JP2011158120A - Hot-water storage type hot-water supply machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hot-water storage type hot-water supply machine that stops extra continuous operation of heat-retention and improves consumed energy performance. <P>SOLUTION: The hot-water storage type hot-water supply machine includes: a tank 10 that stores hot water; and a bathroom remote controller 32 that has an operating part 34 and a display part 35. The bathroom remote controller 32 includes: a human detection sensor 36 that discriminates whether a person is in a bathroom; a family member number setting means that sets the number of family; and a storage means that stores the number set by the family member number setting means. The hot-water storage type hot-water supply machine is configured to automatically turn off a bath automatic operation after the human detection sensor counts the number of the persons who enters the bath room and reaches the number stored in the storage means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a hot water storage type water heater that performs hot water bathing and bath heat insulation operation using hot water in a tank.

  Conventionally, the bath operation of this type of hot water storage type hot water heater is equipped with an automatic hot water filling function, a chasing function, etc. as a standard feature, and is now an indispensable function. In particular, the automatic bath operation function is to 1) fill a bathtub with a set water level or a set amount of water, 2) raise the hot water temperature of the bathtub to a set temperature, and 3) perform a warming operation for a predetermined time.

  Such a heat retaining operation automatically detects a drop in the water level and automatically supplies water to the bathtub (additional hot water), or automatically detects a drop in the hot water temperature in the bathtub and raises the water automatically for a predetermined time (for example, 4 hours). ) It is a function that continues and is a very convenient function for the user.

  In recent years, there is also a water heater that includes a sensor for detecting a person in the bathroom in view of energy saving, and starts a heat insulation operation of the bathtub when the sensor detects that a person has entered the bathroom (for example, Patent Documents). 1 and 2).

  Next, the operation of the automatic bath automatic operation function will be briefly explained. When the automatic bath operation switch in the hot water supply remote controller is turned on and operated, the pouring valve for filling hot water in the bathtub is opened first. The hot water mixed with the hot water of the tank and the water supply pipe is supplied to the bathtub to the set water level.

  Next, when the hot water filling is completed to the set water level, the pouring valve is closed, the circulating pump is driven, the hot water in the bathtub is stirred, and heat is exchanged with the hot water in the tank in the heat exchanger. Boil the temperature to the set temperature.

  When boiling is completed up to the set temperature, the temperature is kept for a predetermined time (for example, 4 hours). This heat retention state automatically detects a drop in the water level, adds hot water to the set water level to the bathtub, or drives the circulation pump every predetermined time to automatically detect a drop in the hot water temperature in the bathtub. This is a function of boiling up to a set temperature in a heat exchanger.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-170752 JP 2001-235222 A

  However, in the conventional configuration, even after the whole family has taken a bath, if the user performs an operation of turning off the automatic bath operation switch or if a predetermined warming time (for example, 4 hours) has elapsed and the automatic bath operation is not turned off, There was a problem that the heat insulation operation of the hot water in the bathtub was continued and excessive energy was used.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide a hot water storage type hot water heater in which excessive continuous operation of heat insulation operation is stopped and energy consumption performance is improved.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the hot water storage type water heater of the present invention includes a tank for storing hot water, a bathroom remote control having an operation unit and a display unit, and whether the bathroom remote control has a person in the bathroom. A human sensor unit for discriminating, a family number setting means for setting the number of family members, and a storage means for storing the number of persons set by the family number setting means are provided. A structure that automatically turns off the automatic bathing operation when the bathing automatic operation is performed automatically and the number of people bathing in the bathroom is counted by the human sensor unit and the number of people stored in the storage means is reached. As a result, after the whole family has taken a bath, the bath automatic operation switch is automatically turned off, so there is no need to use extra energy by continuing the warming operation of the hot water in the bathtub, Effect of energy performance and running costs out can often ease of use as the user.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The hot water storage type hot water heater of the present invention can provide a hot water storage type hot water heater in which excessive continuous operation of the heat insulation operation is stopped and energy consumption performance is improved.

The block diagram of the hot water storage type hot water heater in Embodiment 1 of this invention Control flowchart in the first embodiment

  The hot water storage type water heater of the first invention includes a tank for storing hot water, a bathroom remote controller having an operation unit and a display unit, a human sensor in the bathroom remote controller for determining whether a person is in the bathroom, Automatic bathing operation that has a family number setting means for setting the number of family members and a storage means for storing the number of people set by the family number setting means, and automatically fills and refills the bath using hot water in the tank When the number of people bathing in the bathroom is counted by the human sensor unit and the number of people stored in the storage means is reached, automatic bathing is automatically turned off, so that the whole family takes a bath After that, the bath automatic operation switch is automatically turned off, so there is no need to continue using the hot water in the bathtub and use extra energy, saving energy and running. The effect of the strike out can be good usability as a user.

  In the hot water storage type hot water heater of the second invention, in particular, in the first invention, when the number of people bathed in the bathroom is counted by the human sensor unit and reaches the number of people stored in the storage means, By adopting a configuration that changes the boiling level, it is assumed that the shower in the bathroom, etc., where the amount of hot water used is the largest, and even after the whole family has taken a bath, it is necessary to increase the boiling level in order to store more than a certain amount of hot water in the tank. What has been done is to change the boiling level of the tank control unit according to the method of the present invention and to set less hot water to be stored in the tank, so that unnecessary boiling is not increased, so from the viewpoint of energy saving is very Easy to use.

  The hot water storage type water heater according to the third aspect of the invention is particularly configured in the first or second aspect of the invention, wherein the family number setting means for setting the number of family members is activated only when a special operation of the operation part of the bathroom remote control is performed. Thus, since the user does not easily change the number of family members by starting the family number setting means only when a special operation of the operation unit is performed, the number of people setting is changed by mistake. The usability can be improved.

The hot water storage type water heater of the fourth invention is equipped with a trial operation mode that is activated only once when the hot water heater is installed, particularly in any one of the first to third aspects of the invention. A mode in which the number of family members can be switched by the setting means, and the number of family members can be switched by the means of setting the number of family members at the time of a test run that is activated only once for the first time when the water heater is installed. Therefore, there is no need to bother specially switching to the family number setting means, and the number of people setting according to the family situation of the installation destination can be made at the time of trial operation, so the convenience during construction can be improved.

  In the hot water storage type water heater of the fifth invention, in particular, in any one of the first to fourth inventions, the family number setting means has a learning function, stores the number of people who entered the bathroom on a day and stores it in advance. Even if there is a change in the number of family members, the number of people who have entered the bathroom is automatically counted and the number within the predetermined number of days is counted. Is stored as the number of family members, so there is no need to set up the family number setting means and set the number of family members, and the usability can be improved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a hot water storage type hot water heater according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a tank for storing hot water, and has a hot water supply pipe 11 in the upper part and a water supply pipe 12 in the lower part of the tank 10. The water supply pipe 12 is connected from a water supply port 13 to which a water supply is connected through a pressure reducing valve 14 for reducing the water pressure. In the tank 10, hot water is separated into the upper part and water is separated into the lower part due to the difference in specific gravity, and when boiling the hot water in the tank 10, hot water is stored from the upper part of the tank 10, thereby forming a layer in which the hot water is pushed down. Accumulated.

  When hot water is supplied from the hot water supply pipe 11, water is supplied from the water supply pipe 12 into the tank 10 and the tank 10 is always filled with hot water. A boiling pipe 15 connected from the lower part to the upper part is connected to the tank 10, and a boiling pump 16 and a heat source unit 17 are interposed in the boiling pipe 15.

  By driving the boiling pump 16, hot water in the lower part of the tank 10 is supplied to the heat source part 17, and the hot water is heated by the heat source part 17 and then returned to the upper part of the tank 10 to store hot water. At this time, the heat source unit 17 is a heat pump or a heater having a heat pump cycle mechanism. Moreover, it has the control part (not shown) of the hot-water supply main body, drives each load according to the input from each sensor, raises a tank, or supplies hot water at preset temperature.

  In general, among the power systems provided by electric power companies, hot water is generally stored in the hot water storage tank 10 at night using relatively inexpensive late-night power. However, depending on the amount of hot water used, the amount of hot water stored may cause the hot water to run out, and the control unit 18 monitors the temperature of the thermistor 19 of the hot water storage tank 10 and keeps hot water in the heat source unit 17 even during the daytime. Add additional boiling.

  Also, a bath hot water mixing valve 23, a bath hot water thermistor 24, a bath pouring valve 25, and a bathtub 22 are provided. The hot water of the hot water supply pipe 11 and the hot water supply pipe 12 are mixed by the hot water and hot water mixing valve 23 so that the hot water and hot water thermistor 24 has a set temperature, and poured from the hot water and hot water supply valve 25 to the bathtub 22.

  Further, 26 is a bath circulation pump, 27 is a water heat exchanger, 28 is a bath temperature thermistor, and 29 is a heat exchange pump. When performing the warming operation of the bath, the circulation pump 26 and the heat exchange pump 29 are operated to operate until the temperature of the bath temperature thermistor 28 reaches the set temperature.

And when a user performs hot water supply to the currant 20 and the shower 21, hot water supplied from the tank 10 via the hot water supply pipe 11 and water supplied by the pressure reducing valve 14 through the water supply pipe 12 are reduced. The hot-water supply mixing valve 31 is driven so that the hot-water supply temperature becomes the target temperature to mix hot water.

  In addition, it has a water heater remote controller 32 (hereinafter referred to as a bathroom remote controller) installed in the bathroom 28. In addition, there is a microcomputer (not shown) in the water heater main body that performs data communication between the bathroom remote controller 32 and the controller of the water heater main body, and controls switches and displays.

  The bathroom remote control 32 has an operation unit 34 such as an UP / DOWN switch for changing the hot water supply temperature and a bath automatic operation switch for turning on / off the bath automatic operation. In addition, there is a display unit 35 for displaying the state of the water heater such as the hot water temperature and the fact that the bath is in automatic operation.

  The bathroom remote control 32 has a human sensor unit 36 for detecting that a person has entered the bathroom. In the bathroom remote controller 32, there are a family number setting means (not shown) for setting the number of family members and a storage means (not shown) for storing the number of family members.

  Then, a mode in which the number of family members can be set by a special operation such as simultaneous pressing of a plurality of switches of the operation unit 34 is set, and the setting value is preset in the microcomputer so that the set value is displayed on the display unit 35. The result set by the family number setting means is stored in the storage means.

  The operation and action of the hot water storage type water heater configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a control flowchart of the present invention.

  First, when a bath automatic operation switch disposed in the operation unit 34 of the bathroom remote control 32 is turned on and operated, the bath pouring valve 25 is first opened and supplied from the tank 10 through the hot water supply pipe 11 through the bath hot water mixing valve 23. The hot water mixed with the hot water depressurized by the pressure reducing valve 14 and supplied through the water supply pipe 12 and mixed so that the hot water supply thermistor 24 has a predetermined temperature is supplied to the bathtub 22 to the set water level. To do.

  Next, when the hot water filling is completed to the set water level, the bath pouring valve 25 is closed, the circulation pump 26 is driven, the hot water in the bathtub 22 is stirred, and the hot water in the tank 10 is Heat exchange and boil the bath temperature to the set temperature. When the heating up to the set temperature is completed, the bathroom remote controller 32 notifies the user that the bath has boiled with a notification sound or the display unit 35.

  Here, when the user enters the bathroom, the human sensor unit 36 detects a person and detects the first bathing. In the case of the first person, because the absence timer has expired, the number of people counter is counted up.

  Here, the absence timer is a timer that is restarted while there is a person in the bathroom 28 and is counted up when the absence occurs. For example, if 5 minutes is set, the time is up if there is no person in the bathroom 28 for 5 minutes. This is a timer for determining whether the next person B has taken a bath after the person A has taken a bath.

  Only when the absence timer has timed out, it is determined that another person has taken a bath and the number counter is incremented by one.

  In this way, the number counter is counted up according to the number of bathers, and the number stored in the storage means is compared with this number counter, and if it is not the same, the process is terminated without doing anything. If they are the same, the automatic bathing operation is automatically turned off, and the boiling level is also lowered.

  In this way, it is detected that all the family members have taken a bath and automatically turns off the automatic bathing operation. For this reason, forgetting to switch off the automatic bathing operation and the extra warming time set for extra bath warming. The water heater has improved energy saving performance without being continued.

  In addition, hot water storage type water heaters need to store hot water in the tank in advance so as not to run out of hot water, and since a certain amount of hot water is always stored in the tank, it is necessary to increase the boiling in advance. It was. In general, the warming operation in bath automatic operation and the amount of hot water used in the shower during bathing are large. If the bath is in automatic operation, the amount of heat for keeping warm is calculated or the whole family takes a bath. This is because it is assumed that there may still be a person who takes a shower later, and the hot water is added to store a lot of hot water in the tank.

  On the other hand, even if hot water is stored in the tank, if it remains until the next day, it is kept warm for a long time, and there is a loss due to natural heat dissipation, so there is a problem from the viewpoint of energy saving.

  On the other hand, according to the present invention, with regard to the boiling level, after bathing that uses hot water most frequently, the control unit 18 changes the boiling level and sets the amount of hot water stored in the hot water storage tank 10 to a small amount. There is no increase in energy consumption, and energy saving performance has been improved. In addition, it has become an easy-to-use hot water storage type hot water heater that reduces running costs without increasing the cost of electricity.

  In addition, when the UP / DOWN switch in the operation unit 34 of the bathroom remote control 32 is simultaneously pressed for 10 seconds, a family number setting unit mode is set in which the number of family members can be set, and the setting value is displayed on the display unit 35 in advance on the microcomputer. Is set. The result set by the family number setting means is stored in the storage means of the nonvolatile memory.

  In this way, the user is not easily changed by setting the mode of the family number setting means only when a special operation of the operation unit is performed, and the usability is not impaired.

  In addition, the water heater is provided with a trial operation mode that is activated only for the first time when it is installed, and is always configured to be in the family number setting means mode. Therefore, the number of family members can be set in accordance with the installed home situation without having to specially operate to set the family number setting means mode, so that the convenience during construction can be improved.

  And since it is not handed over to the user without being adjusted at the time of construction, the automatic bathing will not be turned off without permission, and it will not use wasteful energy by keeping warming the bathing forever. This eliminates the use of unnecessary heat for heating, leading to improved energy savings and improved usability.

  The family number setting means of the bathroom remote control 32 has a learning function, stores the number of people who enter the bathroom 28 per day, and stores the average value within a predetermined number of days as the number of family members in the storage means. It is as. Thus, even when there is a change in the number of family members such as child independence or marriage, the number of people who entered the bathroom 28 is automatically counted, and the average value within a predetermined number of days is learned as the number of family members and re-stored. Therefore, there is no need to set up the family number setting means mode and reset the number of family members, and it is very easy to use.

The hot water storage type water heater according to the present invention is configured to count the number of bathers using a human sensor mounted on a bathroom remote controller and use it for controlling the water heater, so that it is used for electric water heaters, heat pump water heaters, etc. Applicable to.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Tank 11 Hot-water supply pipe 12 Water supply pipe 15 Boiling pipe 16 Boiling pump 17 Heat source part 20 Curran 21 Shower head 22 Bathtub 23 Bath mixing valve 24 Bath hot water supply thermistor 25 Bath hot-water supply valve 26 Bath circulation pump 27 Water heat exchanger 28 Bathroom 29 Heat exchange pump 30 Bath temperature thermistor 31 Hot water mixing valve 32 Bathroom remote control 34 Operation section 35 Display section 36 Human sensor section

Claims (5)

A tank for storing hot water, a bathroom remote controller having an operation unit and a display unit, a human sensor unit for determining whether or not there is a person in the bathroom in the bathroom remote controller, and a family number setting means for setting the number of family members Storage means for storing the number of persons set by the family number setting means, and automatic bathing or refilling the bath using hot water in the tank, The hot water storage type hot water heater is configured to automatically turn off the bath automatic operation when the number of people bathed in the bathroom is counted by the sensor unit and the number of people stored in the storage means is reached. The number of people bathed in the bathroom is counted by the human sensor unit, and when the number of people stored in the storage means is reached, the boiling level of hot water in the tank is changed. Item 2. A hot-water storage water heater according to item 1. The hot water storage type hot water heater according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the family number setting means for setting the number of family members is configured to be activated only when a special operation is performed on the operation unit of the bathroom remote controller. It is equipped with a trial operation mode that is activated only once when the water heater is installed, and the number of people can be switched by the family number setting means in the trial operation mode, and the number of people switched is stored in the storage means. The hot water storage type water heater according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The family number setting means has a learning function, stores the number of people who enter the bathroom on a day, and stores the average value within a predetermined number of days in the storage means as the number of family members. The hot water storage type water heater according to any one of claims 1 to 4.