Degree Days must be entered to the Suburban Software A/R System daily. They may be entered as a cumulative figure (taken from a degree day clock) or as a high and low temperature for the day via the (Weather Report option on the DAILY MENU). The degree day screen (shown below) will display the current year-to-date number of Degree-Days just above the degree day field followed by a slash and the current heating season (after the slash).
Manual Entry of Degree Days:
Degree Day Calculation:
For those who want more information on how Degree Days are calculated the below temperatures are for the previous day. The degree formula involves subtracting the previous day’s ‘Average Temperature’ from 65.
For simplicity, the formula may be divided into three steps as follows:
- (High Temperature plus Low Temperature) divided by 2 = Average Temperature
- 65 – Average Temperature = Degree Days Gained (If negative, set to 0).
- Previous Cumulative Degree Days plus Degree Days Gained = Current D-Day Total
Note: In step 3 that the Degree Days Gained must be ADDED to the previous cumulative number of degree days (which will appear when entering degree days to find the actual number to enter in the {Enter/ Update Degree Days}
If the average temperature is above 65, the resulting degree days is set to zero.
Example:
Yesterday High = 50 | Degrees |
Yesterday Low = 26 | Degrees |
Cumulative Degree = 300 Days | Degree Days to date this year. |
(50 + 26) = 76 | High plus Low Temperature |
76 / 2 = 38 | Divided by Two for Average Temperature |
65 – 38 = 27 | Subtracted from 65 for Degree Days gained yesterday. |
300 + 27 = 327 | Previous degree days to date plus the degree days gained to get theCumulative Degree Days to Date. 327 degree days have accumulated this year. This is the figure that should be entered. |
No change: If the average temperature for the previous day is negative or zero, no degree days were gained for the day. In this event, the cumulative figure SHOULD NOT be changed but must be reentered for the current date.
Date: | The month, day and year the degree days were last recorded plus one day will be pre-loaded into the Date field. |
Degree Day: | Enter four digits to enter the degree days by branch -or- leave this field blank and enter the high and low temperature for the day. |
High/Low: | If the degree day is unknown, the system will calculate the degree days automatically. Enter the high and low temperature for the previous day to the high and low fields and press {ENTER}. The system will calculate the degree day change, add it to the previous degree day total and display the new degree day cumulative total on screen. |
Notes:
- Degree day clocks should be reset each July 1st to zeroes (not to blanks).
- If the degree day field is entered as a blank, NO degree days will be recorded for that date.
- The “Enter Weather Report” procedure must be run at least once prior to printing the Sales Journal if “Gas Accounting” has been specified in the Supervisor file.
- Degree days must be entered for each active branch for each day of the year. No date skips are allowed, but previous dates may be reentered if necessary.
- A degree day should be entered for February 29th each year. If it isn’t a leap year, enter the same degree day total that was entered for the 28th.
- A maximum of 100 degree days is allowed between two successive dates. The system will issue an error message if the current degree day entered exceeds 100 degree days above the last degree day entered.
- Degree Days are recorded when the “Enter/Rec Adv” key is pressed and there are no errors detected.
- The system will NOT allow a Degree Day and a High-Low date to be entered.
- The system will not allow entry of a degree-day that is lower than a degree day entered on a previous date
- If using the High/Low fields to enter degree days, a value must be entered to both fields and the entry to the low field must not be greater than the entry in the high field
- When the procedure is ended, the system will search for any memo’s scheduled to be printed.
Automated Degree Day Entry – The Weather Wizard
The integration of Weather Wizard III and Weatherlink software with “The Propane System” allows for the calculation of degree days at the office locale as well as remote branches. The information is automatically assimilated into “The Propane System” and used for forecasting gas deliveries with very little interaction from the data entry personnel.