Envelopes are confusing
3 stars because it does the job. What job that is, whether it is accurate… Dunno yet.
Envelope categories: Not positive but I think that in Manual J, 16B- refers to a vented attic with insulation at the roof deck, meaning the insulation follows the slope of the roof rather than sitting on the ceiling. Not in this app! It is classified as “Under attic”. The descriptions are not the best. And the categories seem incomplete too. Pretty sure there are many not listed here. But I’m mostly worried they are completely wrong.
Another weird thing: when I define, say a floor, in the Block Load Info > Envelope, it asks for length and width (say, 14’ x 10’). Great! Changing the length and width values in this section definitely affects overall heat load. Also great! But then if you go to Room List > Envelope and assign that floor to the room, it asks me for Area… Not great! Why, if it already knows the area from the Block Load info > Envelope section, am I entering Area?But ok… it asks, so I enter: 140 sq ft.
Heres the weird thing though. If I change the Area of the envelope when assigning it to a room, it affects the Heat Load for that room. Kind of what you would expect. But if I go to the Block Load Info > Envelope list and change the length and width, it also affects the Heat Load for that room!
Since changing either of them has an effect, are both being applied and, if so, why? I am tempted to make the Block Info > Envelope simple 1 square foot (1’x1’) — mostly because the number it is spitting out for my 1660 sq ft house (50k BTUh) seems a bit high.
Still hoping these are quirks with the app that have solutions after learning it better. I am probably going to calculate all by hand against manual j and find out.
Envelope categories: Not positive but I think that in Manual J, 16B- refers to a vented attic with insulation at the roof deck, meaning the insulation follows the slope of the roof rather than sitting on the ceiling. Not in this app! It is classified as “Under attic”. The descriptions are not the best. And the categories seem incomplete too. Pretty sure there are many not listed here. But I’m mostly worried they are completely wrong.
Another weird thing: when I define, say a floor, in the Block Load Info > Envelope, it asks for length and width (say, 14’ x 10’). Great! Changing the length and width values in this section definitely affects overall heat load. Also great! But then if you go to Room List > Envelope and assign that floor to the room, it asks me for Area… Not great! Why, if it already knows the area from the Block Load info > Envelope section, am I entering Area?But ok… it asks, so I enter: 140 sq ft.
Heres the weird thing though. If I change the Area of the envelope when assigning it to a room, it affects the Heat Load for that room. Kind of what you would expect. But if I go to the Block Load Info > Envelope list and change the length and width, it also affects the Heat Load for that room!
Since changing either of them has an effect, are both being applied and, if so, why? I am tempted to make the Block Info > Envelope simple 1 square foot (1’x1’) — mostly because the number it is spitting out for my 1660 sq ft house (50k BTUh) seems a bit high.
Still hoping these are quirks with the app that have solutions after learning it better. I am probably going to calculate all by hand against manual j and find out.
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Go to load Calc app.
Used this app many times to perform load calculations with success.
DW
Can’t open app customer service will not respond. Don’t waste your money like I just did.
No Good for Energy-Efficient Homes
Cannot find any inputs that are even half as good as what I am designing. If you are just building to the codes, this is probably fine, but I just wasted 35$ on an app that is completely useless to me. Oh, but if I spend ANOTHER $25 I can apparently get an add-on with more default types...but still have no idea if they have anything that will meet NZE!
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Disappointing
App works as you would expect. You can email a report which is all good, but the file is not printable and sharing is not much of an option. Wish I would’ve known that, I would’ve kept looking. Could this not be changed to send as a PDF?
Also feels very much like an old app. Hasn’t been updated in quite some time.
Also feels very much like an old app. Hasn’t been updated in quite some time.
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