What's Your Heat Loss?

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steamup
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Post by steamup »

So often I read about people not knowing how much heat they need.
I put a simple spread sheet together for easy calculations of heat loss.
It can be used for a single room or a whole building as a block load.
Note that I will not be responsible for the results but I put it together using standard engineering proceedures.
If in doubt, be sure to hire a professionial to do this for you.

It will not be 100% on target but is close enough for most decision making.
It will be more accurate than rules of thumb.

Simplified heat loss xl2003.xls


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Sting
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Post by Sting »

looks a little like this one - but easier

and I thought it was simple

Too bad there isn't a clean place to park this so we can point people to it fast

http://www.builditsolar.com/References/Calculator ... atLoss.htm

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steamup
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Post by steamup »

There is not a whole lot to simple heat loss. All of the forms are similar.

This is not tied to a web site and people can copy and edit it as they see fit.

We will let people play and refine it if necessary. Then I wil figure out how to put it in the knowledge base.


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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. »

I did a heatloss on my house when we first moved in with the Slantfin software. I came up with 130,000 btus per hour to hold the house at 72 on a -15 day. Naturally with a 100 year old home I had to make some assumptions about insulation, most of which is blown-in cellulose.

On 1-24-11 it was -22 at my house, and my DF520 ran non-stop all day at 12.5 lbs per hour. If you assume 12,800 btus/lb for the rice coal and 85% efficiency for the squeaky-clean EFM, that is 136,000 btus/hr.

Either the software is very good or I was lucky in my assumptions...maybe both. In any case, having a boiler with an adjustable feed rate is sure nice.

-Rob

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Yanche
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Post by Yanche »

I've posted many times about the heat loss calculator that's included with Seigenthaler's book. Well, the new 3rd edition no longer includes the software. Instead it's now available for free download. See:

http://www.hydronicpros.com/downloads/

There are several very useful hydronic design tools for free download. The free versions are limited in functionality but are definitely useful, especially for residential use. You can calculate your homes heat loss, design your radiation system and size your piping. Have a look.

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Sting
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Post by Sting »

like I wrote earlier

Where can these be parked for quick referral?


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Yanche
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Post by Yanche »

Sting wrote:like I wrote earlier

Where can these be parked for quick referral?
Right here, just tell people to search for "What's your heat loss?"

Adding what I've posted in other threads:

To properly size your heating appliance, stove, boiler, furnace you need to do a heat loss calculation. In the HVAC industry it's called a Manual J, after the section of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America design manuals. See: http://www.acca.org/

Do a search on this site and you will find many references to Manual J. Some companies that supply products for the heating industry have design procedures for heat loss calculations. One is Taco. See: http://commercial.taco-hvac.com/

You will need to register using your e-mail address. It's free and there is video training available.

What you are looking for is the "Taco HVAC Load Calculator". It's a software download analysis tool. To use it you enter your local weather conditions and the construction of your building. There is a learning curve. It can be used to determine entire building heat loss (called block load) or individual rooms. Good luck.

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Yanche
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Post by Yanche »

Here's one that the professional engineers use. See:

http://www.elitesoft.com/web/hvacr/elite_rhvacw_info.html

It uses the latest Air Conditional Contractors Association analysis methods Manual J Version 8. Manual J Version 7 or Version 8 is often written as a requirement in building codes. It does both heating and cooling. In Maryland any licensed contractor must do a heat loss calculation with Manual J and give the customer a copy. There is a functional demo copy available for free download. Learning curve is steep.

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steamup
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Post by steamup »

Yanche wrote:Here's one that the professional engineers use. See:

http://www.elitesoft.com/web/hvacr/elite_rhvacw_info.html

It uses the latest Air Conditional Contractors Association analysis methods Manual J Version 8. Manual J Version 7 or Version 8 is often written as a requirement in building codes. It does both heating and cooling. In Maryland any licensed contractor must do a heat loss calculation with Manual J and give the customer a copy. There is a functional demo copy available for free download. Learning curve is steep.
Yep, one of many. Carrier, Trane also sell programs. Autodesk bought out a software company that wrote calculation software and now issues it as a add on. I got it as a "free" add on. The intial cost of Autocad is anything but free. Most of these programs need some level of training and knowledge. There are dozens more I am sure.

Heat gain calcs for air conditioning are more complex and require a computerized program to do quickly.

The goal here is to give some basic information that allows people to get in the ballpark of their heat loss without much effort.

energydesignsystems
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Post by energydesignsystems »

Here's one that professionals use.

The easiest, fastest, and most accurate residential heat loss and heat gain block Load Calculator https://www.eds.tech/hvac-load-calculator/

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