Patent Description:
The floor panels in radiating systems are used to raise and/or lower the room temperature in order to reach the target temperature set by the end user.

The room temperature, set by the end user conventionally by means of a daily/weekly hourly scheduler, may be a fixed value used during the <NUM> hours, as well as a value which changes during the <NUM> hours and according to the days of the week.

Floor panels provide the advantage of being capable of distributing the heat/cold in uniform manner through the entire surface of the rooms, for example in homes, while minimizing the convective motions which induce discomfort in the case of thermo-syphons (for the heating mode alone) and fan coils (for the heating and cooling mode) and the related non-homogeneity of the temperature in the rooms.

There are multiple disadvantages in the systems using radiating floor panels and they are discussed below.

The power which may be emitted by the floor in heating/cooling mode is limited to maximum values to avoid feet from being excessively heated/cooled.

Moreover, again in heating/cooling mode, the high thermal inertia of the screed makes the response times very long (several days may be required to heat a home when the floor system has been switched OFF for a long period of time).

The high inertia may cause problems for regulating the room temperature because phenomena of the room temperature oscillating around the set temperature may be generated, especially in low inertia homes, which are typical of new construction.

The problem of high thermal inertia is currently resolved either with floor systems with reduced thickness of the screed or even dry floor systems, therefore with minimized inertia, or by employing ceiling or wall radiating systems as an alternative or in addition to the floor panels.

On the other hand, systems of this type are much costlier than the high inertia floor system.

Specifically with regard to the cooling mode, floor (or ceiling/wall) cooling involves reducing the temperature of the radiating surface up to such a point that the humidity contained in the air of the rooms may condensate on the surface itself.

To avoid this, it is necessary to install humidity sensors in the home which control the switching ON of one or more dehumidifiers so as to ensure the humidity in the different rooms does not exceed the condensation value (while obviously maintaining a given safety margin).

In order to decrease the cost of the system, simplify the management thereof and reduce the cooling mode response time, the floor system is increasingly used for the heating mode and the fan coils for the cooling mode.

For example, one or more fan coils may be used in a same room, controlled by a room temperature sensor (with/without daily/weekly scheduling) according to the size of the room for a quick cooling thereof.

Solutions employing a single fan coil serving multiple rooms by virtue of channeled outlets of the fan coils, also exist.

Patent document <CIT> discloses a heat pump system according to the preamble of claim <NUM>. Said system is configured for preventing condensation that employs a combination of radiative cooling and convective cooling.

Patent document <CIT> discloses an example of a joint water boiler-air/air heat pump air conditioning system coupled to a photovoltaic system.

The disadvantage of these solutions with fan coils is that two emission systems (floor/ceiling/wall emission systems, called radiating panels in the present description, and fan coil emission systems, called fan coils) are available which are used in uncoupled manner (the fan coils for cooling and the radiating systems for heating), thus renouncing the advantages of the relative emissions systems (fan coils: rapidity; floor: comfort uniformity).

Moreover, in the case of self-consumption of self-generated energy, for example photovoltaic (PV), the use of the fan coils alone in the cooling mode does not allow thermal energy to be stored in the floor, thus limiting the possibility of self-consumption.

There are actually three systems which operate independently from one another in the case where room temperature sensors with related actuators are used to open/close air vents to allow/not allow the inlet of air into the individual rooms, with obvious problems in terms of costs and management.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to at least partially overcome the aforesaid drawbacks.

The invention achieves the object with a heat pump system for heating and/or cooling rooms as defined in claim <NUM>. Preferred embodiments for achieving the invention are defined in the dependent claims. According to the invention, the heat pump system comprises at least one heat source capable of heating and/or cooling a heat-carrying fluid, conventionally water, radiating panels in fluid-dynamic connection with the heat source to receive the heat-carrying fluid by means of at least a first delivery duct, such radiating panels being configured to heat and/or cool the room in which they are adapted to be placed, by radiative heat. The system further comprises at least one fan coil in fluid-dynamic connection with the heat source to receive the heat-carrying fluid by means of at least a second delivery duct, actuation means of the at least one fan coil, and a control unit of the system in communication with the heat source, the actuation means, and configured to drive the actuation means of the at least one fan coil in addition or alternatively to the radiating panel heating/cooling.

The actuation means may advantageously comprise means for actuating the at least one fan or fan coil and/or means for cutting off or deviating the delivery flow to, or returning from, the fan coils, such as, for example, zone valves, multi-area distribution systems with hydraulic separator, delivery circulators, mixer valves, two- or three-way valves arranged in the at least one fan coil.

The fan coils may be provided with control electronics thereof, provided with bus communication, which manages all the sensors and actuators of the fan coil itself, including the actuation means of the fans and two- or three-way valves for cutting off or deviating the flow of the heat-carrying fluid therein.

Essentially, the radiating panels and at least one fan coil are used together in integrated and synergistic manner. This advantageously allows achieving the following goals:.

Moreover, again in cooling mode, priority may be given to using the fan coils so as to ensure both quick cooling and dehumidifying of the room, thus avoiding the employment of complex and costly dehumidifiers.

When the room temperature has fallen around a threshold value with respect to the setpoint value (for example, <NUM>) due to the action of the at least one fan coil, the flow of water towards the radiating panels may indeed advantageously be opened, for example, mixing the delivery temperature with the return so as to limit the temperature of the water sent to the radiating panels according to the moisture level measured by suitable sensors in the individual rooms so as not to generate condensation on the radiating surface (that is, the delivery setpoint calculated by the thermoregulation is limited by another value calculated according to the humidity measured in the rooms).

Dehumidifying may also be obtained with least one fan coil and a floor system operating in parallel so long as the constraint is maintained for the temperature of the water sent to the floor system to be limited, for example, with the use of a mixer valve so as not to generate condensation thereon, according to the humidity measured by a sensor in the room.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the reading of the following detailed description, given by way of non-limiting example, with the aid of the figures shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:.

The following description of exemplary embodiments relates to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in the various drawings identify the same elements or similar elements. The following detailed description does not limit the invention.

With reference to <FIG>, a heat pump system conventionally comprises:.

There may be further components, such as mixers capable of mixing the delivery fluid with the return fluid to obtain a better regulation of the room temperature (not shown in the drawings).

In certain known configurations, the manifolds, conventionally the return manifolds, may contain thermoelectric heads which act as actuators for cut-off valves of the flow from/to the radiating panels.

This may be used to actuate/deactivate a part or the entire heat pump system based on an electric command originating from a control unit. This is particularly advantageous within the scope of the present invention for regulating the flow of heat-carrying fluid towards the heat pump system independently of the flow of fluid outlet from the heat source which may thus be directed, entirely or in part, towards one or more fan coil units, commonly called fan coils, without the need to act on the heat source itself.

<FIG> shows an implementation of the present invention in which the heat pump system described with reference to <FIG> is integrated with one or more fan coils <NUM> receiving the heat-carrying fluid from the same heat source <NUM> which feeds the radiating panels <NUM>. The drawing shows a non-limiting example of a configuration in which other delivery <NUM> and return <NUM> manifolds than those of the radiating circuit are used. Several alternatives are possible. For example, one or more outlets of the distribution and/or return conduits of the heat pump system may be employed to drive the at least one fan coil with or without flow cut-off valves, or dedicated distribution circuits may be provided which collects the fluid from an outlet of the distribution manifolds, which in turn are connected with a heat-carrying fluid distribution manifold to one or more fan coils in cascade or directly by a delivery pipe of the energy source. The same for the return flow. The same return manifolds of the radiating panels or dedicated manifold circuits possibly in direct connection with the energy source, may be used.

An alternative configuration may use delivery/return manifolds on which zone valves are mounted, or hydraulic separators downstream of which restart circulators are mounted, one per area, and possibly mixer valves and then, in the case of an area divided into rooms, a manifold with zone valves for each room.

Whatever configuration implemented, the result is the possibility of directing the heat-carrying fluid towards all or part of the radiating pipes and/or towards all or part of the fan coils provided in addition or alternatively to the radiating system, and correspondingly bringing the heat-carrying fluid outlet from the radiating panels and/or the fan coils back towards the energy source to close the circuit.

The integration of the radiating panels with the fan coils is made possible by the employment of a common control unit, also called HHP regulator in the present description, which communicates with both systems to drive the actuation/deactivation thereof in coordinated manner. For example, the control unit may be configured to execute one of the following operations: actuating both the fan coils and the radiating panels in heating mode (with the option of turning OFF the at least one fan coil or the radiating panels when the room temperature has exceeded a given threshold value with respect to a setpoint value), actuating the fan coils in heating mode while keeping the radiating panels deactivated, actuating the radiating panels in heating mode while keeping the fan coils deactivated, initially actuating the fan coils in heating mode and then, when a threshold temperature is reached, actuating the radiating panels in heating mode in addition or alternatively to the fan coils when the room temperature has exceeded a given threshold value with respect to a setpoint value; actuating both the fan coils and the radiating panels in cooling mode (with the option of turning OFF the fan coils or the radiating panels when the room temperature has fallen below a given threshold value with respect to a setpoint value), initially actuating the fan coils in cooling mode and then also actuating the radiating panels in cooling mode when the room temperature has fallen below a given threshold value with respect to a setpoint value, actuating the radiating panels alone in cooling mode with the aim of controlling the room temperature, actuating the fan coils alone in cooling mode with the aim of controlling the room humidity around the assigned setpoint.

Each time the radiating panels are actuated in cooling mode, there is a need to limit the delivery temperature according to the humidity value read in the different rooms to avoid the formation of condensation on the surface of the radiating panels. This may be done by using the fan coils in cooling mode as explained above.

<FIG> shows an example of the connection between thermal generating unit <NUM> and radiating panels/fan coils by means of the interposition of the elements indicated by reference numeral <NUM>, <NUM>'. These are electronically controllable valves which may be indifferently positioned on the delivery and/or return circuit of each radiating panel and fan coil or on part thereof to allow controlling the distribution of the heat-carrying fluid in capillary manner by the control unit, which controls the operation of the system indicated in the drawings by numeral <NUM>.

In addition or alternatively to the flow cut-off valves, actuation means capable of cutting off the operation of the fan coils independently of the flow of the heat-carrying fluid may be provided on the fan coil circuit. For example, the fan coils may integrate a (<NUM>-way or <NUM>-way) shut-off valve therein so as to shut off (<NUM>-way) or deviate (<NUM>-way) the flow of the heat-carrying fluid. Such shut-off valves may be controlled by the control electronics of the fan coils themselves according to the information/commands received via bus from the control unit <NUM>.

In particular, since the fan coils conventionally comprise an air/heat-carrying fluid exchanger and a fan adapted to convey air from the room towards the exchanger and then, towards the room again after the heat exchange with the heat-carrying fluid, the actuation means of the at least one fan coil may be electronic or electromechanical switches which interrupt the electric supply circuit of said fans and more generally, set the number of revolutions thereof.

The communication between the control unit and valves, as well as the drive means of the fans of the fan coils, advantageously is a bus communication, for example exploiting addressing techniques known to skilled experts.

There may be temperature and/or humidity sensors <NUM> in each space, which are interfaced with the control unit <NUM> so that the same control unit may continuously control the operating parameters of the system.

In particular, the employment of centrally settable fan coils allows solving the problem of the formation of humidity without resorting to the employment of costly dehumidifiers.

When the sensors detect humidity greater than the setpoint assigned to the individual room/area, the HHP generates water with adequate temperature for dehumidifying through fan coils and actuates the reference fan coil, for example by modulating the revolutions of the fan thereof. The modulating logics of the fan may be of any type. In an embodiment, the fan revolutions are set as a function of the delta between humidity measured and setpoint so as to minimize the noise (when it is not necessary to go to a high number of revolutions) but using the maximum air flow rate when there is an increased need of dehumidifying.

By employing a mixer valve, it is possible to prevent the temperature of the water sent to the floor from being too low so as to generate condensation without the need to interrupt sending cold water to the floor system, as occurs in the installations according to the prior art.

In an advantageous configuration, there are provided a hydraulic separator, mixer valves, restart pumps (a mixer valve and a restart pump for each area with the same temperature) for the areas served by the radiating panels <NUM> so as to ensure that the temperature of the heat-carrying fluid sent in cooling mode to the radiating panels <NUM> is higher than the temperature of the heat-carrying fluid sent to the fan coils <NUM>, for example <NUM> for the fan coils and <NUM> for the radiating panels in form of a radiating floor system.

Thereby, continuity is thus given to the cooling function, better still, considering that the fan coils also cool in addition to dehumidifying, the cooling action of the room is sped up, in addition to providing a short reaction time to starting the system (which is not possible with the high inertia of the floor system, the problem being less felt with the ceiling/wall/dry floor radiating systems).

A fan coil is a much less costly object than a dehumidifier, moreover, not having a compressor, it is much quieter and requires little maintenance with respect to the dehumidifier.

Summarizing, the advantages induced by the use of fan coils with respect to dehumidifiers with a compressor are:.

The integrated radiating panels/fan coil structure is advantageous when employed in combination with an electrical energy self-generation system, for example a photovoltaic system.

In this type of systems, one or more photovoltaic panels convert sunlight into direct electric current. The direct current is transformed into alternating current, by means of converters, to be employed as a source of energy to support the energy originating from the low voltage power distribution lines.

The optimal operation of a photovoltaic system provides using all or most of the energy generated, which would otherwise be dispersed towards the main electric line.

In traditional systems, when surplus power generated by an electrical energy self-generation system, for example a photovoltaic system, is available, the room and/or delivery temperature conventionally are varied to allow increased storage of thermal energy in the system by increasing the frequency of the heat pump compressor and possibly, if the user enabled them by means of a suitable parameter, turning ON the electric back-up/boost resistors to consume such a surplus.

However, when the heat pump and the resistors are not able to absorb all the surplus power because the thermal input which can be dissipated by the radiating panels is less than the thermal input generated by the heat pump, the frequency of the compressor cannot reach its maximum and the resistors may not be turned ON with an increase of energy exported towards the network.

By virtue of the possibility of being able to act independently on the radiating panels and fan coils, the system according to the invention is particularly adapted to manage similar energy surplus situations and, more generally, the optimal self-consumption of the energy generated, for example, by a photovoltaic system. Specifically:.

If the power which can be dissipated through the radiating panels and/or into the buffer, when present, were not sufficient to absorb all the power exported towards the network despite increasing the setpoint of the room temperature and/or of the delivery temperature of the heat-carrying fluid and/or the setpoint temperature of the buffer, and that is if the frequency of the compressor of the heat pump heat source were not at the maximum value or if, with the compressor at the maximum value, the electric back-up/boost resistors were not switched ON, the fan coils together with the radiating panels may also be actuated so as to dissipate increased power towards the room, and therefore regulate the compressor at maximum power, if then, while the fan coils were turned ON in this mode, the temperature conditions of the heat-carrying fluid allowed increasing the revolutions of the compressor or, with compressor at maximum revolutions, it were possible to turn ON the electric resistors without exceeding the switching OFF conditions on the delivery setpoint, such actions could advantageously be undertaken (so as to maximize the quantity of thermal energy in the radiating panels).

This is possible so long as the room temperature and/or the heat-carrying fluid delivery temperature does not exceed the setpoint value set for the self-consumption step (with suitable OFF hysteresis).

The room temperature setpoint may be set individually for each room with/without daily/weekly scheduling on several temperature levels.

Similarly, in the case where the fan coils are actuated and the temperature setpoints are not sufficient to absorb all the available power, the radiating panels may also be actuated by operating, also in this case, so as to maximize the amount of thermal energy in said radiating panels, and if the user enabled them by means of a suitable parameter, the electric back-up/boost resistors may be turned ON, always in respect of the setpoint delivery temperature.

In the case of greater photovoltaic power than the consumption of the house, in order to start the generator in heating mode so that it consumes such a generation excess of electric power from renewable source, the room setpoint may be considered with various approaches for the different rooms:.

Alternatively or in addition to the above-described actions for the room setpoint, the system delivery temperature setpoint may be increased by adding a setpoint temperature delta which can be set by the user and/or installer, to the current setpoint.

In this mode, priority is given to using fan coils to absorb thermal input generated by the heat pump while exported photovoltaic power is used, called surplus power (that is, so as to ensure a quick cooling and dehumidifying of the room).

If the compressor is not capable of going to maximum power (because the water delivery setpoint was reached despite all the surplus power not being absorbed), then the flow of water is also opened towards the radiating panels, thus mixing the delivery temperature with the return and/or regulating the flow rate of the radiating panels so as to absorb only the photovoltaic power still exported; when, even doing this, the compressor is not capable of going to maximum power, the compressor frequency is limited to a value which is less than the maximum frequency so that all the surplus power is absorbed, it being understood that the regulating system of the generator varies the value thereof in order to reach the heat-carrying fluid delivery temperature setpoint.

In another configuration, priority is given to using the radiating panels over the fan coils to absorb thermal input generated by the heat pump while it uses exported photovoltaic power so as to first exploit the mass of thermal accumulation of the radiating panels itself.

The temperature of the water sent to the radiating panels may be limited to the low end by the moisture level measured by suitable sensors in the individual rooms so as not to generate condensation on the radiating surface (that is, the delivery setpoint calculated by the thermoregulation is limited by another value calculated according to the humidity measured in the rooms).

This is possible as long as the room temperature does not fall below the setpoint value set for the self-consumption step (with suitable ON and OFF hysteresis).

The possibility of storing thermal energy in cooling mode in the floor system, in parallel with the use of the fan coils for storing thermal energy in the air and indirectly in the thermal masses lapped by the air (for example, walls, furniture, surface part of the floor) allows the following advantages:.

In the case of greater photovoltaic power than the consumption of the house, in order to start the generator in cooling mode so that it consumes such a generation excess of electric power from renewable source, the room setpoint may be considered with various approaches for the different rooms:.

Alternatively or in addition to the above-described actions for the room setpoint, the system delivery temperature setpoint may be decreased by subtracting a setpoint temperature delta which can be set by the user and/or installer, from the current setpoint.

In a system with a ventilation system with/without heat recovery, provided with a heat exchanger capable of heating/cooling the air distributed in the different rooms, the control may be applied as described above because the distribution of hot/cold air through the ventilation system is equivalent to using the fan coils, especially if it is possible to regulate, with suitable air vents, the amount of air which is introduced into the individual rooms, and even more effectively if used when described in <CIT>.

The user and the technician may set such an operating mode in any type of system capable of performing the heating and/or cooling service such that the control system only uses PV power which would otherwise be exported.

The room temperature in the "standard self-consumption" mode is modified as described above (room setpoint is increased/decreased according to whether the generator is in heating/cooling mode) and, accordingly, the setpoint set by the end user (in the absence of the excess of PV generation) is always ensured.

Instead, in the "only self-consumption" mode, the room temperature is not regulated by the setpoint set by the end user, rather by the availability of self-generated photovoltaic energy and which would otherwise be exported towards the network. That is, the generator is not started based on the room setpoint required by the user, rather only when surplus photovoltaic power is available.

Claim 1:
A heat pump system for heating and/or cooling rooms, said heat pump system being supplied by electrical energy at least in part originating from an electrical energy self-generation system and comprising at least one heat source (<NUM>) capable of heating and/or cooling a heat-carrying fluid, usually water, radiating panels (<NUM>) in fluid-dynamic connection with the heat source (<NUM>) to receive the heat-carrying fluid by means of at least a first delivery duct (<NUM>), said radiating panels (<NUM>) being configured to heat and/or cool the room wherein they are adapted to be placed, by radiative heat, further comprising at least one fan coil (<NUM>) in fluid-dynamic connection with the heat source (<NUM>) to receive the heat-carrying fluid by means of at least a second delivery duct (<NUM>), actuation means (<NUM>) of the at least one fan coil (<NUM>), humidity and/or temperature sensors (<NUM>) and a control unit (<NUM>) of the heat pump system in communication with the heat source (<NUM>), the actuation means (<NUM>) and the sensors, and configured to drive the actuation means (<NUM>) of the at least one fan coil (<NUM>), directly or by means of the same at least one fan coil (<NUM>), so as to obtain a heating and/or cooling effect alternatively or in addition to the heating and/or cooling effect induced by the radiating panels (<NUM>) characterized in that the control unit (<NUM>) is configured to actuate the at least one fan coil (<NUM>) when surplus power generated by the electrical energy self-generation system is available and the radiating panels (<NUM>) are not capable of entirely absorbing the power exported from the electrical energy self-generation system through the heat pump system or, vice versa, to actuate the radiating panels when the at least one fan coil (<NUM>) is not capable of entirely absorbing the power exported from the electrical energy self-generation system.