Overview
The Simultaneous Load Analysis tool creates interactive waterfall charts showing the monthly breakdown of heating and cooling loads. This visualization helps identify periods of simultaneous heating and cooling, unbalanced heating loads, and unbalanced cooling loads across an entire year of hourly data.
Template Download
📥 Download Excel Template
Excel File Requirements
Your Excel file must contain exactly 8,760 rows (one for each hour of the year) with the following columns:
- Period: Sequential hour numbers from 1 to 8760
- Heating (kBtu): Hourly heating load in kBtu/hr (or your preferred unit)
- Cooling (kBtu): Hourly cooling load in kBtu/hr (or your preferred unit)
Understanding the Waterfall Chart
- Unbalanced Heating (Red): Heating load when there's no simultaneous cooling demand
- Simultaneous Load (Purple): Periods when both heating and cooling occur at the same time - the smaller of the two loads
- Unbalanced Cooling (Blue): Cooling load when there's no simultaneous heating demand
Key Statistics
The tool automatically calculates and displays:
- Annual Heating: Total heating energy for the year
- Annual Cooling: Total cooling energy for the year
- Simultaneous Load: Total energy occurring during periods of simultaneous heating and cooling
- Simultaneous %: Percentage of total load that occurs simultaneously
Usage Instructions
- Step 1: Download the Excel template and populate it with your 8,760 hours of data
- Step 2: Ensure your data includes the required columns: Period, Heating (kBtu), Cooling (kBtu)
- Step 3: Upload your completed Excel file using the upload button below
- Step 4: Review the waterfall chart showing monthly energy distribution
- Step 5: Analyze the statistics to understand your system's simultaneous load characteristics
Tips for Best Results
- Ensure heating and cooling loads are positive values (the tool handles the directionality)
- Verify your data contains exactly 8,760 rows - any other count will trigger an error
- Use consistent units throughout your dataset
- High simultaneous load percentages may indicate opportunities for heat recovery or system optimization