A control method and device for water heater heating

Abstract

The present invention discloses a control method and device for water heater heating. The method includes: obtaining the water usage time period and water consumption of a user in a day. When there is no high electricity price during the water usage time period, using a heat pump to heat the first amount of water in the water heater to a first threshold temperature higher than the initial threshold temperature within a first set time period before the water usage time period; when there is a high electricity price during the water usage time period, heating the second amount of water in the water heater to a second threshold temperature higher than the initial threshold temperature within a second set time period before the water usage time period, and using electric heating to heat the third amount of water in the water heater to the initial threshold temperature within a third set time period before the end of the water usage time period. When there is a high electricity price, using the heat pump and electric heating to heat the water in the water heater. The present invention can balance the heating timing by comprehensively considering the local electricity price range and the energy efficiency of the machine, and can be widely applied to the field of water heater heating.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of water heater control, and in particular to a control method and device for heating a water heater. Background Art

[0002] In the existing water heater control scheme, electric heating may be used to heat hot water during the peak electricity consumption period. Since the electricity price is high during the peak period, it will cause higher costs to users. In addition, setting a lower heating temperature may result in insufficient hot water supply during the peak water usage period.

[0003] Therefore, in order to match the amount of heated water with the hot water demand and reduce the electricity bill expenditure, the present invention proposes a control scheme for heating a water heater. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, embodiments of the present invention provide a control method and device for heating a water heater that can match the amount of heated water with the hot water demand and reduce the electricity bill expenditure.

[0005] One aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides a control method for heating a water heater, including:

[0006] Obtaining the water usage information of the user, where the water usage information includes the water usage time period and the water usage amount of the user in a day;

[0007] If the electricity price during the water usage time period is lower than a preset electricity price value, then use a heat pump to heat a first amount of water in the water heater to a first threshold temperature within a first set time period before the water usage time period;

[0008] If the electricity price during the water usage time period is equal to or higher than the electricity price value, then use a heat pump to heat a second amount of water in the water heater to a second threshold temperature within a second set time period before the water usage time period, and use electric heating to heat a third amount of water in the water heater to an initial threshold temperature within a third set time period before the end of the water usage time period;

[0009] Wherein, the first threshold temperature is higher than the initially set initial threshold temperature, the first amount of water is more than the water usage amount, the second threshold temperature is higher than the first threshold temperature, and the sum of the second amount of water and the third amount of water is more than the water usage amount.

[0010] Preferably, the water usage time period includes a plurality of non - consecutive time periods in a day.

[0011] Preferably, the step of if the electricity price during the water usage time period is lower than a preset electricity price value, then use a heat pump to heat a first amount of water in the water heater to a first threshold temperature within a first set time period before the water usage time period, includes:

[0012] If the electricity price during the water usage period is lower than the preset electricity value, then determine a target period with the largest actual water consumption on the previous day among the multiple periods, and use a heat pump to heat the first target amount of water in the water heater to the first threshold temperature within the first target setting period before the target period.

[0013] Preferably, using electric heating to heat the third amount of water in the water heater to the initial threshold temperature within the third setting period before the end of the water usage period includes:

[0014] Determine a valley electricity price period with the lowest electricity price among the multiple periods;

[0015] Use electric heating to heat the third amount of water in the water heater to the initial threshold temperature within the third setting period before the end of the valley electricity price period.

[0016] Another aspect of the embodiment of the present invention further provides a control device for water heater heating, including:

[0017] An information acquisition unit, configured to acquire the user's water usage information, where the water usage information includes the water usage period and water consumption of the user in a day;

[0018] A first heating unit, configured to use a heat pump to heat the first amount of water in the water heater to the first threshold temperature within the first setting period before the water usage period if the electricity price during the water usage period is lower than the preset electricity value;

[0019] A second heating unit, configured to use a heat pump to heat the second amount of water in the water heater to the second threshold temperature within the second setting period before the water usage period and use electric heating to heat the third amount of water in the water heater to the initial threshold temperature within the third setting period before the end of the water usage period if the electricity price during the water usage period is equal to or higher than the electricity value;

[0020] Wherein, the first threshold temperature is higher than the initially set initial threshold temperature, the first amount of water is more than the water consumption, the second threshold temperature is higher than the first threshold temperature, and the sum of the second amount of water and the third amount of water is more than the water consumption.

[0021] Preferably, the water usage period includes multiple non - continuous periods in a day.

[0022] Preferably, the first heating unit includes:

[0023] A first target heating unit, configured to determine a target period with the largest actual water consumption on the previous day among the multiple periods if the electricity price during the water usage period is lower than the preset electricity value, and use a heat pump to heat the first target amount of water in the water heater to the first threshold temperature within the first target setting period before the target period.

[0024] Preferably, the second heating unit includes:

[0025] A valley period determination unit for determining a valley electricity price period with the lowest electricity price among the multiple periods;

[0026] A valley period heating unit for heating a third amount of water in the water heater to an initial threshold temperature using electric heat within a third set period before the end of the valley electricity price period.

[0027] Another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention further provides an electronic device, including a processor and a memory;

[0028] The memory is used to store a program;

[0029] The processor executes the program to implement the above method.

[0030] Another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where the storage medium stores a program, and the program is executed by a processor to implement the above method.

[0031] The embodiments of the present invention also disclose a computer program product or a computer program. The computer program product or the computer program includes computer instructions, and the computer instructions are stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The processor of the computer device can read the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions to enable the computer device to execute the foregoing method.

[0032] The present invention can obtain the water usage time period and water consumption of a user in a day. When there is no high electricity price during the water usage time period, a heat pump is used to heat the first amount of water in the water heater to a first threshold temperature higher than the initial threshold temperature within the first set time period before the water usage time period. When the user draws water during the water usage time period, the water temperature can be maintained within a certain range of difference from the initial temperature threshold, meeting the user's demand for water temperature. Using a heat pump instead of electric heating can also reduce the electricity cost. Moreover, the first amount of water can be slightly more than the user's water consumption, meeting the user's demand for water consumption. When there is a high electricity price during the water usage time period, the second amount of water in the water heater is heated to a second threshold temperature higher than the initial threshold temperature within the second set time period before the water usage time period, and the third amount of water in the water heater is heated to the initial threshold temperature using electric heating within the third set time period before the end of the water usage time period. Heating the water in the water heater using a heat pump and electric heating during high electricity prices can avoid using electric heating throughout the process, reducing the electricity cost. Moreover, the amounts of water heated twice are ensured to be slightly more than the user's water consumption, meeting the water usage demand. The present invention can balance the heating timing by integrating the local electricity price range and the energy efficiency of the machine. At the same time, it can collect the user's water usage habits and automatically adjust the hot water temperature periodically, meeting the user's water usage demand, saving energy, reducing excess waste, and saving costs for the user. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the following drawings are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0034] Figure 1 It is a schematic flowchart of a control method for heating a water heater provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 2 It is a flowchart example of a specific example of heating control of a water heater provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 3 It is a structural block diagram of a control device for heating a water heater provided by an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0037] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention clearer, the following further details the present invention with reference to the drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0038] Refer to Figure 1, an embodiment of the present invention provides a control method for water heater heating, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0039] Step S100: Obtain the user's water usage information, where the water usage information includes the water usage period and water consumption of the user in a day.

[0040] Specifically, the obtained water usage information may include the user's usual water usage habits, for example: the water usage period of concentrated water usage, the water consumption in each water usage period, etc.

[0041] It should be noted that the water usage period may include multiple periods in a day, and each period may be non - continuous.

[0042] Step S110: Determine whether the electricity price during the water usage period is lower than a preset electricity price value. If so, execute step S120; if not, execute step S130.

[0043] Specifically, before daily water usage, the local electricity price information can be obtained first, and then it can be determined whether the electricity price during the water usage period is lower than the preset electricity price value. If not, it can be considered that the electricity price in this period is a high electricity price. The present invention can reduce the use of electric heating during high - electricity - price periods, and the specific implementation process can be referred to the subsequent description.

[0044] Step S120: Use a heat pump to heat the first amount of water in the water heater to the first threshold temperature within the first set period before the water usage period.

[0045] Specifically, within a period of time before the approaching water usage period, this period of time can be recorded as the first set period. Examples of the first set period are: within two hours or half an hour before the water usage period. Use a heat pump to heat the first amount of water in the water heater to the first threshold temperature. The first threshold temperature can be higher than the initial temperature threshold initially set for the water heater. Moreover, the first amount of water can be slightly more than the user's water consumption to meet the water consumption demand. At the same time, using the heat pump to heat in advance before the water usage period avoids high - cost electric heating and can also ensure that the water temperature meets the user's requirements during the water usage period.

[0046] Step S130: Use a heat pump to heat the second amount of water in the water heater to the second threshold temperature within the second set period before the water usage period, and use electric heating to heat the third amount of water in the water heater to the initial threshold temperature within the third set period before the end of the water usage period.

[0047] Specifically, within a period slightly longer than the water usage period with high electricity prices, which can be denoted as the second set period, use a heat pump to heat the second amount of water in the water heater to a second threshold temperature higher than the first threshold temperature, which can ensure that the hot water slowly cools down from the second threshold temperature and will not drop below the initial threshold temperature during the water usage period. Then, within the third set period before the end of the water usage period, such as half an hour or one hour for example, use electric heating to heat the third amount of water in the water heater to the initial threshold temperature. Among them, the sum of the second amount of water and the third amount of water can be more than the user's water consumption to ensure sufficient hot water supply to the user. At the same time, preheating can keep the water temperature above the initial threshold throughout the water usage period, and also reduce the use of electric heating during the water usage period with high electricity prices, thus reducing the electricity cost.

[0048] Further, for the above step S120, a specific description is made of the process of using a heat pump to heat the first amount of water in the water heater to the first threshold temperature within the first set period before the water usage period, including the following:

[0049] If the electricity price during the water usage period is lower than the preset electricity price value, then determine a target period with the largest actual water consumption on the previous day among the multiple periods, and use a heat pump to heat the first target amount of water in the water heater to the first threshold temperature within the first target set period before the target period.

[0050] Considering that a day may be divided into multiple water usage periods, and the water consumption in each water usage period is different, it may lead to no water available for subsequent water usage due to too many users in the front. Therefore, the water usage period with the largest water consumption on the previous day can be obtained from the user's water usage information as the target period, and use a heat pump to heat the first target amount of water in the water heater to the first threshold temperature within the first target set period of the target period. The first target amount of water can be slightly more than the actual water consumption of the user during the target period on the previous day to ensure that the user can also have sufficient hot water during the target period.

[0051] Further, for step S130, a specific description is made of the process of using electric heating to heat the third amount of water in the water heater to the initial threshold temperature within the third set period before the end of the water usage period, including the following:

[0052] S1. Determine a valley electricity price period with the lowest electricity price among the multiple periods.

[0053] Specifically, the water usage period may include multiple periods, so a period with the lowest electricity price among the multiple periods can be determined as the valley electricity price period.

[0054] S2. During a third preset period before the end of the valley electricity price period, use electric heating to heat the third water volume in the water heater to the initial threshold temperature.

[0055] Specifically, in order to make full use of the valley electricity price, within the third preset period before the end of the water usage period, for example, within half an hour before the end of the water usage period, use electric heating to heat the third water volume in the water heater. Since it is close to the end of the water usage period, to avoid waste, it is sufficient to heat the third water volume to the initial threshold temperature, and there is no need to heat it above the initial threshold temperature.

[0056] Next, a specific example will be used to illustrate the control process of the water heater heating of the present invention. Specifically, refer to Figure 2 .

[0057] In this embodiment, a heat pump water heater applicable to an integrated air energy is taken as an example. The control can be completed by centralized control. The centralized control can be connected to the network to calibrate the time in real time.

[0058] Specifically, in the first three days, the water heater can be controlled in the traditional way, collecting the customer's water consumption and the operation time period of the water heater, and automatically and intelligently adjusting the start-up temperature of each period to meet the user's water use requirements. For example, if there is a phenomenon of high electricity price during peak hours at the installation location, the installation engineer can input the high electricity price period according to the actual situation during installation, and a cost-performance evaluation will be carried out during adjustment. And the subsequent user usage situation will be followed up for periodic adjustment.

[0059] For example, a user in Area A uses water at 7:00 in the morning for 1 unit of water, from 11:00 to 12:00 at noon for 2 units of water, and from 20:00 to 21:30 in the evening for 15 units of water; the user's desired water temperature is 40 degrees Celsius. If the water heater is set at a water temperature of 55 degrees Celsius, when the set temperature difference reaches 10 degrees Celsius, the automatic heat pump will start heating. After reaching the target temperature, a certain unit of water is discharged and the heater will automatically start heating, and the set temperature will decrease steadily every day.

[0060] Suppose the heat pump heating time in the first three days may be two hours from 20:30 to 22:30 and one and a half hours from 12:00 to 13:30, and the electric heating time is forty-five minutes from 20:45 to 21:30. At this time, the user's water temperature may not reach the usage requirement at 20:45, and the user needs to turn on the electric heating to directly heat and improve the heating efficiency.

[0061] If there is no impact of peak electricity prices, after the intelligent system collects the information, it will automatically adjust the set water temperature to 60 degrees Celsius in the afternoon and 50 degrees Celsius in the morning and evening according to the user's needs. The heat pump heating time is two hours from 18:00 to 20:00 and two and a half hours from 21:00 to 23:30. Such adjustment reduces the inefficient electric heating time, improves the energy utilization efficiency, keeps the hot water in the peak water usage period, and enhances the user experience and satisfaction.

[0062] In case of peak electricity price impact, the electricity price is high from 8:00 to 21:00. Among them, the part of electric heating uses high electricity price, and the consumption of turning on the heat pump during the day is high electricity price. Therefore, the targeted adjustment result may be from 21:30 to 1:00 the next day, and the set temperature gradually increases from 50 degrees Celsius to 70 degrees Celsius; from 1:00 to 21:00, the set temperature gradually decreases to 50 degrees Celsius, and from 21:00 to 21:30, the set temperature is 55 degrees Celsius. And the automatic adjustment of the electric heating start time is half an hour from 21:00 to 21:30, using the cheap off-peak electricity price. The heat pump starts at 20:45 and runs for 4 hours. It can save costs for users, meet the water use demand, and there is no need for users to manually turn on the electric heating, which can improve user satisfaction.

[0063] Referring to Figure 3 , an embodiment of the present invention provides a control device for water heater heating, including:

[0064] An information acquisition unit for acquiring the water use information of a user, where the water use information includes the water use period and water consumption of the user in a day;

[0065] A first heating unit for, if the electricity price during the water use period is lower than a preset electricity price value, using a heat pump to heat a first amount of water in the water heater to a first threshold temperature within a first set period before the water use period;

[0066] A second heating unit for, if the electricity price during the water use period is equal to or higher than the electricity price value, using a heat pump to heat a second amount of water in the water heater to a second threshold temperature within a second set period before the water use period, and using electric heating to heat a third amount of water in the water heater to an initial threshold temperature within a third set period before the end of the water use period;

[0067] Wherein, the first threshold temperature is higher than the initially set initial threshold temperature, the first amount of water is more than the water consumption, the second threshold temperature is higher than the first threshold temperature, and the sum of the second amount of water and the third amount of water is more than the water consumption.

[0068] An embodiment of the present invention also discloses a computer program product or a computer program. The computer program product or the computer program includes computer instructions, and the computer instructions are stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A processor of a computer device can read the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions, so that the computer device executes Figure 1 the method shown.

[0069] In some alternative embodiments, the functions / operations recited in the block diagrams may not occur in the order presented in the operational illustrations. For example, depending on the functions / operations involved, two consecutive blocks shown may actually be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in reverse order. Further, the embodiments presented and described in the flowcharts of the present invention are provided by way of example in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the technology. The disclosed methods are not limited to the operations and logical flows presented herein. Alternative embodiments are envisioned in which the order of various operations is altered and in which sub-operations described as part of a larger operation are performed independently.

[0070] In addition, although the present invention has been described in the context of functional modules, it should be understood that unless otherwise stated to the contrary, one or more of the described functions and / or features may be integrated in a single physical device and / or software module, or one or more functions and / or features may be implemented in separate physical devices or software modules. It should also be understood that a detailed discussion of the actual implementation of each module is not necessary for an understanding of the present invention. Rather, given the attributes, functions and internal relationships of the various functional modules in the devices disclosed herein, the actual implementation of the modules will be understood within the ordinary skill of an engineer. Thus, those of ordinary skill in the art will be able to implement the present invention as set forth in the claims without undue experimentation. It should also be understood that the particular concepts disclosed are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, the scope of which is determined by the full scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0071] If the described functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, in essence or the part that contributes to the prior art or part of the technical solution, may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present invention. The foregoing storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as USB flash drives, mobile hard disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), magnetic disks, or optical discs.

[0072] The logic and / or steps represented in the flowchart or otherwise described herein, for example, can be considered as a definable sequence list of executable instructions for implementing logical functions, and can be specifically implemented in any computer-readable medium for use by an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device (such as a computer-based system, a system including a processor, or other systems that can fetch and execute instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device), or used in combination with these instruction execution systems, apparatus, or devices. For the purposes of this specification, a "computer-readable medium" can be any device that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0073] More specific examples (non-exhaustive list) of computer-readable media include the following: an electrical connection portion with one or more wirings (electronic device), a portable computer diskette (magnetic device), a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber device, and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM). Additionally, the computer-readable medium can even be paper or other suitable media on which the program can be printed, because the program can be obtained electronically, for example, by optically scanning the paper or other media, followed by editing, interpretation, or other suitable processing as necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.

[0074] It should be understood that various parts of the present invention can be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. In the above-described embodiments, multiple steps or methods can be implemented by software or firmware stored in a memory and executed by a suitable instruction execution system. For example, if implemented by hardware, as in another embodiment, any one or a combination of the following techniques well known in the art can be used: discrete logic circuits having logic gate circuits for implementing logical functions on data signals, application specific integrated circuits having appropriate combinational logic gate circuits, programmable gate arrays (PGAs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc.

[0075] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to terms such as "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples", etc. means that the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described in connection with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described can be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner.

[0076] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that various changes, modifications, substitutions, and variations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

[0077] The above has specifically described the preferred embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments. Those skilled in the art can also make various equivalent deformations or substitutions without violating the spirit of the present invention, and these equivalent deformations or substitutions are all included within the scope defined by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A control method for water heater heating, characterized in that Including: Obtaining the user's water usage information, where the water usage information includes the water usage time period and water consumption of the user in a day; If the electricity price during the water usage time period is lower than a preset electricity price value, then use a heat pump to heat a first amount of water in the water heater to a first threshold temperature within a first set time period before the water usage time period; If the electricity price during the water usage time period is equal to or higher than the electricity price value, then use a heat pump to heat a second amount of water in the water heater to a second threshold temperature within a second set time period before the water usage time period, and use electric heating to heat a third amount of water in the water heater to an initial threshold temperature within a third set time period before the end of the water usage time period; Wherein, the first threshold temperature is higher than the initially set initial threshold temperature, the first amount of water is more than the water consumption, the second threshold temperature is higher than the first threshold temperature, and the sum of the second amount of water and the third amount of water is more than the water consumption.

2. The control method for water heater heating according to claim 1, wherein The water usage time period includes multiple non - consecutive time periods in a day.

3. The control method for water heater heating according to claim 2, characterized in that, The step of, if the electricity price during the water usage time period is lower than a preset electricity price value, then use a heat pump to heat a first amount of water in the water heater to a first threshold temperature within a first set time period before the water usage time period, includes: If the electricity price during the water usage time period is lower than a preset electricity price value, then determine a target time period with the largest actual water consumption on the previous day among the multiple time periods, and use a heat pump to heat a first target amount of water in the water heater to a first threshold temperature within a first target set time period before the target time period.

4. The control method for water heater heating according to claim 2, characterized in that, The step of using electric heating to heat a third amount of water in the water heater to an initial threshold temperature within a third set time period before the end of the water usage time period, includes: Determine a valley - value electricity price time period with the lowest electricity price among the multiple time periods; Use electric heating to heat a third amount of water in the water heater to an initial threshold temperature within a third set time period before the end of the valley - value electricity price time period.

5. A control device for water heater heating, characterized in that Including: An information acquisition unit for obtaining the user's water usage information, where the water usage information includes the water usage time period and water consumption of the user in a day; A first heating unit for, if the electricity price during the water usage time period is lower than a preset electricity price value, then use a heat pump to heat a first amount of water in the water heater to a first threshold temperature within a first set time period before the water usage time period; A second heating unit for, if the electricity price during the water usage time period is equal to or higher than the electricity price value, then use a heat pump to heat a second amount of water in the water heater to a second threshold temperature within a second set time period before the water usage time period, and use electric heating to heat a third amount of water in the water heater to an initial threshold temperature within a third set time period before the end of the water usage time period; Wherein, the first threshold temperature is higher than the initially set initial threshold temperature, the first amount of water is more than the water consumption, the second threshold temperature is higher than the first threshold temperature, and the sum of the second amount of water and the third amount of water is more than the water consumption.

6. The control device for water heater heating according to claim 5, characterized in that, The water usage time period includes multiple non - consecutive time periods in a day.

7. The control device for water heater heating according to claim 6, characterized in that, The first heating unit includes: The first target heating unit is configured to, if the electricity price during the water usage period is lower than a preset electricity price value, determine, among the multiple time periods, a target time period with the largest actual water usage on the previous day, and use a heat pump to heat a first target amount of water in the water heater to a first threshold temperature within a first target setting time period before the target time period.

8. The control device for water heater heating according to claim 6, characterized in that, The second heating unit includes: A valley period determination unit configured to determine, among the multiple time periods, a valley electricity price period with the lowest electricity price; A valley period heating unit configured to use electric heating to heat a third amount of water in the water heater to an initial threshold temperature within a third setting time period before the end of the valley electricity price period.

9. An electronic device, characterized in that, It includes a processor and a memory; The memory is used to store programs; The processor executes the program to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium stores a program, and the program is executed by the processor to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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