Abstract:
A system and method to retrofit a building structure having a forced air cooling system with a thermal storage system. The method typically includes the steps of installing a coolant loop that is free of a compressor, and a condenser, where the coolant loop comprises a refrigerant fluid pump and refrigerant fluid conduits that deliver coolant loop refrigerant fluid to a coolant loop evaporator spaced within a building air cooling passageway that delivers air to at least a portion of the interior volume of the a building structure and in thermal communication with air passing through the passageway and where the coolant loop is in thermal communication with a thermal energy storage material within a thermal energy thermal storage fluid tank; and activating the coolant loop pump to provide cooling to the coolant loop evaporator thereby cooling air moving in the building air passageway of a building structure.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claim priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/622,840, filed on Apr. 11, 2012, entitled LOW ENERGY AIR CONDITIONING WITH TRUE COMFORT CONTROL, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Air conditioning systems for building structures, dwellings or individual rooms have historically utilized a standard vapor compression cooling system to cool an interior volume of a building structure  2  containing walls  4  and/or ceilings  6 . A traditional home or building air conditioning system is shown schematically in  FIG. 1 . As shown there, the air conditioning system  10  typically includes an exterior positioned machine compartment housing  12  mounted on a base platform  14  where the housing  12  contains a single outlet, single input compressor  16 , a condenser  18 , and a thermal expansion device  20 . These traditional systems also typically include a fan  22  associated with condenser  18 , the size of which depends on various factors. For whole dwelling/building systems, which the compressor and condenser must provide higher cooling capacity, the systems are sized to match thermal load and are typically larger. Coolant fluid conduits  24  deliver coolant through the vapor compression system and deliver coolant fluid that has passed through the compressor, the condenser and the throttling device to a single evaporator  26  that operates at a single evaporator pressure located within an air passageway  28  within the building structure  2 . The air passageway could be an air duct, air vents of a room air conditioning system or a portion of the building&#39;s interior heating, ventilation and air conditioning machine compartment located within the building structure  2 . Typically, the evaporator  26  is positioned within the building&#39;s heating ventilation and air conditioning machine compartment. The air passageway  28  typically has an air circulation fan  30  associated with it to distribute air through the building structure  2  or into a portion of the building structure. The air circulation fan delivers air across the single evaporator where it is cooled and the cooled air  32  distributed to the volume of interior air to be cooled. Air is returned to the evaporator as shown by reference numeral  34 . Typically, a building structure may have an exterior air inlet/path that allows exterior air to enter, typically passively enter, the building structure from outside the building structure either directly into the air passageway  28  or into the building structure air where the exterior air is then circulated within the building structure. 
         [0003]    While this system does cool the building structure interior it typically does not allow for regulation of both the temperature and humidity of the interior of a building structure. When this traditional air conditioner is used, humidity is removed based upon the temperature of the single evaporator. A person within the interior volume of the building structure might want more or less humidity removed from the air within the building structure than what is allowed by such single evaporator systems. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    One aspect of the present invention is generally directed toward a retrofittable thermal storage system configured to be used in connection with a building structure forced air cooling system that includes: a forced air cooling system that includes a compressor, a condenser, a thermal expansion device, a forced air evaporator positioned within a building air cooling passageway that delivers air to at least a portion of the interior volume of the a building structure and in thermal communication with air passing through the passageway, and fluid conduits carrying refrigerant fluid and operably and refrigerant fluidly coupling, the compressor, the condenser, the thermal expansion device, and the evaporator; a retrofitted thermal storage system that includes a coolant loop that is free of a compressor and free of a condenser, wherein the coolant loop comprises a refrigerant fluid pump and refrigerant fluid conduits that deliver coolant loop refrigerant fluid to a coolant loop evaporator spaced within the building air cooling passageway that delivers air to at least a portion of the interior volume of the a building structure and in thermal communication with air passing through the passageway where the coolant loop is in thermal communication with a thermal energy storage material within a thermal energy thermal storage fluid tank; and a charging vapor compression system that includes a charging vapor compression system evaporator positioned in thermal communication with the thermal energy storage material, a charging compressor, a charging condenser, and a charging thermal expansion device. 
         [0005]    Yet another aspect of the present invention is generally directed toward a retrofittable thermal storage system configured to be used in connection with a building structure forced air cooling system that includes: a forced air cooling system having a compressor, a condenser, a thermal expansion device, a forced air evaporator positioned within a building air cooling passageway that delivers air to at least a portion of the interior volume of the a building structure and in thermal communication with air passing through the air passageway and fluid conduits carrying refrigerant fluid and operably and refrigerant fluidly coupling, the compressor, the condenser, the thermal expansion device, and the evaporator; and a retrofitted thermal storage system that includes a coolant loop that is free of a compressor, a condenser, and a thermal exchange element where the coolant loop has a refrigerant fluid pump and refrigerant fluid conduits that deliver coolant loop refrigerant fluid to a coolant loop evaporator spaced within the building air cooling passageway that delivers air to at least a portion of the interior volume of the a building structure and in thermal communication with air passing through the passageway and where the coolant loop is in thermal communication with a thermal energy storage material within a thermal energy thermal storage fluid tank. 
         [0006]    Another aspect of the present invention is generally directed to a method to retrofit a building structure having a forced air cooling system with a thermal storage system. The method typically includes the steps of: installing a coolant loop that is free of a compressor, and a condenser, where the coolant loop comprises a refrigerant fluid pump and refrigerant fluid conduits that deliver coolant loop refrigerant fluid to a coolant loop evaporator spaced within a building air cooling passageway that delivers air to at least a portion of the interior volume of the a building structure and in thermal communication with air passing through the passageway and where the coolant loop is in thermal communication with a thermal energy storage material within a thermal energy thermal storage fluid tank; and activating the coolant loop pump to provide cooling to the coolant loop evaporator thereby cooling air moving in the building air passageway of a building structure to provide cooling to at least a portion of an interior volume of a building structure. 
         [0007]    These and other features, advantages, and objects of the present invention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art by reference to the following specification, claims, and appended drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings, certain embodiment(s) which are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. Drawings are not necessarily to scale, but relative special relationships are shown and the drawings may be to scale especially where indicated. As such, in the description or as would be apparent to those skilled in the art certain features of the invention may be exaggerated in scale or shown in schematic form in the interest of clarity and conciseness. 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of traditional air conditioning system employing a single evaporator operating at a single evaporating pressure and a single inlet and single outlet compressor; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a schematic view of an air conditioning system for a building structure according to an aspect of the present invention employing a dual suction compressor and two evaporators operating at two different evaporating temperatures; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a schematic view of an air conditioning system for a building structure according to an aspect of the present invention employing a dual suction compressor and two evaporators operating at two different evaporating temperatures with one evaporator treating air taken in from the outdoor air and thereafter into the air passageway of the air conditioning system; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4   a  is a thermodynamic cycle of a dual suction and dual discharge compressor containing air treatment system that may be utilized in connection methods of improving efficiency of the air conditioning system according to an aspect of the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4   b  is a thermodynamic cycle of a dual discharge compressor containing air treatment system that may be utilized in connection methods of improving efficiency of the air conditioning system according to an aspect of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  shows a compressor according to an aspect of the present invention showing dual suction; 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  shows another embodiment of a single suction compressor employing a three-way valve either inside the compressor or outside the compressor housing (the housing shown by the dashed line) according to an aspect of the present invention enabling dual suction; 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  shows another embodiment of a compressor employing two solenoid valves on either inside the compressor or outside the compressor housing (the housing shown by the dashed line) according to an aspect on the present invention showing dual suction; 
           [0017]      FIG. 8   a  is a schematic view of a dual suction-dual discharge compressor; 
           [0018]      FIG. 8   b  is a schematic view of a single discharge compressor with a dual discharging switching mechanism; 
           [0019]      FIG. 9  is a schematic view of a dual discharge compressor containing air conditioning system of the type described in the thermodynamic cycle of  FIG. 4   b  according to an aspect of the present invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 10  is a schematic view of a dual suction and dual discharge compressor containing air conditioning system of the type described in the thermodynamic cycle of  FIG. 4   a  according to an aspect of the present invention; 
           [0021]      FIG. 11   a  is a top schematic view of an evaporator system according to an aspect of the present invention employing evaporator coils operating at different temperatures and interconnected with common fins; 
           [0022]      FIG. 11   b  is an elevated schematic side view of the evaporator of  FIG. 11   a;    
           [0023]      FIG. 12   a  is a top schematic view of an evaporator system according to an aspect of the present invention employing evaporator coils operating at different temperatures that are disconnected by having fins of one evaporator constructed and aligned to feed airflow into the fins of the lower temperature evaporator; 
           [0024]      FIG. 12   b  is an elevated schematic side view of the evaporator of  FIG. 12   a;    
           [0025]      FIG. 13  is a schematic view of another aspect of the present invention showing a retrofitted air conditioning thermal storage system; 
           [0026]      FIG. 14  is a schematic view of another aspect of the present invention showing a retrofitted air conditioning thermal storage system; 
           [0027]      FIG. 15  is a schematic view of a split air conditioning system according to another aspect of the present invention; and 
           [0028]      FIG. 16  is another schematic view of a single outdoor air conditioning system according to another aspect of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0029]    Before the subject invention is described further, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiments of the invention described below, as variations of the particular embodiments may be made and still fall within the scope of the appended claims. It is also to be understood that the terminology employed is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments, and is not intended to be limiting. Instead, the scope of the present invention will be established by the appended claims. 
         [0030]    Where a range of values is provided, it is understood that each intervening value, to the tenth of the unit of the lower limit unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, between the upper and lower limit of that range, and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range, is encompassed within the invention. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges may independently be included in the smaller ranges, and are also encompassed within the invention, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range. Where the stated range includes one or both of the limits, ranges excluding either or both of those included limits are also included in the invention. 
         [0031]    In this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” include plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. 
         [0032]    The present invention is generally directed toward improved, more efficient air conditioning systems  110  for building structures  2 . The air conditioning systems  110  relate to building structure air conditioning systems  110  that treat the air within all or a portion of the interior of a building structure. The systems discussed herein may be employed as whole building treatment systems, one room air conditioning systems, such as often employed by hotels, and all systems sized in-between. Conceivably, the systems could be used to treat only a portion of a single room. Essentially, the systems may be scaled as desired to work to treat whatever volume of internal space within a building structure as may be desired. 
         [0033]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , air conditioning systems  110  according to various aspects of the present invention for building structures or individual rooms utilize a vapor compression cooling system to cool an interior volume of a building structure  2  that employs a dual suction compressor  116  ( FIG. 2 ), a dual suction-dual discharge compressor  117  ( FIG. 10 ) or a dual discharge compressor  119  ( FIG. 9 ). As shown in  FIG. 2 , the air conditioning system  110  typically includes an exterior positioned machine compartment housing  112  mounted on a base platform  114  where the housing  112  contains a dual suction compressor  116 , a condenser  118 , and a number of thermal expansion device  120  that typically matches the number of evaporators of the system. The air conditioning systems  110  of the present invention also typically include one or more fan  122  associated with condenser  118 , the size and number of which depends on various factors. For whole building (home) systems that require more cooling capacity, the compressor and condenser must provide the higher cooling capacity, the fan(s) are larger and/or move air at a faster rate to cool the condenser adequately. 
         [0034]    Coolant fluid conduits  124  deliver coolant through the vapor compression system and deliver coolant fluid that has passed through the compressor  116 , the condenser  118  and the throttling device  120  to a plurality of evaporators  126 ,  127  (two are shown, but more than two could conceivably be employed and even greater efficiencies obtained) that operate within an air passageway  128  within the building structure  2 . The air passageway could be an air duct, air vents of a room air conditioning system or a portion of the building&#39;s interior heating, ventilation and air conditioning machine compartment located within the building structure  2 . Typically, the evaporators  126  and  127  are positioned proximate the building&#39;s heating ventilation and air conditioning machine compartment or within a portion of it. The air passageway  128  typically has an air circulation fan  130  associated with it to distribute air through the building structure  2  or into a portion of the building structure when the air conditioning system  110  treats a single room or an area smaller than an entire interior volume of a building structure. The air circulation fan delivers air across the evaporators  126 ,  127  where the air is cooled at two different evaporator temperatures and the cooled air  132  is distributed to the volume of interior air to be cooled within the building structure. Air is returned to the evaporator as shown by reference numeral  134 . Typically, a building structure may have an exterior air inlet/path that allows exterior air to enter, typically passively enter, the building structure from outside the building structure either directly into the air passageway  128  or into the building structure air where the exterior air is then circulated within the building structure. 
         [0035]      FIG. 3  shows a similar system to  FIG. 2 ; however, the evaporator  126 , which is the higher temperature evaporator as discussed more herein, conditions air from outside and allows for greater quantities of external (fresh) air to enter the building structure thereby improving the air quality of the air inside the building structure such as a home. As discussed in the Environmental Protection Agency&#39;s publication entitled “ The Inside Story: A Guide to Indoor Air Quality ,” outdoor air enters and leaves a house by: infiltration, natural ventilation, and mechanical ventilation. Infiltration describes outdoor air flows into the house through openings, joints, and cracks in walls, floors, and ceilings, and around windows and doors. Air moves through natural ventilation through opened windows and doors. Infiltration and natural ventilation is primarily caused by air temperature differences between indoors and outdoors and by wind. A number of mechanical ventilation devices exist to allow more outdoor air inside such as outdoor-vented fans that intermittently remove air from a single room, such as bathrooms and kitchens, and air handling systems that use fans and duct work to continuously remove indoor air and distribute filtered and conditioned outdoor air to strategic points throughout the house. The rate at which outdoor air replaces indoor air is the air exchange rate. When there is little infiltration, natural ventilation, or mechanical ventilation, the air exchange rate is low and indoor pollutant levels can increase. The present invention significantly increases the air exchange rate when the system of  FIG. 3  is employed allowing for direct intake of outdoor air into the air conditioning system. Typically, the intake is fluidly coupled to, more typically proximate, a suction side of an air moving device such as a fan. For example, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the intake is fluidly coupled and proximate the air circulation fan  130 , which draws. 
         [0036]    The air conditioning system allows for the pretreatment of the outdoor air by the higher temperature evaporator  126 . The higher temperature evaporator  126  is typically positioned just inside the building structure proximate one or more vents  138 , which can be automatically or manually opened or closed. Instead of venting, louvers or other air closing mechanisms might be employed instead or in addition to the venting. In this manner the air conditioning system regulates and controls the volume of fresh, exterior air supplied to the system and thereby to the interior of the building structure. The addition of more fresh, exterior air from outside the building structure helps improve indoor air quality. The system is typically designed to strike a balance between the amount of fresh air and the energy efficiency. Due to the increased energy efficiency of the present invention, for the same amount of energy, the system can introduce fresh air from outside the building structure and therefore improve indoor air quality. Alternatively, energy efficiency may be further enhanced with less fresh, exterior air supplied to the system. 
         [0037]    In the context of the present invention, a control unit  140  may be in signal communication with each of the components of the air conditioning systems of the present invention to dynamically adjust various elements of the system, including the compressor cooling capacity, to maximize energy efficiency. The control unit  140  may optionally receive one or more signals or other input from a user input such as the desired temperature for a given building structure interior volume or, for example, temperature sensors within a building structure or input from the compressor regarding the cooling capacity being supplied by the compressor. The control unit  140 , which might be a computer system or processor such as a microprocessor, for example, is typically configured to dynamically adjust the functions of the various types (dual suction, dual suction-dual discharge, and dual discharge) compressors of the present invention, including, in the case of  FIGS. 2-3 , the functioning of the switching mechanism of the dual suction compressor, based upon one or more or all of these inputs to create the most efficient system possible. The control unit  140  also may control the one or more vents  138  between an open and closed position and any position there between and may also regulate the total cooling capacity being supplied by the compressor when the compressor is a variable capacity compressor such as a linear compressor or an oil-less, orientation flexible linear compressor. However, the application more likely will utilize a reciprocating compressor or a scroll compressor, which can be either single or variable capacity. It is also possible to further improve the efficiency of the system by also regulating and varying appropriately the fan(s) and/or compressor cooling capacity modulation through, for example, compressor speed or stroke length in the case of a linear compressor. 
         [0038]    The present invention includes the use of multiple (dual) evaporator systems that employ a switching mechanism for return of coolant to the compressor. The switching mechanism allows the system to better match total thermal loads with the cooling capacities provided by the compressor. Generally speaking, the system gains efficiency by employing the switching mechanism, which allows rapid suction port switching, typically on the order of a fraction of a second. The switching mechanism can be switched at a fast pace, typically about 30 seconds or less or exactly 30 seconds or less, more typically about 0.5 seconds or less or exactly 0.5 seconds or less, and most typically about 10 milliseconds or less or exactly 10 milliseconds or less (or any time interval from about 30 seconds or less). As a result, the system rapidly switches between a lower temperature evaporator  127  cooling operation mode and a higher temperature evaporator  126  cooling operation mode. The compressor  112  may be a variable capacity compressor, such as a linear compressor, in particular an oil-less linear compressor, which is an orientation flexible compressor (i.e., it operates in any orientation not just a standard upright position, but also a vertical position and an inverted position, for example). The compressor is typically a dual suction compressor (See  FIG. 5 ) or a single suction compressor (See  FIGS. 6-7 ) with an external switching mechanism. When the compressor is a single suction compressor ( FIG. 6-7 ), it typically provides non-simultaneous dual suction from the coolant fluid conduits  144  from the higher temperature air treatment evaporator and the lower temperature air treatment evaporator 
         [0039]    As shown in  FIGS. 2-3 , one aspect of the present invention utilizes a sequential, dual evaporator refrigeration system as the air conditioning system  110 . The dual evaporator refrigeration system shown in  FIG. 2  employs a lower temperature evaporator  127  and a higher temperature evaporator  126  are each fed by coolant fluid conduits  124  engaged to two separate expansion devices  120 . Due to the evaporating pressure differences cooling the air at different operating temperatures, the evaporators do not continuously feed refrigerant flow to the suction lines simultaneously and thus are activated as cooling is needed at different levels and to regulate the humidity of the air. In this sense, a major advantage of the dual (or multiple) evaporator system is that the higher temperature evaporator runs at a higher temperature than the lower temperature evaporator, thereby increasing the overall coefficient of performance (See  FIG. 4   a  for a dual suction/dual discharge compressor and  FIG. 4   b  for dual discharge compressor). 
         [0040]    Because the higher temperature evaporator coolant circuit operates at a much higher temperature than the lower temperature evaporator coolant circuit operates, the thermodynamic efficiency of the cooling system is improved. For example, assuming that the evaporating temperature is 7.2° C. and the condensing temperature is 54.4° C. and the isentropic efficiency (including motor efficiency) is 0.6, the COP of the cooling system would be estimated at 2.69. In a dual suction compressor system, assuming the coolant circuits are 50% and 50% in terms of heat transfer area and assuming the first circuit operates at an evaporating temperature of 17° C., the first circuit COP is 3.66. The overall COP of the system employing a dual suction system would be (0.5*3.66)+(2.69*0.5)=3.175. This amounts to about an 18% improvement in system COP compared to the conventional single suction compressor system. The analysis assumes that the condensing temperature is the same for both circuits. In fact, the condensing temperature will be higher for dual suction compressor system so the actual COP will be lower than 18%, but significant COP are achieved using such dual suction systems. The overall coefficient of performance is a weighted average of the coefficient of performance of the higher temperature evaporator containing circuit and the lower temperature as follows: 
         [0000]      COP Total   ==X *COP HTE +(1− X )*COP LTE  
 
         [0000]    “X” is the ratio of high temperature evaporator cooling rate to the total cooling rate the system provides. 
         [0041]    As discussed above, the first evaporator may treat the initial air either within the air passageway directly in line with the second evaporator ( FIG. 2 ) or it may be positioned to pre-cool and dehumidify air received from outside the building structure ( FIG. 3 ). The lower temperature evaporator  127 , which operates at a lower pressure (colder temperature), may be used to pull more moisture out of the air and thereby regulate humidity in an interior volume of the building structure. Similarly, if the higher temperature evaporator is used more to cool the interior air of the building structure, the humidity level would be higher. There would be less latent cooling and thus less moisture removed from the air. 
         [0042]    While the use of two evaporators is the typical configuration of this embodiment of the present invention, the configuration could conceivably utilize, three, four, or more evaporators positioned at various outdoor air intakes or locations within the air passageways. So long as the lower temperature evaporator circuit is at a lower temperature than the higher temperature evaporator circuit and the average temperature of the two evaporators is warmer than the average temperatures of the air passing through a single evaporator, efficiencies are gained. 
         [0043]    An aspect of the present invention includes increasing the efficiency of the air conditioning system by rapidly switching between the lower temperature evaporator operation mode and a higher temperature evaporator operation mode. Where T 1  is the opening time of the high pressure suction port; T 2  is the opening time of the low pressure suction port; T_on is the compressor on time; and the T_off is the compressor off time, by varying T 1 , T 2 , T_on and T_off, it is possible to most efficiently meet the total thermal load requirements of the building structure interior volume being cooled with the cooling capacity (fixed or variable) provided by the compressor to thereby increase the overall coefficient of performance of the coolant system of the air conditioning system. It is also possible to further improve the efficiency of the system by also regulating and varying appropriately the fan(s) and/or compressor cooling capacity modulation through, for example, compressor speed or stroke length in the case of a linear compressor. 
         [0044]    The compressor  116  may be a standard reciprocating or rotary compressor, a variable capacity compressor, including but not limited to a linear compressor, or a multiple intake compressor system (see  FIGS. 5-7 ). When a standard reciprocating or rotary compressor with a single suction port is used the system further includes a switching mechanism  150  containing compressor system (see  FIG. 6-7 ). As shown in  FIG. 5 , a dual suction compressor  116  according to an aspect of the present invention may utilize a valving system  142  incorporated into the compressor that contains two coolant fluid intake streams  144 , one from the lower temperature evaporator and one from the higher temperature evaporator. When a linear compressor, which can be on oil-less linear compressor, is utilized, the linear compressor has a variable capacity modulation, which is typically larger than a 3 to 1 modulation capacity typical with a variable capacity reciprocating compressor. The modulation low end is limited by lubrication and modulation scheme. 
         [0045]      FIGS. 6-7  generally show a switching mechanism  150  according to the present invention.  FIG. 5 , as discussed above, shows a valving system  142  that is used in dual suction port compressor systems.  FIGS. 6 and 7  show a switching mechanism  150  that can be positioned either external or within a single suction port system that allows for two or more fluid intake conduits  144  to feed into the single suction port. A compressor piston  146  is utilized in each dual coolant fluid intake systems shown in  FIGS. 5-7 . In the case of  FIG. 5 , coolant fluid is received into the piston chamber  148  from the lower temperature evaporator and higher temperature evaporator fluid conduits when the piston  146  is drawn backward, the piston chamber intake valves  152  are both opened, or, when the solenoid switch  154  is activated, only coolant fluid from the lower temperature evaporator fluid conduit is drawn in, and the piston chamber intake valve  152  associated with the intake from the higher temperature evaporator fluid conduit is not actuated, but retained in a closed position. When the piston stroke is actuated toward the piston chamber valves, piston chamber outlet valve  156  is opened by fluid pressure to allow coolant fluid to pass to the condenser  118 . 
         [0046]    Alternatively, depending on which circuit will be open more frequently, when the higher temperature evaporator circuit is opened less frequently such as will typically be the case in the case of the system of  FIG. 3 , the valve  152  to the higher temperature evaporator circuit might be biased, typically by a spring, to a normally closed position and the solenoid would bias the valve to the open position when cooling is requested by the system. In this manner still further energy is saved. Additionally, the solenoid valve could be of the latching type that requires only a pulse (typically on the order of 100-1500 milliseconds) of energy to actuate. 
         [0047]    An alternative embodiment is shown in  FIGS. 6-7 , which show a single piston chamber intake valve  152 , which is fed from a switching mechanism  150 . The switching system  150  as shown by lines  158  and  160 , which represent the housing of the compressor, may be within the housing of the compressor when the housing is at position  158  relative to the switching mechanism  150  and outside of the housing when the housing is in position  160  relative to the switching mechanism  150 . The position of the housing (represented by reference numerals  158  and  160 ) in  FIGS. 6 and 7  are simply meant to display that the switching mechanism  150  may be outside of the housing or within the housing of the single suction compressor. The switching mechanism  150  may employ a magnetically actuated solenoid system where obstruction  162  is actuated between a first position (shown in  FIG. 6 ) allowing refrigerant coolant to flow from the (higher pressure/temperature) evaporator and a second position (not shown) where the obstruction  162  is positioned to block fluid paths from the higher pressure/temperature evaporator and allow refrigerant to flow from the (lower pressure/temperature) evaporator. The alternative embodiment shown in  FIG. 7  shows two solenoid valves  164  that may be controlled by the control unit  140  to be in an open or closed position. The solenoid valves  164  alternate coolant flows to the compressor between coolant from the first fluid conduit and the second fluid conduit. The solenoid valves are typically only opened one at a time. In the embodiments of  FIGS. 5-7  of the compressor systems, the pressure of the coolant fluid leaving the compressor for the condenser is significantly higher than the pressure of the coolant received from the higher temperature evaporator or the lower temperature evaporator, but the pressure of the coolant received from the higher temperature evaporator fluid conduit is greater than the coolant received from the lower temperature evaporator fluid conduit. This, as discussed above, allows for greater efficiencies of the overall coolant system. 
         [0048]    As shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 , still further efficiencies can be gained on the air conditioning systems by using a multi/dual discharge compressor that is either a single suction (see  FIG. 9 ) or a multi (dual-) suction compressor (see  FIG. 10 ). In the case of dual discharge compressors, the dual discharge coolant fluid conduits typically independently feed separate thermal expansion devices  120 ′,  120 ″ after passing through the condenser  118 . The refrigerant flows from the first circuit  166  of the condenser to the evaporator  127  via a less restrictive thermal expansion device  120 ′ and from the second circuit  168  of the condenser to the evaporator  127  via a more restrictive thermal expansion device  120 ″ than the thermal expansion device  120 ′. The dual discharge compressor  117 ,  119  rapidly switches between the two discharge ports. The frequency of the switching and the duration of operation of each port can be controlled by the control unit  140  to match the heat load requirement of each circuit of the condenser. Since the first circuit operates at a lower condensing temperature, the thermodynamic efficiency of the cooling system is improved as shown in  FIG. 4   b.    
         [0049]    Similar systems as used in connection with the suction side of the compressor may also be used in connection with the discharge side of the compressor. The compressor may be a dual suction-dual discharge compressor ( FIG. 8   a ). As shown in  FIG. 8   a , the compressor may include two intakes  144  and two outlet valves  156 . Alternatively, as shown in  FIG. 8   b , a switching mechanism may be used on the discharge side of the compressor and positioned within or outside the housing of the compressor. The switching mechanism may use a magnetic actuated obstruction or, more typically one or more solenoid valves  164  to regulate the outgoing flow of coolant fluid to the compressor coils. 
         [0050]    As shown in  FIG. 10 , the system using a dual discharge compressor may be combined with the use of a dual suction aspect to the compressor to provide the dynamic adjustability to make the system as efficient as possible by taking advantage of the concepts of dual suction efficiency discussed above and the concepts of dual discharge and rapid switching also discussed above. Conceivably, the compressor may have multiple suction ports and multiple discharge ports. More than two of each could be employed to create still further efficiencies and flexibility in humidity adjustment as discussed herein. 
         [0051]    The systems with dual discharge may use the staged condenser coils to provide heating to a household appliance. For example, the condensers might be thermally associated with a water heater or a drying chamber. 
         [0052]      FIGS. 11   a ,  11   b ,  12   a ,  12   b  show two embodiments that show a thermally disjointed evaporator system with the lower temperature and higher temperature evaporators working together to regulate sensible and latent heat but where there is either a thermal break ( FIGS. 11   a ,  11   b ) or physical separation ( FIGS. 12   a ,  12   b ) between the lower temperature evaporator  127  and the higher temperature evaporator  126 . 
         [0053]      FIGS. 11   a  and  11   b  show a disjointed evaporator system  200  that employs the lower temperature evaporator  127  and the higher temperature evaporator  126  in a manner that they share common fins  202 . The common fins have at least one and more typically a plurality of thermal break portions  204  at a distance from the evaporator tubes to elongate and interrupt the conductive heat flow path. The lower temperature evaporator  127  and higher temperature evaporator  126  have a plurality of conduit loops and are parallel with one another. The evaporator coils generally define a first temperature zone of the evaporator system and a second temperature zone of the evaporator system. The zones are generally separated by the thermal break portions  204  that are positioned generally down the center of the evaporator system between the lower temperature evaporator coil section and the higher temperature evaporator coil section of the evaporator system, which are generally each a half of the overall evaporator system. 
         [0054]      FIGS. 12   a , and  12   b  show an alternative disjointed evaporator system that align and position fins  302  and fins  304  relative to one another such that the spacing of the fins that are engaged with the higher temperature evaporator  126  are spaced apart to facilitate the shedding of the condensate off the fins for optimal heat transfer. The spaced apart fins (less than 22 fins per inch, more likely about 14 to about 18 fins per inch) are typically designed to feed the air flow into the space between fins  304  that are operably connected to the lower temperature evaporator, which predominately regulates sensible cooling, but do some dehumidification as well. This construction helps facilitate condensate shedding and the transfer of latent heat and overall heat transfer. The downstream fins  304  have greater fins per inch of evaporator coil than the upstream fins to facilitate heat transfer with the airflow through the fins, for example, the fins might be present in an amount of greater than 22 fins per inch, i.e. 25 fins per inch or more. The lower temperature evaporator  127  and fins  304  would be primarily responsible for mostly sensible cooling and some latent cooling in the system. The higher temperature evaporator  126  and fins  302  would be primarily responsible for most of the latent heat cooling and some sensible cooling. Both evaporators will regulate latent and sensible heat to some degree. These evaporator systems would most typically be employed when the lower temperature and higher temperature evaporators are spaced proximate to one another such as in the embodiment of the present invention depicted schematically in  FIG. 2 . Such configurations with greater spaced apart fins could be used in other embodiments with the evaporators are not proximate one another. For example, in the context of  FIG. 3 , the evaporator system could be used and the evaporators would not be arranged relative to one another and the airflow path to have the airflow over the fins  302  feed between the fins  304 , but the more compact nature of the fins  304  would enhance the sensible heat energy transfer and the more spaced fins  302  would facilitate the initial latent heat energy transfer and subsequent condensate drainage. 
         [0055]      FIGS. 13 and 14  show a retrofittable air conditioning system thermal storage system  400 . The retrofittable thermal storage system by be employed with the air conditioning systems of the present invention or traditional air conditioning systems.  FIGS. 13 and 14  show the retrofittable thermal storage system  400  installed in connection with a traditional air conditioning system such as that shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0056]    The retrofittable thermal storage system  400  is installed to store thermal cooling capacity in an air conditioning system for use during peak usage times when the building structure&#39;s main cooling system is offline or its use curtailed or otherwise minimized. A pump  402 , which may be positioned before or after the thermal energy storage fluid tank  404  along the coolant loop  416 . While shown schematically as pumping coolant fluid in a counterclockwise direction, the directional flow from the pump  402  could be in either direction so long as coolant is in thermal communication/contact the thermal energy storage fluid tank  404  and into the airflow path to be cooled by the heat exchanger  406 . In the aspect of the invention shown in  FIG. 13 , a heat exchanger  412  is positioned in the thermal energy storage fluid tank  404  and operably connected to the coolant fluid lines of the coolant loop  416 . The thermal energy storage fluid tank  404  is cooled, typically during off peak times, by a refrigeration system employing a traditional compressor  16 , condenser  18 , thermal expansion device  20 , fan  22 , and evaporator  26 . The evaporator  26  of the retrofittable thermal storage system  400  is spaced within or otherwise in thermal communication with the thermal energy storage material (fluid)  414  within the thermal energy thermal storage fluid tank  404 . In the embodiment show in  FIG. 14 , the heat exchanger  412  is omitted and the thermal energy storage fluid within the thermal energy thermal storage fluid tank  404  itself operates at the heat exchanger/coolant fluid. Coolant fluid in this instance is the thermal energy storage fluid and is received into the tank through outlet  408  and returns to the coolant loop  416  through inlet  410 . 
         [0057]    As shown in  FIG. 15 , in another embodiment of the present invention, a split air conditioning system  500  may be utilized to drive a plurality of indoor air units  502 . ( FIG. 15  shows two indoor air units but multiple indoor air units can be employed and one or more air units may be positioned in various rooms within a building structure.) Each individual indoor air unit  502  can be turned on or off in a given space. The split indoor air conditioning system  500 , as shown in  FIG. 15 , utilizes the dual suction (multi-suction) compressor concepts described herein to provide greater benefits. Switching the suction valves to feed the evaporators of the various air conditioning units in the interior of the home equally or to provide warmer or cooler evaporator temperatures for the respective rooms is possible using this system. The warmer temperature evaporator would cool the air less but still provide a level of dehumidification. The cooler evaporator could be utilized to chill air more but also dry the air more. The cooling capacity and, thus, the temperature of an evaporator at which it functions is based upon the expansion device but also the flow rate of refrigerant and the suction pressure the evaporator sees from the compressor. If the indoor units are identical with identical expansion device resistance, then the multi-suction valve systems of the present invention can drive either evaporator to a lower or higher pressure relative to the other evaporator(s). Certain ways to accomplish this include: managing the opening and closing of the compressor suction valve(s) or adjusting the timing of valve opening and compressor piston or vane stroke position to achieve the desired pressure level range. In the example shown in  FIG. 15 , the upper section might be a living room which is kept cool and dry and driven by a lower temperature evaporator (50° F.). This will provide more cooling capacity (refrigerant flow at lower evaporator pressure) by biasing the duty cycle of the suction port accordingly. The cycle on/off for use of a variable capacity compressor and fan may be utilized to slow the rate of cooling and achieve a slight rise in temperature (55° F.). 
         [0058]    The lower section of  FIG. 15  might be a bedroom that is kept more cool and moist for optimum comfort (a higher temperature evaporator of about 60° F., for example). This system would provide higher suction pressure and less cooling capacity by biasing the duty cycle of the suction port accordingly. 
         [0059]    The system shown in  FIG. 16  shows a single outdoor unit driving a single (potentially multiple) indoor unit(s) in a split system air conditioner with dual (multi) suction and a two-section coil evaporator. Switching the suction valving in this embodiment provide more or less chilled air temperatures and more or less humidity in a given conditioned living space. The warmer temperature evaporator would cool the air less but still provide a level of dehumidification. A cooler evaporator would chill the air more but dry the air more. In combination, the air can be cooled and dehumidified to the desired level at an increased effective COP. The cooling capacity and the temperature an evaporator runs at is a function of the expansion device restriction, but also the flow rate of the refrigerant and the suction pressure of the evaporator as discussed above. It is this dynamic in the multi-suction systems of the present invention that enables the functionality described above. 
         [0060]      FIG. 15  shows the compressor, which is typically a multi-suction compressor  516 , a fan  518 , a condenser  520 , expansion devices  522 , evaporators  524 , and cross-flow fans  526  all fluidly connected by coolant fluid conduits  528 . The evaporators  524  are each individually spaced in separate building structure cooling zones or rooms,  530  and  532  in  FIG. 15 .  FIG. 16  shows a similar system, but the two evaporators, as discussed above, are in the same unit and used to condition the space within a single zone or room of a structure  534 . 
         [0061]    Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described herein. Such equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the following claims.