Our calculator can help you make the right energy choices
SmartWind is an essential upgrade for any home renovation project, but that doesn’t mean you can’t compare the value of adding other energy-saving improvements to your home too. Whether it’s a solar array, more insulation in your attic or adding trees to your yard for shade, our simulator will give you a sense of the benefits these improvements offer.
Keep in mind, the absolute savings will not be exact, as there are a lot of presumptions in our modeling (HRV efficiency, window R-value, etc). However, this calculator will give comparatively accurate results each iteration.
Note: This calculator uses a distributed database, similar to Blockchain, to queue up weather data on your browser, then calculate locally. You will need a good internet connection, and to wait a few seconds for the data to load for the first simulation. Once loaded, you can freely run simulations using the cached data. Both the data and the calculation formulas can be freely inspected for accuracy, using common web tools.
1. Select Basic Info
2. Building Details
3. Customize Advanced Options
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To best simulate the benefits of a modification, you will want to first tune the building's current variables, so that the predictive calculations match known costs from historical bills.
Unless you have had an energy audit done, you will have to guess at your building's ACH (venting loss) variables, and true R-values (not always as advertised). Keep in mind, however, your bills will include other costs such as the cost of lighting, appliances and your hot water tank.
This will vary from $20-200 for most homes. You can specify non-heating/cooling costs in 'Fixed Monthly Costs' under Advanced Options. Note that inflation applies to both this value, and your utility rates.
Analysis is done based on historical weather conditions, on an hourly basis, in the chosen city. 'Free' energy refers to the alternate hourly calculation, with the selected unit in effect.
If you do not have air conditioning, ignore the cooling costs (this is how much you are saving annually, and good for you!). Irradiance data dictates the availability of PV electricity,
and is also used to simulate heating effects on the structure of the building.
Unit upgrade comparison is based on equal-cost options. In truth, it would not be cost-effective to install a 300W solar panel alone, but you can pro-rate 1/20th the cost of a 6kW install, if it costs 20 times more than other units.
Keep in mind the weather data various from city to city, and year to year, so even a perfectly accurate description of the building, may not get exact matching results found on your bills if that year differs substantially in temperatures.
If you want us to include a major city not currently on this list, please contact us. Data records are based on 2015-2017 hourly weather data in the cities listed. When choosing a simulation greater than 3 years, this data will cycle.
Simulated savings are based on the known 'ideal' scenarios for each device in a theoretical sense. In practice, the performance may not match the exact energy savings for any device being analyzed.
