Heat pump apparatus and method for controlling regulating valve

Abstract

It is aimed to provide a heat pump type hot-water supply outdoor apparatus that can control a temperature of a compressor shell, according to a water temperature of a water circuit and a temperature of the compressor. A heat pump type hot-water supply outdoor apparatus includes a refrigeration cycle including a compressor, a water-refrigerant heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and an air heat exchanger, a water jacket that is arranged on the shell of the compressor and connected in the middle of a branch water circuit branching in parallel to a main water circuit which starts from a hot water storage tank and returns to the hot water storage tank through a water-refrigerant heat exchanger, a water flow valve that is connected between a branch and the water jacket and regulates the quantity of water flow, according to a control signal, a shell temperature detection sensor that senses a temperature of the shell of the compressor, a water temperature sensor that is installed in the vicinity of the branch and senses a temperature of the water flowing out of the hot water storage tank, and a control apparatus that generates a control signal for controlling the water flow valve, based on the temperature sensed by the shell temperature detection sensor and the temperature sensed by the water temperature sensor, and outputs it to the water flow valve.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.