What's the reason for including a BIN analysis with a GeoDesigner report? At first glance it seems like the lower the outdoor temp, the more the aux heat comes on, but the geo unit continues to run 100% (which is fine); the cost looks like it goes down, which doesn't make sense to me. I'm sure I'm reading in wrong. Is there an easy explanation?
A bin is the number of hours at a certain OS temperature. There will be less cumulative runtime at lower extreme temps. This is to approximate usage based on historic weather data.
So cost goes down because number of hours at that temperature goes down. I used to joke that bin reports were what we used to entertain the engineers while the grown-ups talked but I like to explain them to new clients because they are a measuring stick of performance. New clients often call concerned because at 32F "it's not that cold out yet and the thing barely shuts off"......so if they look at the bin report and it says the system should run 80% of the hour at that outdoor temp then the client is more comfortable that our predictions are good (if op time is accurate then so will be op cost predictions). 1 system I monitored this morning started running at 7 oclock yesterday evening and hasn't stopped yet (though it has reverse staged).
So in the attached (in Geo-for-dummies English) the geo operating cost column is saying that in an average/normal year, over the course of the whole year, there will be a certain amount of time that the OAT is 22 degrees and that will result in an annual cost of $133? And that $133 is added to the $103 that results from the amount of time in an average year that the temp will be 17 degrees?
Yes to both with the exception those degree designations are 5 degree bands. So according to the file posted for 595 hours per yr it is around 27 degrees (I am not sure if the 5 degree band is centered on 27 or above or below). Yearly operating cost would be the total of the Op Cost column.
Got it. It initially made no sense to me that as the temp got colder, and the geo was running 100% of the time, that the cost would be less. Thanks!
