Energy tracker development - we need your input

Daox · 11-08-10, 11:13 AM

Ben is working on the energy tracker! So, we need to give him input so we can account for all the different setups we all have out there. Basically, we need to account for all the different forms of energy usage so you can plug it all in. Here are the input fields I have thought of so far:

heating degree days
cooling degree days
number of days since last bill / fill up
natural gas - therms, CCF, cubic meter
LPG - measured in gallons?
electricity - kWh, needs fields for usage and generation
wood - measured in cords? Is there a better way to measure this?
wood pellets - lbs
oil - gallons
all above measurements with a cost per gallon/therm/etc.
notes

Anyway, any input at all would be helpful here. We want to make it as useful as possible.

EDIT:

Link: http://ecorenovator.org/forum/energytracker.php

Update/To Do List:

[X] Integrate users/homes
[X] Add all suggested inputs
[ ] Unit conversion
[X] Image upload
[ ] Graphing
[X] Main page display
[X] Move to non-test page
[X] Allow user editing
[X] Individual home page viewing
[X] Hide "nones" on individual pages
[ ] Hide stuff with 0 values
[X] Allow entry editing
[X] Show heating/cooling degree days and notes from entries on the house page
[ ] Add user's house link under user name/avatar on the forum
[ ] Make signature image to summarize energy usage
[ ] Remove "user" from energy log entries
[ ] Delete entry option

SVOboy · 11-08-10, 11:54 AM

Thanks for posting this, Tim.

Hopefully I can get all the suggestions etc in the code by tomorrow.

benpope · 11-08-10, 12:06 PM

Do you have a feature to note when you make a renovation? That would make it easier to see the effect of any given project.

Daox · 11-08-10, 12:22 PM

You could probably put stuff like that in a notes field.

strider3700 · 11-08-10, 01:21 PM

I track the following for electric usage

billing date, days on bill, kwh used, usage cost, taxes, fees, total cost(calculated), kwh/h(calc), kwh/day(calc), usage percentage( usage cost/total cost), co2 produced (calc), HDD, CDD, KWH/HDD(calc), KWH/CDD(calc), Notes

for the C02 production it would be best if we could enter and store the co2/kwh. My electric is 22 grams c02/kwh but everwhere is going to be different of course.

we're now in a tiered system but I haven't implemented that into my spread sheet yet. Ours works that you pay rate X for the first tiers worth of kwh and then rate Y. I believe they do it by averaging your usage/day and basing it off of that. at the moment I just enter =tier1+tier2 but proper handling would be great. That would mean I need to store two costs as well.

Other note, I get billed bi-monthly and it's split across years, so the next bill will be december 2010/ january 2011 and it never lines up with the start of the month.

Different worksheet I track water usage
Date, number of days on bill, current meter reading, previous meter reading, consumption in cubic meters, consumption in gallons (calc), gallons/day(calc), cost of water, cost/gallon(calc), gallons/day(calc)

NeilBlanchard · 11-08-10, 10:04 PM

Wood pellets are measured in tons/pounds. Several people I know heat primarily with them.

Piwoslaw · 11-09-10, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daox

number of days since last bill / fill up

How about a date/meter reading option?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daox

natural gas - therms

Could there be an option for natural gas in cubic meters (or at least some old-fashioned, backwards, imperial unit of volume)?

Daox · 11-09-10, 06:47 AM

Wood pellets, I didn't think of that. Thanks Neil.

I'm sure we can incorporate those suggestions Piwoslaw.

RobertSmalls · 11-09-10, 07:31 AM

It would be nice if you could input your data in your native units, and then have the system convert everyone's input to a single standard unit. I buy my natural gas by the CCF, which I believe is "100 cubic feet" or about 1.03 therms.

Piwoslaw · 11-09-10, 08:22 AM

Even though I'd like to enter my gas in volume units, I can see a potential problem: natural gas has a different amount of methane depending on where it comes from, and this effects the amount of kWh per unit. Ideally we could enter local parameters, like kWh per unit of volume, and save them, then just update how much has been used. This adds complication, so it's not something for the first version.

BTW: Do we need therms? Kilowatt-hours are much better units since they can easily be compared with electricity usage.

11-08-10, 11:13 AM	#1
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Energy tracker development - we need your input Ben is working on the energy tracker! So, we need to give him input so we can account for all the different setups we all have out there. Basically, we need to account for all the different forms of energy usage so you can plug it all in. Here are the input fields I have thought of so far: heating degree days cooling degree days number of days since last bill / fill up natural gas - therms, CCF, cubic meter LPG - measured in gallons? electricity - kWh, needs fields for usage and generation wood - measured in cords? Is there a better way to measure this? wood pellets - lbs oil - gallons all above measurements with a cost per gallon/therm/etc. notes Anyway, any input at all would be helpful here. We want to make it as useful as possible. EDIT: Link: http://ecorenovator.org/forum/energytracker.php Update/To Do List: [X] Integrate users/homes [X] Add all suggested inputs [ ] Unit conversion [X] Image upload [ ] Graphing [X] Main page display [X] Move to non-test page [X] Allow user editing [X] Individual home page viewing [X] Hide "nones" on individual pages [ ] Hide stuff with 0 values [X] Allow entry editing [X] Show heating/cooling degree days and notes from entries on the house page [ ] Add user's house link under user name/avatar on the forum [ ] Make signature image to summarize energy usage [ ] Remove "user" from energy log entries [ ] Delete entry option __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by Daox; 09-16-13 at 04:23 PM..

11-08-10, 12:22 PM	#4
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	You could probably put stuff like that in a notes field. __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

11-09-10, 06:47 AM	#8
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Wood pellets, I didn't think of that. Thanks Neil. I'm sure we can incorporate those suggestions Piwoslaw. __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

11-08-10, 11:54 AM	#2
SVOboy Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 291 Thanks: 3 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	Thanks for posting this, Tim. Hopefully I can get all the suggestions etc in the code by tomorrow.

11-08-10, 12:06 PM	#3
benpope Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Little Rock, AR Posts: 95 Thanks: 16 Thanked 13 Times in 12 Posts	Do you have a feature to note when you make a renovation? That would make it easier to see the effect of any given project.

11-08-10, 01:21 PM	#5
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	I track the following for electric usage billing date, days on bill, kwh used, usage cost, taxes, fees, total cost(calculated), kwh/h(calc), kwh/day(calc), usage percentage( usage cost/total cost), co2 produced (calc), HDD, CDD, KWH/HDD(calc), KWH/CDD(calc), Notes for the C02 production it would be best if we could enter and store the co2/kwh. My electric is 22 grams c02/kwh but everwhere is going to be different of course. we're now in a tiered system but I haven't implemented that into my spread sheet yet. Ours works that you pay rate X for the first tiers worth of kwh and then rate Y. I believe they do it by averaging your usage/day and basing it off of that. at the moment I just enter =tier1+tier2 but proper handling would be great. That would mean I need to store two costs as well. Other note, I get billed bi-monthly and it's split across years, so the next bill will be december 2010/ january 2011 and it never lines up with the start of the month. Different worksheet I track water usage Date, number of days on bill, current meter reading, previous meter reading, consumption in cubic meters, consumption in gallons (calc), gallons/day(calc), cost of water, cost/gallon(calc), gallons/day(calc)

11-08-10, 10:04 PM	#6
NeilBlanchard Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Maynard, MA Eaarth Posts: 383 Thanks: 78 Thanked 39 Times in 32 Posts	Wood pellets are measured in tons/pounds. Several people I know heat primarily with them.

11-09-10, 07:31 AM	#9
RobertSmalls Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: May 2009 Location: Buffalo, NY Posts: 344 Thanks: 3 Thanked 17 Times in 15 Posts	It would be nice if you could input your data in your native units, and then have the system convert everyone's input to a single standard unit. I buy my natural gas by the CCF, which I believe is "100 cubic feet" or about 1.03 therms.

11-09-10, 08:22 AM	#10
Piwoslaw Super Moderator Join Date: May 2009 Location: Warsaw, Poland Posts: 964 Thanks: 189 Thanked 111 Times in 87 Posts	Even though I'd like to enter my gas in volume units, I can see a potential problem: natural gas has a different amount of methane depending on where it comes from, and this effects the amount of kWh per unit. Ideally we could enter local parameters, like kWh per unit of volume, and save them, then just update how much has been used. This adds complication, so it's not something for the first version. BTW: Do we need therms? Kilowatt-hours are much better units since they can easily be compared with electricity usage.