Heating and cooling unit

An apparatus for selectively maintaining a structurally enclosed space proximate a desired comfort level, said apparatus comprising:

• a housing having air-communication with said space and with an external environment, said housing including an external inlet that receives air from said external environment, an air outlet port in fluid communication with said enclosed space, an air inlet port that receives air from said space, and an air exhaust port from which air is expelled to said external environment;
• a condenser located in said exhaust port;
• an exhaust fan in said exhaust port;
• a blower in said outlet port;
• an evaporative cooling apparatus, positioned in said housing to use said blower to selectively cool said space;
• a refrigeration apparatus coupled to said condenser, said refrigeration apparatus being positioned in said housing to use said blower to selectively cool said space;
• an actuator mechanism positioned in said housing;
• a damper coupled to said actuator mechanism, said actuator mechanism being operable to move said damper between a first configuration that exploits said evaporative cooling apparatus and a second configuration that exploits said refrigeration apparatus;
• and
• a controller coupled to said exhaust fan, said blower, and said actuator mechanism such that said controller selects one of said first configuration and said second configuration to be an initially selected configuration and selectively disposes said damper and energizes said exhaust fan in response to said selected configuration, wherein:
• said exhaust fan moves air from said inlet port through said refrigeration apparatus, said exhaust fan, said condenser and said exhaust port to said external environment when said damper is in said first configuration;
• and
• said exhaust fan moves air from said external inlet, through said evaporative cooling apparatus, said exhaust fan, said condenser and said exhaust port to said external environment when said damper is in said second configuration.

An apparatus for selectively maintaining a structurally enclosed space proximate a desired comfort level, said apparatus comprising:

• a housing having air-communication with said space and with an external environment, said housing including an external inlet that receives air from said external environment, an air outlet port in fluid communication with said enclosed space, an air inlet port that receives air from said space, an air exhaust port from which air is expelled to said external environment, and a sensor passage having air-communication with said external environment and said exhaust port;
• a condenser located in said exhaust port;
• an exhaust fan in said exhaust port;
• a blower in said outlet port;
• an evaporative cooling apparatus, positioned in said housing to use said blower to selectively cool said space;
• a refrigeration apparatus coupled to said condenser, said refrigeration apparatus being positioned in said housing to use said blower to selectively cool said space;
• an actuator mechanism positioned in said housing;
• a damper coupled to said actuator mechanism, said actuator mechanism being operable to move said damper between a first configuration that exploits said evaporative cooling apparatus and a second configuration that exploits said refrigeration apparatus;
• a controller coupled to said exhaust fan, said blower, and said actuator mechanism such that said controller selects one of said first configuration and said second configuration to be an initially selected configuration and selectively disposes said damper and energizes said exhaust fan in response to said selected configuration;
• a temperature sensor located in said sensor passage and coupled to said controller;
• and
• a relative humidity sensor located in said sensor passage and coupled to said controller said controller being configured to energize said exhaust fan to move air from said external environment through said sensor passage to said exhaust port and convert sensor signals from said temperature sensor and said relative humidity sensor into an ambient dry bulb temperature and an ambient dew point, respectively.

An apparatus for selectively maintaining a structurally enclosed space proximate a desired comfort level, said apparatus comprising:

• a housing having air-communication with said space and with an external environment, said housing including:
• an external inlet that receives air from said external environment;
• an air outlet port in fluid communication with said enclosed space;
• an air inlet port that receives air from said space;
• an air exhaust port from which air is expelled to said external environment;
• and
• a sensor passage having air-communication with said external environment and said exhaust port;
• a temperature sensor located in said sensor passage;
• a relative humidity sensor located in said sensor passage;
• a blower in said outlet port;
• an evaporative cooling apparatus positioned in said housing to use said blower to selectively cool said space;
• a heat pumping apparatus having a condenser located in said exhaust port, said heat pumping apparatus being positioned in said housing to use said blower to selectively supply one of cooled air and heated air to said space;
• an exhaust fan in said exhaust port, said fan being positioned to move air from said inlet port through said exhaust fan, said condenser and said exhaust port to said external environment;
• an actuator mechanism positioned in said housing;
• a damper pivotally mounted at a generally intermediate position of said damper and coupled to said actuator mechanism, said actuator mechanism being operable to move said damper between a first configuration that exploits said evaporative cooling apparatus and a second configuration that exploits said heat pumping apparatus;
• a display panel located inside said space;
• and
• a programmable controller that receives a user supplied comfort level from said display panel, said comfort level being defined by a specified dry bulb temperature and a specified dew point, and said programmable controller being coupled to said temperature sensor, said humidity sensor, said exhaust fan, said blower, and said actuator mechanism such that said controller is configured to energize said exhaust fan for a predetermined duration prior to converting a temperature signal from said temperature sensor into an ambient dry bulb temperature and a humidity signal from said humidity sensor into an ambient dew point and said controller being configured to select one of said first configuration and said second configuration to be an initially selected configuration in response to said user-supplied comfort level, said ambient dry bulb temperature and said ambient dew point, and said controller being further configured to selectively dispose said damper in response to said selected configuration.

An apparatus for selectively maintaining a structurally enclosed space proximate a desired comfort level, said apparatus comprising:

• a housing having air-communication with said space and with an external environment, said housing including:
• an external inlet that receives air from said external environment;
• an air outlet port in fluid communication with said enclosed space;
• an air inlet port that receives air from said space;
• and
• an air exhaust port from which air is expelled to said external environment;
• a blower in said outlet port, said blower having a first inlet opening, a second inlet opening and an exhaust opening;
• a motor coupled to said blower;
• an evaporative cooling apparatus, positioned in said housing to use said blower to selectively cool said space;
• a refrigeration apparatus positioned in said housing to use said blower to selectively cool said space;
• an actuator mechanism positioned in said housing;
• a damper coupled to said actuator mechanism, said actuator mechanism being operable to move said damper between a first configuration that exploits said evaporative cooling apparatus and a second configuration that exploits said refrigeration apparatus;
• a baffle attached at one of said first and second blower inlet openings, said baffle being configured to restrict airflow into said one inlet opening when said damper is in said second configuration;
• and
• a controller coupled to said motor and said actuator mechanism such that said controller selects one of said first configuration and said second configuration to be an initially selected configuration and selectively disposes said damper in response to said selected configuration.

An apparatus for selectively maintaining a structurally enclosed space proximate a desired comfort level, said apparatus comprising:

• a housing having air-communication with said space and with an external environment, said housing including:
• an external inlet that receives air from said external environment;
• an air outlet port in fluid communication with said enclosed space;
• an air inlet port that receives air from said space;
• and
• an air exhaust port from which air is expelled to said external environment;
• a blower positioned at said outlet port of said housing, said blower having a first inlet opening, a second inlet opening and an exhaust opening;
• a motor having a plurality of operating speeds coupled to said blower,
• an evaporative cooling apparatus having a desired operating airflow, said evaporative cooling apparatus being positioned in said housing to use said blower to selectively cool said space;
• a refrigeration apparatus having a desired operating flow lower than said evaporative cooling desired operating flow, said refrigeration apparatus being positioned in said housing to use said blower to selectively cool said space;
• an actuator mechanism positioned in said housing;
• a damper coupled to said actuator mechanism, said actuator mechanism being operable to move said damper between a first configuration that exploits said evaporative cooling apparatus and a second configuration that exploits said refrigeration apparatus;
• a plurality of mounting brackets configured to couple said blower to said housing wherein one of said brackets comprises a baffle attached at one of said first and second blower inlet openings, said blower mounting bracket baffle being dimensioned such that a first total airflow provided by said blower approximately matches said refrigeration desired operating airflow when said damper is in said second configuration and a second total airflow provided by said blower approximately matches said evaporative cooling desired operating airflow when said damper is in said first configuration;
• and
• a controller coupled to said motor and said actuator mechanism such that said controller selects one of said first configuration and said second configuration to be an initially selected configuration and selectively disposes said damper and said motor operating speed in response to said selected configuration.