Ratings for Homes without Heating or Cooling Equipment

Modified on Fri, 19 May, 2017 at 3:17 PM

Question – what is necessary to produce a HERS Rating for a Single-Family Homes or Multifamily Dwelling Units without heating or cooling equipment in Ekotrope?

ANSI/RESNET/ICC Standard 301 requires that a home without heating or cooling equipment must have equal systems in both the HERS Rated Home and Reference Home. There is also a requirement for a duct system to be entered in the HERS Rated Home with a DSE of 0.8 equal to the HERS Reference Home.

Below are the steps to get a HERS Rating in Ekotrope for a residence without heating or cooling equipment.

1. Enter a heating system with the following specifications:

Set Equipment Type to Furnace
Set Fuel Type to Natural Gas
Distribution Type will be automatically set to Forced Air
Set Motor Type to Single Speed (PSC)
Set AFUE to 78 as specified in ANSI/RESNET/ICC Standard 301 Table 4.2.2(1a).
Set Output Capacity appropriate for heating design load
Set Use Default EAE Checkbox to True

2. Enter a Duct System with the following specifications:

Forced Air System Type
Untested
Set Heating Equipment Served to Heating System entered
Set Cooling Equipment Served set to None
Check the Box for All Equipment in Conditioned Space
Set Leakage Default to Custom DSE
Set Custom DSE to 0.8

3. There is no need to enter a cooling system as Ekotrope will automatically create one for both the Rated and Reference Homes for equity.