HVAC Pipe Sizer vs Orifice Flow
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HVAC Pipe Sizer
Quickly size steam pipe systems by inputting piping and steam properties. Includes a steam table calculator and HVAC equipment locator. Supports English and metric units.
- Steam pipe sizing
- Steam table calculator
- HVAC Equipment Locator
- English/metric unit selection
- Pipe fitting database
- Slider controls for input
Read full descriptionHide full description
The "HVAC Pipe Sizer - Steam" application allows you to quickly size a simple steam pipe system by inputting a number of piping and steam properties. This app is now a universal app that works on both the iPhone and iPad and adjusts its screen size accordingly. This app now includes the HVAC Equipment Locator. Click here for details: http://bit.ly/1BPl1Nr It also includes a bonus steam table calculator that allows you to specify 2 parameters for either saturated or superheated steam and display the remaining steam properties. In the pipe sizing module, you can specify the total steam flow in lbs/hr (or kgs/hr), the initial steam pressure (psia or psig) and one of either pressure loss (psi/100ft), pipe internal diameter (inches) or steam velocity (ft/s) parameters. The results include both the exact and nominal pipe diameters and the calculated velocity and total pressure loss. If you are analyzing an existing steam pipe system, there is an option to input the existing pipe internal diameter, initial steam pressure and one of either pressure loss or steam velocity parameters to derive the calculated steam flow and other remaining properties. You can specify additional parameters such as whether the steam is saturated or superheated (with accompanying temperature), the pipe material type, the total length of pipe, quantities for up to 11 different types of pipe fittings, and much more. You can also choose to display values in either english or metric units. The bonus steam table module is one-of-a-kind. It allows you to easily view results by selecting a variety of input parameters and easily altering these inputs using the slider control. This is perfect for students who often rely upon the more static printed steam tables in engineering text. This application includes built-in pipe fitting equivalent length and nominal pipe sizing tables for a wide variety of pipe material types and diameters. This application uses slider controls that allow you to quickly increment or decrement the input values and immediately observe the calculated results. You can also manually input exact values. This app now includes the HVAC Equipment Locator. Click here for details: http://bit.ly/1yTq539 This application was designed by Carmel Software Corporation, a leader in HVAC design software since 1995. In fact, Autodesk (the makers of AutoCAD) acquired our load calculation software and incorporated it into their leading 3D modeling software called Revit. We also offer the following additional applications for the iPhone/iPad: 1. HVAC Duct Sizer 2. HVAC Pipe Sizer – Gas Low Pressure 3. HVAC Pipe Sizer - Gas High Pressure 4. HVAC Pipe Sizer – Liquid 5. HVAC Pipe Sizer – Steam 6. Steam Tables 7. Psychrometric Plus 8. Psychrometric LT 9. HVAC Pipe Sizer Plus 10. HVAC Pipe Sizer Gas Plus 11. HVAC Toolkit 12. HVAC Toolkit Ultimate 13. HVAC Residential Load Calcs 14. HVAC Load Plus 15. HVAC Equipment Locator 16. ASHRAE Duct Fitting Database 17. ASHRAE 62.1 Ventilation Load Calcs 18. HVAC Psych HD 19. HVAC ResLoad-J 20. HVAC Residential Load Calcs HD
Orifice Flow
Calculate fluid flow rates in pipes and conduits using orifice plates. Supports common industrial fluids and custom fluid properties, with adjustable units and orifice types. Ideal for engineers and designers.
- Fluid flow rate computation
- Supports 15 common industrial fluids
- Custom fluid property input and saving
- Multiple orifice plate types
- Adjustable units (SI/USCS)
- Detailed computation model documentation
Read full descriptionHide full description
Measurement of fluid flow in pipes and conduits using orifice plates are very common in industrial applications. This app quickly computes the flow rates for liquid and gases based on standard parameters as per the model shown. Users can pick any fluid from a list of fifteen most common fluids used in industrial applications. Therefore, this app can be a very helpful tool for practicing engineers and designers in design and analysis of flows in different applications. A case study on CO2 flow rate is shown in the screen shot. The result is consistent with other methods used by the industry in computation and difference is less than 0.1%. Fluids that are not in the list, users can create a custom fluid with property data and compute the flow rate using the model provided in this app. Custom fluid data can be saved and reloaded every time when custom fluid is selected. Fluids: Air, Steam, Water, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Hydrogen, Helium, CO2, Methane, Ethane, Chlorine, Ammonia, Argon, Hydraulic oil, HFC(R410A), Custom (user's choice). Orifice Type: App gives four different standard orifice design with recommended discharge coefficients as shown in the following screen shot. It also provides the details of the model used in the computation of flow rates for liquid and gases. This model is valid even for nozzles, venturi-flow meters for which the discharge coefficient (Cd) is unity. Measuring Parameters: Fluid inlet temperature and pressure, orifice geometry, pressure differential using standard pressure taps (ISO 5167), are the standard parameters required in the computation. Based on the orifice geometry, recommended discharge coefficient Cd is used. However, users can edit this using manufacturer’s data for more accurate results. App notes provides brief description of different orifice parameters for quick reference. Unit of Measurement: Users can choose different unit of measurement for both flow as well as pressure drop under given unit standard (SI or USCS). This can be conveniently selected while choosing the fluid from the picker list. App notes provides additional guideline with a link for complete documentation on implementation and validation of math-models used with industry examples.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Orifice Flow at none against HVAC Pipe Sizer's 1. Orifice Flow also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 67%) and price ($3.99 vs $6.99). On update cadence, ads, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
HVAC Pipe Sizer costs $6.99 and Orifice Flow $3.99 up front. HVAC Pipe Sizer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Orifice Flow asks for nothing beyond the download.
HVAC Pipe Sizer ships an update every 9 months, Orifice Flow every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on August 27, 2026 and September 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HVAC Pipe Sizer | Orifice Flow |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99 | $3.99 — better |
| Rating | — | 4.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months — better | Every 12 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 14.3 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 17 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Carmel Software Corporation | Kaup Shenoy Associates |
Customer experience
HVAC Pipe Sizer
Orifice Flow
In-app purchases
HVAC Pipe Sizer
- HVAC Equipment Locator$9.99
Orifice Flow
No in-app purchases








