Manual For Commercial 4.0

HVAC-Calc Commercial 4.
0 1
HVAC-Calc Commercial 4.0
HVAC-CALC COMMERCIAL 4.0.................................... 1

What can this program do? ........................................................................................................................3
Do you need to be a computer expert?.......................................................................................................3
How fast or powerful of a computer does it take? ....................................................................................3
Is support available and is it expensive?....................................................................................................3
What about the price and the license? .......................................................................................................3
What is the best way to learn the program? .............................................................................................4
Installation ...................................................................................................................................................4
From a downloaded file .............................................................................................................................4
From CD....................................................................................................................................................4
Starting HVAC-Calc ...................................................................................................................................4
The Opening Screen ....................................................................................................................................5
Our Sample Job ...........................................................................................................................................5
The Job Component ....................................................................................................................................6
What order do I do things in? ....................................................................................................................6
How do I get help?.......................................................................................................................................7
The Design Conditions Component............................................................................................................7
The Time of Load Component....................................................................................................................7
Which components do I add? .....................................................................................................................8
The Floor Component .................................................................................................................................8
The Wall Component ..................................................................................................................................9
The Window Component ..........................................................................................................................11
Adding a second window...........................................................................................................................12
The Door Component ................................................................................................................................12
The Results Page........................................................................................................................................13
The Back Wall............................................................................................................................................14

HVAC-Calc Commercial 4.0 2
The Back Window and Door ....................................................................................................................14
The Partition Component .........................................................................................................................16
The Ceiling Component ............................................................................................................................18
The Skylight Component ..........................................................................................................................19
The Duct Component ................................................................................................................................19
The People/Vent Component ....................................................................................................................20
Making a change........................................................................................................................................21
The Infilt/Exhaust Component .................................................................................................................23
The Lights Component..............................................................................................................................24
What’s with those triangles in the Tree? .................................................................................................25
The Misc Component ................................................................................................................................25
The Results Page........................................................................................................................................27
The Printed Reports ..................................................................................................................................28
OTHER FEATURES OF HVAC-CALC COMMERCIAL 4.0.............................. 28
To Register the Program...........................................................................................................................28
Saving your work.......................................................................................................................................29
Making a Copy of a Job ............................................................................................................................29
Also from the File Menu ...........................................................................................................................29
The Change All Button .............................................................................................................................29
Cold Storage...............................................................................................................................................30
How Do I Change Where My Jobs Are Stored.......................................................................................30
The Final Word..........................................................................................................................................30

What can this program do?
HVAC-Calc Commercial 4.0 can help you calculate the design heat loss and heat gain for
commercial buildings. It is a single zone program, so if you have several zones, you just do them
one at a time. HVAC-Calc is extremely simple to learn and to operate. HVAC-Calc helps you do
the difficult parts of commercial loads, such as choosing how many people, ventilation for those
people, infiltration and miscellaneous loads. You just need to enter the dimensions and tell
HVAC-Calc what the building is used for and it will come up with suggestions for you.
Do you need to be a computer expert?
You definitely do Not need to be good at computers in order to easily run HVAC-Calc. The
program is extremely consistent, meaning that once you have learned how to do one item, such
as floors, you can do any item, they are all very similar. There is no “dragging and dropping” or
“defaults” to set or files to save or manipulate or icons to puzzle over or any of those other
computer things that so often get between you and the work you want to accomplish.
How fast or powerful of a computer does it take?
HVAC-Calc is a very light program. By this I mean it does not take much hard drive space and it
does not require a powerful computer to operate. It even runs fine on old 486 computers. It does
require Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP or Vista.
I like the look of HVAC-Calc better when the display is set to 800 X 600 resolution, however, we
took great care to be sure it operates just fine at 480 X 640, the lowest resolution possible.
Is support available and is it expensive?
HVAC Computer Systems Ltd. has been producing contractor friendly computer software since
1981. We have always provided toll-free telephone support totally free of charge, 7 days a week!
No other software company in our industry comes close to matching our support. We take
personal pride in our software and we want to make sure you can make full use of our products.
We want you to like them as much as we do and will provide whatever support it takes to get you
there.
What about the price and the license?
When you pay for software, you pay for the right to use it, with some conditions attached. It is
much like a hunting permit gives you the right to hunt, but with conditions. We have a very
generous, contractor friendly license, which we ask you to honor. When you use HVAC-Calc you
are agreeing to the following conditions.
A single user license ($389) gives one person the right to use the software, this does not mean
one person at a time, it means only one person. Additional user licenses are $89 per person.
Exception: Husband and wife teams, father and son, brothers, count as one person. However
boss and salesman count as 2 so and additional $89 is due.
This one person is allowed to install the program on up to 3 computers, for example his work
computer, his home computer and a laptop computer.
If you have multiple sites, you need a license for each site.
By using HVAC-Calc you are agreeing to the stipulation that you are using the program as is and
that HVAC Computer Systems Ltd. and its owners and employees have no liability for the
correctness or completeness of the program and its calculations. HVAC Computer Systems Ltd.
cannot be held liable for the use of this program or its’ results. (Please note, every computer
program has such statements, it just that most put it in tiny print!)
What is the best way to learn the program?
HVAC-Calc has a unique help system that explains things right on the screen. Once you learn the
basics, you can get most of the help you need right on screen. This manual has a short tutorial to
teach you the basics. After completing the tutorial, you will be able to do loads using only the
onscreen help.
Installation
From a downloaded file

If you are reading this manual, you probably have already installed the program. All you have to
do is find the file you downloaded, and double click on it. Just accept the suggestion as made by
the installation screens and you will be done. Please note that installation is not the same as
starting; first you install the program once, then you can run it many times.
From CD
Insert the CD into your CD drive. Probably the CD will start the installation program
automatically. If it does not, click the Windows Start button in the bottom left of your screen and
then click Run. In the pop-up box, type D:HVAC-CalcSetup (replace D with the drive letter of
your particular CD drive) and click on OK.
You will then see a standard Windows installation that will be almost totally automatic. Just
proceed through the installation, clicking on Next. At one point you will be asked where you want
to install HVAC-Calc, I strongly suggest you accept the default of "program files\hvac-calc". The
installation program installs the necessary files on your hard drive. After installation is complete,
you may be required to re-start Windows. Remove the CD from the drive and store it in the back
of the manual. There is no copy protection on the CD, you are welcome to make copies and give
them to others who might have a use for the program. Of course, you are not welcome to give
them your registration number!
To register the program, please see page 28 or the page that came with your CD.
Starting HVAC-Calc
Like all Windows programs, click on the Windows Start button and click on Programs. There you
will see a list of programs and folders. Look for the folder called HVAC-Calc Commercial 4.0 and
click on it. There you will see an icon called HVAC-Calc Commercial, click on it. Depending on
whether you have a trial version or the purchased version, you may see an information message
or two. Just click on the OK button. This will bring you to the opening screen.
The Opening Screen
This screen eventually will have a list of all the jobs you have done. They can be sorted by date,
by street or by name. They can also be moved to “Cold Storage” if they are old, or perhaps for
jobs you didn’t get. You can’t get them all. Currently, there are no jobs if this is the first time you
have run the program or if saving jobs is disabled. Just double-click on New Job, or single click
on Load.
Our Sample Job
We need a job to use as a sample for the tutorial. For the sample job, let’s use a small branch
bank in a strip mall. The bank is 30 feet wide and 60 feet deep. The front wall is outside and
faces south, there is a store on the east and the mall electrical room on the west, which is heated
but not cooled. There is a flat roof. As this bank is reasonably new and in a cold climate, it is well
insulated. We will cover all the nitty-gritty details as we need them when doing the load
calculation.
The Job Component
As the program opens, you see a blank Job input screen. I will explain the layout of the HVAC-
Calc Commercial screen after we have added a component or two. The first component to add is
the Job Component itself. Please make your screen look like the one below.
Notice how the Add button is red. This is because HVAC-Calc Commercial has detected that you
have entered information in the input screen, this is what I call the main screen on the right, but
you have not made that information “stick” yet. To make it stick, i.e. add it to the tree, click on the
red Add button.
You can see that your tree is starting to grow. You now have a Job Component.
What order do I do things in?
HVAC-Calc Commercial does not force an order on you. Right now you could add a Duct
Component or a Lights Component or another component that is owned by the job itself.
However, and this is important, HVAC-Calc Commercial has a lot of built-in smarts that will help
you get things done fast and right, BUT, the smarts work best if you do things in the same order
as the buttons. Start with the top row of buttons first. In other words do the Job, then the Design
Conditions, then the Time of Load, then the Floor and so on.
How do I get help?
Help is right on screen, where you need it. Look at the bottom of the screen and move the mouse
cursor around. There is a lot of help available! That’s why this manual is short, you are urged to
read the on screen help.
The Design Conditions Component
Click on the Design Conditions button near the top of the screen to see the Design Conditions
screen. To load in the Design Conditions for your city, find the sentence “Choose from built-in
cities” and select your state and city. I will be choosing Chicago, Illinois. As your mouse cursor is
over the states or cities, read the help at the bottom of the screen. Now click on the “Use this set”
button to load in the design conditions for your chosen city. Now click on the red Add button to
make it
stick.
You have added the Design Conditions Component.
The Time of Load Component
Click on the Time of Load button near the top of the screen. This is a pretty simple component
but important. As the bank is probably busiest at 1:00, choose 1:00 P.M. from the list and click on
Add. Now you can see how you are starting to build the load calculation in the Tree by adding
components.
Which components do I add?
With our programs HVAC-Calc Residential and HVAC-Calc Commercial, you only need to add
components that have a heat transfer. In other words you do not need to add partitions or walls
between conditioned spaces, you do not need to add ceilings that are below conditioned spaces.
However, there is an exception. You always add floors, even if they are over a conditioned space.
The Floor Component
The next component to add, according to the order of the buttons, is the floor. Here you will be
introduced to the Calculator, which is used throughout the program.
Step 1. Enter floor area.

The bank is 60 by 30 feet. You could do the mental arithmetic and enter the area directly into the
blue box, but I suggest you let your computer do the work. Enter 60 in the Length box. Now you
can click in the Width box but it is actually simpler to press tab twice to get to the Width box.
Enter 30 in the Width box. Now click on the red plus button. HVAC-Calc does the arithmetic for
you and enters 1,800 in the blue area box.
Step 2. Select floor location

Click on “Concrete slab on grade”. Notice that you should follow the numbered steps in order.
Step 3. Select floor construction

Because of your answer in Step. 2, the selection is already made for you.
Step 4. Select floor insulation

In the case of a slab floor, in colder climates, there is insulation put around the edge of the slab.
Since Chicago is definitely a cold place, select “2 in. edge R – 11”.
Step 5. Enter the perimeter of the slab floor.

With a slab floor, the heat loss occurs around the edges. This is why they put edge insulation. If
you were not thinking, you might enter 30 + 60 + 30 + 60 here. However, only the front edge and
back edge are exposed to the outdoors. Remember, this bank is in a strip mall and has a room
on both sides. So, in the perimeter, put 30 and 30 in two of the boxes and then click the red plus
button. We have now entered all information but we still have one more step to do. That is to
press the red Add button, to make the information stick. Here is a picture of my screen before
pressing the Add button. Check yours, then click on Add.
The Wall Component
Notice that after you added the Floor Component, HVAC-Calc Commercial automatically selected
the Job Component (Bank of Chicago) in the tree. This is because floors don’t ‘own’ anything.
You cannot add another component, like a door for instance, to a floor. Most components are
owned by the Job Component, but some are owned by other components. We will soon see that
Wall Components own Windows and Doors.
Click on the Wall button, to bring up the Wall Component input screen. Notice how we are adding
components in the same order as the buttons.
Step 1. Select wall direction and enter wall area.

Let’s do the front wall first. Click on the ‘S’ on the compass to set the direction. Then click in the
Length box and enter 30. Hit your Tab key twice and enter 12 for the Height, then click on the red
plus button. Note that you don’t have to worry about subtracting windows and doors, HVAC-Calc
does that for you.
Step 2. Select wall type.

Select ‘Concrete block with brick, stucco or siding’
Step 3. Select additional insulation.

Select ‘R-19 (5 ½ in.)’
Step 4. Select exterior color.

Select “Dark color”
As you are making these selections, be sure to read the help at the bottom of the screen. It
changes for each step and is quite useful.
Making it stick
We have done all the steps for the Wall Component but we have not yet added the wall to the
building. Notice the empty yellow box to the left of the word Wall in the tab. This means that this
component does not yet exist, it is just theoretical.
Now click the red Add button. Several things happen. First, S Wall appears in the tree and is
selected (highlighted). Second, the empty yellow box now has a checkmark in it, which indicates
that the input screen is now showing an existing Component as compared to a theoretical one.
Third, the Add button is now disabled (grayed out) because you can’t add a Wall to a Wall, but the
Change and Delete buttons are enabled, because they can be used. Fourth, because an existing
Wall is selected in the Tree, all the buttons at the top are disabled except Wall, Window and Door.
This is because when a component is selected in the tree, all you can do is change or delete that
component, or add children to it.
That last paragraph was very important. You should read it again and be sure you understand it.
Let’s experiment a little bit. Click on (select) Floor in the Tree. Notice how Change and Delete
are enabled, the checkmark is there indicating that what you are viewing in the input screen is an
existing component, not one that you are contemplating adding. Also, the only button that is
enabled at the top is Floor, because there is nothing you can add to a floor.
If you click on Design Conditions in the Tree or Time 1:00 PM in the Tree, you will see similar
things. Now click on S Wall in the Tree.
The Window Component
The south wall of the bank is the front wall and it has 2 large windows. One is 12 feet long by 7
feet high and the other is 8 by 7. There is also a double door which we will get to later.
One of the major principles, or commandments of HVAC-Calc is that “If you want to have a
child, you have to select a parent.” Right now we want to add a window as a child of the South
Wall. So be sure the “parent”, S Wall is selected in the tree, then click on the Window button at
the top.
This displays the Window Component input screen. Notice the empty yellow box, this component
doesn’t exist in the Tree yet. In the Length box put 12 and in the Height box put 7, then click on
the red plus button.
For steps 2 to 6, read the help at the bottom, then select

Step 2. Double pane
Step 3. ¼ inch
Step 4. None
Step 5. None
Step 6. None
For Step 6, only enter a percentage other than None if you are sure that the structure blocking the
sun will always be there. Do not take direction into account, the program does that automatically.
When you have the selections as below, click the red Add button.
After clicking the Add, you will see a Window has been added as a child to S Wall in the tree.
HVAC-Calc Commercial automatically selects the parent in the tree, in case you want to add
another child. We could have easily lumped together both windows in one Window Component,
but I have chosen to do it as 2 components.
Adding a second window
We want to add the other window. Be sure that the parent, S Wall is selected in the Tree. Click
on S Wall again. This has the same effect as clicking on the Window button at the top. When
you are at the Window input screen, enter the dimensions, 8 feet long, 7 feet high and click the
Plus button. Looking at the rest of the steps, you can see that the selections are already made for
you, so just click Add. We’re done with the front windows.
The Door Component
Again HVAC-Calc has automatically selected the parent in the Tree. Click on the Door button at
the top. If you have tried to work with other Commercial Load programs or manual calculations
you are going to really appreciate how easy and painless HVAC-Calc Commercial makes some of
the more difficult aspects of commercial load calculations.
Our bank has one set of double glass doors, so in Step 1, enter or select 1. In step 2, select
“Glass double door, with vestibule”. Step 3, select “Double pane clear glass”.
The Door Component handles the heat transmission through the doors, the solar gain in the case
of a glass door and also the leakage of outside air that occurs around doors both when they are
closed and due to traffic through them! All that is handled in one easy screen.
Step 5, the number of times each door is opened in one hour, requires a bit of thought. This is a
small bank with 5 tellers. The bank machine is in the vestibule so we won’t count traffic to it. We
are bidding to the general contractor so we don’t really have a chance to talk to the bank manager
to get his help on the traffic, anyway he works bankers hours, we don’t! So we have to use our
head. Let’s guess that it takes an average of 10 minutes for each person to do their dealings with
the teller, and even though there are 5 teller stations, let’s say only 4 are in use. (I know, every
time you go to the bank 3 are on break!) So that means 6 people per hour times 4 tellers equals
24 people in one hour. Each one enters and leaves, so that means 48 door openings. Enter 48 in
Step 5. If later we get more accurate information, it will be a simple thing, taking one minute to
calculate and print a revised load.
Click the Add button to add the Door Component.
The Results Page
Any time during a load calculation you can look at the Results Page by clicking on the tab
“Results”. The page is pretty self-explanatory, especially if you read the Help.
The Back Wall
Let’s do the back wall now. Currently S Wall is selected in the Tree. We want to add a north wall,
but the Add button is grayed out (disabled). What do we do? Well, “if you want to have a child,
you have to select the parent”. Who is the parent of the wall? The Bank is! Select “Bank of
Chicago” at the top of the tree. Bingo, now the buttons for all the possible children of the building
itself are enabled. Click on the Wall button.
North is already selected in the compass. The length of the back wall is 30 feet so enter 30 in the
Length box and click on the plus button. HVAC-Calc has cleverly already made the rest of the
selections for you, so just click on the Add button.
The Back Window and Door
The back wall has one 4 by 3 office window and one single solid staff door that is not used much,
so lets say 2 openings during that hour. Here are the 2 screen shots for these two components,
go ahead and add them to the N Wall on your own. If you have a problem, just read the help.
Pretty easy wasn’t it!
The Partition Component
Continuing on with our bank, we see the next button is the first one in the bottom row and it is the
Partition button, however it is grayed out. After adding the Door Component, HVAC-Calc
automatically selects the parent of the component, namely “N Wall”. Of course “N Wall” can’t be
a parent of a partition, so that is why the partition button is disabled. We have a partition to add so
we need to select the parent of the partition in the Tree. So who owns Partition Components?
The building owns Partition Components. Select “Bank of Chicago” in the Tree. Now all the
possible children of the parent “Bank of Chicago” are enabled.
Remember our bank is in a little strip mall facing south and there is a store on the east and the
mall electrical room on the west, which is heated but not cooled. Do we need to add the Partition
Component between the store on the east and the bank?
Rule: If it doesn’t contribute to the load, I don’t want to know about it, unless it is a Floor.
If there is no heat gain or heat loss through a component, it should not be entered. Floors are an
exception because it is very useful for HVAC-Calc to know the floor area of the space. For floors,
if there is no heat transfer through them, add them to the Tree anyway and select “Over
conditioned space” in Step 2. So no, we do not need to add the east partition.
The west partition is another matter. There is a partition between the bank and a heated but not
cooled utility room. With Bank of Chicago selected in the Tree, click the Partition button.
Step 1. Enter partition area

The partition is 60 feet long by 12 ft high
Step 2. Select partition construction

Select "Block or tile, hollow core"
Step 3. Select partition finish

Select “Finish”
Step 4. Select partition insulation

Select “No insulation”
Step 5. Enter actual temperature difference

Here you need to guess at what the actual temperature difference across the wall will be. In the
winter, because the utility room is heated, the difference is o. In summer, you really just have to
guess, and I have guessed 20 degrees.
The Ceiling Component
As you have probably noticed, things are pretty consistent in this program, this is one of the things
that make it so easy and quick to use. To add the Ceiling Component, make sure the parent of
the ceiling is selected in the tree, namely Bank of Chicago, and click on the Ceiling button.
HVAC-Calc knows the floor is 1,800 sq. ft. so it is trying to save you a step by entering 1,800 in
the area box for the ceiling. If it was incorrect and you wanted to clear the box, the easiest way is
to double-click on the word “Area”. However it is fine so let’s just proceed as always, answering
the questions in order. It is always important to do them in order as the questions change with
different selections.
Make your screen look like this one and click Add
Notice that after you add the Ceiling Component, HVAC-Calc keeps “Ceiling” selected in the Tree,
rather than “Bank of Chicago” as it usually does. This is because Ceilings can be a parent, they
own Skylights. Let’s add a Skylight.
The Skylight Component
I’m not sure if banks really have skylights, but this one does. It is 4 feet by 8 feet, and because
this is a flat roof, the skylight is horizontal. To indicate horizontal, or no direction, click on the
center of the compass. Once again, just make yours look like mine and click Add
The Duct Component
The next component in order is Duct. Again, the Duct button is grayed out because currently
Ceiling is selected in the Tree and in order to add a Duct Component, you need to select its’
parent in the Tree, namely Bank of Chicago. Go ahead and select the Bank in the Tree, then click
on the Duct button.
Usually a strip mall is done with roof top units for each unit, using a standard factory built curb and
plenum. In that case you don’t even have to add a Duct Component because there is almost no
heat loss or gain. However, since I am making up this Bank of Chicago in order to demonstrate
how to use the program, let’s sit the unit on the ground at the back and run the duct up the back
wall and through the wall into the space above the T-bar ceiling. Both the supply and return ducts
go up about 12 feet of back wall.
We need to estimate what percentage of the total duct is exposed to the outside temperature.
Well the bank is 60 feet long and we have about12 feet outside so lets say 20%.
Make your screen look like mine and click Add

The People/Vent Component
Because the number of people in a building and the ventilation or fresh air intake are so closely
related, HVAC-Calc Commercial does them both as one component.
Step 1. Select application type.
If the owner has told you exactly how many people you should design for, then you would enter
that directly in step 2. However if you would like to get a suggestion from HVAC-Calc, select an
application that is close in the list of Step 1. In our case we can select Bank.
Step 2. Enter actual number of people.
Based on the application and the square footage, the built-in smarts of HVAC-Calc have
suggested 36 people. You must remember that this is just a dumb computer, not a smart HVAC
contractor, so you must make your own judgements. Recall that when we were figuring the
number of door openings we said 4 tellers processed 24 people in an hour. That would make the
suggestion of 36 people seem a bit high. Or perhaps we figured too few door openings.
On second thought, 10 minutes a person does seem pretty slow, usually only the person in front
of me in the line takes that long. Re-thinking our door opening logic, suppose each person took
only 5 minutes to process. Then each teller would do 12 people in an hour, times 4 tellers equals
48 people, times 2 door openings equals 96 door openings. Hmm, I think we should change our
door openings to the higher number to be safe. That also makes 36 people in the bank at one
time seem quite possible, even likely.
We will change our door openings after finishing this component. So, 36 now seems like a good
number of people for this peak time of 1:00 p.m. so just leave it there.
Step 3. Enter actual fresh air intake
For a bank, the recommended fresh air intake is 7 CFM per person, 7 times 36 is 252 so let’s
leave 252 there.
Step 4. Select the activity level you want to use.
The more active a person is the more heat they produce, both latent and sensible. HVAC-Calc
has suggested we use “Standing, slow walk, light work” for the people in the bank and that sounds
fine to me. I guess this computer isn’t so dumb!
One click on this screen and we have done the People/Vent Component, not bad!
Here is my People/Vent input screen
Making a change
We need to fix our number of door openings. Before we do though, let’s see how big of a
difference it is going to make in the load.
Select the Door in the S Wall, in the Tree. Then click on the Results tab. Don’t be alarmed if you
see some differences between yours and mine, it is very hard to make the screen shots in the
manual exactly correct, so some differences may occur.
The top line of the results page always shows the component that is selected in the Tree.
However with doors, there are two sources of load, the transmission load and the load due to air
leakage. You can see the item Door Leakage about half way down the screen, this is the one we
expect to change. Here is mine, before changing the door openings.
Now click back on the Door Tab so you can see the Door input screen. Let’s change the door
openings to 96. Go ahead and type in 96 in Step 5. Notice how the Change button turns red.
Now make the change “Stick” by clicking the Change button.
Click on the Results tab to see the new results. Of course the top line didn’t change because we
didn’t change the door, we just changed how many times it opened. Look at the Door Leakage
line. It is much larger now. You may wonder why the load from the leakage is not double what it
was before. The reason is that HVAC-Calc includes leakage for doors even with 0 openings.
HVAC-Calc recalculates so fast that it is easy to try things out. Why don’t you put 0 openings and
see the leakage that is included. Don’t forget to put it back to 96 and make it stick by clicking the
Change button.
So now you know how to change things, let’s continue building the load. The next button that
does not have an underline indicating it is done is Infilt/Exhaust.
The Infilt/Exhaust Component
Usually infiltration is very difficult to calculate, but not with HVAC-Calc. Infiltration is the leakage
of air into a building through cracks. It is measured in Air Changes per Hour and so the load from
infiltration depends on the volume of the space and the number of ACH, as well as the design
conditions and time of load. HVAC-Calc will have suggestions for you. The Air Changes per Hour
may be a bit lower than you might expect but don’t forget that fresh air ventilation and door
leakage are figured separately.
Step 1. Enter or calculate volume of building
Click on the little yellow button “to LxWxH”, This changes the input screen to Length times Width
times Height. Now click on the button again so that input screen is back to Floor Area times
Height, as below.
Then click on the “Suggest” button. HVAC-Calc does its best to help you calculate the volume. It
should be 1800 times 12. If yours is not, just enter it in and click on the red Plus button.
Step 2. Select tightness
This refers to the general tightness of the building as it would affect air leakage. We know the
general contractor we are bidding to. He may be tight but his buildings are not, so select Average.
Step 3. Enter the forced exhaust CFM
We do not count intermittent use fans such as bathroom fans and this bank has no other exhaust
fans so leave it at 0.
Step 4. Enter the Air Changes per Hour you would like to use
Because we are bringing in 252 CFM of fresh air in the People/Vent component and we have no
exhaust, then the building is pressurized. This means a fairly low infiltration rate. 0 ACH in the
summer and .3 ACH in the winter. If you select different values for tightness, you can see HVAC-
Calc has different suggestions. I feel our Average tightness is a good estimate so click the Add
button.
The Lights Component
Lighting can often be a significant cooling load. HVAC-Calc makes it easy to calculate. Our bank
has a drop ceiling with standard fluorescent fixtures. Each fixture has 4, 40 watt bulbs. A count of
the fixtures finds that there are 56 of them.
Also there is a wall of advertising with 4, 150 watt spot lights. This is entered as in the following
screen shot.
Click the Add button. One more component to go.
What’s with those triangles in the Tree?
You may have noticed that the little triangles in the Tree are different shades of yellow. If a
component can have children, like a wall or a ceiling, then it is a bright yellow, if it can not have
children, like a floor or a door, then it is a grayer yellow.
Double click on the little down-pointing triangle to the left of S Wall in the Tree. This collapses the
children inside S Wall and it looks like a pregnant triangle, if a triangle can look pregnant. Double
clicking on it again causes the children to come out!
The Misc Component
Select “Bank of Chicago” in the Tree and click on the Misc button. We do not really know what
miscellaneous loads the bank will have but we can take some pretty good guesses.
7 Computers
7 Printers
1 large photocopier
Select these items as shown below and then click on Add.
There are still more miscellaneous items, so we will use another Misc Component. Click on the
Misc button again and add the following, then click on Add
Well, we are done!
The Results Page
Here is a look at my results page.

The Printed Reports
To print a report, select Reports on the menu. We have not used the “Menu” so far, it is that
horizontal list of the words “File Reports Settings About”. After clicking on Reports, click on “By
Component”. HVAC-Calc puts a report on your screen. To print the report on your printer, click
on the “Print Report” button in the upper left. If you are using the free trial of the program, you will
not be able to print the report. However, by calling 1-888-736-1101 and purchasing the program,
we can give you a code number that will immediately unlock the trial version and you can print out
the report.
Other Features of HVAC-Calc Commercial 4.0
To Register the Program
To register the program you are given a name and a number. On the menu, click on Settings and
then click on Register Program. That’s the easy part.
You will see there are two lines for your registration name. You will probably just need the top
one. It will be clearly stated if you are to use two. First, delete the words “Unregistered Trial
Version”.
Now here is the hard part. Type in your registration name. Yes, that’s the part that will trip you
up. It has to be exactly the same as it is in your registration e-mail or invoice. Same capital
letters, same lower case letters, same commas, same periods, same same. After typing in your
Registration Name move the cursor to the Registration Number box by hitting the tab key or with
your mouse and type in your registration number.
Then click on OK and, if you didn’t make any mistakes, you will see a “success” message. If you
get a “Not Successful” message, just try again. Yes, it is possible we gave you the wrong number
but, it is much more likely that you are missing a capital or a period or something.
Important, you must register the program on each computer you want to run it on. If you change
hard drives or computers, you must register it again.
Saving your work
I have lost my work too many times because I forgot to save it. With our programs, your work is
saved as you do it. If you click on the menu item File, you will see that there is no Save or Save
As selection. As just mentioned, Save is not necessary as it is saved automatically, and Save As
is covered by “Make a Copy of This Job”
Making a Copy of a Job
If you want to try different selections for some of the components but you don’t want to affect the
original calculation, then you should make the changes on a copy of the job. From the menu
select File  Make a Copy of This Job. HVAC-Calc makes a whole new file and loads it in. You
are now working on the copy. You can change the name or add a comment, for instance
“Redone with inside shading on all windows”.
Also from the File Menu
Also under File in the menu system is a select Open Existing Job. This selection takes you back
to the opening screen the same as you see on start up. From there, you can load in a different
job, delete jobs or move them to “Cold Storage”, which is covered soon.
The Change All Button
The Change All button helps you quickly make changes to your selections and see the effect on
the load. Here is an example. With the Bank of Chicago job loaded, go to the File menu selection
and select “Make a Copy of This Job”.
Now select one of the Windows in the S Wall. If you remember, we had selected “None” for step
5. Select type of inside shading. Suppose we would like to know the load if all the windows were
using blinds. In Step 5,. select blinds and click the red Change button. That only changes this
one window. We could go and change each one individually, but there is an easier way. Click on
the Change All button. HVAC-Calc offers to make the change to all the other Window
Components in the building! If you want to proceed with the change, simply click on OK. If you
select any window in the building now, you will see that they all have Blinds for Step 5.
Cold Storage
Go to the menu selection File  Open Existing Job. This takes you to the opening screen.
Notice that in hot red, near the top of the window, it says “Active Jobs”. After you have used the
program for a while, you will have a long list of jobs. Many of those jobs will be close to being
garbage, but if you are like me, you just hate to press that delete button. Cold Storage is a
solution for that problem.
Select the job Bank of Chicago (Copy 1) or any other job. Click on the “Move to Cold Storage”
button. The job disappears from the list. Now click on the “View Cold Storage” button. There is
the job! Notice how the title is now in cold blue “Jobs in Cold Storage”. For your window to go
back to the Active List, click on “View Active List”. To move a job from cold storage, click on
“Move to Active List”.
How Do I Change Where My Jobs Are Stored

When the program (version 4.0.51 and newer) is run for the first time, it copies any old jobs you
had if you used an earlier version into a folder such as C:\HVAC-Calc Jobs and stores any new
jobs there as well. If you would like to start another folder for job storage, click on Settings -> Set
Job Folder and save a job in a new folder. All future jobs will be stored there until you change it.
The Final Word
One comment we have heard several times with our HVAC-Calc Commercial 4.0 program is “I
couldn’t believe I was finished, I hadn’t got to the hard part yet”. .
I hope you like the program and I wish you the best of luck with your business. The HVAC
business is not an easy one, I know, I have been there. Every year you need to find faster, better
and more cost effective ways of doing the same things you have done before. I think this
program is one of those “finds”.
Don Sleeth
President
HVAC Computer Systems Ltd.
403-B Echo Dr
Ottawa, Ont.
Canada, K1S 1N5
1-888-736-1101
www.hvaccomputer.com
don@hvaccomputer.com

Manual For Commercial 4.0

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HVAC-Calc Commercial 4.

HVAC-Calc Commercial 4.0

HVAC-CALC COMMERCIAL 4.0.................................... 1

Do you need to be a computer expert?.......................................................................................................3

How fast or powerful of a computer does it take? ....................................................................................3

Is support available and is it expensive?....................................................................................................3

What about the price and the license? .......................................................................................................3

What is the best way to learn the program? .............................................................................................4

Starting HVAC-Calc ...................................................................................................................................4

The Opening Screen ....................................................................................................................................5

Our Sample Job ...........................................................................................................................................5

The Job Component ....................................................................................................................................6

What order do I do things in? ....................................................................................................................6

How do I get help?.......................................................................................................................................7

The Design Conditions Component............................................................................................................7

The Time of Load Component....................................................................................................................7

Which components do I add? .....................................................................................................................8

The Floor Component .................................................................................................................................8

The Wall Component ..................................................................................................................................9

The Window Component ..........................................................................................................................11

Adding a second window...........................................................................................................................12

The Door Component ................................................................................................................................12

The Results Page........................................................................................................................................13

The Back Wall............................................................................................................................................14

The Back Window and Door ....................................................................................................................14

The Partition Component .........................................................................................................................16

The Ceiling Component ............................................................................................................................18

The Skylight Component ..........................................................................................................................19

The Duct Component ................................................................................................................................19

The People/Vent Component ....................................................................................................................20

The Infilt/Exhaust Component .................................................................................................................23

The Lights Component..............................................................................................................................24

What’s with those triangles in the Tree? .................................................................................................25

The Misc Component ................................................................................................................................25

The Results Page........................................................................................................................................27

The Printed Reports ..................................................................................................................................28

OTHER FEATURES OF HVAC-CALC COMMERCIAL 4.0.............................. 28

To Register the Program...........................................................................................................................28

Saving your work.......................................................................................................................................29

Making a Copy of a Job ............................................................................................................................29

Also from the File Menu ...........................................................................................................................29

The Change All Button .............................................................................................................................29

How Do I Change Where My Jobs Are Stored.......................................................................................30

The Final Word..........................................................................................................................................30

What can this program do?

Do you need to be a computer expert?

How fast or powerful of a computer does it take?

Is support available and is it expensive?

What about the price and the license?

What is the best way to learn the program?

From a downloaded file

The Opening Screen

Our Sample Job

The Job Component

What order do I do things in?

How do I get help?

The Design Conditions Component

You have added the Design Conditions Component.

The Time of Load Component

Which components do I add?

The Floor Component

Step 1. Enter floor area.