Trane Trace 700 load software

[agme]

Does anyone have any experience using this software for HVAC load calculations? How does your experience with Trace 700 compare to other programs? We have been using Trace 700 but are interested in what else is available.

Thanks.

 

[sbbhd]

AGME,

I have used a couple of different HVAC Load calc programs such as Carrier, Elite, and Trane.

I and the other HVAC Engineers in our office have decided upon Trane's program. With its windows based applications, system selections, and construction libary it has proven to be a huge asset.

Trane also offers a package of software such as TOPPS which is a equipment selection program, Duct Designer and Pipe Designer. Each are great aides in designing systems.

I hope this input helps with your descision process.
Regards,
sbbhd

 

[harmick]

Hello,
Trace 700 is good however, it is not "flexible". Try DOE2 or visual DOE. You can program things that are not included in the standard package.

 

[leefookwan]

Dear agme,

I recommend you try Carrier E-20 for windows. It is good.

 

[madvb]

We have Energy Pro and Trace 700 in the office. About 35% of us, including me are using Energy Pro... the rest use Trace 700. I haven't had the chance to learn Trace 700 yet, but it seems a lot like Energy Pro. The only difference is that Energy Pro is one of the approved computer programs for the California Energy Efficiency Standards while Trace 700 is not. So most of the mechanical engineers here use Energy Pro to make sure that the mechanical portion complies with the standards, then switch over to Trace 700 for the results.

I'm not sure which program gives a more accurate results. It's hard to compare when the programs run under different engines. I believe Energy Pro uses DOE-2 to do the calc... not sure what Trace 700 uses. I would be interested if someone has done a comparision between these 2 programs. I would do the comparision, but I'm still too new to the HVAC field to know what I'm looking at.

 

[nrgsaver]

Years ago, an energy engineer I knew did a comparison of an actual building's energy use with Carrier's HAP, Trane Trace and Market Manager.... He evaluated the time and the difference between the actual and estimated energy use. His conclusions were approximately that it took him a day to input with the Carrier HAP program and get results, somewhat less with the Trane program and a few hours with the Market Manager program. The initial results had the Trace program within 5% of the actual, HAP at 10% and Market Manager @ 20%. The interesting thing was that the Trace run and the Market Manager runs where quite similar, only the order of magnitude difference. The HAP run overestimated the cooling energy in the summer and understated electrical consumption in the winter.

The conclusion, find a tool and become intimate with it. Do lots of runs, the best tool is worthless in unskilled hands, and even the worst tool can provide valuable insight if the user is practiced in using it.

By the way, that particular engineer now uses DOE2, not because he thinks it models significantly better but because it is recognized by the federal and some state governments as well as the local utility.

I have been using Trace 700 as well as System Analyzer (Trace-light) for a little less than a year and I am getting good results but I learn about limitations all the time (often the same sorts of limitations that I had with DOE2). The point is getting that experience to know what you don't know. GIGO. For scoping work the System Analyzer is quick fairly accurate (+/- 5%) and tells me order of magnitude so I don't chase dead ends. I would be more concerned with getting support and finding a product that is stable and has on-going support and releases revisions on an on-going basis. (I will not go into the status of DOE2 and or Energy Blast, Market Manager et. al. as far as revisions are concerned).