Mr. Tight-Watt says "Use the energy you need, but use it wisely"!
Access our Energy Efficiency Rebates in our Library.
Energy Audit
Calhoun County REC does FREE Home Energy Audits for our members. Call us Monday through Friday between 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM to set up a time.
800-821-4879 or 712-297-7112
Learn more about Energy
Efficiency.
Energy Efficiency Calculators
Kilowatt Ours video
Hisorical Heating and Cooling Degree Days
You can pick your weather station and what type of data you want in the dropdown menus. HDD and CDD go back by month to 1951.
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To quantify the relationship between outside temperature and building heat loss, the concept of degree-days was developed decades ago. The concept of degree days is based on two assumptions:
- At an outside temperature of 65 degrees F, little or no heating or cooling will be needed within a building.
- The difference between 65 degrees F and the mean outside temperature* is directly proportional to the energy use of a building for heating or cooling.
*Mean temperatuare for the day is the mid-point between the two extremes of daily high and low.
Example: On a day when the high temperature was 42 degrees F and the low was 20 degrees F, the number of Heating Degree-days (HDD) is foulnd as follows:
- Calculate Mean Temperataure: (42+20)2=31 degrees F
- Subtract this mean temp. from 65 to get degree-days: 65-31=34HDD
This figure of 34 HDD would be summed with other daily values to provide a monthly total.
Knowing how far the outside temperature got from 65 degrees F on each day of the month, provides an indicator of heating (or cooling) needs. Note that the mean temperature is just the mid-point between the daily high and low.
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Pen State has a calculator that includes operating comparisons for various fossill fuels along with shelled corn, firewood, wood pellets and coal.