How Heating Degree Days can Help the Home Heating Oil Consumer
What is today's Heating Degree Day? (image: freefoto.com)
by Kristy Kershaw
Do any amount of research into heating oil and energy costs and you’re bound to come across the concept of “Heating Degree Day.” And while it’s ultimately a pretty straightforward concept, there is lots of confusing and technical information surrounding any Google search into degree days.
To break it down to its simplest form, Heating Degree Day (or HDD) is a tool. As a quantitative index, it is used in an attempt to measure or predict the need for fuel consumption in a particular home, building, or location. So, for example, an energy-saving professional trying to analyze the energy consumption of an office building could use HDD. It would tell them how much heating the building would need over a period of time, and how much energy it would take to fulfill that need. And though we will be focusing on Heating Degree Days in this article, this concept also extends to Cooling Degree Days, an indicator of how much energy would be required to cool a building during higher temperatures.
But let’s back up a bit. We know that HDD reflects the demand for energy, but what exactly is a Heating Degree Day? According to DegreeDays.net, a weather data site for energy professionals, “HDD are a measure of how much (in degrees) and for how long (in days) outside air temperature was lower than a specific ‘base temperature.’” In other words, HDD for a single day is the number of degrees difference between the temperature outside, and the temperature needed inside to maintain comfort, i.e. the base temperature. To calculate HDD for a longer period of time (say, one month or the entire winter heating season), the HDD numbers for individual days are simply added up.
In the U.S., a commonly agreed upon base temperature for degree days is 65°F. However, as Martin Bromley, founder of DegreeDays.net, points out, the base temperature can vary widely depending on the building to which you’re referring. For example, a swimming pool hall might need to be warmer than normal, say 78°F, and an office building might maintain a minimum comfort level of 68°F. So the HDD would vary for each of these buildings even if they were in the same location, because the calculation would use a different base temperature.
Heating Degree Day Report: February 1, 2010 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] at HeatingOil.com created the above map to provide our readers with updated HDD data every day. For a clear and complete explanation of heating degree days and how they are used, please read the H…. For an extremely condensed version, read [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: January 28, 2010 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temps and Heating Degree Days (January [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: January 26, 2010 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temperatures and Heating Degree Days: (January 25) New York City: Low 49° F, High 57° F. HDD: 12, -21 from average Long Island: Low [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: January 20, 2010 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temps and Heating Degree Days (January [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: January 18, 2010 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temperatures and Heating Degree Days: (January 17) New York City: Low 35° F, High 46° F. HDD: 24, -9 from average Long Island: Low [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: January 15, 2010 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temperatures and Heating Degree Days: (January [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: January 12, 2009 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temperatures and Heating Degree Days: (January 11) New York City: Low 21° F, High 31° F. HDD: 39, +7 from average Long Island: Low [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: January 11, 2009 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temps and Heating Degree Days (January [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: January 6, 2010 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temperatures and Heating Degree Days (January 5) Boston: Low 27ºF, High 34ºF; HDD: 35, -1 from average Portland, Maine: Low 28ºF; [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: January 5, 2010 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temperatures and Heating Degree Days: (January 4) New York City: Low 19 °F, High 30 °F. HDD: 40, +8 from average Long Island: Low 20 [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: January 4, 2010 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temps and Heating Degree Days (January [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: December 31, 2009 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temps and Heating Degree Days (December [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: December 30, 2009 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temps and Heating Degree Days (December [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: December 29, 2009 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temps and Heating Degree Days (December [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: December 28, 2009 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temps and Heating Degree Days (December [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: December 23, 2009 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temps and Heating Degree Days (December [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: December 22, 2009 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temps and Heating Degree Days (December [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: December 17, 2009 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temps and Heating Degree Days: (December [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: December 16, 2009 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temps and Heating Degree Days: (Dec. 15) New York City: Low 44°F, High 52°, HDD: 17, -10 from average Long Island: Low 42°, [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: December 15, 2009 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temps and Heating Degree Days (December [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: December 14, 2009 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Temps and Heating Degree Days (for December [...]
EIA Launches New Web Portal for Basic Energy Info | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] There are multiple energy conversion calculators, Btu conversion factors, as well as information on Heating Degree Days, a concept HeatingOil.com covered more thoroughly earlier this [...]
Predicted Coldest Winter in 10 Years Could Raise Heating Oil Prices in the Northeast | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] temperature is affecting and will affect home heating oil prices this winter, one useful tool is heating degree days. As a quantitative index, heating degree days can help you plot out when heating oil consumption [...]
U Michigan Study: Americans Moving to Warmer Places, Using Less Energy | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] to a warmer climate means that the number of Heating Degree Days – the measure of the number of degrees difference between the temperature outside, and the [...]