-up operation is performed, the accumulated average time of the hot water use in the one-hour period is more than 10 minutes and less than 20 minutes, and is executed in an unlimited number of times from the start time of the corresponding time interval 10 minutes. In the preheating operation, when the cumulative average time of the hot water use in the one hour period is 20 minutes or more, the preheating operation is performed an unlimited number of times from the start time of the corresponding time interval 10 minutes, but is preheated. When the temperature of the hot water reaches the preheating target temperature, the circulation pump is also continuously operated. The method of claim 1, wherein the date period is set in units of 7 days.