Control System for Optimizing Boiler Fluid Temperature Set Points

Abstract

A system for establishing a boiler fluid set point includes a plurality of input devices providing input values for a plurality of different portions of a heating system and a controller determining that during a period of time there was always at least one input value that deviated from a set point for the input value by more than a threshold amount and in response, the controller increasing the boiler fluid set point.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for establishing a boiler fluid set point comprising:
 a plurality of input devices providing input values for a plurality of different portions of a heating system;   a controller determining that during a period of time there was always at least one input value that deviated from a set point for the input value by more than a threshold amount and in response, the controller increasing the boiler fluid set point.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the input device comprises one of a pressure sensor and a flow sensor. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the input device comprises a temperature sensor. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the controller determines that during a second period of time, none of the input values deviated from their set point and in response decreases the boiler fluid set point. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4  wherein the controller only increases the boiler fluid set point if the increased boiler set point is less than an outdoor reset curve set point. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the controller further determines a boiler fluid set point from an outdoor temperature and a temperature reset curve formed based on adjusted boiler set points. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the system comprises a hydronic heating system that contains multiple secondary loops. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the system calculates a net efficiency of at least one boiler. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the controller generates a log containing a list of input devices that triggered raising the boiler fluid set point to a higher value. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the controller records the duration that each input value deviated from its set point by more than a deviation trigger value. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the controller records the number of times that an input device caused an increase in the boiler fluid set point. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein when the number of times the input device's input value caused an increase in the boiler fluid set point exceeds a count threshold, the controller stops using the input device's input value to determine if the boiler fluid set point should be increased. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the controller generates a log that identifies areas associated with input devices that the controller stopped using to determine if the boiler fluid set point should be increased. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the controller further generates a log comprising a list of input devices ranked in order based on the number of times each input device caused an increase in the boiler fluid set point. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the controller records fluid temperatures going into and out of the boiler(s), fuel usage, and fluid flow, and generates a log containing a boiler efficiency data and a means of establishing the boiler fluid set point. 
     
     
         16 . A controller in a heating system changes a boiler fluid set point, stores the changed boiler fluid set point together with an outside temperature and uses the stored changed boiler fluid set point and the stored outside temperature to generate a reset curve used to establish a boiler fluid set point when starting a boiler system. 
     
     
         17 . The controller of  claim 16  wherein the controller generates the reset curve by assigning the changed boiler fluid set point to a bine defined by a range of outside temperatures. 
     
     
         18 . The controller of  claim 17  wherein the bin is further defined by at least one of a day of the week, a date and a time of day. 
     
     
         19 . A controller in a heating system identifies input devices that prevent the controller from lowering a boiler fluid set point and generates a log providing a list of such input devices. 
     
     
         20 . The controller of  claim 19  wherein the log comprises the number of times the input device prevented the controller from lowering the boiler fluid set point. 
     
     
         21 . The controller of  claim 19  wherein the log comprises a period of time when an input value provided by the input device differed from a set point for the input value by more than a threshold amount.