Smart control system and method for hybrid cooling and heating system, and hybrid cooling and heating system

Abstract

The present invention relates to a smart control system for a hybrid cooling and heating system including a heat pump system and a furnace system, and provides: a smart control system for a hybrid cooling and heating system; and a method and a hybrid cooling and heating system, using same. The smart control system includes: a driving means determination unit that determines whether to operate at least one of the furnace system and the heat pump system on the basis of temperature information; a rate determination unit that calculates a power rate on the basis of pre-stored power rating information when the heat pump system is operated; a furnace system management unit that drives the furnace system on the basis of a driving signal transmitted from the driving means determination unit, and manages the operation of the furnace system; and a heat pump system management unit that drives the heat pump system on the basis of the driving signal transmitted from the driving means determination unit, and manages the operation of the heat pump system.

Description

Smart control system and method for hybrid heating and cooling systems and hybrid heating and cooling systems

[0001] The present invention relates to a smart control system and method for a hybrid heating and cooling system and a hybrid heating and cooling system, and more particularly, to a system and method capable of efficiently controlling a hydraulic furnace system and a heat pump system to provide optimal heating and cooling.

[0002] A hybrid heating and cooling system is a combined heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system that uses a heat pump and a furnace together.

[0003] These hybrid heating and cooling systems primarily use a heat pump in hot or mild temperatures (above about 40°F) and a furnace in cold temperatures (below about 32°F).

[0004] It has the advantage of saving time and energy in bringing your home to the desired temperature, as it automatically switches between the two depending on which is more efficient depending on the situation.

[0005] Additionally, hybrid systems are suitable for all types of climates, operate year-round, and have the advantage of extending the life expectancy of hybrid heating and cooling systems because each component only operates when it is in optimal condition.

[0006] However, these hybrid heating and cooling systems have the disadvantage of being difficult to control according to temperature or various conditions.

[0007] Furthermore, conventional hybrid heating and cooling systems suffer from the problem of cold air being drawn into the room during the heat pump's defrosting process. To address this, a furnace is operated during the defrosting process, but this operation can damage the heat pump's evaporator panel.

[0008] The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a system and method capable of efficiently controlling a furnace system and a heat pump system to provide optimal heating and cooling.

[0009] In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a hybrid heating and cooling system that can solve the problem of damage to an evaporator panel that may occur when a heat pump operates in a defrost mode.

[0010] In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention provides a smart control system for a hybrid heating and cooling system including a heat pump system and a furnace system, the smart control system including a drive means determination unit for determining whether to operate at least one of the furnace system and the heat pump system based on temperature information; a rate determination unit for calculating an electricity rate when operating the heat pump system based on pre-stored electricity rate information; a furnace system management unit for operating the furnace system based on a drive signal transmitted from the drive means determination unit and managing the operation of the furnace system; and a heat pump system management unit for operating the heat pump system based on the drive signal transmitted from the drive means determination unit and managing the operation of the heat pump system.

[0011] Here, the driving means determination unit can determine whether to operate at least one of the furnace system and the heat pump system based on the COP information when the current temperature is lower than the set temperature.

[0012] In addition, the driving means judgment unit may determine to operate the heat pump system if the COP value is higher than a preset reference value, and to operate the furnace system if the COP value is lower than the preset reference value.

[0013] Additionally, the driving means determination unit may determine to operate the furnace system when it is a preset defrosting section.

[0014] Additionally, based on the results of the power rate calculation in the rate judgment unit, it may be decided to operate the furnace system during times when the power rate is high.

[0015] Additionally, the driving means judgment unit can determine whether to operate the heat pump system for cooling when the current temperature is higher than the set temperature.

[0016] In addition, the furnace system management unit can transmit a control signal instructing the boiler to operate so as to supply hot water at a temperature required for the furnace system according to the outside temperature, and when hot water is supplied, if the temperature difference (△T) between the hot water flowing into the furnace and the hot water discharged from the furnace is smaller than a preset value, a control signal instructing the boiler to reduce the flow speed of the water flowing inside the furnace.

[0017] Additionally, the furnace system management unit can check the motor speed of the blower and transmit a control signal requesting to increase the motor speed if the motor speed is lower than a preset optimal speed.

[0018] Additionally, the heat pump system management unit may transmit a control signal requesting to increase the motor speed when the motor speed of the blower is lower than a preset optimal speed.

[0019] In addition, the above control system may be implemented as a machine learning-based neural network model, and may be learned in advance with data including external temperature, internal temperature, COP value, power rate information, temperature difference (△T), motor speed, and the corresponding optimal output value.

[0020] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a smart control method for a hybrid heating and cooling system including a heat pump system and a furnace system, the method comprising: a first step of determining which of the furnace system and the heat pump system to operate based on temperature information; and a second step of transmitting a control signal for operating at least one of the furnace system and the heat pump system to the furnace system and the heat pump system based on the operating signal determined in the first step, wherein the first step provides a smart control method for a hybrid heating and cooling system characterized in that, if a current temperature is lower than or equal to a set temperature, the method determines which of the furnace system and the heat pump system to operate based on COP information.

[0021] According to another aspect of the present invention, a hybrid heating and cooling system including a heat pump system and a furnace system is provided, wherein an evaporation panel of the heat pump system is arranged in front of an air inlet of a furnace of the furnace system.

[0022] Here, the evaporation panel can be placed between the filter and the blower at the front end of the air inlet of the furnace.

[0023] According to the present invention, a system and method can be provided that can efficiently control a furnace system and a heat pump system to provide optimal heating and cooling.

[0024] In addition, according to the present invention, a hybrid heating and cooling system can be provided that can solve the problem of damage to an evaporation panel that may occur when a heat pump operates in a defrost mode.

[0025] Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the overall connection relationship and configuration of a hybrid heating and cooling system (200) and a control system (100) according to the present invention.

[0026] Figure 3 is a drawing showing the configuration of a control system (100).

[0027] Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the control system (100) and a case of controlling the operation of the furnace system (210).

[0028] Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of a control system (100) when controlling the operation of a heat pump system (220).

[0029] FIG. 6 is a drawing showing a hybrid heating and cooling system (200-1) according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] FIG. 7 is a drawing showing a hybrid heating and cooling system (200-2) according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[0032] Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the overall connection relationship and configuration of a hybrid heating and cooling system (200) and a control system (100) according to the present invention.

[0033] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the hybrid heating and cooling system (200) includes a furnace system (210) and a heat pump system (220). In addition, the hybrid heating and cooling system (200) may include a blower (230) and a filter (240).

[0034] The filter (240) performs the function of filtering outside air, and the blower (230) introduces outside air that has passed through the filter (240) into the furnace (211), so that the air that has passed through the furnace (211) is introduced into the room.

[0035] The furnace system (210) includes a furnace (211) and a boiler (212).

[0036] In the present invention, the furnace system (210) may be a furnace system (210) that operates by gas or by water. Hereinafter, a case in which the furnace system (210) operates by water will be described as an example.

[0037] Additionally, the heat pump system (220) includes a heat pump (221) and an evaporation panel (222).

[0038] Since these furnace systems (200) and heat pump systems (300) and the furnace (211), boiler (212), heat pump (221) and evaporation panel (222) themselves are not the direct objects of the present invention and can use conventionally known technologies, a detailed description thereof is omitted here.

[0039] This hybrid heating and cooling system (200) provides cold air or warm air for heating and cooling indoors by driving at least one of the furnace system (210) or the heat pump system (220) by a control signal from the control system (100).

[0040] Additionally, the control system (100) transmits control signals to control the furnace system (210) and the heat pump system (220) in combination with each other to control their operation.

[0041] Figure 3 is a drawing showing the configuration of a control system (100).

[0042] Referring to FIG. 3, the control system (100) includes a driving means determination unit (110), a rate determination unit (120), a furnace system management unit (130), and a heat pump system management unit (140).

[0043] The driving means judgment unit (110) performs a function of judging whether to operate at least one of the furnace system (210) and the heat pump system (220) based on temperature information.

[0044] For example, if the current temperature is lower than the set temperature, it is determined whether to operate either the furnace system (210) or the heat pump system (220) for heating. At this time, the COP (Coefficient of Performance) value can be used.

[0045] For example, if the COP value is higher than a preset reference value, it is decided to operate the heat pump system (220). However, even in this case, it is decided to operate the furnace system (210) in the preset defrosting section.

[0046] Additionally, based on the results of the power rate calculation in the rate judgment unit (120), it is decided to operate the furnace system (210) during times when the power rate is high.

[0047] Meanwhile, if the COP value is lower than the preset reference value, it is decided to operate the furnace system (210).

[0048] Meanwhile, the driving means judgment unit (110) determines whether to operate the heat pump system (220) for cooling when the current temperature is higher than the set temperature.

[0049] If the drive means judgment unit (110) determines to operate the furnace system (210) based on the judgment result, it transmits a drive signal to the furnace management unit (130). In addition, if it determines to operate the heat pump system (300), it transmits a drive signal to the heat pump system (220).

[0050] The rate determination unit (120) calculates the power rate when operating the heat pump system (220) based on pre-stored power rate information.

[0051] The furnace management unit (130) drives the furnace system (210) based on a driving signal transmitted from the driving means determination unit (110) and manages the operation of the furnace system (210).

[0052] The heat pump management unit (140) drives the heat pump system (220) based on a driving signal transmitted from the driving means determination unit (110) and manages the operation of the heat pump system (220).

[0053] Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the control system (100) and a case of controlling the operation of the furnace system (210).

[0054] Referring to FIG. 4, the driving means determination unit (110) of the control system (100) determines the furnace system (210) as the driving means in the same manner as described above (S100).

[0055] And, the furnace system management unit (130) of the control system (100) checks the outside temperature (S110) and transmits a control signal to drive the boiler (212) so that hot water of the temperature required for the furnace system (210) can be supplied according to the outside temperature (S120).

[0056] Here, the control signal may be a signal instructing to supply hot water of 75 degrees when the outside temperature is 5 degrees, for example.

[0057] The boiler (212) is driven according to this control signal and supplies hot water corresponding to the temperature to the furnace (211).

[0058] When hot water is supplied, the furnace system management unit (130) checks the temperature difference (△T) between the temperature of hot water flowing into the furnace (211) and the temperature of hot water discharged from the furnace (211) (S130), and if the temperature difference (△T) is smaller than a preset value, it transmits a control signal to the boiler (212) instructing to reduce the flow speed of water flowing inside the furnace (211) (S140).

[0059] Meanwhile, the furnace system management unit (130) checks the motor speed of the blower (230) and transmits a control signal requesting to increase the motor speed if the motor speed is lower than the preset optimal speed (S150, S160).

[0060] The above steps (S150, S160) may be performed when the temperature difference (△T) between the temperature of hot water flowing into the furnace (211) and the temperature of hot water discharged from the furnace (211) is smaller than a preset value.

[0061] By repeating this process, the control system (100) controls the operation of the furnace system (210).

[0062] Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of a control system (100) when controlling the operation of a heat pump system (220).

[0063] Referring to FIG. 5, the driving means determination unit (110) of the control system (100) determines the heat pump system (220) as the driving means in the same manner as described above (S200).

[0064] And, the heat pump system management unit (140) of the control system (100) transmits a control signal for driving the heat pump system (220) to the heat pump (221) (S210).

[0065] Accordingly, the heat pump (221) is driven, and then the heat pump system management unit (140) checks the motor speed of the blower (230) and transmits a control signal requesting to increase the motor speed if the motor speed is lower than the preset optimal speed (S220, S230).

[0066] By repeating this process, the control system (100) controls the operation of the heat pump system (200).

[0067] Meanwhile, the above-described configuration of the control system (100) can be implemented as an artificial intelligence-based control model. For example, it can be implemented as a machine learning-based neural network model, and after pre-training with data necessary for the operation of the control system (100), such as external temperature, internal temperature, COP value, power rate information, temperature difference (△T), motor speed, etc., and the corresponding optimal output value, the data necessary for the operation of the control system (100) as described above can be input, and the control system (100) can generate a control signal with the corresponding output value.

[0068] FIG. 6 is a drawing showing a hybrid heating and cooling system (200-1) according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0069] The hybrid heating and cooling system (200-1) of FIG. 6 is basically the same as the hybrid heating and cooling system (200) of FIGS. 1 to 5, except that the evaporation panel (222) is positioned in front of the air inlet of the furnace (211). In addition, it should be noted that the control system (100) is omitted from the drawing for convenience of explanation.

[0070] That is, the evaporation panel (222) is placed between the filter (240) and the blower (230) at the front end of the air inlet of the furnace (211).

[0071] This is to prevent damage to the evaporation panel (222). When the heat pump system (220) is operated in cold weather, a defrosting process is required to remove ice frozen on the outdoor unit, and at this time, cold air is introduced into the room. To solve this problem, when the heat pump system (220) is operated in defrosting mode, the furnace system (210) can be operated to introduce hot air into the room. However, in this case, since the evaporation panel (222) is arranged at the rear end of the air outlet side of the furnace (211) in a structure such as that of FIG. 2, damage occurs to the evaporation panel (222).

[0072] Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 6, if the evaporation panel (222) is placed in front of the air inlet of the furnace (211), for example, between the filter (240) and the blower (230), even if the furnace system (210) is operated when the heat pump system (220) operates in the defrost mode, the evaporation panel (222) will not be affected by this, and thus damage to the evaporation panel (222) can be prevented.

[0073] Meanwhile, since the furnace system (210) of FIG. 6 is a gas-operated furnace (211), the boiler (212) is omitted, but it should be noted that the hybrid heating and cooling system (200-1) of FIG. 6 is not related to whether the furnace system (210) operates on gas or water.

[0074] FIG. 7 is a drawing showing a hybrid heating and cooling system (200-2) according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0075] FIG. 7 is the same as FIG. 6, but is characterized in that the evaporation panel (222) is arranged on both sides of the rear end of the air outlet of the furnace (211) as shown in FIG. 2 and the front end of the air inlet of the furnace (211) as shown in FIG. 6.

[0076] Other configurations are the same as described above, so detailed descriptions are omitted.

[0077] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and various modifications and variations are of course possible.

Claims

1. A smart control system for a hybrid heating and cooling system including a heat pump system and a furnace system, A driving means judgment unit that determines whether to operate at least one of the furnace system and the heat pump system based on temperature information; A rate determination unit that calculates the electricity rate when operating the heat pump system based on pre-stored electricity rate information; A furnace system management unit that drives the furnace system based on a driving signal transmitted from the above driving means judgment unit and manages the operation of the furnace system; and A heat pump system management unit that drives the heat pump system based on a drive signal transmitted from the above drive means judgment unit and manages the operation of the heat pump system. A smart control system for a hybrid heating and cooling system including:

2. In claim 1, A smart control system for a hybrid heating and cooling system, characterized in that the driving means judgment unit determines whether to operate at least one of the furnace system and the heat pump system based on COP information when the current temperature is lower than the set temperature.

3. In claim 2, A smart control system for a hybrid heating and cooling system, characterized in that the driving means judgment unit determines to operate the heat pump system if the COP value is equal to or greater than a preset reference value, and to operate the furnace system if the COP value is equal to or less than the preset reference value.

4. In claim 3, A smart control system for a hybrid heating and cooling system, characterized in that the driving means determination unit determines to operate the furnace system when the preset defrosting section is reached.

5. In claim 3, A smart control system for a hybrid heating and cooling system, characterized in that it is determined to operate the furnace system during times when electricity rates are high based on the results of calculating electricity rates in the above rate judgment unit.

6. In claim 2, A smart control system for a hybrid heating and cooling system, characterized in that the driving means judgment unit determines whether to operate the heat pump system for cooling when the current temperature is higher than the set temperature.

7. In claim 1, A smart control system for a hybrid heating and cooling system, characterized in that the furnace system management unit transmits a control signal instructing to operate a boiler so as to supply hot water to the furnace system according to an outside temperature, and when hot water is supplied, if the temperature difference (△T) between the temperature of hot water flowing into the furnace and the temperature of hot water discharged from the furnace is smaller than a preset value, the control signal instructing to reduce the flow speed of water flowing inside the furnace is transmitted to the boiler.

8. In claim 1, A smart control system for a hybrid heating and cooling system, characterized in that the furnace system management unit checks the motor speed of the blower and transmits a control signal requesting to increase the motor speed if the motor speed is lower than a preset optimal speed.

9. In claim 1, A smart control system for a hybrid heating and cooling system, characterized in that the heat pump system management unit transmits a control signal requesting to increase the motor speed of the blower when the motor speed is lower than a preset optimal speed.

10. In claim 1, The above control system is implemented as a machine learning-based neural network model, and is a smart control system for a hybrid heating and cooling system characterized in that it is learned in advance with data including external temperature, internal temperature, COP value, power rate information, temperature difference (△T), motor speed, and the corresponding optimal output value.

11. A smart control method for a hybrid heating and cooling system including a heat pump system and a furnace system, Step 1: Deciding which of the furnace system and heat pump system to operate based on temperature information; A second step of transmitting a control signal for driving at least one of the furnace system and the heat pump system based on the driving signal determined in the first step to the furnace system and the heat pump system, A smart control method for a hybrid heating and cooling system, characterized in that the first step determines whether to operate at least one of the furnace system and the heat pump system based on COP information when the current temperature is lower than or equal to the set temperature.

12. A hybrid heating and cooling system including a heat pump system and a furnace system, A smart control system for a hybrid heating and cooling system, characterized in that the evaporator panel of the heat pump system is arranged ahead of the air inlet of the furnace of the furnace system.

13. In claim 12, A smart control system for a hybrid heating and cooling system, characterized in that the evaporation panel is arranged between a filter and a blower at the front end of the air inlet of the furnace.

Images