Help Guide for Heat Engineer Software

Heat Engineer Software Ltd Issue 2.1 31/01/19

www.heat-engineer.com copyright 2015

Help Guide for Heat Engineer Software

Contents Taking a Survey ....................................................................................................................................... 3

Rooms with vaulted ceilings ................................................................................................................... 4

External Walls ......................................................................................................................................... 4

Internal Walls .......................................................................................................................................... 5

Party Walls .............................................................................................................................................. 5

Roof glazing ............................................................................................................................................. 5

Windows ................................................................................................................................................. 5

Air Changes Per Hour (ACH) .................................................................................................................... 5

Degree day Data ...................................................................................................................................... 6

DHW (Domestic Hot Water).................................................................................................................... 7

Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVRH) ..................................................................................... 7

Room year of construction ..................................................................................................................... 7

Maximum design flow temperature ....................................................................................................... 8

MIS 3005 ................................................................................................................................................. 9

MIS 3004 ................................................................................................................................................. 9

OFTEC ...................................................................................................................................................... 9

Quick Heat Loss Estimate ........................................................................................................................ 9

Emitters ................................................................................................................................................... 9

External air and ground temperatures ................................................................................................. 10

Room default temperatures ................................................................................................................. 12

Exposed location ................................................................................................................................... 12

Intermitted heating ............................................................................................................................... 12

Floors..................................................................................................................................................... 12

Ground floors .................................................................................................................................... 12

Ground floor U values ....................................................................................................................... 13

Internal floors (first and second floors) ................................................................................................ 13

Rooms above and below ....................................................................................................................... 14

Open fire places .................................................................................................................................... 14

High ceilings .......................................................................................................................................... 15

MCS Heat Emitter Guide ....................................................................................................................... 15

ErP ......................................................................................................................................................... 15

Altitude adjustment .............................................................................................................................. 16

Thermal Bridges .................................................................................................................................... 16

Bivalent System ..................................................................................................................................... 16



Ground Loop design estimation ............................................................................................................ 18

Select Heat Source Type ....................................................................................................................... 19

Current radiators................................................................................................................................... 20

Green Deal Assessment and EPC .......................................................................................................... 20

Surveyors .............................................................................................................................................. 20

Editing survey online ............................................................................................................................. 21

Missing data from survey ...................................................................................................................... 21

Dyslexic users ........................................................................................................................................ 21



Taking a Survey It is free to download and use the Heat Engineer app to enter details for a survey. The only way however to complete the calculations and produce a report is to open a Heat Engineer account online to access the cloud-based software.

Once you have opened an account you can invite unlimited surveyors to submit surveys to your company. This feature will be useful for installation companies who use domestic energy assessors and green deal assessors. These assessors can familiarise themselves with the Heat Engineer app and obtain online training from the staff at Heat Engineer Software Ltd free of charge.

Business with engineers who attended site visits can also benefit from our free training, which will ensure they are happy and confident using the Heat Engineer app on either their mobile phone or tablet.

Important A very effective way to benefit from completing a quick and accurate survey for a room by room heat loss calculation is to use a laser measuring device. As a surveyor ensure you become familiar with features such as automatically calculate the area of floor and windows. The adding function on these laser tools are very handy to add multiple floor areas and windows areas together. Then simply enter the value into the Heat Engineer app. Let the laser tool do the maths for you.



Rooms with vaulted ceilings

We have designed a quick method for recording the dimensions and type of wall/roof for rooms with vaulted ceilings. This approach saves time compared to other software by allowing Heat Engineer to complete the trigonometry itself.

There are eight different types of vaulted ceiling profiles you can select from.

Key inputs to remember when surveying:

• Press the ‘Dim’ buttons to type in your dimensions, the button will turn red to green once a dimension is entered.

• Press the ‘Wall’ buttons to select which element type is used either External, internal, party wall or Roof. The buttons will turn from yellow to green once a selection has been made.

• Make sure all buttons turn GREEN.

External Walls It’s important the surveyor enters the total length of a wall. So, if a room has three external walls say 3m by 4m by 3m, then the total length entered in the Heat Engineer app is 10 meters.

If a room has two types of wall construction for example a newly built wall and an old 18” solid stone wall, then the total of each wall type can be entered in Wall type A and Wall type B in the Heat Engineer app.

Ensure you include all wall lengths even if a large section from floor to ceiling is an opening/window because the cloud-based software will automatically subtract the window area from the external wall area. Therefore, the calculation will only result the heat loss on the external wall.



Internal Walls Heat loss through internal wall will often be very small, but still particularly important if a parallel room has a much lower designed room temperature. For example, a bathrooms or en-suite will by default have a designed room temperature of 22C, therefore in most cases the room parallel could be 18oC (Hall way or bedroom). So, this heat loss through the internal wall will add to the total kW so the correctly sized emitter is selected.

Party Walls These types of walls refer to rooms which share a wall with a neighbouring property, garage or basement. The default temperature on the other side of a party wall is 10oC. Therefore, in the case when a next-door neighbour has gone away on holiday and their heating is turned off (worst case scenario).

Roof glazing Most common in rooms with vaulted ceilings the total area of all roof glazing is to be entered into the Heat Engineer app.

Windows The total of all window areas for a room is to be entered into the Heat Engineer app. Where a glazing door is present this can also be added to the total window area.

If a room has two types of windows, then the second type can be entered in Window area B. This area will be taken away from external wall B area for the calculations.

Air Changes Per Hour (ACH) Ventilation loss is determined by the air changes per hour for each room. There are a number of factors which dictate which value to us. Heat Engineer will automatically determine this value for you.

• Based on the room name and therefore the type. • The year the room was built, a newly built room will have a lower ACH. • Does the room have an open fire place. • If the room has an open fire place does it have a throat restrictor. • If the room is newly built does it have MVHR, Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery. • If it has MVHR what recovery rate would you like to use.

heat loss (watts) = 0.33 x V x N x (External temperature – internal temperature)

V = Volume of the room in m3

N = The number of air changes per hour

The factor 0.33 (W/m3/K) is the product of specific heat and density of air under typical conditions.

See table of ACH in section ‘Room year of construction’.



Degree day Data Degree days is a measure of the difference between the baseline and the actual outdoor temperature multiplied by the number of days. For example - the temperature measured hourly records a temperature of:

7.5ºC for 48 hours the degree days total would be: (15.5 - 7.5) x 2 = 16

The base temperature used to calculate degree days in the UK is 15.5ºC, because at this temperature most UK buildings do not need supplementary heating.

Heating energy demand (kWh) = overall heat loss coefficient (kW/K) x degree-days (K/day) x 24 (h/day)

(The 24 is included to convert from days to hours.)

Note - it is not possible to have a negative degree day value as when the outdoor temperature exceeds 15.5ºC no heating is needed. When the outdoor temperature does exceed the 15. 5ºC baseline, then the degree days are set to zero.

More Accurate Assessment of Annual Heating Energy Demand

Some factors can be considered to make this calculation more accurate;

1. Buildings may be only heated for 39 weeks per year or other periods.

2. The inside temperature may be higher than 18.3oC on which degree days are based.

3. Buildings with high heat gains have less requirement for winter heating.

4. Light and heavy weight buildings respond differently to being heated.

5. Some buildings are used intermittently, some are continuous use.



DHW (Domestic Hot Water) The estimated energy consumption of hot water for a property is based on the following formulae.

𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 𝑘𝑘𝐷𝐷ℎ 𝑝𝑝𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝐸𝐸

= (𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁. 𝑁𝑁𝑜𝑜 𝐵𝐵𝐸𝐸𝑑𝑑𝐸𝐸𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 + 1) × 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁. 𝑁𝑁𝑜𝑜 𝑁𝑁𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑑𝑑𝐸𝐸𝑜𝑜𝐵𝐵 𝑝𝑝𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 𝑏𝑏𝐸𝐸𝑑𝑑𝐸𝐸𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐵𝐵 × 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑜𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐵𝐵 𝑝𝑝𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 𝑝𝑝𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐵𝐵𝑁𝑁𝐸𝐸

× (𝐹𝐹𝑙𝑙𝐸𝐸𝑙𝑙𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑤𝑑𝑑𝑜𝑜𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 𝑜𝑜𝐸𝐸𝐵𝐵𝑝𝑝 − 10) × �4187

3600000 × �70%100 �

�

DHW per year (kWh) = DHW Energy per day x 365

Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVRH) Heat Engineer Software incorporates an option for new buildings to allow for MVRH therefore reducing the ventilation loss of the building. By default, if MVRH is present then a value of 50% is used. This can be changed, as some manufactures state an 85% recovery rate.

Typical example is an air change per hour for a bedroom built in 2015 has by default an ACH of 0.5

Therefore, if MVHR is used and a custom value of 80% is used the software will calculate the following: 0.5 x (100%- 80%) = 0.10 ACH

Room year of construction When carrying out a survey either onsite or from a drawing it’s important to select the year of construction for a room. This year will determine which air changes per hour to use and the designed room temperature. See table below.

The year entered also helps the engineer who opens the survey within the Heat Engineer Cloud Software to confirm building materials. So, if a year of 1750 was entered by the surveyor then typically an external wall of 18” solid stone would be agreed.

Temperature and Ventilation RatesInternal temp from 2000 onwards Internal temp from before 2000 2006 onwards between 2000-06 before 2000

Temp * (°C) Temp * (°C) VCR VCR VCRLiving room 21 21 0.5 1.0 1.5Dining room 21 21 0.5 1.0 1.5Bedsitting room 21 21 0.5 1.0 1.5Bedroom 21 18 0.5 1.0 1.0Hall or landing 21 18 0.5 1.0 2.0Kitchen 21 21 1.5 1.5 2.0Toilet 21 18 1.5 1.5 2.0Bathroom 22 22 1.5 1.5 2.0Office room 21 21 0.5 1.0 1.5Store room 21 18 0.5 0.5 1.0Meeting room 21 21 2.0 2.0 2.0Type name* Int design temps (°C) & vent change rates from BS EN 12831 (not from National Annex)Except 21 °C internal temp throughout (instead of 20 °C & 24 °C bathroom)VCR = Ventilation Change Rate

custom Air change per hourcustom indoor temperature

Room Type



Maximum design flow temperature The designed flow temperature to a heating system for conventional fossil fuels is relatively straight forward and we can assume that most heating systems require a temperature of 70C. But in the case for air and ground source heat pumps we should aim for the lowest possible flow temperature to achieve the best running costs and performance. When considering the flow temperature particular attention is required on the type emitter for a room. Radiators used for a Gas boiler are sized based on 70C flow temperature and when design a system for a heat pump the radiators need to be oversized to compensate for the lower flow temperature. It is in these substances the oversizing of a radiator may become in practical. For heat pumps currently, the Heat Engineer software use the MCS emitter guide to calculate the SPF (Seasonal Performance Factor) and star rating which is dictated by the maximum design flow temperature. In March 2016 we will change this to suit the new standards and the SPF will be determined based on the heat pump model selected.

This table is from MCS 021 document issue 2.0



MIS 3005 This is the installer document standard for heat pumps, Heat Engineer Software Ltd maintains its processes to ensure all reports meet this MCS requirement.

http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/mcs-standards/installer-standards/heat-pump-systems

MIS 3004 This is the installer document standard for Biomass boilers, Heat Engineer Software Ltd maintains its processes to ensure all reports meet this MCS requirement.

http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/mcs-standards/installer-standards/biomass-systems

OFTEC This is the installer standard for Oil boilers, Heat Engineer Software Ltd maintains its processes to ensure all reports meet this CIBSE Domestic Heating Design Guide requirement.

Document: OIL FIRED APPLIANCE & SYSTEM INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS

1.1 Appliance Types

1.1.1 General

The appliance selected must be able to meet the calculated space and water heating loads under the specified condition as per BS EN 12828 and BS EN 12831 (see Section 1.9 and The Domestic Heating Design Guide). ‘The historical method of like-for-like boiler replacement is not an acceptable approach as this often results in boilers being oversized leading to very short burner firing cycles, increased fuel consumption and higher carbon emissions.’

Quick Heat Loss Estimate Many installers depending on the project type and heating technology (Gas, LPG and Oil boilers) might not require a room by room heat loss. So, for replacement installations a quick calculation of output can be carried out using the Heat Engineer Software. You can select one room for downstairs and one room for a first floor. Adding all the ground floor areas and the first-floor areas into just two rooms, simulating a Whole House Boiler Sizing Method.

Emitters A surveyor can select the radiators which are installed in a property based on the type, length and height within the Heat Engineer app. Underfloor heating can also be chosen together with a floor surface finish description. Once the survey is opened in Heat Engineer online, the designer can view the current radiator outputs in the ‘Optional pages’. The emitters and performance page will also highlight oversizing or under sizing in percentage based on a selected flow temperature from a heat pump. Fan convector, Radiators, Fan coil unit all present oversized factors which can be applied to size the emitter. Underfloor heating in the ‘Performance and emitters’ page highlights a guide for



less than or equal to a suggested pipe centre. These pipe centres range from 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300mm. There is a column titled ‘Select from catalogue, MCS Heat emitter guide’ which shows the total power output required for radiators based on Heat outputs at Mean water to air temperature difference of 50oC (70oC flow temp - Average room temp 20oC = 50oC) MW-AT

External air and ground temperatures The software asks the designer to specify the nearest location from the list of places in the table below. The next step is to specify the altitude based on the post code. An extra -0.3C per 50 meters is used to adjust the external design temperature.

Outside design temperatures for different locations in the UK *** Location Alt (m) External Temp ** Belfast 68 -1.2 °C Birmingham 96 -3.4 °C Cardiff 67 -1.6 °C Edinburgh 35 -3.4 °C Glasgow 5 -3.9 °C London 25 -1.8 °C Manchester 75 -2.2 °C Plymouth 27 -0.2 °C

** Hourly dry-bulb temperature (°C) equal to or exceeded for 99% of the hours in a year *** Corrections can be applied to account for altitude and heat island effects. Further information on how to use this data is available in CIBSE Guide A: Environmental Design.



Ground temperatures are based on the average mean air temperature.

Average Mean Air Temps oC

Thames Valley (Heathrow) 11.3 South-eastern (Gatwick) 10.2 Southern (Hurn) 10.4 South-western (Plymouth) 11 Severn Valley (Filton) 10.6 Midland (Elmdon) 9.8 W Pennines (Ringway) 10 North-western (Carlisle) 9.4 Borders (Boulmer) 9 North-eastern (Lemming) 9.4 E Pennines (Finningley) 10 E Anglia (Honington) 10.1 W Scotland (Abbotsinch) 9.1 E Scotland (Leuchars) 8.8 NE Scotland (Dyce) 8.5 Wales (Aberporth) 9.9 N Ireland (Aldergrove) 9.4 NW Scotland (Stornoway) 8.6



Room default temperatures When using the Heat Engineer app to complete a survey, the surveyor can select a Room name from a drop-down list. The name of the room will determine the type and therefore the internal design room temperature. If a custom name has been typed in, then in the Heat Engineer online the designer can assign the room type to that new room name.

Room Type Internal temp from 2000

onwards Internal temp from before 2000 Temp * (°C) Temp * (°C)

Living room 21 21 Dining room 21 21 Bedsitting room 21 21 Bedroom 21 18 Hall or landing 21 18 Kitchen 21 21 Toilet 21 18 Bathroom 22 22 Office room 21 21 Store room 21 18 Meeting room 21 21 Type name custom indoor temperature

Exposed location If a property is located in an exposed position, such as near a river, the coast, on top of a hill or in an open location an extra 10% of the total heat loss for each room is added.

Intermitted heating This should be selected for a room if for example a bedroom is only used at weekends so the extra heat up capacity is applied, and the emitters respond quicker to heat the room up. Bed & Breakfast properties would benefit from this feature. If intermitted heating is selected, then; A room built before 2006 an extra 10% is added to the heat loss total A room built after 2006 an extra 20% is added to the heat loss total. This is due to the reduced building mass in new builds.

Floors

Ground floors The surveyor must enter the total floor area in the Heat Engineer app for conventional rooms. However, rooms with vaulted ceilings, the area is calculated automatically from the survey entering ‘Dim 1’ and ‘Dim 2’ in the app.



Ground floor U values You can enter a U value which the architect has provided on a drawing. Other methods which Heat Engineer can use for ground floors that have no insulation is the BRE IP 3/90 formula. This formula uses the external perimeter (external wall) and the floor area to calculate a U value. U = 0.05 + (1.65(P/A)) – (0.6((P/A)²)) Where: U = U-Value of the uninsulated floor (W/m²K). P = Length of the exposed perimeter (m). A = Area of the floor (m²) In addition to use this method, the software also incorporates the following from CIPHE Plumbing Engineer Service Design Guide. When insulation such PIR (Polyisocyanurate) boards are used on a ground floor, we can join the BRE P 3/90 equation with the following.

𝑈𝑈𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 =1

� 1𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑠𝑠

�+ 𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖

U insulated = U value of insulated slab (W/m2K) U uninsulated slab = U value of un-insulated slab (W/m2K) R insulation = The thermal resistance of the insulation (m2K/W) In the software there are predetermined insulation thicknesses so this calculation can be applied.

Many manufactures Thermal conductivity (K factors) for PIR insulation boards range from 0.021 to 0.026 W/mK so we have defaulted for the higher value for worst case scenario.

Internal floors (first and second floors) Below are the typical descriptions for internal floors. Insulation assumed to be 100mm Intermediate Floor Timber with insulation (0.32) Intermediate Floor Timber without insulation (1.73) Party Floor Concrete with 100mm insulation (0.57) Party Floor Concrete without insulation (1.82)

R valuePIR insulated floor 25mm using BRE IP 3/90 formula & insulation R value 1PIR insulated floor 50mm using BRE IP 3/90 formula & insulation R value 2PIR insulated floor 75mm using BRE IP 3/90 formula & insulation R value 3PIR insulated floor 100mm using BRE IP 3/90 formula & insulation R value 4PIR insulated floor 120mm using BRE IP 3/90 formula & insulation R value 4.8PIR insulated floor 150mm using BRE IP 3/90 formula & insulation R value 6

(K factor) Lambda = 0.025 W/mK



Rooms above and below The surveyor must enter into the Heat Engineer app which rooms are below and above. If there are no rooms above and the ceiling is to a roof or loft, then it can be left blank. If the room is on the ground floor, then the ‘Room Below’ does not need any entry.

Open fire places The app allows the surveyor to confirm if an open fire places is present in the room and if it has a throat restrictor.

Air Change Rates for rooms with open fires Approximate room size

(m3) Throat restrictor Air Changes per hour 40 no 5 40 yes 3 70 no 4 70 yes 2

The ventilation heat loss is increasing with open fire places as the air changes per hour can be high as 5. Its therefore very important to make suggestions to the property owner for them to maybe use shutters of chimney balloons if they want to reduce their heating demand when the heating unit (boiler or heat pump) is in use. If the client ensures they will use shutters or chimney balloons when the main heating is on, then the open fire place can be ignored in the heat loss.



It’s important to notify the client if you are reducing the air changes in a room if they want to use a Chimney balloon when their primary heat source is working. Therefore, the fireplace is only used as an additional luxury, so the radiators / underfloor heating output is designed when the chimney is not in used and a balloon or door is installed

High ceilings If a room has above average high ceilings, then an additional percentage can be added to the heat loss for that room. The chart below is from the CIBSE Domestic Heating Design guide.

MCS Heat Emitter Guide This guide is created to help MCS installers of heat pumps to find out a room’s SPF (seasonal performance factor) based on the flow temperature. In addition to this the oversize factor for emitters, star rating and underfloor heating pipe centres are also advised. However, the current guide referencing to a generic value for SPF will change from March 2016. The future SPF will be determined from the heat pump model using MCS calculators here SCOP / SPER Calculator http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/mcs-standards/product-standards/heat-pump-systems1

ErP Heat Engineer Software is gathering more product data for boilers and heat pumps, so this performance data uses the latest ErP results. Installers can create their own labels on manufacturers websites here

http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/mcs-standards/product-standards/heat-pump-systems1

http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/mcs-standards/product-standards/heat-pump-systems1



Altitude adjustment As the initial external temperature is based on an approximate city and your project could well be based far from this location it is necessary find the altitude from the post code. The software will automatically add -0.3oC for every 50 meters above sea level. You can search for altitude from many free websites, here is one for reference. Just type the post code or address in. http://www.mapcoordinates.net/en

Thermal Bridges Heat Engineer Software allows the user to select if thermal bridges are present. Therefore, if a property was built after 2006 and the users selects ‘yes’ for thermal bridging a default value of 8% will be added to the fabric heat loss only (not ventilation). This figure of 8% is mentioned in the CISBE Domestic Heating Design Guide 2014 and makes reference to BS EN 12831 which suggests that Thermal Bridging can add approximately 8% to the fabric loss. It’s recommended to consult with the Architect if thermal bridges exist.

Picture: Thermal bridge at junction. Heat moves from the floor structure through the wall because there is no thermal break. For more information about this subject please see this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_bridge

Bivalent System Heat Engineer Software facilitates an option for selecting a bivalent design point. In the instances where a heat pump can’t achieve 100% power demand maybe due to the high heat loss of the property and three phase electric supply is not feasible. A bivalent system could be a good solution so when external temperatures fall the heat pump turns off and a conventional fossil fuel boiler starts to operate. A Bivalent point is the external temperature at which the primary heat source (Heat Pump) is turned off and a Boiler starts to operate.

http://www.mapcoordinates.net/en

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_bridge



As an MCS requirement, information on the energy (kWh) from the primary source (Heat Pump) and the fossil fuel boiler (Oil, LPG, Gas, etc.) has to be calculated as well as determining the bivalent point. Heat Engineer Software provides the user with a graph which represents the heat loss (kW) at various external temperatures. The user can then select a preferred bivalent point by selecting a suitable external temperature for the fossil fuel boiler to operate. Once this is selected an energy proportion is displayed in percentage highlighting the Heat pumps coverage over a years’ heating season. Heat Engineer uses the degree day data for various increments from 1oC through to 15.5oC. This information is then used to calculate the energy proportion. It’s quite surprising to persons who aren’t familiar with heating systems that a Bivalent system can still provide 85% of the heating season from the primary heat source (Ground or Air source Heat Pump) using a bivalent point typically at 5oC external temperature. The remaining 15% when external temperature falls below 5oC (not -5oC) in this example would be heated from an Oil boiler. Note: You can adjust the bivalent point from the drop down option as shown below. The default value is 1oC. In most cases you will have to change this value to suit your design.



Ground Loop design estimation The ground loop design page uses data from the MCS look up table’s version; MCS 022 Supplementary Information 1 Ground loop sizing tables 1.0 02/09/2011 When using this feature, it’s important to determine the geology for the area so the correct ground type is selected and therefore the thermal conductivity properties applied. The software uses the recommended thermal conductivity for a default value from MIS 3005 issue 4.3, Appendix C.

Heat Engineer Software presents information for either Slinky, Horizontal or Boreholes to display the amount of ground loop pipe required for a ground source heat pump. Heat Engineer Software Ltd recommends asking manufactures for their advice and using manufacture sizing tools for the ground loop pipe design. It’s quite often that heat pump manufacturers have their own ground loop sizing



software which may be more accurate. If you provide the Heat Loss report to them, they can view the energy demand and heat pump size which will determine the ground loop pipe required.

Select Heat Source Type

Depending on which heat source you have chosen will dictate the boxes which are required to be filled. However, some boxes remain the same, such as ‘Output in heating mode’ and ‘Maximum designed flow temperature’. These are required for all heat sources, if a heat pump has been selected its important you enter the flow temperature output when the heat pump is in heating mode and not DHW mode. As this temperature you enter will define the SPF rating for your report.

Some heat pumps can fluctuate in their output (kW) depending on power demand, ambient air and flow temperatures. You must enter an output (kW) for both the DHW mode and the heating mode because these outputs can be different.

All other heat source types the ‘Output capacity at designed DHW’ will be greyed out and automatically filled when you enter the ‘Output in heating mode’ box.

So if you are using a gas, other fossil fuel or Biomass appliance then all you need to enter is the ‘Output in heating mode’ in kW and the ‘Maximum designed flow temperature’ which in most cases will be 70oC.



Current radiators The Heat Engineer app allows users to select current radiators installed, the typical options are below;

The Current radiator page lists the output for each radiator and calculates the output for different flow temperatures. The typical standard which most manufacture list their products is MWT 50oC (70oC flow). Explanation: Heat outputs at Mean water to air temperature difference of 50oC (70oC flow temp - Average room temp 20oC = 50oC) For heat pump reports if radiators are already in a room then a percentage is shown if the current emitters for a given room is either oversized or undersized. A percentage in red indicates (-23%) undersized and in black oversized. If the current emitters are between -10% to 0% then the property owner may be comfortable without upgrading and could experience a winter to see if they are happy leaving the emitters as they are.

Green Deal Assessment and EPC In the UK if a property owner wishes to benefit from the renewable heat incentive, they have to obtain a Green Deal Assessment and Energy Performance Certificate. If the heat loss report is either a Biomass or Heat Pump type, then MIS 3004 or MIS 3005 has to be adhered. Heat Loss reports for Air and Ground source heat pumps contain details for calculating the renewable energy proportion using the seasonal performance factor (SPF). The SPF with the EPC are then both used to calculate the RHI payments. A useful link to find an Energy Assessor is below who can provide EPC’s. Ask them if they also do green Deal Assessments too. https://www.epcregister.com/

Surveyors Heat Engineer Software has some original features, one of which is to allow unlimited surveyors assigned to your company. This allows company heating designers that are office based to receive multiple surveys from different surveyors. Therefore, improving workflow and utilising skill sets to suit i.e. on-site engineers understand survey techniques and office-based engineers understand design and calculations. Surveyors don’t have access to Heat Engineer Software cloud base accounts unless the account owner is a surveyor themselves.

https://www.epcregister.com/



Account owners can send requests via email to persons asking them to join their company as a surveyor. Once accepted the surveyors Heat Engineer app recognises this and the company name is added to the surveyor’s contact. This enables surveyors to send a room by room survey to the company via the mobile phone or tablet app. The account owner of Heat Engineer is then notified on the dashboard a survey has been submitted.

Editing survey online When working through steps 1 to 8 you can click on values and material descriptions to edit them. If you want to change something just click in the box.

Missing data from survey In the event where a survey is submitted and the surveyor has missed out some information, the online Heat Engineer allows you to enter this data in the relevant box.

Dyslexic users Engineers who suffer from dyslexia may find it useful to change the colour of the Heat Engineer software whilst online. Once you are logged in you may change it by clicking ‘THEME’ in the top right corner of your screen.

Documents

Help Guide for Heat Engineer Software