Room temperature control system

Abstract

To provide a room temperature control system capable of making the indoor temperature of a facility proper by operating facility equipment so as to achieve energy saving in one entire store.SOLUTION: According to an embodiment, a room temperature control system includes a plurality of pieces of facility equipment installed in a facility to include an air conditioner and a cooling requiring apparatus, and a control device for controlling operation of the plurality of pieces of facility equipment, and controls the indoor temperature of a facility. The control device includes a position acquisition part, a prediction information acquisition part, an information holding part, and an operation control part. The position acquisition part specifies the location of the facility. The prediction information acquisition part acquires weather prediction information of the location specified by the position acquisition part. The information holding part holds information showing a plurality of periods obtained by dividing one year, the location of the facility, setting temperatures of the indoor temperatures of the facility, and correspondence of operation modes of the plurality of pieces of facility equipment. The operation control part uses the prediction information acquired by the prediction information acquisition part and the information held by the information holding part to control the plurality of pieces of facility equipment with the operation modes so as to make the indoor temperatures setting temperatures.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] An embodiment of the present invention relates to a room temperature control system for controlling the indoor temperature of a facility. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, management systems for saving energy used in managed objects, such as HEMS (Home Energy Management System) and BEMS (Building Energy Management System), have become known, and there is an increasing demand for energy saving (energy conservation) due to global warming. This demand for energy conservation is also spreading to stores such as convenience stores and supermarkets.

[0003] In stores such as convenience stores, various equipment that affects the temperature inside the store (in-store temperature) works in coordination with each other. Equipment that affects the temperature inside the store includes, for example, equipment that requires cooling such as refrigerated and frozen showcases, air conditioners, and ventilation equipment. Of these equipment, equipment that requires cooling consumes the most power. Therefore, simply reducing the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the store using an air conditioner does not necessarily lead to energy savings. In addition, the relationship between the temperature and humidity of the air outside the store (outside air) varies depending on the region. For example, in Japan, the summer is hotter and more humid in southern regions such as Kyushu and Okinawa, but it is colder and less humid in northern regions such as Hokkaido.

[0004] In addition, the power consumption of the equipment in each store is the sum of the amount of work done by sensible heat to raise and lower the temperature inside the store and the amount of work done by latent heat to change the humidity in the air to water, such as condensation. For this reason, for example, when the humidity is high, the amount of work done by the equipment to dehumidify increases, and power consumption increases. Therefore, the temperature that should be set inside the store to save energy varies depending on the region. For example, even if the temperature inside the store is raised in summer to reduce the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the store, this does not reduce the power consumption of the equipment in the entire store. In this case, the latent heat required for dehumidification by the cooling equipment increases, and power consumption may increase.

[0005] Thus, there is a demand for operating equipment in a way that can conserve energy throughout the entire store. In addition, due to the recent labor shortage, the number of unmanned stores such as convenience stores is increasing. In unmanned stores, it is even more important to reduce the power consumption of equipment because the temperature inside the store cannot be adjusted manually. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] JP 2009-112075 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] An object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a room temperature control system that can operate equipment to achieve energy savings throughout an entire store, and maintain the indoor temperature of the facility at an appropriate temperature that reduces power consumption. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The room temperature control system according to one embodiment is installed in a facility and includes a plurality of equipment devices including an air conditioner and equipment requiring cooling, and a control device that controls the operation of the plurality of equipment devices, and controls the indoor temperature of the facility. The control device has a location acquisition unit, a prediction information acquisition unit, an information storage unit, and an operation control unit. The location acquisition unit identifies the location of the facility. The prediction information acquisition unit acquires prediction information on the climate of the location identified by the location acquisition unit. The information storage unit stores information indicating correspondence between a plurality of periods divided into a year, the location of the facility, the set temperature of the indoor temperature of the facility, and the operation modes of the plurality of equipment devices. The operation control unit uses the prediction information acquired by the prediction information acquisition unit and the information stored in the information storage unit to control the plurality of equipment devices in the operation modes so that the indoor temperature becomes the set temperature. The prediction information acquisition unit acquires prediction information of temperature and humidity at the location as the prediction information. The operation control unit uses the prediction information of temperature and humidity at the location acquired by the prediction information acquisition unit to determine one of a plurality of periods as a predetermined period to be applied when controlling operation of the plurality of facility devices, defines a plurality of partitioned areas that are larger than the location, determines which of the plurality of partitioned areas the location specified by the position acquisition unit is included in, and varies a boundary of the partitioned area according to the predetermined period.. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a room temperature control system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2A] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in the room of a facility (store) in summer when the sectional area is the north in the room temperature control system according to the embodiment. [Figure 2B] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in a room of a facility (store) during the intermediate season when the sectional area is the north in the room temperature control system according to the embodiment. [Figure 2C] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in the room of a facility (store) in winter when the sectional area is the north in the room temperature control system according to the embodiment. [Figure 3A] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in a room of a facility (store) in summer when the section area is the central area in the room temperature control system according to the embodiment. [Figure 3B] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in a room of a facility (store) during intermediate seasons when the zone area is the central area in the room temperature control system according to the embodiment. [Figure 3C] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in a room of a facility (store) in winter when the sectional area is the central area in the room temperature control system according to the embodiment. [Figure 4A] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in the room of a facility (store) in summer when the sectional area is the southern part in the room temperature control system according to the embodiment. [Figure 4B] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the indoor temperature setting and power consumption in a facility (store) during intermediate seasons when the sectional area is the southern part in the room temperature control system according to the embodiment. [Figure 4C] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in the room of a facility (store) in winter when the sectional area is the southern part in the room temperature control system according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of optimal indoor temperatures in a facility (store) in summer, intermediate seasons, and winter when the area is divided into north, central, and south in a room temperature control system according to an embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of northern, central, and southern sections in summer in a room temperature control system according to an embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of northern, central, and southern sections in an intermediate season in a room temperature control system according to an embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a control flow diagram of an operation control unit during room temperature control processing in the room temperature control system according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] An embodiment of a room temperature control system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to Figs. 1 to 8. The room temperature control system is used to control the indoor temperature of a facility such as a store or an office by coordinating and appropriately operating a plurality of pieces of equipment installed in the facility. In this embodiment, as an example, a room temperature control system is assumed that coordinates and appropriately operates a plurality of pieces of equipment (hereinafter referred to as store equipment) installed in various stores such as a convenience store or supermarket to control the indoor temperature of the store. The indoor temperature here is, for example, the temperature of the interior space of the store, including the sales floor and back yard of the store. The store equipment is facilities and equipment installed in the store that contribute to the operation of the store. The store equipment includes at least an air conditioner and equipment that requires cooling.

[0011] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a room temperature control system 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the main components of the room temperature control system 1 are an air conditioner 2, equipment requiring cooling 4, and a control device 6. The air conditioner 2 and the equipment requiring cooling 4 both correspond to store equipment. The control device 6 controls the operation (operation mode) of the air conditioner 2 and the equipment requiring cooling 4. Note that although the control device 6 corresponds to one piece of store equipment, it is not included in the store equipment to be controlled, which will be described later.

[0012] The air conditioner 2 is configured to include, for example, a compressor, an accumulator, an outdoor heat exchanger, an outdoor blower, an indoor heat exchanger, an indoor blower, etc. The air conditioner 2 is operated in an operation mode such as cooling operation, heating operation, dehumidification operation, and fan operation, and adjusts the indoor temperature of the store 10.

[0013] The equipment requiring refrigeration 4 is a showcase or a display shelf with a compressor installed outside the store 10, such as a refrigerated showcase, a freezer showcase, or a heat-retaining display shelf. These showcases and display shelves, which are equipment requiring refrigeration 4, change the indoor temperature of the store 10 depending on, for example, the number of such showcases and the degree of refrigeration, freezing, or heat retention.

[0014] 1 only shows the air conditioner 2 and the equipment requiring cooling 4 as store equipment, a variety of other types of facility equipment may be installed in the store 10. Examples of store equipment other than the air conditioner 2 and the equipment requiring cooling 4 include total enthalpy exchangers, heat pump water heaters, lighting equipment, and broadcasting equipment. In addition to the air conditioner 2 and the equipment requiring cooling 4, these listed store equipment may also be installed in the store 10 as appropriate.

[0015] The control device 6 controls the operation (operating modes) of multiple store devices installed in the store 10, specifically the air conditioner 2 and the device requiring cooling 4, and sets the indoor temperature of the store 10 to a predetermined set temperature. The control device 6 includes, for example, a CPU, memory, storage device (non-volatile memory), input / output circuits, timers, etc. (all not shown), and executes predetermined arithmetic processing. The control device 6 reads various data via the input / output circuits, performs arithmetic processing using a program read from the storage device to the memory, and controls the operation of each of the air conditioner 2 and the device requiring cooling 4 based on the processing results. The control device 6 is connected to the air conditioner 2 and the device requiring cooling 4, respectively, by wire or wirelessly, and transmits and receives data required to execute arithmetic processing.

[0016] The control device 6 has a position acquisition unit 61, a prediction information acquisition unit 62, an information storage unit 63, a communication control unit 64, and an operation control unit 65.

[0017] The location acquisition unit 61 identifies the location of the store 10, for example, the street address. The location may be set manually, for example, when the room temperature control system 1 is introduced into the store 10, or may be dynamically acquired by the location acquisition unit 61. If the location is set manually, the location acquisition unit 61 identifies, for example, the set content (information) as the location of the store 10 and stores data indicating the location in a storage device (non-volatile memory). If the location is dynamically acquired, the location acquisition unit 61 may have a means that can use a GPS (Global Positioning System) function that receives radio waves emitted from multiple satellites to detect the current location. The location acquisition unit 61 provides data indicating the identified location to the driving control unit 65. The driving control unit 65 determines the area (hereinafter referred to as a section area) including the location of the store 10 based on the data indicating the location provided by the location acquisition unit 61. The section area is defined as a range wider than the location of the store 10. For example, the divided area is a predetermined range (area) arbitrarily divided into the smallest divisions, such as a prefecture, city, ward, town, or village that includes the location.

[0018] In this embodiment, as an example, the 47 prefectures in Japan are divided into three regions, a first region, a second region, and a third region, and the division area of ​​the store 10 is determined. However, the number of division areas is not limited to this, and may be any number of regions, up to two or more than four. In the following description, the first region is defined as the "northern region," the second region as the "central region," and the third region as the "southern region." Specific examples of these division areas will be described later.

[0019] The boundaries of these three sections vary according to, for example, periods (hereinafter referred to as seasons) into which a year is divided. The division into seasons is arbitrary, but for example, a year can be divided into three periods: a first period, a second period, and a third period. Each of these periods can be determined according to, for example, the relationship between temperature and humidity. Also, seasons can be determined not by the relationship between temperature and humidity but by dates. The first period (hereinafter referred to as summer) is a period corresponding to summer, for example, four months from June to September. The second period (hereinafter referred to as winter) is a period corresponding to winter, for example, three months from January to March and two months from December for a total of four months. The third period (hereinafter referred to as intermediate period) is a period other than summer and winter, for example, two months from April to May and two months from October to November for a total of four months. When the seasons are divided in this way, the boundaries separating the northern, central, and southern regions fluctuate during the summer, intermediate, and winter seasons (details will be given later).

[0020] The forecast information acquisition unit 62 acquires forecast information on the climate of the location specified by the location acquisition unit 61. The climate is, for example, the average state of the weather for a period of one month or more, the weather state of the next day, etc. The forecast information acquisition unit 62 is connected to the external system 8 via the communication control unit 64, and acquires the forecast information on the climate from the external system 8. The external system 8 is a system that holds the forecast information on the climate of the location of the store 10 so as to be able to provide it, and is, for example, a system of the Japan Meteorological Agency or a weather company. In this embodiment, the forecast information acquisition unit 62 acquires forecast information on the temperature and humidity of the location of the store 10 for a predetermined period from the external system 8. The forecast information acquisition unit 62 provides the operation control unit 65 with data indicating the acquired forecast information on the temperature and humidity of the location. The operation control unit 65 determines the season at the time of execution of the room temperature control process described later, based on the data indicating the forecast information provided by the forecast information acquisition unit 62.

[0021] The information storage unit 63 stores information indicating the correspondence between the season, the location of the store 10, the optimal temperature of the store 10, and the operation modes of a plurality of store devices, the air conditioner 2 and the cooling required device 4 in this embodiment. The location of the store 10 is the street address or the like specified by the location acquisition unit 61. The optimal temperature of the store 10 is the indoor temperature of the store 10 that can contribute to energy saving, in other words, can efficiently reduce the power consumption of the store 10. The operation modes of the air conditioner 2 and the cooling required device 4 are the operation modes (operation modes) required to make the indoor temperature of the store 10 the optimal temperature (set temperature). For example, the rotation speed and frequency of the compressor of the air conditioner 2 and the compressor of the cooling required device 4, the air conditioning target temperature of the air conditioner 2, and the target temperature of refrigeration, cooling, and heat retention of the cooling required device 4 are specific values ​​indicating the operation modes. The seasons will be described later, but the information storage unit 63 stores information indicating the correspondence between the optimum temperature and the operation mode in each of a plurality of seasons (summer, winter, intermediate season) for the location of one store 10. The information storage unit 63 is, for example, a non-volatile memory such as a NOR or NAND type FROM (Flash Read Only Memory), or a magnetic disk device.

[0022] 2A to 2C, 3A to 3C, and 4A to 4C show the relationship between the set temperature in the room of the store 10 and the power consumption in the store 10. The set temperature here is, for example, the room temperature in the store 10 assumed by operating the air conditioner 2 and the cooling equipment 4. The horizontal axis of each diagram shows the set temperature, which is lower on the left and higher on the right. The vertical axis of each diagram shows the power consumption, which is smaller on the bottom and higher on the top. FIG. 2A shows the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in summer when the section area is the north, FIG. 2B shows the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in intermediate season when the section area is the north, and FIG. 2C shows the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in winter when the section area is the north. FIG. 3A shows the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in summer when the section area is the central, FIG. 3B shows the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in intermediate season when the section area is the central, and FIG. 3C shows the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in winter when the section area is the central. FIG. 4A shows the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in summer when the sectional area is the southern part of the country, FIG. 4B shows the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in intermediate seasons when the sectional area is the southern part of the country, and FIG. 4C shows the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption in winter when the sectional area is the southern part of the country.

[0023] In summer, as shown in Fig. 2A, the higher the temperature setting, the lower the power consumption in the north. In contrast, as shown in Fig. 3A and Fig. 4A, in the central and southern regions, as the temperature setting increases, the power consumption decreases to a minimum, but then increases.

[0024] In the intermediate season, as shown in Figs. 2B, 3B, and 4B, the higher the set temperature is, the greater the power consumption is in the north, central, and south.

[0025] In winter, the higher the temperature setting is, the higher the power consumption is in the north, as shown in Fig. 2C. In contrast, in the central and southern regions, the higher the temperature setting is, the lower the power consumption is, as shown in Fig. 3C and Fig. 4C.

[0026] In this embodiment, the optimum indoor temperatures of the store 10 are set for the summer, intermediate and winter seasons when the zoning area is divided into the north, central and southern regions, taking into consideration the relationship between the set temperature and power consumption as shown in Figures 2A to 2C, 3A to 3C, and 4A to 4C. For example, an optimum indoor temperature (optimum temperature) is set as the set temperature at which power consumption is minimal. Such optimum temperatures are set for the summer, intermediate and winter seasons when the zoning area is divided into the north, central and southern regions.

[0027] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of optimal indoor temperatures of the store 10 in summer, intermediate seasons, and winter when the store is divided into northern, central, and southern regions. In this embodiment, the operation (operation mode) of the air conditioner 2 and the cooling equipment 4 is controlled so that the indoor temperature of the store 10 becomes the optimal temperature shown in Fig. 5, in other words, the optimal temperature is set as the set temperature for the indoor temperature (details will be described later). The optimal temperature here is the indoor temperature of the store 10 that can contribute to energy conservation (efficiently reduce power consumption) in summer, intermediate seasons, and winter, and is specified for the northern, central, and southern regions, respectively.

[0028] In the example shown in FIG. 5, the horizontal axis indicates the division area, and the area from the north to the central area and further to the south as it moves from left to right. For example, if the prefectures are arranged in ascending order of prefecture numbers from left to right on the horizontal axis, the leftmost one is Hokkaido and the rightmost one is Okinawa. The prefecture numbers are two-digit numbers assigned to each prefecture by the JIS code (JIS X0401). The vertical axis indicates the optimum temperature inside the store 10. In FIG. 5, the optimum temperature of the store 10 is indicated by a solid line L1 in summer, a dashed line L2 in intermediate seasons, and a dashed line L3 in winter. As shown in FIG. 5, the optimum temperature of the store 10 in summer is, for example, 27°C in the north, 22°C in the central area, and 23°C in the south. The optimum temperature of the store 10 in intermediate seasons is, for example, 20°C in the north, 23°C in the central area, and 27°C in the south. The optimum temperature of the store 10 in winter is, for example, 16°C in the north, central, and southern areas. The above optimum temperature values ​​are merely examples and are not limited to these values.

[0029] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the northern, central, and southern divisions in summer. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the northern, central, and southern divisions in intermediate seasons. Note that FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show only an example of divisions, and the divisions are not limited to these. The prefectures divided (belonging) to the northern, central, and southern divisions can be set arbitrarily. In addition, the belonging to these divisions may not be by prefecture, but may be by city, ward, town, or village, or may be a division in which prefectures and cities, ward, town, and villages are mixed. These divisions are defined for setting the optimum temperature inside the store 10 in each season. As described above, in this embodiment, the optimum temperature inside the store 10 in winter is uniform at 16° C. in all of the northern, central, and southern divisions. Therefore, the northern, central, and southern divisions in winter are unnecessary, and are not shown in the figures.

[0030] In Figure 6, the two-dot chain line BL1 indicates the boundary between the northern and central regions, and the two-dot chain line BL2 indicates the boundary between the central and southern regions. As shown in Figure 6, Hokkaido is included in the northern region in summer. Similarly, Aomori Prefecture, Iwate Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, Akita Prefecture, Yamagata Prefecture, Fukushima Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture, Tochigi Prefecture, Gunma Prefecture, Saitama Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, Niigata Prefecture, Toyama Prefecture, Yamanashi Prefecture, Nagano Prefecture, Gifu Prefecture, and Shizuoka Prefecture are included in the central region in summer. The southern region during the summer includes Ishikawa Prefecture, Fukui Prefecture, Aichi Prefecture, Mie Prefecture, Shiga Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka Prefecture, Hyogo Prefecture, Nara Prefecture, Wakayama Prefecture, Tottori Prefecture, Shimane Prefecture, Okayama Prefecture, Hiroshima Prefecture, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Tokushima Prefecture, Kagawa Prefecture, Ehime Prefecture, Kochi Prefecture, Fukuoka Prefecture, Saga Prefecture, Nagasaki Prefecture, Kumamoto Prefecture, Oita Prefecture, Miyazaki Prefecture, Kagoshima Prefecture, and Okinawa Prefecture.

[0031] Therefore, in the summer example shown in Figure 6, the optimum indoor temperature of store 10 is 27°C for Hokkaido, which is in the northern part of the region, 22°C for the 19 prefectures in the central part, and 23°C for the 27 prefectures in the southern part.

[0032] In Figure 7, the two-dot chain line BL3 indicates the boundary between the northern and central regions, and the two-dot chain line BL4 indicates the boundary between the central and southern regions. As shown in Figure 7, Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, and Akita prefectures are divided into the northern region during the intermediate period. Similarly, Miyagi, Yamagata, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, and Niigata prefectures are divided into the central region during the intermediate period. The southern region during the intermediate period includes Chiba Prefecture, Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, Toyama Prefecture, Ishikawa Prefecture, Fukui Prefecture, Yamanashi Prefecture, Nagano Prefecture, Gifu Prefecture, Shizuoka Prefecture, Aichi Prefecture, Mie Prefecture, Shiga Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka Prefecture, Hyogo Prefecture, Nara Prefecture, Wakayama Prefecture, Tottori Prefecture, Shimane Prefecture, Okayama Prefecture, Hiroshima Prefecture, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Tokushima Prefecture, Kagawa Prefecture, Ehime Prefecture, Kochi Prefecture, Fukuoka Prefecture, Saga Prefecture, Nagasaki Prefecture, Kumamoto Prefecture, Oita Prefecture, Miyazaki Prefecture, Kagoshima Prefecture, and Okinawa Prefecture.

[0033] Therefore, in the example of the intermediate season shown in Figure 7, the optimum indoor temperature of store 10 is 20°C for the four prefectures in the northern part of the zone, 23°C for the eight prefectures in the central part, and 27°C for the 35 prefectures in the southern part.

[0034] The communication control unit 64 controls the transmission and reception of data between the operation control unit 65 and the air conditioner 2, between the operation control unit 65 and the equipment requiring cooling 4, and between the prediction information acquisition unit 62 and the external system 8. The communication control unit 64 is connected to the air conditioner 2 and the equipment requiring cooling 4 by wire or wirelessly, and communicates with the air conditioner 2 and the equipment requiring cooling 4 based on a predetermined communication protocol. The communication control unit 64 is also connected to the external system 8 via a communication network such as the Internet, including wire or wireless, and communicates with the external system 8 based on a predetermined communication protocol. The communication control unit 64 provides the operation control unit 65 with notifications of data transmission and reception and received data.

[0035] The operation control unit 65 executes a process (hereinafter referred to as room temperature control process) for controlling the operation of a plurality of store devices, in this embodiment the air conditioner 2 and the equipment requiring cooling 4, so that the indoor temperature of the store 10 becomes the set temperature. In this case, the operation control unit 65 controls the operation of the air conditioner 2 and the equipment requiring cooling 4 using the predicted information of the temperature and humidity of the location of the store 10 acquired by the predicted information acquisition unit 62 and the information held by the information holding unit 63. The room temperature control process is a series of processes required to maintain the indoor temperature of the store 10 at the set temperature by setting the air conditioner 2 and the equipment requiring cooling 4 in an appropriate operating mode. The set temperature here is the optimal temperature described above.

[0036] In this embodiment, as an example, the operation control unit 65 is configured as a program for executing room temperature control processing in the control device 6, and is stored in a storage device and read out to memory. Note that the program that is the operation control unit 65 may be stored on the cloud, and the control device 6 may communicate with the cloud as appropriate to make the desired program available. In this case, the control device 6, for example, the communication control unit 64, is configured to include a communication module with the cloud. By storing the program that is the operation control unit 65 on the cloud, it is possible to simplify the configuration of the control device 6, which in turn makes it possible to make it more compact and reduce costs.

[0037] 8 shows a control flow of the operation control unit 65 during room temperature control processing. Hereinafter, the room temperature control processing executed by the operation control unit 65 will be described according to the control flow shown in FIG.

[0038] In the room temperature control process, the operation control unit 65 determines the applicable season (S01), and determines the zone area including the location of the store 10 (S02). In making the determination, the operation control unit 65 acquires data indicating the location of the store 10 from the position acquisition unit 61, and acquires data indicating forecast information on the climate of the location of the store 10, specifically, data indicating forecast information on temperature and humidity, from the forecast information acquisition unit 62.

[0039] First, the operation control unit 65 judges whether the season is summer, mid-season, or winter based on the relationship between temperature and humidity in the data showing the acquired forecast information. As a result of the judgment, the operation control unit 65 determines the season (predetermined period) to be applied during room temperature control processing (when controlling the operation of the air conditioner 2 and the cooling device 4) to be summer, mid-season, or winter. For example, the operation control unit 65 can judge the season using a psychrometric chart showing the relationship between temperature and humidity. Note that instead of or in addition to such a judgment based on the relationship between temperature and humidity, the season may be judged according to, for example, the date of the judgment day. When these judgments are made together, the accuracy of the fixed judgment based on the date of the judgment day can be improved by the judgment based on the relationship between temperature and humidity. In other words, the season can be determined more flexibly and with a higher degree of freedom in accordance with the weather conditions.

[0040] Next, the driving control unit 65 determines whether the section area including the location of the store 10 is the north, the central, or the south. At that time, the driving control unit 65 varies the boundary dividing the north, the central, and the south in summer, the intermediate season, and the winter season. In this embodiment, as an example, the driving control unit 65 specifies the section area as shown in FIG. 6 in the summer season, and specifies the section area as shown in FIG. 7 in the intermediate season. As a result, the driving control unit 65 determines the section area as the north, the central, or the south according to FIG. 6 or FIG. 7. That is, the driving control unit 65 determines whether the location of the store 10 is included in the north, the central, or the south. Note that in winter, the driving control unit 65 specifies the same section area regardless of the location. In other words, in winter, the driving control unit 65 does not specify a particular section area.

[0041] The operation control unit 65 also operates the air conditioner 2 and the appliances requiring cooling 4 in an operating mode corresponding to the determined season and area (S03). At that time, the operation control unit 65 reads out information stored in the information storage unit 63 using the season and location as keys, and determines the optimal indoor temperature of the store 10 corresponding to these, and the operating mode of the air conditioner 2 and the appliances requiring cooling 4. The operation control unit 65 then operates the air conditioner 2 and the appliances requiring cooling 4 in these operating modes. As a result, the indoor temperature of the store 10 is adjusted to and maintained at the set temperature, i.e., the optimal temperature.

[0042] In this way, by maintaining the indoor temperature of the store 10 at an optimal temperature, it is possible to conserve energy in the store 10, in other words, to efficiently reduce power consumption. That is, according to this embodiment, the operating mode of the air conditioner 2 and the cooling equipment 4 can be appropriately changed according to the location and season (in short, temperature and humidity) of the store 10, so that the indoor temperature of the store 10 can be maintained at an optimal temperature. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently reduce power consumption in the store 10 and conserve energy without compromising comfort and regardless of the location and season of the store 10. In this case, the boundary of the partition area that includes the location can be changed according to the season. This makes it possible to more accurately reduce power consumption in the store 10 and conserve energy.

[0043] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, it is also possible to automatically change the operating modes of the air conditioner 2 and the equipment requiring cooling 4 appropriately depending on the location and season of the store 10. Therefore, even if the store 10 is an unmanned store and the indoor temperature cannot be adjusted manually, it is possible to efficiently reduce power consumption and conserve energy without compromising indoor comfort and regardless of the location or season. As a result, it is also possible to actively promote the unmanning of the store 10.

[0044] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the embodiment is presented as an example and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0045] 1...room temperature control system, 2...air conditioner, 4...equipment requiring cooling, 6...control device, 8...external system, 10...store, 61...position acquisition unit, 62...prediction information acquisition unit, 63...information storage unit, 64...communication control unit, 65...operation control unit.

Claims

1. A plurality of equipment devices including an air conditioner and cooling equipment installed in the facility; A room temperature control system comprising: a control device that controls the operation of the plurality of facility devices; and a room temperature control system that controls a room temperature of the facility, The control device includes: A location acquisition unit that identifies a location of the facility; a forecast information acquisition unit that acquires forecast information on the climate of the location identified by the location acquisition unit; an information storage unit that stores information indicating a correspondence between a period obtained by dividing a year into a plurality of periods, the location, a set temperature of the indoor temperature of the facility, and an operation mode of the plurality of facility devices; an operation control unit that controls the plurality of facility devices in the operation mode using the prediction information acquired by the prediction information acquisition unit and the information stored in the information storage unit so that the indoor temperature becomes the set temperature; The prediction information acquisition unit acquires prediction information of temperature and humidity at the location as the prediction information, The operation control unit determines a predetermined period to be applied when controlling the operation of the plurality of facility devices to be one of the plurality of periods using the prediction information of the temperature and humidity at the location acquired by the prediction information acquisition unit, defining a plurality of divided areas that are larger than the location, and determining in which of the plurality of divided areas the location identified by the location acquisition unit is included; The boundary of the divided area is varied according to the predetermined period. Climate control system.

2. A system comprising: a plurality of equipment devices including an air conditioner and cooling equipment installed in a facility; A room temperature control system comprising: a control device that controls the operation of the plurality of facility devices; and a room temperature control system that controls a room temperature of the facility, The control device includes: A location acquisition unit that identifies a location of the facility; a forecast information acquisition unit that acquires forecast information on the climate of the location identified by the location acquisition unit; an information storage unit that stores information indicating a correspondence between a period obtained by dividing a year into a plurality of periods, the location, a set temperature of the indoor temperature of the facility, and an operation mode of the plurality of facility devices; an operation control unit that controls the plurality of facility devices in the operation mode using the prediction information acquired by the prediction information acquisition unit and the information stored in the information storage unit so that the indoor temperature becomes the set temperature; The prediction information acquisition unit acquires prediction information of temperature and humidity at the location as the prediction information, The operation control unit determines a predetermined period to be applied when controlling the operation of the plurality of facility devices to be one of the plurality of periods using the prediction information of the temperature and humidity at the location acquired by the prediction information acquisition unit, Using the forecast information of the temperature and humidity at the location acquired by the forecast information acquisition unit, the predetermined period is determined to be any one of a first period corresponding to summer, a second period corresponding to winter, and a third period other than the first period and other than the second period, a plurality of partitioned areas wider than the location are defined, and which of the plurality of partitioned areas the location specified by the location acquisition unit is included in is determined according to the determined predetermined period, and the operation of the plurality of facility devices is controlled so that the indoor temperature becomes the set temperature using the determined predetermined period and the determined partitioned area, as well as the location and the operation modes of the plurality of facility devices stored by the information storage unit. Climate control system.

3. The predetermined period is any one of a first period corresponding to summer, a second period corresponding to winter, and a third period other than the first period and the second period.

3. A room temperature control system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. the control device has a communication control unit that is connected to an external system that holds the prediction information so as to be able to provide the prediction information via a communication network and communicates with the external system; The prediction information acquisition unit is connected to the external system via the communication control unit and acquires the prediction information from the external system. A room temperature control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The operation control unit is stored in a cloud to which the communication control unit can be connected via a communication network.

5. A room temperature control system according to claim 4.

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