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DCR: A New Tool for Measuring Energy Savings in the Field

DCR: A New Tool for Measuring Energy Savings in the Field. A Presentation at the RI GHG Building and Facilities Working Group Meeting November 5, 2004 Presented by: John E. Batey, PE, President Energy Research Center, Inc. DCR: Delivery Cost Reduction

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DCR: A New Tool for Measuring Energy Savings in the Field

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  1. DCR: A New Tool for MeasuringEnergy Savings in the Field A Presentation at the RI GHG Building and Facilities Working Group Meeting November 5, 2004 Presented by: John E. Batey, PE, President Energy Research Center, Inc.

  2. DCR: Delivery Cost Reduction DCR is a new method for accurately tracking fuel use in oil and propane heated homes. It is far more accurate than current Heating Degree-Day predictions. DCR can lower fuel delivery costs by 25% to 30%. It can be used to accurately measure fuel savings produced by building and equipment energy conservation options. Accuracy is on the order of 1% in the field.

  3. Prediction Accuracy with Heating Degree Day Method

  4. Prediction Accuracy with DCR Method

  5. HDD METHOD ERROR • Fuel use predictions with Conventional K-Factors vary widely and are not reliable. • For example, for a heating degree day interval of 1400 degrees days, the fuel use in gallons per degree day varies from 6.5 to more than 14.0. • Predicted fuel use varies from about 100 gallons to 215 gallons of oil for the same degree-day value. This is an uncertainty range of more than 50 percent. • In contrast, the DCR plot predicts fuel use with an error of only about 1 percent.

  6. Prediction Accuracy with DCR Method

  7. DCR Accuracy in Sample Home Error Analysis for Sample Home

  8. Analysis of DCR Accuracy • The maximum error in calculated fuel delivery with the DCR method was only 14 gallons which occurred for one delivery. • Two deliveries have a prediction error of 10 gallons, and one delivery has an error of 8 gallons. • All the remaining 16 deliveries have a prediction error of 6 gallon or less. • The average difference between predicted and actual delivery was zero. • This example illustrates the excellent accuracy potential of the new method for tracking fuel use and for predicting fuel deliveries for buildings. (R-square ~ 0.98)

  9. Measuring Energy Savings in the Field An important application for the new DCR method is its ability to accurately track changes in fuel use after energy efficiency improvements are installed in homes or buildings. This includes new burners, new boilers or furnaces, improved controls, and building upgrades such as thermal insulation. Past fuel use records are collected before the energy improvement. the equipment or building upgrade is installed. Then fuel use records after the upgrade are collected to measure fuel savings DCR calculations accurately measure the energy savings. Actual cost savings of the improvement can then be compared to its cost so that payback periods are accurately determined.

  10. DCR: Thermal Insulation Produced 28.5% Savings

  11. Applications for DCR The DCR Method allows accurate tracking of fuel use in the field for the first time (~1%). It can be used to quantify savings from weatherization programs and from energy conservation programs in oil and propane-heated homes. DCR can also accurately measure Greenhouse Gas reductions. DCR uses existing delivery information stored in oil and propane dealer computers.

  12. Next Steps • Test DCR program by collecting oil delivery data for home in weatherization of new equipment programs. • Expand DCR testing to other weatherization and energy conservation programs. • Incorporate DCR tests in RI oil heat conservation and GHG programs.

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