Indoor unit, and air conditioner
An indoor unit is used in an air conditioner capable of executing a cooling operation by circulating a refrigerant. The indoor unit includes an indoor heat exchanger, a drain pan, a drain pump, and an indoor controller. The indoor heat exchanger ( 50 ) exchanges heat between the refrigerant and indoor air. The drain pan receives water generated in the indoor heat exchanger. The drain pump sucks up the water from the drain pan. At a time of executing the cooling operation, the indoor controller operates the drain pump when an evaporation temperature of the refrigerant in the indoor heat exchanger is equal to or lower than a dew point temperature of the indoor air. At the time of executing the cooling operation, the indoor controller controls the drain pump so as to have a period in which operation of the drain pump is not performed when the evaporation temperature of the refrigerant is higher than the dew point temperature.
1 . An indoor unit used in an air conditioner capable of executing a cooling operation by circulating a refrigerant, the indoor unit comprising:
a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the refrigerant and indoor air;
a drain pan that receives water generated in the heat exchanger;
a drain pump that sucks up the water from the drain pan; and
a controller,
wherein at a time of executing the cooling operation, the controller controls the drain pump such that an operation start condition of the drain pump in a first state and an operation start condition of the drain pump in a second state are different from each other, and
the second state is a state in which a load on the air conditioner at the time of executing the cooling operation is smaller than that in the first state; and
wherein, at the time of executing the cooling operation, the controller continues operation of the drain pump in the first state, and, in the second state, starts the operation of the drain pump in response to a water level of the drain pan rising to reach a predetermined height, and stops the operation of the drain pump in response to the water level of the drain pan falling below the predetermined height.
2 . The indoor unit according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined height is higher than a height of a water suction port of the drain pump.
3 . The indoor unit according to claim 1 , wherein the second state includes
a state in which an evaporation temperature of the refrigerant in the heat exchanger is higher than a dew point temperature of the indoor air, or
a state in which a difference between the evaporation temperature and the dew point temperature is smaller than a predetermined value in a case where the evaporation temperature is equal to or lower than the dew point temperature.
4 . An air conditioner comprising the indoor unit according to claim 1 .
5 . The indoor unit according to claim 1 , wherein the operation start condition of the drain pump in the first state is a first time to start operation of the drain pump after starting the air conditioner and the operation start condition of the drain pump in the second state is a second time to start operation of the drain pump after starting the air conditioner.