FAQ – Heating and Cooling Calculation
General Questions:
Q: Why do you have heating and cooling included in lighting calculations?
A: Lamps, fixtures, ballasts, wire, controls, and drivers all emit heat when they are turned on. Reducing the total power requirement by going with a lighting solution that uses less energy will reduce the heat output into the area the lights are in. When the area is trying to cool, this will reduce the amount of cooling needed. When the area is trying to heat, this will increase the amount of heating needed. For a full energy and cost analysis, it’s important to capture these changes if possible.
Q: How accurate are Retrolux’s energy and cost calculations for heating and cooling?
A: Retrolux uses a simplified analysis that can be fairly accurate if the correct system characteristics are known. Just like all energy and cost calculations, the accuracy is dependent on accurate inputs.
Q: Does Retrolux automatically calculate heating and cooling calculations?
A: Retrolux gives you the ability to calculate heating and cooling affects or leave them out. It will automatically calculate them if you turn them on and have all the required information for the calculations. To turn heating and cooling calculations on or off, you need to go to the area detail page and toggle ‘Include Heating/Cooling Calculations’ to ‘On’ or ‘Off.’
Q: Where are the heating and cooling calculations?
A: Retrolux calculates heating and cooling by area since each area could have use different heating and cooling systems to regulate space comfort. Go to the area detail page by clicking an area and then ‘edit’.
Procedure
Q: What do I need to do to calculate heating effects?
A: The procedure for calculating heating effects is:
Turn on the heating calculations.
Enter the heating run time. This can’t be more than 100% since the building can’t be in heating mode more than all the time. Enter as a number, not a decimal. You can find this number by asking the owner/facility manager or estimating based on building type and location.
Enter the Heating Run Time. This can’t be more than 100% since the building can’t be in cooling mode more than all the time. Enter as a number, not a decimal. You can find this number by asking the owner/facility manager or estimating based on building type and location.
Enter Heating System Type. This is the type of heating system the area uses. Common examples are boilers, roof top units, forced air, and electric resistive heaters. It does not directly contribute to the calculation, but helps outline what type of system is used for checking. You can find this out by asking the building owner or finding the equipment that heats the space.
Enter the Heating Fuel Cost. This will be the rate the utility charges the building owner for their heating fuel. You can find this out by asking the building owner or asking the utility for recent bills. The rate should be in dollars/unit with the unit tied to the heating fuel type.
Enter the Heating Efficiency Type. The heating efficiency is a measurement of how efficiently heating equipment turns input energy into heat. The type is dependent on what type of equipment the area has and is usually consistent to the type of equipment with generic heating efficiency types below.
Enter the Heating Efficiency Value. The value for the heating efficiency will depend on what type of efficiency you use, hold old the equipment is, and how well it’s operating. You can find this out by asking the building owner or estimating the number based on our generic heating efficiency values below.
Existing and Proposed Lamp/Fixture Thermal Efficiencies. The thermal efficiency for a lamp or fixture is a measure of how much energy is wasted as heat. Each lamp and fixture has a specific thermal efficiency while certain categories of lamps and fixtures have fairly consistent thermal efficiencies. You can find this out by asking the product manufacturer or using the generic thermal efficiencies below.
Q: What do I need to do to calculate cooling effects?
A: The procedure for calculating cooling effects is;
Turn on the cooling calculations.
Enter the Cooling Run Time. This can’t be more than 100% since the building can’t be in cooling mode more than all the time. Enter as a number, not a decimal. You can find this number by asking the owner/facility manager or estimating based on building type and location.
Enter Cooling System Type. This is the type of cooling system the area uses. Common examples are air conditioners, chillers, roof top units, heat pumps, and evaporative. It does not directly contribute to the calculation, but helps outline what type of system is used for checking. You can find this out by asking the building owner or finding the equipment that cools the space.
Enter the Cooling Fuel Type. This will be dependent on what the area uses for cooling. You can find this out by asking the building owner or finding the equipment that cools the space.
Enter the Cooling Fuel Cost. This will be the rate the utility charges the building owner for their cooling fuel. You can find this out by asking the building owner or asking the utility for recent bills. The rate should be in dollars/unit with the unit tied to the cooling fuel type.
Enter the Cooling Efficiency Type. The cooling efficiency is a measurement of how efficiently cooling equipment turns input energy into cooling. The type is dependent on what type of equipment the area has and is usually consistent to the type of equipment with generic cooling efficiency types below.
Enter the Cooling Efficiency Value. The value for the cooling efficiency will depend on what type of efficiency you use, hold old the equipment is, and how well it’s operating. You can find this out by asking the building owner or estimating the number based on our generic cooling efficiency values below.
Existing and Proposed Lamp/Fixture Thermal Efficiencies. The thermal efficiency for a lamp or fixture is a measure of how much energy is wasted as heat. Each lamp and fixture has a specific thermal efficiency while certain categories of lamps and fixtures have fairly consistent thermal efficiencies. You can find this out by asking the product manufacturer or using the generic thermal efficiencies below.
Generic Values
DISCLAIMER: These generic values are intended to provide a starting point and check for values found at a project location. They are not intended to be indicative of every location, system, and product and should be used only for estimating. Retrolux is not responsible for any value entered in the tool or the final energy and cost savings.
Heating:
Cooling:
