Systems and controllers for controlling heating unit temperature with a simulated outdoor temperature, and methods using the same
Systems and methods for controlling a heating Technologies for controlling a heating unit are disclosed. In embodiments, the systems and methods determine a heating unit target temperature based at least in part on a duty cycle of at least one thermostat. The systems and methods may then determine a simulated outdoor temperature corresponding to the heating unit target temperature, and a resistance value corresponding to the simulated outdoor temperature. The systems and methods may then cause a resistance signal including or indicative of the resistance value to be provided to an outdoor temperature input for the heating unit, e.g., to cause the heating unit to modulate to the heating unit target temperature.
1 . A control system for a boiler heating unit with outdoor reset capability, comprising:
a processor; and
a computer readable memory comprising boiler control instructions, wherein said boiler control instructions when executed by the processor cause the control system to:
determine a boiler target temperature for the boiler based at least in part on a duty cycle of at least one thermostat;
determine a simulated outdoor temperature corresponding to the boiler target temperature, wherein the simulated outdoor temperature is not based on a measured outdoor temperature;
determine a resistance value corresponding to the simulated outdoor temperature; and
cause provision of a resistance signal to be sent to an outdoor temperature input for the boiler, the resistance signal including or indicative of the resistance value, wherein the resistance signal is configured to cause the boiler to change the boiler target temperature from a first value to a second value.
2 . The control system of claim 1 , further comprising a variable potentiometer, wherein said boiler control instructions when executed by the processor cause the control system to cause the provision of said resistance signal with said variable potentiometer.
3 . The control system of claim 1 , wherein said resistance value is a resistance value of a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistor, a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) thermistor, or a resistance temperature detector (RTD) that corresponds to the simulated outdoor temperature.
4 . The control system of claim 1 , wherein:
said computer readable memory further comprises a look up table comprising a plurality of outdoor temperatures and a plurality of resistance values, wherein each of the plurality of outdoor temperatures is correlated with a respective one of the plurality of resistance values; and
the boiler control instructions are configured to cause the control system to determine the resistance value corresponding to the simulated outdoor temperature at least in part with the look up table.
5 . The control system of claim 1 , wherein said boiler control instructions when executed by said processor cause the control system to determine the simulated outdoor temperature using the following expression:
OAT=OS-BT-OSOS-ODDS-SS
wherein:
O AT is the simulated outdoor temperature;
O S is an outdoor start temperature of the boiler;
B T is the boiler heating unit target temperature for the boiler;
O D is an outdoor design temperature of the boiler;
D S is a design supply temperature of the boiler; and
S S is a supply start temperature of a liquid supply to the boiler.
6 . A control system for a boiler with outdoor reset capability, comprising:
a processor; and
a computer readable memory comprising boiler control instructions, wherein said boiler control instructions when executed by the processor cause the control system to:
receive a thermostat signal from at least one thermostat, the thermostat signal representative of a target room temperature;
determine a boiler target temperature for the boiler heating unit based at least in part on a duty cycle of the at least one thermostat;
determine a simulated outdoor temperature corresponding to the boiler target temperature;
determine a resistance value corresponding to the simulated outdoor temperature; and
cause provision of a resistance signal to be sent to an outdoor temperature input for the boiler, the resistance signal including or indicative of the resistance value, wherein the resistance signal does not modify the target room temperature, and wherein the resistance signal is configured to cause the boiler to change the boiler target temperature from a first value to a second value.
7 . The control system of claim 6 , further comprising a variable potentiometer, wherein said boiler control instructions when executed by the processor cause the control system to cause the provision of said resistance signal with said variable potentiometer.
8 . The control system of claim 6 , wherein said resistance value is a resistance value of a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistor, a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) thermistor, or a resistance temperature detector (RTD) that corresponds to the simulated outdoor temperature.
9 . The control system of claim 6 , wherein:
said computer readable memory further comprises a look up table comprising a plurality of outdoor temperatures and a plurality of resistance values, wherein each of the plurality of outdoor temperatures is correlated with a respective one of the plurality of resistance values; and
the boiler control instructions are configured to cause the control system to determine the resistance value corresponding to the simulated outdoor temperature at least in part with the look up table.
10 . The control system of claim 6 , wherein said boiler control instructions when executed by said processor cause the control system to determine the simulated outdoor temperature using the following expression:
OAT=OS-BT-OSOS-ODDS-SS
wherein:
O AT is the simulated outdoor temperature;
O S is an outdoor start temperature of the boiler;
B T is the boiler heating unit target temperature for the boiler;
O D is an outdoor design temperature of the boiler;
D S is a design supply temperature of the boiler; and
S S is a supply start temperature of a liquid supply to the boiler.
11 . The control system of claim 6 , wherein the simulated outdoor temperature is not based on a measured outdoor temperature.
12 . A control system for a boiler with outdoor reset capability, comprising:
one or more controllers configured to:
determine a boiler target temperature for the boiler based at least in part on a duty cycle of a thermostat communicatively coupled to the control system;
correlate a simulated outdoor temperature to the boiler target temperature, wherein the simulated outdoor temperature is not based on a measured outdoor temperature; and
cause a resistance signal to be sent to an outdoor temperature input of the boiler to cause the boiler to adjust an actual boiler temperature to the boiler target temperature, the resistance signal based, at least in part, on the simulated outdoor temperature.
13 . The control system of claim 12 , wherein the one more controllers is further configured to receive a thermostat signal from the thermostat, the thermostat signal representative of a target room temperature, wherein the resistance signal does not modify the target room temperature.
14 . The control system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more controllers includes a first controller configured to be communicatively coupled to a thermostat and a second controller configured to be communicatively coupled to the first controller.
15 . The control system of claim 14 , wherein the first controller is configured to determine the boiler target temperature for the boiler based at least in part on a duty cycle of the thermostat, and to output a first signal indicative of the boiler target temperature to the second controller.
16 . The control system of claim 15 , wherein the second controller is configured to correlate the simulated outdoor temperature to the boiler target temperature based at least in part on the first signal and cause the resistance signal to be sent to the outdoor temperature input of the boiler.
17 . The control system of claim 12 , wherein said one or more controllers is further configured to correlate the simulated outdoor temperature to the boiler target temperature using the following expression:
OAT=OS-BT-OSOS-ODDS-SS
wherein:
O AT is the simulated outdoor temperature;
O S is an outdoor start temperature of the boiler;
B T is the boiler heating unit target temperature for the boiler;
O D is an outdoor design temperature of the boiler;
D S is a design supply temperature of the boiler; and
S S is a supply start temperature of a liquid supply to the boiler.
18 . The control system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more controllers is further configured to determine the resistance value at least in part with a second lookup table that correlates each of a plurality of simulated outdoor temperatures to a corresponding one of a plurality of resistance values.