Energy Reducing Retrofit Apparatus For A Constant Volume HVAC System
AssigneeTransformative Wave Technologies LLC
InventorsDanny MILLER, Justin SIPE
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An energy-reducing method and apparatus for retrofitting a single zone, constant volume HVAC system, with or without an economizer, that provides heating, cooling, and ventilation to occupants within a building space. The present invention includes the introduction of a programmable logic controller and variable frequency drive (VFD) that takes control of the existing fan, heating, cooling, and optional economizer operation. The reduction of the fan speed in the ventilation mode when the 100% operation is not needed saves significant energy of the existing constant volume HVAC system where the fan motor is designed to run 100% of the time.
Claims30
A system comprising:
- a variable frequency drive configured to drive a fan motor of an HVAC system within a range of fan motor speeds to ventilate an indoor space, the HVAC system having a cooling assembly that includes at least one of an economizer or a compressor;
- and
- a controller configured to (i) communicate with the variable frequency drive, (ii) receive signals corresponding to whether the indoor space is less than fully occupied, (iii) control the variable frequency drive to reduce a speed of the fan motor based on the received signals, (iv) and determine at least one of a fan fault, a temperature-based fault, or an energy consumption fault.
A method comprising:
- receiving, with a controller of an HVAC system for an indoor space, signals corresponding to whether the indoor space is less than fully occupied, the HVAC system having a cooling assembly that includes at least one of an economizer or a compressor;
- controlling, with the controller, a variable frequency drive that drives a fan motor of the HVAC system within a range of fan motor speeds to ventilate the indoor space by reducing the speed of the fan motor based on the received signals;
- and
- determining, with the controller, at least one of a fan fault, a temperature-based fault, or an energy consumption fault.
A system comprising:
- a controller configured to (i) communicate with a variable frequency drive that is configured to drive a fan motor of an HVAC system within a range of fan motor speeds to ventilate an indoor space, the HVAC system having a cooling assembly that includes at least one of an economizer or a compressor, (ii) receive signals corresponding to whether the indoor space is less than fully occupied, (iii) control the variable frequency drive to reduce a speed of the fan motor based on the received signals, (iv) and determine at least one of a fan fault, a temperature-based fault, or an energy consumption fault.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.