Heat pump and method for controlling compressor based on operation of boiler
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsYoungmin Lee, Jihyeong Ryu, Eunjun Cho
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A heat pump may include a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant, a first temperature sensor provided in heating pipes connected to a heating device that heats an indoor space to sense a temperature of fluid flowing through the heating pipes, and a controller. The controller may be configured to determine whether a boiler is operating to heat an indoor space or is operating to supply hot water based on a sensing value of the first temperature sensor. The compressor may operate when the controller determines that the boiler is not operating to heat the indoor space and/or determines that the boiler is operating to supply hot water.
Claims17
A heat pump, comprising:
- a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant;
- at least one heating pipe configured to connect to a heating device including a tube through which a fluid flows for heating an indoor space;
- a first temperature sensor provided in the at least one heating pipe and configured to sense a fluid temperature of fluid flowing through the at least one heating pipe;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- calculate a rate of change of the fluid temperature of fluid flowing through the at least one heating pipe based on the fluid temperature sensed by the first temperature sensor;
- determine whether a boiler is operating to heat the indoor space based on the calculated rate of change of the fluid temperature;
- and
- control the compressor based on an operation of the boiler.
A method of controlling a heat pump, the method comprising:
- sensing via a first temperature sensor a fluid temperature of fluid flowing through at least one heating pipe;
- calculating a rate of change of the fluid temperature of the fluid flowing through the at least one heating pipe based on the fluid temperature sensed by the first temperature sensor;
- determining whether a boiler is operating to heat an indoor space based on the calculated rate of change of the fluid temperature;
- and
- operating a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant based on an operation of the boiler, wherein the first temperature sensor is provided in the at least one heating pipe to sense the fluid temperature of fluid flowing through the at least one heating pipe, and wherein the at least one heating pipe is connected to a heating device including a tube through which a fluid flows for heating the indoor space.
A heating system, comprising:
- a boiler having a combustion heating device to heat a first fluid and a first heat exchanger configured to exchange heat between the first fluid and a second fluid;
- a dispenser configured to dispense the heated second fluid to a user;
- and
- a heat pump including:
- a compressor to compress a third fluid;
- a temperature sensor provided in at least one heating pipe connected to the tube and configured to sense a temperature of the first fluid flowing through the at least one heating pipe;
- an outdoor unit provided in an outdoor space and having a second heat exchanger to exchange heat between air of the outdoor space and the third fluid,
- an indoor unit provided in an indoor space and having a third heat exchanger to exchange heat between air of the indoor space and the third fluid, and
- a fourth heat exchanger to exchange heat between the third fluid and the first fluid, wherein the heat pump is configured to:
- calculate a rate of change of the temperature of the first fluid flowing through the at least one heating pipe based on the temperature of the first fluid sensed by the temperature sensor, determine whether the boiler is operating to heat the indoor space based on the calculated rate of change of the temperature of the first fluid, and operate the compressor based on an operation of the boiler.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.