Central control system of air conditioners and method for operating the same

• US 7,062,927 B2
• Filed: 05/20/2004
• Issued: 06/20/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Kim, Jun Tae, Jeon, Duck Gu, Jung, Jae Sik, Yoon, Young Soo, Youn, Sang Chul, Kwon, Jae Hwan
• Primary Examiner(s): NORMAN, MARC E
• Application Number:
  US10/849,051
• Publication Number:
  US 20050097902A1
• Time in Patent Office: 761 Days
• Field of Search: 621/26, 621/29, 621/99, 236/51, 236/94, 236/1.B
• US Class Current: 62/126
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/47 Responding to energy costs
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/54 using one central controller connected to several sub-controllers
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2140/60 Energy consumption

Abstract

A central control system of air conditioners includes a multi-type air conditioning system, a power meter and a central controller. The air conditioning system includes a plurality of indoor units for air conditioning installed in rooms of a building and an outdoor unit for circulation of refrigerant, where the indoor units share the outdoor unit. The power meter is connected to the outdoor unit to measure power consumption of the air conditioning system when the system operates. The central control unit calculates respective power consumptions of the indoor units based on both the power consumption measured by the power meter and operation information of the air conditioning system, and displays the calculated power consumptions of the indoor units. It is thus possible to determine respective power consumption patterns and electricity charges of the indoor units more accurately, thereby improving management efficiency of the entire air conditioning system.

Claims

1. A central control system of air conditioners, comprising:

a multi-unit type air conditioning system including a plurality of indoor units for air conditioning installed in rooms of a building and an outdoor unit for circulation of refrigerant, said outdoor unit being shared by the plurality of indoor units;

a power meter, connected to the outdoor unit, for measuring power consumption of the multi-unit type air conditioning system when the multi-unit type air condition system operates; and

a central controller for calculating respective power consumption of the indoor units based on both the power consumption measured by the power meter and operation information of the multi-unit type air condition system, and for displaying the calculated respective power consumptions of the indoor units,

wherein said central controller includes;

an air conditioner communicator for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the multi-unit type air conditioning system and the power meter via a communication line;

a database for storing equipment information of the indoor and outdoor units of the multi-unit type air conditioning system;

an air conditioner controller configured to control operations of the multi-unit type air conditioning system and to allow display of respective power consumptions of the indoor units calculated based on the current operation information of the multi-unit type air conditioning system and the equipment information stored in the database;

an electricity charge calculator configured to calculate respective electricity charges of the indoor units based on the respective power consumptions of the indoor unit units calculated by the air conditioner controller; and

a display configured to display the respective electricity charges of the indoor units calculated by the electricity charge calculator or displaying the respective electricity charges of the indoor units calculated by the air conditioner controller.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the indoor and outdoor units are connected via an RS-485 protocol based communication line.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the power meter is connected with the outdoor unit via an RS-485 protocol based communication line.

4. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a bridge for mutual protocol conversion of signals transmitted and received between the central controller based on an Ethernet protocol, and the outdoor unit and the power meter, based on an RS-485 protocol.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the central controller further includes a control program operator for executing a control program, said control program interfacing with a user for controlling operations of the multi-unit type air conditioning system and for managing power thereof.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the control program operator includes a power division module whereby current power consumption, monthly power consumption and accumulated power consumption of the multi-unit type air conditioning system, and electricity charges calculated respectively for the indoor units thereof are displayed.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the control program operator further includes:

a control module for controlling operations and monitoring states of the multi-unit type air condition system;

a schedule management module for managing an operating schedule of the multi-unit type air conditioning system; and

a peak power management module for managing peak power consumption of the multi-unit type air condition system for controlling the peak power consumption when the multi-type air conditioning system operates to be below a predetermined level.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the central controller further includes an input unit that receives a control command for controlling operations of the multi-unit type air conditioning system and transfer the received control command to the air conditioner controller.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the input includes a touch screen configured to accept touch input, said display being integrated into said touch screen.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the central controller includes an Internet modem configured for connection with an Internet.

11. A method for operating a central control system of air conditioners, said central control system including a central controller configured for performing central control of a multi-unit type air conditioning system including a plurality of indoor units and an outdoor unit connected thereto via a network, said method comprising:

receiving, by the central controller, information of power consumption of the multi-unit type air conditioning system from a power meter, the power consumption being measured by the power meter;

receiving, via the outdoor unit, operation information of the multi-unit type air conditioning system;

calculating respective power consumption of the indoor units based on the operation information of the multi-unit type air conditioning system and equipment information previously stored in a database; and

displaying the calculated respective power consumption of the indoor units,

wherein the displaying includes;

calculating respective electricity charges of the indoor units based on the calculated respective power consumptions of the indoor units; and

displaying the calculated respective electricity charges of the indoor units.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising connecting the indoor units and the outdoor unit via an RS-485 protocol based communication line.

13. The method according to claim 11, further comprising connecting the power meter with the outdoor unit via an RS-485 protocol based communication line.

14. The method according to claim 11, further comprising converting signals transmitted and received between the central controller, based on an Ethernet protocol, and the outdoor unit and the power meter, based on an RS-485 protocol.