Method and apparatus for supplying hot water by controlling the number of pulses applied to a heater

Abstract

There is provided a warm water supply device for controlling the number of voltage pulses applied to heaters, including: a first heater configured to have a first pre-set capacity, provided at a water inlet, and heating water introduced through the water inlet; a second heater configured to have a second pre-set capacity greater than that of the first pre-set capacity, provided at a water outlet, and heating water introduced through the water outlet; and a controller calculating a first heater driving period and calculating a second heater driving period according to a water temperature introduced through the water inlet and a set heating water temperature discharged through the water outlet by using a zero crossing control scheme, and driving the first and second heaters by controlling the number of voltage pulses applied to the first and second heater according to the heater driving periods, respectively.

1 . A warm water supply device for controlling the number of voltage pulses applied to heaters, the device comprising:
 a first heater configured to have a first pre-set capacity, provided at a water inlet, and heating water introduced through the water inlet;   a second heater configured to have a second pre-set capacity greater than that of the first pre-set capacity, provided at a water outlet, and heating water introduced through the water outlet; and   a controller calculating a first heater driving period and calculating a second heater driving period according to a water temperature introduced through the water inlet and a set heating water temperature discharged through the water outlet by using a zero crossing control scheme, and driving the first and second heaters by controlling the number of voltage pulses applied to the first and second heater according to heater driving periods thereof, respectively.   
     
     
         2 . The warm water supply device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller performs controlling such that the sum of the number of voltage pulses applied to the first and second heaters, respectively, is a pre-set number. 
     
     
         3 . The warm water supply device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller performs controlling such that the number of voltage pulses applied to the first heater is within a pre-set number, and the number of voltage pulses applied to the second heater is a pre-set number. 
     
     
         4 . The warm water supply device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller determines whether or not a water temperature introduced through the water inlet is lower than the set heating temperature, and when the temperature of the water is lower than the set heating temperature, the controller calculates the heater driving periods. 
     
     
         5 . The warm water supply device of  claim 1 , wherein the first pre-set capacity is greater than 0 but not greater than 450 W, and the second pre-set capacity is greater than 450 W but not greater than 750 W. 
     
     
         6 . A warm water supply method for controlling the number of voltage pulses applied to heaters, the method comprising:
 disposing a first heater having a first pre-set capacity and a second heater having a second pre-set capacity greater than that of the first pre-set capacity at a water inlet and a water outlet, respectively;   calculating heater driving periods of the first and second heaters according to a water temperature introduced through the water inlet and a set heating water temperature discharged through the water outlet by using a zero crossing control scheme; and   driving the first and second heaters by controlling the number of voltage pulses applied to the first and second heaters according to the heater driving periods, respectively to heat water introduced through the water inlet and then allow the water to be discharged through the water outlet.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising determining whether or not the water temperature introduced through the water inlet is lower than the set heating temperature, wherein when the water temperature introduced through the water inlet is lower than the set heating temperature, the heater driving periods are calculated.