GBlist: Re: free house simulation software

He who toys with the most dies wins (windnagle@ricks.enet.dec.com)
Wed, 5 Mar 97 09:03:47 EST

>For Carl, Wherever he may be:
>
>I have used Solar 5.4 extensively and found it to be a valuable
>design and comparative analysis tool. If you are planning to rely
>on the energy projections at all or make predictions about energy
>savings, obtain TMY data for your climate and run the 365 day
>calculations. The 12 day (using an average day for each month)

Loren, Thanks for the tip. I have tried this though and have been
unsuccessful so far. When I try to load the TMY data it just
automatically loads the example TMY data that came with the download.

>calulation does not provide a reliable method for evaluating clear
>vs. overcast sky conditions. One additional thing to be aware of
>is an aparant bug in calculation of cost of heating fuel . As I
>recall Solar 5.3 calculated cost of heating fuel as it contributes
>to the total energy costs at $1.00 per therm no matter what the
>rate is set at. I had sent a note to UCLA (Murray Milne) to let
>them know. When I received my copy of Solar 5.4, the problem was
>still there. They may well have corrected it by now. Still Solar
>5.4 is an easy to use and surprisingly powerful tool. Once you
>get familiar with the 3D plots you really wish other energy tools
>would allow display of data in this way.
>
>
>_____________________________________
>Loren E. Abraham, AIA, IDSA
>President - DTI/ERG
>912 St Charles Avenue, Charlottesville, VA 22901
>Vc: 804 296 4197 Pg: 804 963 1511 Fax: 804 971 3729

Another bug that others should be aware of that I have noticed is that
when you copy a design the calculations get messed up. That is, the
newly copied design doesn't use the same energy as the original. If
you "edit" the design though and enter all 12 months for the calculation
it works fine.

/carl
windnagle@ricks.enet.dec.com
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