Estimate Heating and Cooling Costs Using Degree Days

Estimate the heating and cooling costs for a building in a specific location over a year using the degree days algorithm. Specify the cost of electricity in kilowatt-hours to estimate how much would be spent on heating and cooling in a year.

Definitions

• Degree days measure how hot or cold a location was compared to a baseline temperature.
• Heating degree days (HDD) measure how cold the temperature was on a given day or during a period of days.
• Heating degree days cost (HDD_COST) estimates how much would be spent on heating in a year.
• Cooling degree days (CDD) measure how hot the temperature was on a given day or during a period of days.
• Cooling degree days cost (CDD_COST) estimates how much would be spent on cooling in a year.

Acknowledgments

The degree days algorithm is specified in the following document:

U.S. Department of Energy
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Building Technology Office
Building American Best Practices Series
Volume 7.3
Guide to Determining Climate Regions by County
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
August 2015