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Question
how degree days are calculated ,what determines a heating day;what determines annual heat and cool days; can i see the formula
Paul,
The daily degree day numbers are very easy to calculate.
Take the high temperature and low temperature for any given location for any given day. Add up these numbers, and then divide by 2 to get the average temperature for that day. Take that number (the average) and subtract it from 65. If you get a positive number, then that is the number of HEATING DEGREE DAYS. If you get a negative number, that is the number of COOLING DEGREE DAYS. Here are two examples...
(1) High temperature 90, Low temperature 70. Add the two and get 160. Divide by 2 and you come up with an average temperature of 80. Subtract this number from 65...
65 - 80 = -15. There are 15 COOLING DEGREE DAYS.
(2) High temperature 40, Low temperature 20. The average temperature that day is 30. Subtract this from 65...
65 - 30 = 35. There are 35 HEATING DEGREE DAYS.
Heating degree days help energy companies and utility companies determine how much fuel or electricity will be used to heat homes and businesses. The opposite is the case with cooling degree days. It helps utitilies determine how much energy will be used to cool homes and businesses.
As for annnual heating and cooling degree days...that is the total number added up for a particular year and for a particular location. Those numbers can also be compared to the NORMAL number of heating and cooling degree days for that location.
I hope this answered your question.
Sincerely,
Dave Dombek
Expert Senior Meteorologist
AccuWeather.com
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Dave Dombek
Expertise
A weather enthusiast from an early age, Dave Dombek is now an AccuWeather meteorology expert.
Experience
Dave received his B.S. degree in meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University in May of 1980. Dave joined AccuWeather in July of 1980, beginning in the Snow Warning Service late that fall after his few month period of training. Within a short period of time, Dave got involved in radio broadcasting. He spent over 25 years broadcasting forecasts on radio stations throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states, and has also done newspaper forecasts and television briefings. Currently, Dave is the lead television briefer for all of AccuWeather's television clients in the northeatern quarter of the nation. In his daily forecasting routine, Dave helps coordinate the forecasts in the northeastern part of the country. He is also the Director of Forecaster Hiring and is in charge of hiring new meteorologists. Finally, Dave is the supervisor of the climatology department at AccuWeather. An avid outdoorsman, Dave enjoys hunting and trout fishing. He also enjoys watching football and is a student of history and current events. If Dave doesn't already have enough on his plate, he is married with two teenage daughters. He also leads a small Messianic congregation in the State College, Pa. area.
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