Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
usually 65°. If the mean daily temperature is lower than the base temperature then
the degree days (DD) are called “heating degree days”. If the mean daily tempera-
ture is above the base temperature than the degree days are called “cooling degree
days”. The Mean Daily Temperature is the average of the highest and lowest tem-
peratures in a 24-hour period [2].
We measure the area of a dwelling in
square feet
(SF). Service area refers to the
number of square feet of a dwelling serviced by a particular energy source, electric-
ity, natural gas, etc. Some areas may not be heated or cooled so should not be used
to calculate the service area. The service area for electricity may differ from the
service area for natural gas. We use the service area to relate the size of a structure
to the energy it consumes.
We can use these units of measure along with some formulas to accurately turn
detailed energy consumption data into valuable energy information. Energy infor-
mation derived from these measurements allows us to make qualified decisions
regarding our energy conservation efforts.
1.3
Measuring Energy Consumption
We measure energy consumption in order to turn that data into valuable home en-
ergy information used to help us conserve. Our measurements pertain to energy
consumption that occurs over any number of timeframes. The most common time-
frame being the “month” since we receive invoices from electric and natural gas
providers every month. As energy conscious homeowners, we collect and record
these monthly values in order to analyze the energy efficiency of our homes.
We need to keep track of specific values on the invoices issued by electric pro-
viders each month. There is a lot of information on an electric company invoice.
However, the only values we are interested in are the start and end service dates
along with the actual kWh consumed for the month. Service dates or “billing dates”
for these invoices rarely start exactly on the first day of each month and end exactly
on the last day.
There are also similar specific values on the invoices issued by natural gas pro-
viders each month. They are the start and end dates of service and the therms or
CCFs consumed during that month.
Collecting monthly consumption values for propane and fuel oil is a little more
difficult, in some respects at least. Propane and fuel oil providers usually issue in-
voices after each delivery. That may be once or twice a month or once every two
to three months. So in order to get a monthly consumption measurement we have
to just simply look at the gauges each month on the first of the month to determine
how much we have consumed. The good thing is, this eliminates the need to track
the different start and end service dates for each month.
We collect degree days (DD) from the web site http://degreedays.net. This site
measures the degree days (DD) for weather stations in any area and makes them
available in convenient reports that we can download. So, we can always get a
