AIR CONDITIONER AND CONTROL METHOD

To provide a device and a method which can suppress intermittent operation of indoor units when a plurality of indoor units having different air conditioning loads and rating capacities are operated, and can retain comfort.SOLUTION: An air conditioner includes a plurality of indoor units 11a-11c, and an outdoor unit 12. The indoor units 11a-11c each include indoor heat exchangers 20a-20c, room temperature sensors 21a-21c for detecting an indoor temperature, and indoor expansion valves 22a-22c for adjusting a flow quantity of coolants flowing in the indoor units. The outdoor unit 12 includes: an outdoor heat exchanger 32; a compressor 30; and a controller 34 for controlling opening degrees of the indoor expansion valves 22a-22c based on a difference acquired by calculating a difference between the loads and the air conditioning capacities of the indoor units 11a-11c based on a deviation between a room temperature and a preset temperature detected by the room temperature sensors 21a-21c, and a change rate of a room temperature for a predetermined time for each of the indoor units 11a-11c.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1 【課題】 空調負荷や定格容量の異なる複数の室内機が運転している場合に、室内機の断続運転を抑制することができ、快適性を維持することが可能な装置および方法を提供すること。【解決手段】 空気調和装置は、複数の室内機１１ａ～１１ｃと室外機１２とを備え、各室内機１１ａ～１１ｃが、室内熱交換器２０ａ～２０ｃと、室内温度を検出する室温センサ２１ａ～２１ｃと、室内機内を流れる冷媒の流量を調整するための室内膨張弁２２ａ～２２ｃとを含み、室外機１２が、室外熱交換器３２と、圧縮機３０とを含み、各室内機１１ａ～１１ｃにつき、室温センサ２１ａ～２１ｃにより検出された室温と設定温度との偏差と、所定時間における室温の変化量とに基づき、室内機１１ａ～１１ｃの負荷と空調能力との差分を演算し、得られた差分に基づき、室内膨張弁２２ａ～２２ｃの開度を制御する制御器３４を含む。【選択図】 図１