Heater and heating system

Abstract

To shorten time required for the whole test run even with a thermal valve.SOLUTION: In A water heater, when a controller opens and closes each low-temperature side thermal valve 47 one by one in turn to perform a test run for each low-temperature radiator, it opens the low-temperature side thermal valve 47 for the next test run after a predetermined waiting time T2 has elapsed from the start of closing the low-temperature side thermal valve 47 for the test run following the end of the previous test run. The waiting time T2 is set shorter than a closing time Ht from the start of closing the low-temperature side thermal valve 47 for the previous test run to the completion of valve closing.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a heater that circulates and supplies a heat medium to an external heating terminal for heating, and a heating system using the heater.

Background Art

[0002] As a heater, for example, a hot water heater disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. This hot water heater includes a hot water heating unit that discharges hot water to an external hot water tap, and a heating heating unit that circulates and supplies hot water to an external heating terminal. The heating heating unit includes a heating-side heat exchanger and a heating-side burner, heats water passing through the heating-side heat exchanger with the heating-side burner, and circulates hot water through a circulation path formed between the heating terminal such as floor heating in the dressing room and a pump for heating. When there are a plurality of heating terminals, the circulation path in the appliance branches into a plurality, the heating terminals are connected in parallel to each branch pipe, and an on-off valve is provided in each branch pipe. In this case, when the heating terminal to be used is selected, the controller opens the on-off valve of the branch pipe corresponding to the heating terminal and turns on the pump to supply hot water to the heating terminal.

[0003] When installing such a heater, a trial operation is performed in which each heating terminal is filled with water and the heating burner is burned while circulating hot water through the circulation path. As this trial operation control, Patent Document 1 discloses an invention in which the pump is turned on and all heat medium supply valves (on-off valves) are opened to perform pre-filling of the circulation path, then all heat medium supply valves are closed, and then the heat medium supply valves are opened one by one to perform trial operations for each heating terminal in order.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] For the on-off valve of the branch pipe, a thermostatic valve with a gentle valve operation and no worry of water hammer generation is often used. However, since the thermostatic valve has a structure in which the valve opens when the thermostatic element expands by energization and closes when the thermostatic element dissipates heat by stopping energization, it takes time to open and close. Therefore, if the number of heating terminals, that is, the thermostatic valves, is large, a lot of time is required for the trial operation. FIG. 5 is a time chart of the conventional trial operation control, showing the case of switching two thermostatic valves 1 and 2. From t0 to t1, the thermostatic valve 1 is in the valve-opening state due to the trial operation, the heating pump is in the ON state, and the thermostatic valve 2 is in the valve-closed state. When the trial operation 1 ends at time t1 and the thermostatic valve 1 is turned OFF (energization stopped) and the heating pump is turned OFF, the thermostatic valve 1 gently performs a valve-closing operation over the valve-closing time Ht. Then, when the thermostatic valve 2 is turned ON (energized) at time t2 when the valve closing of the thermostatic valve 1 is completed, the thermostatic valve 2 gradually performs a valve-opening operation over the valve-opening time Kt. The thermostatic valve has a characteristic that the valve-closing time Ht is longer than the valve-opening time Kt. Then, at time t3 when the valve opening of the thermostatic valve 2 is completed, the heating pump is turned ON and water filling starts, and the next trial operation 2 is executed. In this way, by grasping the valve-closing time Ht and the valve-opening time Kt of the thermostatic valve in advance and waiting for the elapse of both times Ht + Kt to perform the next trial operation, a standby time T1 having the same length as the valve-closing time Ht occurs between the OFF of the thermostatic valve 1 and the ON of the thermostatic valve 2. Also, since the heating pump also waits for the elapse of the valve-opening time Kt of the thermostatic valve 2 before turning ON, the start of water filling is also delayed, leading to a loss of time. Therefore, the overall trial operation time becomes long.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a heating machine and a heating system capable of shortening the time required for the entire trial operation even when using a thermostatic valve.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, a first configuration of the present disclosure includes a heating pipe having a plurality of branch pipes capable of forming a circulation path of a heat medium by connecting an external circulation pipe having a heating terminal, heating means for heating the heat medium in the heating pipe, a pump provided in the heating pipe, a thermostatic valve provided in each of the branch pipes, having a characteristic that the closing time required from the start of valve closing to the end of valve closing is longer than the opening time required from the start of valve opening to the end of valve opening, control means for controlling the operation of the heating means and the pump and the opening and closing of each thermostatic valve, The control means is a heater capable of performing a trial operation of supplying and heating the heat medium to the heating terminal by operating the pump and the heating means while opening each thermostatic valve in a state where a plurality of the circulation pipes are connected to the plurality of branch pipes, and sequentially opening and closing each thermostatic valve one by one for each heating terminal. Then, the control means opens the thermostatic valve related to the next trial operation after a predetermined waiting time has elapsed from the start of valve closing of the thermostatic valve related to the previous trial operation with the end of the previous trial operation, The waiting time is characterized in that it is set shorter than the closing time of the thermostatic valve related to the previous trial operation. Another aspect of the first configuration is that, in the above configuration, the waiting time is set longer than the difference between the longest closing time of the thermostatic valve in the use environment and the longest opening time of the thermostatic valve in the use environment. In order to achieve the above object, a second configuration of the present disclosure is a heating system, characterized in that an external circulation pipe having a heating terminal is connected to each of a plurality of branch pipes of a heating pipe in a heater of the first configuration to form a circulation path through which a heat medium circulates for each heating terminal.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] According to the present disclosure, the standby time associated with the switching of the thermostatic valve is shorter than before, and even when using a thermostatic valve, it is possible to shorten the time required for the entire commissioning operation. According to another aspect of the present disclosure, in addition to the above effects, the standby time is set longer than the difference between the longest closing time and the longest opening time of the thermostatic valve in the usage environment. Therefore, just before the closing of the thermostatic valve related to the previous commissioning operation is completed, the thermostatic valve related to the next commissioning operation can be opened, and the inflow of air into the heating terminal related to the previous commissioning operation can be prevented. In particular, since the standby time is set based on the difference between the longest closing time and the longest opening time of the thermostatic valve, the switching of the opening and closing of the thermostatic valve can be surely performed in order without being affected by the usage environment.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described based on the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit diagram of a water heater, which is an example of a heater of the first configuration. The water heater 1 includes a water heating section 2, a heating section 3, and a bath heating section 4. The water heating section 2 includes a plurality of water heaters 6, 6... in a water heating combustion chamber 5, and a water heating heat exchanger 7 that heats water passing through the inside by the combustion exhaust of the water heater 6. A water supply pipe 8 is connected to the inlet of the water heating heat exchanger 7. A water heating water volume sensor 9 for detecting the water flow rate is provided in the water supply pipe 8. An external water supply pipe is connected to the appliance inlet of the water supply pipe 8. At the outlet of the hot water heat exchanger 7, a hot water pipe 10 is connected. A hot water tap 11 is provided in the external pipe connected to the appliance outlet of the hot water pipe 10.

[0011] A bypass pipe 12 that bypasses the hot water heat exchanger 7 is connected between the water supply pipe 8 and the hot water pipe 10. A bypass control valve 13 for controlling the flow rate to the bypass pipe 12 is provided in the bypass pipe 12. A hot water inner cylinder sensor 14 for detecting the outlet temperature of the hot water heat exchanger 7 is provided upstream of the connection part of the bypass pipe 12 in the hot water pipe 10. A hot water outlet sensor 15 for detecting the hot water outlet temperature is provided downstream of the connection part of the bypass pipe 12 in the hot water pipe 10. The gas pipe 16 for supplying gas to the hot water burner 6 branches for each hot water burner 6, and a hot water switching solenoid valve 17 is provided in each branch pipe. An original gas solenoid valve 18 and a hot water gas proportional valve 19 are provided in the gas pipe 16 before branching, from the upstream side. Below the hot water combustion chamber 5, a combustion fan 20 for supplying combustion air to each hot water burner 6 is provided.

[0012] The heating unit 3 includes, in the heating combustion chamber 30, a plurality of heating burners 31, 31 and a heating heat exchanger 32 for heating the hot water passing through the inside by the combustion exhaust of the heating burner 31. A heating high-temperature forward pipe 33 is connected to the outlet of the heating heat exchanger 32, and a heating return pipe 34 is connected to the inlet of the heating heat exchanger 32. A heating high-temperature sensor 35 for detecting the outlet temperature of the hot water from the heating heat exchanger 32 is provided in the heating high-temperature forward pipe 33 on the outlet side of the heating heat exchanger 32. The heating burner 31 and the heating heat exchanger 32 are an example of the heating means of the present disclosure. The water to be heated is an example of the heat medium of the present disclosure. The return pipe 34 for the heating system is provided with an expansion tank 36 and a heating circulation pump 37. A water supply branch pipe 38 branched from the water supply pipe 8 is connected to the expansion tank 36. The water supply branch pipe 38 is provided with a make-up water solenoid valve 39 for switching the water supply to the expansion tank 36. Inside the expansion tank 36, a low water level electrode 36a and a high water level electrode 36b for detecting the water level are provided, and the expansion tank 36 is provided with a heating low temperature sensor 40 for detecting the return temperature of the hot water to the heating heat exchanger 32. The heating circulation pump 37 is an example of the pump of the present disclosure. An external high temperature circulation pipe 41 is connected between the appliance outlet of the heating high temperature forward pipe 33 and the appliance inlet of the heating return pipe 34. The high temperature circulation pipe 41 is provided with a high temperature radiator 42. The high temperature radiator 42 is, for example, a heating blower that blows warm air into a bathroom or a dressing room. The high temperature radiator 42 is provided with a high temperature side thermostatic valve 43.

[0013] A heating low temperature forward pipe 45 is connected to the downstream side of the heating circulation pump 37 in the heating return pipe 34. The heating low temperature forward pipe 45 branches into a plurality (here, six) of branch pipes 46, 46... on the downstream side. Each branch pipe 46 is provided with a low temperature side thermostatic valve 47. The low temperature side thermostatic valve 47 is an example of the thermostatic valve of the present disclosure. The high temperature side thermostatic valve 43 and the low temperature side thermostatic valve 47 have a well-known structure in which the valve opens when the thermal element expands by energization and closes when the thermal element dissipates heat by stopping energization. The same applies to other thermostatic valves. Among the six branch pipes 46, external low temperature circulation pipes 48, 48... are respectively connected between the appliance outlets of three branch pipes 46 and the downstream side of the high temperature radiator 42 in the high temperature circulation pipe 41. Each low temperature circulation pipe 48 is provided with a low temperature radiator 49. The low temperature radiator 49 is, for example, a floor heating in a dressing room or the like. The high temperature circulation pipe 41 and the low temperature circulation pipe 48 are examples of the circulation pipes of the present disclosure. The low temperature radiator 49 is an example of the heating terminal of the present disclosure. A heating bypass pipe 50 that bypasses the high temperature radiator 42 is connected between the heating high temperature forward pipe 33 and the heating return pipe 34. When distinguishing the three branch pipes 46 to which the low-temperature radiator 49 is connected, the low-temperature thermostatic valve 47, the low-temperature circulation pipe 48, and the low-temperature radiator 49, they are described with symbols A to C like the branch pipes 46A, 46B, and 46C.

[0014] In the heating unit 3, due to the operation of the heating circulation pump 37 and the opening of the high-temperature thermostatic valve 43, hot water in the expansion tank 36 circulates in the order of the heating heat exchanger 32, the heating high-temperature forward pipe 33, the high-temperature circulation pipe 41, the high-temperature radiator 42, and the heating return pipe 34, forming a high-temperature heating circulation path R1. Also, due to the operation of the heating circulation pump 37 and the closing of the high-temperature thermostatic valve 43, the closing of the bath thermostatic valve 62 described later, and the opening of the low-temperature thermostatic valve 47, hot water in the expansion tank 36 circulates in the order of the heating heat exchanger 32, the heating high-temperature forward pipe 33, the heating bypass pipe 50, and the heating return pipe 34, and at the same time, circulates in the order of the heating low-temperature forward pipe 45, the branch pipe 46, the low-temperature circulation pipe 48, the low-temperature radiator 49, and the heating return pipe 34, forming a low-temperature heating circulation path R2. In this way, the heating unit 3, the external high-temperature circulation pipe 41 and high-temperature radiator 42, and the external low-temperature circulation pipe 48 and low-temperature radiator 49 form a heating system S which is an example of the second configuration of the present disclosure. The low-temperature heating circulation path R2 is an example of the circulation path of the present disclosure. The heating high-temperature forward pipe 33, the heating return pipe 34, the heating low-temperature forward pipe 45, and the heating bypass pipe 50 are examples of the heating pipes of the present disclosure. The gas pipe 16 has a heating gas pipe 55 branched to the heating unit 3 side. The heating gas pipe 55 is further branched for each heating burner 31, and a heating switching solenoid valve 56 is provided in each branch pipe. A heating gas proportional valve 57 is provided in the heating gas pipe 55 before branching. The lower part of the heating combustion chamber 30 is connected to the hot water supply combustion chamber 5, and combustion air can be supplied from the combustion fan 20.

[0015] The bath heating unit 4 has a bath heat exchanger 60. A bath heating pipe 61 connected between the heating high-temperature forward pipe 33 and the heating return pipe 34 is inserted into the bath heat exchanger 60. A bath thermostatic valve 62 is provided in the bath heating pipe 61 on the upstream side of the bath heat exchanger 60. The bath heat exchanger 60 is connected to a bath supply pipe 63 and a bath return pipe 64. A bath supply temperature sensor 65 for detecting the supply temperature is provided in the bath supply pipe 63. A bath return temperature sensor 66 for detecting the return temperature is provided in the bath return pipe 64. A bath circulation pump 67 is provided in the bath return pipe 64. The appliance outlet of the bath supply pipe 63 and the appliance inlet of the bath return pipe 64 are each connected to the bathtub 68 via an external pipe.

[0016] A drop pipe 70 branched from the downstream side of the bypass pipe 12 in the hot water supply pipe 10 is connected to the bath return pipe 64. The drop pipe 70 is provided with drop solenoid valves 71, 71 and a drop flow sensor 72. By opening the drop solenoid valves 71, 71, the hot water discharged from the hot water supply pipe 10 of the hot water supply heating unit 2 can be supplied to the bathtub 68 via the drop pipe 70 and the bath return pipe 64. In this way, the bath heat exchanger 60, the bath supply pipe 63, the bath return pipe 64, and the external pipe form a bath circulation path R3 for circulating the hot water in the bathtub 68 by the operation of the bath circulation pump 67.

[0017] A controller 75 is provided outside the appliance. The controller 75 has a well-known configuration including a CPU and a memory connected to the CPU, etc. A hot water supply remote controller 76, a bath remote controller 77, and a heating remote controller 78 are electrically connected, and detection signals from each sensor are input. The controller 75 follows the instructions from each remote controller 76 to 78 and, according to the program stored in the memory, controls the opening and closing of each solenoid valve and thermostatic valve, adjusts the opening degree of each proportional valve and bypass control valve, controls the rotation speed of the fan motor, etc., and executes hot water supply temperature control, hot water filling control to the bathtub 68, and heating control. Also, according to the instruction from the automatic test run switch 79 provided on the heating remote controller 78, automatic test run control when the low-temperature radiator 49 is installed is implemented. The controller 75 is an example of the control means of the present disclosure.

[0018] In the hot water supply and heating machine 1 configured as described above, first, normal hot water supply is performed as follows. When the hot water faucet 11 provided on the hot water outlet pipe 10 is opened and water is passed into the appliance, and the water flow is detected by the hot water flow sensor 9, the controller 75 rotates the combustion fan 20 for a predetermined time to discharge the combustion exhaust gas stored in the hot water combustion chamber 5 (purging). After that, the main gas solenoid valve 18 of the gas pipe 16 and each hot water switching solenoid valve 17 are opened, the hot water gas proportional valve 19 is opened to a predetermined opening degree, gas is supplied to each hot water burner 6, and the igniter is activated to ignite the hot water burners 6, 6... As a result, the water passing through the hot water heat exchanger 7 is heated and discharged to the hot water outlet pipe 10, and is discharged from the hot water faucet 11.

[0019] The controller 75 monitors the hot water temperature with the hot water outlet sensor 15 of the hot water outlet pipe 10, and performs opening / closing control of the hot water switching solenoid valve 17 and adjustment of the opening degree of the hot water gas proportional valve 19 so that the hot water temperature becomes the set temperature indicated by the hot water remote controller 76 or the bath remote controller 77, and continuously changes the air volume by controlling the rotational speed of the combustion fan 20. When the hot water faucet 11 is closed, the controller 75 that has confirmed the signal stop of the hot water flow sensor 9 closes the main gas solenoid valve 18 and the hot water switching solenoid valve 17 to extinguish the hot water burner 6, and rotates the combustion fan 20 for a predetermined time to perform post-purging.

[0020] On the other hand, when the water filling switch provided on the hot water remote controller 76 or the bath remote controller 77 is pressed, the controller 75 opens the dropping solenoid valves 71, 71 of the dropping pipe 70 to pass water into the hot water heating section 2 to burn the hot water burner 6, and supplies the hot water from the hot water outlet pipe 10 to the bathtub 68 via the dropping pipe 70 and the bath return pipe 64. When it is confirmed that the water volume detected by the dropping flow sensor 72 provided in the dropping pipe 70 has reached the set water volume, the dropping solenoid valves 71, 71 are closed to stop the water flow, the hot water burner 6 is extinguished to end the water filling, and the bath circulation pump 67 is activated to circulate the hot water in the bathtub 68 in the bath heating section 4. Thereafter, the controller 75 monitors the hot water temperature in the bathtub circulation path R3 using the bathtub incoming hot water sensor 65 and the bathtub return hot water sensor 66. When the temperature drops below the heat retention temperature set by the hot water supply remote controller 76 or the bathtub remote controller 77, the controller 75 ignites the heating burner 31, rotates the combustion fan 20, operates the heating circulation pump 37 to open the bathtub heat-operated valve 62, and simultaneously operates the bathtub circulation pump 67. Then, the hot water in the heating heat exchanger 32 circulates through the bathtub heating pipe 61 and the heating return pipe 34, and the hot water in the bathtub 68 circulates through the bathtub circulation path R3, and heat exchange is performed by the bathtub heat exchanger 60. Thus, the hot water in the bathtub 68 is reheated and kept warm.

[0021] When the high-temperature radiator 42 and each low-temperature radiator 49 are connected in the heating unit 3 to install the heating system S, when the automatic test run switch 79 of the heating remote controller 78 is turned ON, the controller 75 performs automatic test run control to sequentially fill and heat each low-temperature radiator 49. This automatic test run control will be described based on the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 and 3. When the automatic test run switch 79 is turned ON, in S1, the controller 75 displays a test run display on the display unit of the heating remote controller 78 and lights the automatic test run lamp. Next, in S2, the low-temperature side heat-operated valves 47 (simply referred to as "heat-operated valves" in the flowchart) of all the low-temperature radiators 49 (referred to as "terminals" in the flowchart) are turned OFF, and the heating circulation pump 37 is turned OFF. Next, in S3, the controller 75 determines whether there is a low-temperature radiator 49 for which the test run has not been performed. If there is a low-temperature radiator 49 for which the test run has not been performed, in S4, the low-temperature side heat-operated valve 47 of the unperformed low-temperature radiator 49 is turned ON, and the heating circulation pump 37 is turned ON. If it is the first test run after the installation of the low-temperature radiator 49, the low-temperature side heat-operated valve 47A of the low-temperature radiator 49A will be turned ON. Thus, the filling of the low-temperature radiator 49A is started.

[0022] Next, at S5, the controller 75 performs an automatic makeup water operation by controlling the opening and closing of the makeup water solenoid valve 39 to supply the water branched from the water supply pipe 8 to the water supply branch pipe 38 to the expansion tank 36. As shown in FIG. 3, in this automatic makeup water operation, at S21, it is confirmed whether the low water level electrode 36a in the expansion tank 36 is OFF. If the low water level electrode 36a is OFF, it is assumed that the water level in the expansion tank 36 is at the low water level, and at S22, the makeup water solenoid valve 39 is turned ON (opened). Then, when the ON of the low water level electrode 36a is confirmed at S23 and the ON of the high water level electrode 36b is confirmed at S24, it is assumed that the amount of water required for filling one low-temperature radiator 49 has been replenished into the expansion tank 36, and at S25, the makeup water solenoid valve 39 is turned OFF. In addition, when the ON of the high water level electrode 36b is confirmed at S26 in a state where the ON of the low water level electrode 36a is not confirmed at S23 (NO at S26), it is assumed that an abnormality has occurred in the water level detection. At S27, an error notification is performed by turning off the makeup water solenoid valve 39 and displaying a makeup water error on the display unit of the heating remote controller 78. On the other hand, when the OFF of the high water level electrode 36b is confirmed at S26, it is determined at S28 whether 2 minutes have elapsed since the makeup water solenoid valve 39 was turned ON. If it is before 2 minutes have elapsed, the process returns to S23 to continue the makeup water operation. If 2 minutes have elapsed, the makeup water solenoid valve 39 is turned OFF at S27 to perform an error notification. An error notification also occurs at S27 when 2 minutes have elapsed at S28 without the high water level electrode 36b turning ON in the determination at S24.

[0023] Next, at S6, the controller 75 determines whether 30 minutes have elapsed since the ON of the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47A at S4. If it is before 30 minutes have elapsed, at S7, it is determined whether the water filling of the corresponding low-temperature radiator 49A is completed. The completion of this water filling is confirmed by receiving a water filling completion signal from the low-temperature radiator 49A. If the completion of the water filling is not confirmed here, the process returns to S5 to continue the process from the makeup water operation. When it is confirmed in S7 that the water filling is completed, the controller 75 turns off the heating circulation pump 37 in S8 and then performs a heating operation in S9. That is, the heating burner 31 is ignited to rotate the combustion fan 20, and at the same time, the heating circulation pump 37 is turned on. Therefore, the hot water discharged from the heating circulation pump 37 passes through the heating heat exchanger 32, then passes through the heating bypass pipe 50 from the heating high-temperature forward pipe 33, returns to the heating circulation pump 37 via the expansion tank 36 from the heating return pipe 34, and a part of the hot water discharged from the heating circulation pump 37 branches to the heating low-temperature forward pipe 45, flows through the low-temperature circulation pipe 48A from the branch pipe 46A to the low-temperature radiator 49A, and returns to the heating circulation pump 37 via the expansion tank 36 from the heating return pipe 34. In this way, as the hot water circulates through the low-temperature heating circulation path R2, the hot water passing through the low-temperature radiator 49A is heated.

[0024] Then, in S10, it is determined whether the test operation result from the low-temperature radiator 49A has been received. This is confirmed by receiving a temperature reach signal indicating that the set temperature has been reached from the low-temperature radiator 49A. If the test operation result is not received here, the process returns to S9 to continue the heating operation. When it is confirmed in S10 that the test operation result has been received, assuming that the test operation of the low-temperature radiator 49A is normal, the heating operation is stopped in S11, the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47A is turned off in S12, the test operation result is recorded in the memory, and then the process returns to S3. Therefore, in the determination of S3, the next low-temperature radiator 49B for which the test operation has not been performed is confirmed, and the processes from S4 to S12 are repeated. The same applies to the next low-temperature radiator 49C. In addition, in the determination of S6, when it is confirmed that 30 minutes have elapsed since the start of the water filling in S4 without the water filling in the low-temperature radiator 49 being completed, assuming that an abnormality has occurred in the test operation of the low-temperature radiator 49, the corresponding low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47 is turned off in S12, the test operation result is recorded in the memory, and the process returns to S3. When the trial operation up to the low-temperature radiators 49A to 49C is thus completed and it is confirmed at S3 that there is no low-temperature radiator 49 for which the trial operation has not been carried out, the controller 75 causes the display unit of the heating remote controller 78 to display the trial operation result at S13 and turns off the automatic trial operation lamp. Further, if there is a low-temperature radiator 49 in which an abnormality has occurred during the trial operation, it is displayed to that effect and the automatic trial operation is terminated.

[0025] Here, the timing of the opening and closing operations of the low-temperature side thermostatic valves 47A to 47C in the automatic trial operation control will be described based on the time chart of FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, the low-temperature side thermostatic valve is abbreviated as "thermostatic valve", and the heating circulation pump is abbreviated as "heating pump". In FIG. 4, the controller 75 turns on the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47A of the branch pipe 46A at the time t1 corresponding to S4 in FIG. 2 to perform an opening operation. However, since the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47A gradually opens and requires an opening time Kt (for example, about 30 seconds) to fully open, the actual water filling starts from the time t2 when the opening time Kt has elapsed. Therefore, the controller 75 actually turns on the heating circulation pump 37 at the time t2 which is the timing when the opening time Kt has elapsed to start the water filling. Then, when the trial operation 1 of the low-temperature radiator 49A is completed, the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47A is turned off at the time t3 corresponding to S12 to perform a closing operation, and the heating circulation pump 37 is also turned off.

[0026] However, the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47A requires a closing time Ht to gradually close and fully close. This closing time Ht is longer than the opening time Kt (for example, about 150 seconds). Therefore, when the controller 75 returns to S3 and performs water filling for the next low-temperature radiator 49B, at the timing of the time t4 obtained by going back the opening time Kt from the time t5 when the closing time Ht has elapsed, the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47B of the next low-temperature radiator 49B is turned on to perform an opening operation. That is, the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47B is turned on at the time t4 when a standby time T2 shorter than the closing time Ht has elapsed from the time t3. This standby time T2 is set to be longer than the difference between the longest closing time Ht of the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47 and the longest opening time Kt of the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47 in the usage environment of the water heater 1. For example, if the longest closing time Ht is 150 seconds and the longest opening time Kt is 30 seconds, the standby time T2 is set to be longer than 120 seconds.

[0027] Therefore, just before the closing of the previous low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47A is completed, the next low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47B starts to open, and the inflow of air to the low-temperature radiator 49A side can be prevented. In particular, since the standby time T2 is set with reference to the longest operating time of the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47 in the usage environment, the opening and closing timings of the front and rear low-temperature side thermostatic valves 47 can be accurately set without being affected by the usage environment. Then, the heating circulation pump 37 is turned ON at the time t5 when the opening time Kt has elapsed. Thus, at the time t5 when the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47A is completely closed, the next low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47B is completely opened and the low-temperature heating circulation path R2 is switched, and the low-temperature radiator 49B is filled with water. When the trial operation 2 of the low-temperature radiator 49B ends, the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47B is turned OFF and closed at the time t6 corresponding to S12, and the heating circulation pump 37 is also turned OFF.

[0028] Since the closing time Ht is required until the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47B is completely closed, when the controller 75 returns to S3 and fills the next low-temperature radiator 49C with water, at the timing of the time t7 obtained by going back the opening time Kt from the time t8 when the closing time Ht has elapsed, the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47C connected to the next low-temperature radiator 49C is turned ON and opened, and the heating circulation pump 37 is turned ON and opened at the time t8. That is, also here, the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47C is turned ON at the time t7 when the standby time T2 shorter than the closing time Ht has elapsed from the time t6. Then, at time t8 when the valve opening time Kt has elapsed, the heating circulation pump 37 is turned on. Therefore, at time t8 when the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47B is fully closed, the next low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47C is fully opened, the low-temperature heating circulation path R2 is switched, and water filling to the low-temperature radiator 49C is performed. However, depending on the usage environment, the timings of the end of the valve closing time Ht and the end of the valve opening time Kt may deviate slightly. When the trial operation 3 of the low-temperature radiator 49C ends, at time t9 corresponding to S12, the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47C is turned off to perform a closing operation, and the heating circulation pump 37 is also turned off. The low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47C is fully closed at time t10 when the valve closing time Ht has elapsed.

[0029] In this way, since the next low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47 is opened before the previous low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47 is fully closed, the standby time T2 from the OFF of the previous low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47 to the ON of the next low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47 becomes (Ht - Kt), which is shorter than the standby time T1 in FIG. 5. Also, since the heating circulation pump 37 is turned on when the valve closing time Ht of the previous low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47 has elapsed, the start of water filling is also earlier. In the normal use of the heating system S after the trial operation is completed, the low-temperature radiator 49 to be used is selected and operated by the heating remote controller 78. Then, the controller 75 turns on the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47 and the heating circulation pump 37 related to the selected low-temperature radiator 49, and burns the heating burner 31 to perform the above heating operation. Therefore, the low-temperature heating circulation path R2 including the selected low-temperature radiator 49 is heated while hot water circulates, and heating by the low-temperature radiator 49 becomes possible. When the high-temperature radiator 42 is selected and operated, the high-temperature heating circulation path R1 is heated while hot water circulates, and heating by the high-temperature radiator 42 becomes possible.

[0030] As described above, in the hot water supply and heating machine 1 and the heating system S of the above-described embodiment, when the controller 75 sequentially opens and closes each low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47 one by one to execute a trial operation for each low-temperature radiator 49, after the elapse of a predetermined standby time T2 from the start of closing of the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47 related to the trial operation accompanying the end of the previous trial operation, the low-temperature side thermostatic valve 47 related to the next trial operation is opened. The standby time T2 is set to be shorter than the valve closing time Ht from the start of valve closing to the completion of valve closing of the low-temperature thermostatic valve 47 related to the previous test run. According to this configuration, the standby time T2 associated with the switching of the low-temperature thermostatic valve 47 is shorter than before, and even when the low-temperature thermostatic valve 47 is used, it is possible to shorten the time required for the entire test run.

[0031] The standby time T2 is set to be longer than the difference between the longest valve closing time Ht of the low-temperature thermostatic valve 47 in the usage environment and the longest valve opening time Kt from the start of valve opening to the completion of valve opening of the low-temperature thermostatic valve 47 in the usage environment. Therefore, immediately before the valve closing of the low-temperature thermostatic valve 47 related to the previous test run is completed, the low-temperature thermostatic valve 47 related to the next test run can be opened, and the inflow of air into the low-temperature radiator 49 related to the previous test run can be prevented. In particular, since the standby time T2 is set based on the difference between the longest valve closing time Ht and the longest valve opening time Kt of the low-temperature thermostatic valve 47, the switching of the opening and closing of the low-temperature thermostatic valve 47 can be surely performed in order without being affected by the usage environment.

[0032] Hereinafter, modification examples of the present disclosure will be described. The automatic test run switch and the automatic test run lamp are not limited to the heating remote controller, and may be provided in other remote controllers or controllers. In the above embodiment, three low-temperature radiators are connected to the heating unit, but the number of connected units can be appropriately increased or decreased as long as there are a plurality. The number of branches of the branch pipe is not limited to the above embodiment. The heating terminal is not limited to the low-temperature radiator (floor heating) of the above embodiment. In the heating system of the above embodiment, a high-temperature radiator is provided, but the high-temperature radiator and the high-temperature heating circulation path connected thereto may not be provided. Therefore, the configuration of the heating piping is not limited to the above embodiment. The heating means is not limited to the burner, and may be an electric heater or the like. The heat exchangers of the hot water heating unit and the heating unit may be of a latent heat recovery type including a primary heat exchanger and a secondary heat exchanger. In the above-described embodiment, a water heater with a hot water heating unit, a heating unit, and a bath heating unit is exemplified. However, the present disclosure is applicable even to a water heater having no bath heating unit and having a hot water heating unit and a heating unit, or to a single heating unit having no hot water heating unit and no bath heating unit and having only a heating unit. The heat medium is not limited to water.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0033] 1... Water heater, 2... Hot water heating unit, 3... Heating unit, 4... Bath heating unit, 20... Combustion fan, 30... Heating combustion chamber, 31... Heating burner, 32... Heating heat exchanger, 33... Heating high-temperature forward pipe, 34... Heating return pipe, 36... Expansion tank, 37... Heating circulation pump, 38... Water supply branch pipe, 39... Makeup water solenoid valve, 41... High-temperature circulation pipe, 42... High-temperature radiator, 45... Heating low-temperature forward pipe, 46(46A~46C)... Branch pipe, 47(47A~47C)... Low-temperature side thermostatic valve, 48(48A~48C)... Low-temperature circulation pipe, 49(49A~49C)... Low-temperature radiator, 75... Controller, 78... Heating remote control, 79... Automatic test run switch, R1... High-temperature heating circulation path, R2... Low-temperature heating circulation path, R3... Bath circulation path, S... Heating system.

Claims

1. A heating pipe having a plurality of branch pipes capable of forming circulation paths of a heat medium by connecting an external circulation pipe having a heating terminal, Heating means for heating the heat medium in the heating pipe, A pump provided in the heating pipe, A thermostatic valve provided in each of the branch pipes, having a characteristic that a closing time required from the start of valve closing to the end of valve closing is longer than an opening time required from the start of valve opening to the end of valve opening, Control means for controlling the operation of the heating means and the pump and the opening and closing of each thermostatic valve, The control means operates each thermostatic valve and operates the pump and the heating means in a state where a plurality of the circulation pipes are connected to the plurality of branch pipes, and performs a trial operation of supplying and heating the heat medium to the heating terminal. The heating machine can execute the trial operation for each heating terminal by opening and closing each thermostatic valve one by one in order, The control means opens the thermostatic valve related to the next trial operation after a lapse of a predetermined standby time from the start of valve closing of the thermostatic valve related to the previous trial operation, The heating machine is characterized in that the standby time is set shorter than the closing time of the thermostatic valve related to the previous trial operation.

2. The heating machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the standby time is set longer than a difference between a longest closing time of the thermostatic valve in a use environment and a longest opening time of the thermostatic valve in the use environment.

3. A heating system formed by connecting an external circulation pipe having a heating terminal to each of a plurality of branch pipes of a heating pipe in the heating machine according to claim 1 or 2 to form a circulation path in which a heat medium circulates for each heating terminal.

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