Air conditioning apparatus

An air conditioning apparatus comprising:

• an outdoor unit including a compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger;
• at least one indoor unit including an expansion valve and an indoor heat exchanger;
• and
• a main circuit configured to circulate refrigerant through the compressor, the outdoor heat exchanger, the expansion valve, and the indoor heat exchanger, wherein
• the main circuit includes a first flow path between the outdoor heat exchanger and the expansion valve,
• the air conditioning apparatus further comprising a supercooling heat exchanger configured to supercool the refrigerant flowing in the first flow path, wherein
• as a flow path between the indoor heat exchanger and the compressor, the main circuit includes a second flow path that does not extend through the supercooling heat exchanger, and a third flow path that extends through the supercooling heat exchanger,
• the air conditioning apparatus further comprising:
• a flow path switching valve configured to switch, to one of the second flow path and the third flow path, the flow path between the indoor heat exchanger and the compressor;
• a bypass circuit that is branched from the first flow path, that extends through the supercooling heat exchanger, and that is joined to the main circuit;
• a bypass regulating valve provided in the bypass circuit;
• and
• a controller configured to control the flow path switching valve and the bypass regulating valve, wherein
• in a cooling operation,
• when a parameter correlated with a flow rate of the refrigerant in the main circuit indicates that the flow rate of the refrigerant is more than a reference value, the controller is configured to control the flow path switching valve to switch, to the second flow path, the flow path between the indoor heat exchanger and the compressor, and open the bypass regulating valve, and
• when the parameter indicates that the flow rate of the refrigerant is less than the reference value, the controller is configured to control the flow path switching valve to switch, to the third flow path, the flow path between the indoor heat exchanger and the compressor, and close the bypass regulating valve.