BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
[0001] The invention relates to a heating system to warm rooms, and in particular, to a
heating system with intelligence to save energy and balancing heat distribution among
the multiple rooms.
Description of the Related Art
[0002] Conventionally, a heating system to warm multiple rooms includes a boiler to provide
hot water to the multiple rooms through water pipes. In each room, there are devices
to radiate the heat of the hot water to keep room warm. Usually, there are valves
to control the flow of the hot water. A valve can be located in a room for providing
hot water to a radiator for radiating heat to the rooms or multiple valves can be
located inside a central manifold for providing multiple under floor pipes to warm
rooms. However, in such conventional heating system, each valve is either fully closed
or fully opened, which is not efficient for distributing heat among rooms if each
room has a different set temperature and might waste heat energy when the heat provided
by the boiler is higher than necessary to maintain the set temperatures of the rooms.
[0003] Accordingly, there is demand for a heating system with intelligence to solve the
aforementioned problems.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] One objective of the present invention is to provide a heating system with intelligence
to balance heat among multiple rooms in such it avoids big fluctuation of water flow
of each valve during the heating adjustment process.
[0005] One objective of the present invention is to provide a heating system with intelligence
to balance heat among multiple rooms when the output heat of the boiler is not enough
to allow each room to reach its set temperature.
[0006] One objective of the present invention is to provide a heating system with intelligence
to adjust the output heat of the boiler to save energy.
[0007] In one embodiment of the present invention, a system for distributing heat to multiple
rooms from a boiler is disclosed, wherein the system comprises a corresponding adjustable
valve, a corresponding valve controller and a corresponding thermostat for controlling
the temperature of each room, wherein the opening gap of adjustable valve is capable
of varying from the minimum opening gap when the adjustable valve is fully closed
to the maximum opening gap when the adjustable valve is fully opened with a plurality
of different opening gaps between said minimum opening gap and said maximum opening
gap, wherein the opening gap of each adjustable valve is capable of being adjusted
by its corresponding valve controller according to information comprising a temperature
of each room detected by its corresponding thermostat and a set temperature of each
room set by a user for distributing heat from the boiler to each room via its corresponding
adjustable valve.
[0008] In one embodiment, said information further comprises the current opening gap of
each adjustable valve for adjusting the output heat of the boiler to save energy.
[0009] In one embodiment, each of a first room and a second room is warmed through a pipe
located under the floor of the room, respectively, wherein a thermostat corresponding
to the first room is located in the first room and a thermostat corresponding to the
second room is located in the second room, and wherein a first valve and a first valve
controller corresponding to the first room and a second valve and a second valve controller
corresponding to the second room are located in a manifold outside the first room
and the second room.
[0010] In one embodiment, a third room is warmed through a radiator, wherein a third valve,
a third valve controller and a third thermostat are located inside the third room.
[0011] In one embodiment of the present invention, a system for distributing heat to multiple
rooms from a boiler is disclosed, wherein each room is warmed through a pipe located
under the floor of the room, the system comprising a corresponding valve, a corresponding
valve controller and a corresponding thermostat for controlling the temperature of
each room, wherein the opening gap of each adjustable valve is capable of varying
from the minimum opening gap when the adjustable valve is fully closed to the maximum
opening gap when the adjustable valve is fully opened with a plurality of different
opening gaps between said minimum opening gap and said maximum opening gap, wherein
said valves and said valve controllers are located in a manifold outside of each of
the multiple rooms for distributing heat from the boiler to each room.
[0012] In one embodiment of the present invention, a system for distributing heat output
from a boiler to multiple rooms, wherein the system comprises a corresponding valve,
a corresponding valve controller and a corresponding thermostat for controlling the
temperature of each room, wherein the opening gap of each adjustable valve is capable
of varying from the minimum opening gap when the adjustable valve is fully closed
to the maximum opening gap when the adjustable valve is fully opened with a plurality
of different opening gaps between said minimum opening gap and said maximum opening
gap, wherein the output heat from the boiler is controlled according to information
comprising a difference between the current temperature of each room detected by its
corresponding thermostat and a set temperature of each room set by a user and the
current opening gap of each valve.
[0013] In one embodiment of the present invention, a boiler system for outputting heat to
multiple rooms is disclosed, wherein a corresponding adjustable valve, a corresponding
valve controller and a corresponding thermostat are used for controlling the temperature
of each room, wherein the boiler system comprises a boiler and a boiler manager connected
to the boiler, wherein the boiler manager instructs the boiler to adjust heat output
according to information comprising a temperature of each room detected by its corresponding
thermostat, a set temperature of each room set by a user, and the current opening
gap of each adjustable valve.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent description
and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a heating system in accordance with an embodiment of
the invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an example of FIG. 1 for distributing heat among multiple
rooms in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 3A is a schematic view of a valve controller to position a corresponding adjustable
valve to control the water volume flowing through an particular opening gap of the
adjustable valve in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 3B is a schematic view of a dumb valve controller to position a corresponding
adjustable valve in a manifold in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 3C is a schematic view showing an integrated device comprising a thermostat and
a valve controller and having wireless communication capability in accordance with
an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of using a Multi-Valves controller connecting two dumb
valve controller in a manifold in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
and
FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a boiler with as associated manager for controlling
the heat output of the boiler in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
Detailed Description of the Invention
[0015] It is understood that the following disclosure provides many different embodiments,
or examples, for implementing different features of the invention. Specific examples
of devices and arrangements are described below to simplify the present disclosure.
These are, of course, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. For example,
the formation of a first feature over or on a second feature in the description that
follows may include embodiments in which the first and second features are formed
in direct contact, and may also include embodiments in which additional features are
formed between the first and second features, such that the first and second features
are not in direct contact. In addition, the present disclosure may repeat reference
numerals and/or letters in the various examples. This repetition is for the purpose
of simplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationship between the
various embodiments and/or configurations discussed.
[0016] Heating control system with hydraulic balancing according to one embodiment of the
present invention is based on the following design architecture: (A) All devices in
the heating system of present invention can have wireless communication capability.
Any device can communicate to any other devices by wireless communication; (B) valve
controller has a built in electric-mechanism module which partitions the valve open
gap, from fully open to fully closed, into hundreds of step so that valve controller
can control valve to open its gap at any step among these partitioned steps; (C) both
of thermostat and valve controller could be combined into different type of products
to meet different working environment. But, they all have the same working characteristics:
thermostat continuously measures room temperatures and compare with set temperature
to determine how much valve gap should be open and commands valve controller to set
valve to open gap to the calculated step. The process is ongoing and dynamically adjust
valve gap.
[0017] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a heating system
100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, wherein
the boiler
101 will supply hot water to a first radiator (not shown) via the adjustable valve 1
102b, and the water volume flowing through the first radiator can be controlled by using
the valve 1 controller
102a to adjust the opening gap of the adjustable valve 1
102b. Thermostat 1
102 is a wireless device which communicates with valve 1 controller
102a via a wireless connection to control the opening gap of an adjustable valve 1
102b in order to meet a desired room temperature set by user. The boiler 101 will also
supply hot water to a second radiator (not shown) via an adjustable valve 103b, and
the water volume flowing through the second radiator can be controlled by using the
valve 2 controller
103a to adjust the opening gap of the adjustable valve 2
103b, wherein the valve 2 controller
103a is integrated with the thermostat 2
103 as a single device. This single device will measure room temperature and compare
with the set temperature set by user and then adjust the opening gap of the adjustable
valve 2
103b as desired. The boiler 101 will also supply hot water flowing to a manifold that
provides water loops to under floor pipes for warming rooms. Thermostat 3
104, thermostat 4
105, thermostat 5
106 are wireless devices which communicate with a Multi-Valves Controller
110 which is connected to valve controller 3
104a, valve controller 4
105a and valve controller 5
106a, wherein thermostat 3
104, thermostat 4
105, thermostat 5
106 are paired with valve controller 3
104a, valve controller 4
105a, valve controller 5
106a, respectively. The Multi-Valves Controller
110, valve controller 3
104a, valve controller 4
105a, valve controller 5
106a and adjustable valves
104b, 105b, 106b are located inside a manifold, wherein Multi-Valves Controller
110 receives commands from the thermostat 3
104, thermostat 4
105, thermostat 5
106 to control valve controller 3
104a, valve controller 4
105a and valve controller 5
106a respectively to adjust the opening gap of the adjustable valves
104b, 105b, 106b. Please note that each of the above valve controllers can be an intelligent valve
controller such as valve controller
102b, one of the implementations of the intelligent valve controller is shown in FIG. 3A,
or a dumb valve controller such as 104a, 105a, 106a, one of the implementations of
the dumb valve controller is shown in FIG. 3B. In addition, valve 2 controller
103a is integrated with the thermostat 2
103 as a single device, which is called a thermoactuator, one of the implementations
of the thermoactuator is shown in FIG. 3C.
[0018] As shown in FIG. 1, a boiler manager
101a is connected with the boiler
101 via an interface such as a RS232 interface. The boiler manager communicates with
other devices in the heating system via wireless connections. For example, the boiler
manager from obtained room temperatures, set temperatures and opening gaps of the
adjustable valves from thermostats and can instruct the boiler to adjust the heat
output. When all rooms can reach set temperature of the steady state, but none of
the adjustable valves is fully opened, it means that the heat output of the boiler
is too large, a waste of energy. At this time, boiler manager can instruct boiler
to reduce its heat output to save energy. When there is a room which has valve full
open but could not reach its set temperature while other rooms have reached set temperature
of the steady state, it means heat output from boiler is not enough. Under such case,
boiler manager will inform boiler to increase heat output.
[0019] In one embodiment, in order to prevent water flow of each valve from large fluctuation
during the temperature adjustment process, each room divides from its room temperature
to target set temperature into many sections. Each section has its target set temperature
and a target pre-defined room temperature changing rule. In every section, valve is
adjusted every fixed pre-defined time interval to have room temperature change per
pre-defined time interval conform to the target pre-defined room temperature changing
value per pre-defined time interval according to the pre-defined time interval rule
so that each room in the section will enable room temperature gradually changing to
reach section target set temperature. By the time, room reaches set temperature and
valves gap are also at stable.
[0020] For example, for a room, if the current temperature is 16°C and user sets the set
temperature to 22°C, then this room could partition set temperature adjustment process
into 3 sections: 16°C -19°C, 19°C-21°C, and 21°C -22°C, wherein in section 16°C -19°C,
the temperature will be increased from 16°C to target section set temperature 19°C,
then enter section 19°C-21°C to increase the temperature to target section set temperature
21°C. Finally, enter section 21°C -22°C to increase the temperature to the set temperature
22°C. In each section, valve movement is controlled and guided by a pre-defined temperature
changing rule: increase or decrease valve gap by certain amount of adjustable valve
gap steps depending on the difference of measured room temperature change per pre-defined
time compared to the pre-defined room temperature change per pre-defined time interval.
For example, in section 16°C-19°C, rule could be : pre-defined time interval is 5
minutes , targeted room temperature change per 5 minutes is to be within [0.3, 0.4]
degree, if measured room temperature change per 5 minutes is less than 0.3 degree
and no less than 0, valve gap will be increased by 1% of total valve gap ; if measured
room temperature change per 5 minutes is less than 0, valve gap will be increase by
3 % of total valve gap; If measured room temperature change larger than 0.4 degree
and no larger than 0.7 degree, valve gap will be reduced by 1% of total valve gap;
if measured room temperature change larger than 0.7 degree, valve gap will be reduced
by 3% of total valve gap. By continuing examine room temperature changing and adjust
valve gap following the rule of pre-defined room temperature change per pre-defined
time interval, the room temperature will start from current temperature gradually
reach the target set temperature of the section and continue going though each section
to reach set temperature as user desired.
[0021] That is, for each room, the temperature difference between the current room temperature
when user sets set temperature and the set temperature could be divided into multiple
sections, wherein the multiple rooms respectively adjust its current room temperature
toward a corresponding targeted set temperature of the section and guided by said
pre-defined room temperature changing rule of the section. There are many ways to
decide the number of sections for each room and the pre-defined room temperature changing
rule of section. In one embodiment, one of the guidelines is to select the pre-defined
room temperature change per pre-defined time interval by considering how much time
it needs to travel through the section and to adjust the valve gap in a way that ongoing
room temperature change per pre-defined time interval will converge to the pre-defined
room temperature change per pre-defined time interval of the section, and another
guideline is that the section closer to last section which has user set temperature
as section targeted temperature, the pre-defined room temperature change per pre-defined
time interval for the section will be smaller and associated valves gap amount adjustment
will be more fine adjustment. Furthermore, in order to have further smoothness of
the water flow during the temperature adjustments process among the multiple rooms
in each section, valve control steps, pre-defined time interval, pre-defined temperature
changing range per time interval can be also further changed at each time interval
checking point within the section. The above examples are just for illustration purpose,
the number of sections for each room between the current room temperature and the
set temperature and parameter of valve adjust steps, pre-defined time interval, temperature
changing range per pre-defined time interval of each section can be defined based
on the requirements in each different scenario or at user's needs.
[0022] In one embodiment, the operations of the heat system is described as follows:
- 1. Valve controller has electric-mechanic module which can partition valve gap from
fully closed to fully open into many steps and control valve gap stay at any desired
step so that the water volume flowing through the corresponding radiator or under
floor pipe for warming rooms can be controlled.
- 2. Valve controller will initially move valve to be fully closed and then to fully
opened to measure how many steps of the valve gap could be partitioned after the valve
controller is installed onto the valve.
- 3. After user enters room set temperature, thermostat partitions between room temperature
and set temperature into several sections and guided by a pre-defined temperature
changing rule of each section. Then, follow the pre-defined temperature changing rule
on each section, room temperature will be gradually adjusted to section set temperature.
- 4. When set temperature is higher than room temperature, valve gap will be open more
to get more heat. When set temperature is lower than room temperature, valve gap will
be open less to reduce heat. Larger the difference between set temperature and room
temperature, larger the valve gap will be adjusted.
- 5. Thermostat can send a command to at least one set of valve controller to adjust
corresponding adjustable valve.
- 6. Boiler manager is constantly collecting set temperature, room temperature, valve
gap from each heating device. By examining all the data from devices, boiler manager
will inform boiler to raise heat output when there is not sufficient heat or to reduce
heat output when there is too much heat.
- 7. This system is very flexible. It could be used for radiator heating, under floor
heating, also both mixed together heating environment. It could also be used when
the boiler manager is not available.
[0023] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a heating system
200 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the
heating system
200 distributes heat to three rooms
201, 202, 203 from a boiler
204 that provides hot water to warm each room. Room 1 has a radiator with control device
Dev 1
201a. Room 2
202 and room 3
203 are using under floor heating with hot water coming from a manifold
205, while thermostat 2
202a and thermostat 3
203a are at room 2
202 and room 3
203 respectively. There are Multi-Valves Controller
205a, and dumb valve controllers
205b and
205c in manifold to control the adjustable valves of each water loop to room 2
202 and room 3
203. Dev 1
201a is at room 1 which detects room temperature and adjusts water volume flow through
the radiator by control the open size of its corresponding adjustable valve. Thermostat
2
202a is at room 2
202 which detects room temperature and commands Multi-Valves Controller
205a at the manifold controls the dumb valve controllers
205b and
205c to adjust the opening gap of its corresponding adjustable valve for determining the
water volume following to room 2
202 and room 3
203. Dev 4
204a is a boiler manager which is connected to the boiler, wherein the boiler manager
controls the boiler to generate right amount of heat output.
[0024] When there is a room that has a room temperature below the set temperature and the
corresponding adjustable valve is fully opened while other rooms have reached their
set temperatures at steady state, it means that the heat output of the boiler is insufficient.
At this time, the boiler can increase its heat output if possible to relieve such
situation. However, if the boiler cannot provide more heat at this time, heat redistribution
among rooms needs to be carried out so as to avoid a room with an unacceptable low
temperature.
[0025] There are many ways to redistribute heat from the boiler to the rooms when the heat
output of the boiler is insufficient. For example, the room having the highest room
temperature can transfer certain amount of heat to the room with the lowest room temperature
that has not yet met its set temperature, wherein the room has the highest room temperature
is a heat contributor and the room with the lowest room temperature as a heat recipient.
The heat contributor can lower its set temperature for transferring certain amount
of heat to the heat recipient. During the heat transfer process, the contributor will
reduce the opening gap of the corresponding adjustable valve while the heat recipient
will have its adjustable valve fully opened, wherein all other rooms are stable at
their current room temperature. The above heat transfer process from the room with
the highest room temperature to the room with the lowest room temperature can be iterated
to ensure there is no room with an un-acceptable low room temperature. Please note
that there can be multiple contributors and/or multiple recipients during a heat transfer
process among rooms. Alternatively, the system can calculate optimum temperatures
for all of the rooms and each room can set its set temperature to the calculated optimum
temperature to balance heat among rooms and repeat the process.
[0026] When each room reaches its set temperature of the steady state, but none of the adjustable
valves is fully opened, it means that the heat output of the boiler is too large,
a waste of energy. At this time, the boiler manager will inform boiler to reduce its
heat output to save energy.
[0027] FIG. 3A is a schematic view of valve controller
300 to position a corresponding adjustable valve to control the water volume flowing
through a suitable opening gap of the adjustable valve in accordance with an embodiment
of the present invention. The main blocks of valve controller are: Electronic control
center, communication block, motor driver, gear sets, infra-red transceiver, interface
to move valve. Working principle of each element of the valve controller is described
as follows: Motor driver: control motor speed, clock or clockwise rotation. When motor
works, it will push gear sets to rotate and move its pod forward or backward. This
pod connects to interface to move valve. Interface to move valve will transform up
down movement of the pod into a larger torque pod to on-off push-pull valve or into
a larger torque rotation cap to open-close ball valve. With such mechanism transformation,
it can control the opening gap of the adjustable valve. When motor starts to work,
infra-red transceiver will transmit infra-red. When gear sets move to an infra-red
reflection dot on the gear, the reflection of the infra-red will be received by the
infra-red transceiver. When infra-red transceiver receives reflected infra-red, it
knows the gear sets has rotated to another reflection position. By recording the number
of the infra-red reflections, it can calculate how much the gear sets have been moved
and convert them into a distance the gear sets pod has moved, which can be used to
determine the opening gap of the adjustable valve. When the desired opening gap of
the adjustable valve is reached, the motor will be stopped. Another possible implementation
is to use a stepping motor to measure how many steps between full open and full close
of the adjustable valve, and then the stepping motor can be controlled to the opening
gap of the adjustable valve.
[0028] The Intelligent valve controller and its corresponding thermostat can communicate
with each other through wireless communications, the thermostat is responsible to
send a command to the intelligent valve controller to adjust the adjustable valve
to a desired opening gap, and the intelligent valve controller will adjust the adjustable
valve to the desired opening gap according to the command. The FIG. 3A is a design
based on a microcontroller, however, the present invention is not limited to the implementations
of the intelligent valve controller
300. For example, intelligent valve controller
300 can be based on a hardware design as well.
[0029] FIG. 3B is a schematic view of a dumb valve controller 400 to position a corresponding
adjustable valve in a manifold in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
The dumb valve controllers in the manifold can be connected to a Multi-Valves Controller
using RJ11 connector, wherein the Multi-Valves Controller has multiple RJ11 female
sockets, and each dumb valve controller also has female a socket, wherein both ends
of the RJ11 cable are equipped with male plugs to connect the Multi-Valves Controller
and to the dumb valve controller. The Multi-Valves Controller can communicate with
each of the thermostats corresponding to the manifold for receiving a command from
each of the thermostats and control corresponding dumb valve controller to adjust
the corresponding adjustable valve to the desired opening gap, respectively. After
the Multi-Valves Controller receives the command from a thermostat, the Multi-Valves
Controller will control the corresponding dumb valve controller to adjust a corresponding
adjustable valve to the desired opening gap. Although other type connector instead
of RJ11 connector can be used in the example, however, the RJ11 connector makes the
installing process easier.
[0030] FIG. 3C is a schematic view of a thermoactuator
500 comprising a thermostat and a valve controller and having wireless communication
capability in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Thermoactuator
500 can measure/record room temperatures, compare with set up temperature, and analyze
the room temperature changing curve, also collect other similar information from other
thermoactuators in the system. Thermoactuator
500 will decide when and how much to change valve gap open size according its computation.
When room temperature is lower than set temperature, thermoactuator
500 will increase the opening gap of the adjustable valve. When the room temperature
is higher set temperature, thermoactuator
500 will reduce the opening gap of the adjustable valve. FIG. 3C is a design based on
a microcontroller, however, the present invention is not limited to the implementations
of the thermoactuator
500. For example, the thermoactuator
500 can be based on a hardware design as well.
[0031] FIG. 4 is a schematic view
600 of using a Multi-Valves Controller
603 in a manifold to control each dumb valve controller
604, 605 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Each thermostat
610, 602 can command its associated dumb valve controller
604, 605 through the Multi-Valves Controller
603. Each thermostat
610, 602 computes the needed opening gap of its corresponding adjustable valve and sends the
request to the Multi-Valves Controller
603. The Multi-Valves Controller
603 will control each dumb valve controller
604, 605 to adjust the opening gap of each adjustable valve, respectively. FIG. 4 is a design
based on a microcontroller, however, the present invention is not limited to the implementations
of the Multi-Valves Controller
603. For example, the Multi-Valves Controller
603 can be based on a hardware design as well.
[0032] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a boiler system
700 including a boiler
101 comprising an interface to connect with an associated boiler manager
101a for controlling the heat output of the boiler
101 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, a
boiler manager
101a is directly connected with the boiler
101 via a RS232 interface, but the present invention is not limited to the type of interface
to connect the boiler manager
101a to the boiler
101. The boiler manager comprises a communication interface such as a wireless interface
to communicate with other devices in the heating system via wireless connections.
For example, the boiler manager
101a can obtain room temperatures, set temperatures and opening gaps of the adjustable
valves from thermostats so that it can instruct the boiler to decrease or increase
heat output accordingly. When all the rooms reach set temperature of the steady state,
but none of the adjustable valves is fully opened, it means that the heat output of
the boiler is too large, a waste of energy. At this time, the boiler manager
101a instructs boiler
101 to reduce its heat output to save energy. When there is at least one room could not
reach its set temperature of the steady state, and the adjustable valves are fully
opened, while other rooms have reached set temperature of steady state, it means that
the heat output of the boiler is not enough. Boiler manager
101a can instruct boiler
101 to increase its heat output. In FIG. 5, the boiler manager
101a is a design based on a microcontroller or a processor, however, the present invention
is not limited to the implementations of the boiler manager
101a. For example, the boiler manager
101a can be based on a hardware design as well.
[0033] Please note that the boiler system
700 and boiler manager
101a can be used for warming one room only, and the boiler manager
101a can obtain the room temperature set temperature and the opening gap of the adjustable
valves from the thermostat so that it can instruct the boiler
101 to adjust the heat output accordingly. When the room reaches set temperature of the
steady state, but the adjustable valves are not fully opened, it means that the heat
output of the boiler is too large, a waste of energy. At this time, the boiler manager
101a instructs boiler
101 to reduce its heat output to save energy. When the room could not reach its set temperature
of the steady state, but the adjustable valves are fully opened, it means that the
heat output of the boiler is not enough. Boiler manager
101a can instruct boiler
101 to increase its heat output.
[0034] From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments have
been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made
without deviating from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Furthermore, where
an alternative is disclosed for a particular embodiment, this alternative may also
apply to other embodiments even if not specifically stated.
1. A system for distributing heat to multiple rooms from a boiler, wherein the system
comprises a corresponding thermostat, corresponding at least one set of adjustable
valve and valve controller for controlling the temperature of each room, wherein the
opening gap of each adjustable valve is capable of varying from the minimum opening
gap when the adjustable valve is fully closed to the maximum opening gap when the
adjustable valve is fully opened with a plurality of different opening gaps between
said minimum opening gap and said maximum opening gap, wherein the opening gap of
each adjustable valve is capable of being adjusted by its corresponding valve controller
according to information comprising a temperature of each room detected by its corresponding
thermostat and a set temperature of each room for distributing heat from the boiler
to the rooms via the corresponding at least one set of adjustable valve and valve
controller of the room.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein a boiler manager is connected to the boiler, and the
boiler manager instructs the boiler to adjust the output heat of the boiler according
to the information comprising a temperature of each room detected by its corresponding
thermostat, a set temperature of each room and opening gap size of each adjustable
valve.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the thermostats, valve controllers, and the boiler
manager communicate with each other through a wireless network.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein for each room, in order to adjust the current room
temperature to the set temperature of the room, the temperature difference between
the current room temperature and the set temperature of the room is divided into multiple
sections, wherein the multiple rooms respectively in each section gradually reaches
a corresponding section targeted set temperature by adjusting its corresponding adjustable
valves through valve controllers according to a pre-defined temperature changing rule
associated with each section.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the pre-defined temperature changing rule defines a
pre-defined room temperature change per pre-defined time interval and how to adjust
valve, wherein valve gap is adjusted according to the difference of room temperature
change measured per pre-defined time interval and said pre-defined room temperature
change per pre-defined time interval so as to have the ongoing room temperature change
per pre-defined time interval to conform to the pre-defined room temperature change
per pre-defined time interval.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein when the heat output of the boiler is insufficient,
the room having the highest room temperature lowers its set temperature for transferring
certain amount of heat to the room with the lowest room temperature that has not yet
met its set temperature, wherein the room having the highest room temperature reduces
the opening gap of at least one corresponding adjustable valve, and the room with
the lowest room temperature keeps all of its corresponding adjustable valve fully
opened with each of the other rooms maintaining its current room temperature.
7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a Multi-Valves Controller in a manifold,
wherein the Multi-Valves Controller is connected to a set of dumb valve controllers,
wherein the Multi-Valves Controller receives commands from the thermostats for instructing
the corresponding of set of dumb valve controllers to adjust adjustable valves, respectively.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the Multi-Valves Controller is connected to each dumb
valve controller via a corresponding RJ11 cable with both ends of male plug, wherein
each of the Multi-Valves Controller and the dumb valve controller has a built in RJ11
female socket.
9. A boiler manager for instructing a boiler to adjust heat output to at least one room,
wherein a corresponding thermostat, corresponding at least one set of adjustable valve
and valve controller are used for controlling the temperature of each of the at least
one room, wherein the boiler manager is connected to the boiler, wherein the boiler
manager instructs the boiler to adjust heat output according to information comprising
a temperature of each room detected by its corresponding thermostat, a set temperature
of each room and an opening gap size of each adjustable valve.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein each thermostat and the boiler manager communicate
with each other through a wireless network.
11. The system of claim 9, wherein the boiler manager instructs the boiler to reduce its
heat output when every room reaches its corresponding set temperature of the steady
state with none of said adjustable valves being fully opened.
12. The system of claim 9, wherein the boiler manager instructs the boiler to increase
its heat output when there is a room could not reach its corresponding set temperature
of the steady state with the corresponding adjustable valves of the room being fully
opened, while all other rooms reach set temperature of the steady state.
13. The system of claim 9, wherein the boiler manager instructs the boiler to stay at
current heat output when every room reaches its corresponding set temperature of the
steady state and there is at least one adjustable valve of the room being fully opened.