Heat pumps with unequal cooling and heating capacities for climates where demand for cooling and heating are unequal, and method of adapting and distributing such heat pumps

摘要

Heat pumps for climates where demand for cooling and heating are unequal and methods of adapting and distributing heat pumps for such climates. Heat pumps include a compressor, compressor motor, variable speed drive, and controller. In a number of embodiments, non-volatile memory stores sets of constant speeds for cooling and heating, and a person can select, via an input device, different sets of speeds for cooling and heating to provide the different cooling and heating capacities. The controller then operates the unit at the selected speeds, selecting from within the set based on demand for cooling or heating. In some embodiments, different sets of speeds may have the same minimum speed but different maximum speeds. Identical heat pumps can be configured to have different capacity ratings and different advertised efficiencies for different climates.

主权项

1. A heat pump for providing improved efficiency performance in climates where demand for cooling and heating are unequal, the heat pump comprising:
a compressor; a compressor motor mechanically connected to the compressor and driving the compressor; a variable-speed drive electrically connected to the compressor motor, powering the compressor motor, and changing speed of the compressor motor; a controller in communication with the variable-speed drive that operates the compressor motor at multiple constant cooling speeds in a cooling mode and multiple constant heating speeds in a heating mode; wherein:
the controller comprises a non-volatile memory storing at least one set of the constant cooling speeds and at least one set of the constant heating speeds;at least one of the at least one set of constant cooling speeds or the at least one set of constant heating speeds comprises multiple sets of constant speeds stored in the memory;each set of constant speeds comprises a maximum speed and a minimum speed;for at least one set of the multiple sets of constant speeds stored in the memory, the maximum speed in the cooling mode is different than the maximum speed in the heating mode;at least one field input device allowing a person to select one selected set of constant speeds from the multiple sets of constant speeds, wherein the controller then operates the compressor at the selected set of constant speeds in the cooling mode or in the heating mode.