4.10 METER
A METER object is a user-defined “device” that records energy consumption of equipment as simulated by CSE. The user defines METERs with the desired names, then assigns energy uses of specific equipment to the desired meters using commands described under each equipment type’s class description (AIRHANDLER, TERMINAL, etc.). Additional energy use from equipment not simulated by CSE (except optionally for its effect on heating and cooling loads) can also be charged to METERs (see GAIN). The data accumulated by meters can be reported at hourly, daily, monthly, and annual (run) intervals by using REPORTs and EXPORTs of type MTR.
Meters account for energy use in the following pre-defined categories, called end uses. The abbreviations in parentheses are used in MTR report headings (and for gnMeter input, below). You also get a column for the net total on the meter (abbreviated “Tot”).
| Clg | Cooling |
| Htg | Heating (includes heat pump compressor) |
| HPBU | Heat pump resistance heating (backup and defrost) |
| DHW | Domestic (service) hot water |
| DHWBU | Domestic (service) hot water heating backup (HPWH resistance) |
| DHWMFL | Domestic (service) hot water heating multi-family loop pumping and loss makeup |
| FANC | Fans, AC and cooling ventilation |
| FANH | Fans, heating |
| FANV | Fans, IAQ venting |
| FAN | Fans, other purposes |
| AUX | HVAC auxiliaries such as pumps |
| PROC | Process |
| LIT | Lighting |
| RCP | Receptacles |
| EXT | Exterior lighting |
| REFR | Refrigeration |
| DISH | Dishwashing |
| DRY | Clothes drying |
| WASH | Clothes washing |
| COOK | Cooking |
| USER1 | User-defined category 1 |
| USER2 | User-defined category 2 |
| BT | Battery charge power |
| PV | Photovoltaic power generation |
The user has complete freedom over how many meters are defined and how equipment is assigned to them. At one extreme, a single meter “Electricity” could be defined and have all of electrical uses assigned to it. On the other hand, definition of separate meters “Elect_Fan1”, “Elect_Fan2”, and so forth allows accounting of the electricity use for individual pieces of equipment. Various groupings are possible: for example, in a building with several air handlers, one could separate the energy consumption of the fans from the coils, or one could separate the energy use by air handler, or both ways, depending on the information desired from the run.
The members that assign energy use to meters include:
- GAIN: gnMeter, gnEndUse
- ZONE: xfanMtr
- IZXFER: izfanMtr
- RSYS: rsElecMtr, rsFuelMtr
- DHWSYS: wsElecMtr, wsFuelMtr
- DHWHEATER: whElectMtr, whFuelMtr
- DHWPUMP: wpElecMtr
- DHWLOOPPUMP: wlpElecMtr
- PVARRAY: pvElecMeter
- TERMINAL: tuhcMtr, tfanMtr
- AIRHANDLER: sfanMtr, rfanMtr, ahhcMtr, ahccMtr, ahhcAuxOnMtr, ahhcAuxOffMtr, ahhcAuxFullOnMtr, ahhcAuxOnAtAllMtr, ahccAuxOnMtr, ahccAuxOffMtr, ahccAuxFullOnMtr, ahccAuxOnAtAllMtr
- BOILER: blrMtr, blrpMtr, blrAuxOnMtr, blrAuxOffMtr, blrAuxFullOnMtr, blrAuxOnAtAllMtr
- CHILLER: chMtr, chppMtr, chcpMtr, chAuxOnMtr, chAuxOffMtr, chAuxFullOnMtr, chAuxOnAtAllMtr
- TOWERPLANT: tpMtr
The end use can be specified by the user only for GAINs and PVARRAYs; in other cases it is hard-wired to Clg, Htg, FanC, FanH, FanV, Fan, or Aux as appropriate.
mtrName
Name of meter: required for assigning energy uses to the meter elsewhere.
| Units | Legal Range | Default | Required | Variability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 63 characters | none | Yes | constant |
mtrDemandRate=float
DmdCost per Btu of demand, for a month.
| Units | Legal Range | Default | Required | Variability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | No | constant |
mtrRate=float
Cost of energy use per Btu.
| Units | Legal Range | Default | Required | Variability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | No | constant |
mtrSubmeters=list of up to 50 METERs
A comma-separate list of METERs that are accumulated into this METER with optional multipliers (see mtrSubmeterMults). Submeters facilitate flexible categorization of energy results. In addition, use of mtrSubmeterMults allows energy results from a representative model to be scaled and included in overall results. For example, a typical zone could be used to represent 5 similar spaces. The energy uses of the typical zone could be assigned to a dedicated METER that is accumulated to a main METER with a multiplier of 5. Rules –
- A METER cannot reference itself as a submeter.
- A given METER can be referenced only once in the mtrSubmeters list.
- Circular references are not allowed.
| Units | Legal Range | Default | Required | Variability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| names of METERs | No | constant |
mtrSubmeterMults=list of up to 50 floats
Submeter multipliers. Use cases for multipliers include –
- Scaling results from portions of a model to approximate the behavior of multiple similar aspects (e.g. multiple floors in a high-rise building)
- Tracking energy use during selected time intervals; for example, peak-period energy use could be metered for certain hours via scheduled multipliers of 0 or 1.
A note re default values: if mtrSubmeterMults is omitted, all multipliers are defaulted to 1. However, when mtrSubmeterMults is included, a multiplier value should be provided for each METER listed in mtrSubmeters since unspecified values are set to 0.
| Units | Legal Range | Default | Required | Variability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No | hourly |
endMeter
Indicates the end of the meter definition. Alternatively, the end of the meter definition can be indicated by the declaration of another object or by END.
| Units | Legal Range | Default | Required | Variability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| none | No | constant |
Related Probes: