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Originally Posted by kangaroogod

That is one busy uncle

ROFLLLLL!!! Sorry Kangaroo, my uncle left me hanging! I got him all the info and I helped him get setup. ( what way to show appreciation from his side) He told me he would give me his login to check it out and he just didnt do it in the end. I asked a few other times and since he didnt give me any lift... I just left it alone. But since you brought this back up. I am going to go and try to open a account with gemaire and then I should be able to access RheemStar program as the lady I spoke to who helps get the program only requires we have an account with them. I just wonder if my EPA maybe enough to open just a basic cash account or my certificates from school. I will find out tomorrow and keep you posted.

That is one busy uncle

darctangent, I am in Colo Spgs. I ended up getting the Wrightsoft, Wright-J Mobil, and will graduate to the Wright-Suite Universal in

a month or so. We usually end up setting the gas pressure between 3.0 and 3.5, keeping in mind the temp rise. What are you finding

in Boulder?

regional building dept? where are you?

In my opinion I think they pretty mutch have to take any ACCA approved software (I think there are 5 now)

Elite and wrightsoft are both solid for anything you want to do.

there is a lot of buzz about aditek/ Accuload as being very fast but I get some indication that it might skip some of the finer points of load calcs. Personally, I give zero points for speed and everything towards accurate results. sloppy costs money and ticks people off!


PS- at that altitude you really need to watch your combustion on every system. I hope you are well trained in combustion analysis.

I am bidding a Rheem split system against a competitor that is using Designstar. The house is 3000sf with half the house being basement of 1500sf. We are in Colorado at 7000ft, with humidity in the low 20s. We usually don't count the basement because it doesn't add much of a load. He shows the main level at needing a four ton system. I keep telling the owner that that is way to big
here! The Regional Bldg department only takes Wrightsoft and one other for serious designs in my area.

Anyone have any recomendations on a good/accurate manual J program that will run on an ipad 4?

local building officers doesnt know **** about load calc. just write down some numbers and pretend you worked so hard on it.

Originally Posted by kangaroogod

Well?

LOL,

I asked my uncle a few times but he is soooooooo busy that he hasn't emailed me his login info. He kept telling me he will! loll I stop asking him because it became redundant and I didn't want to annoy him. It's been a while and I am going to ask him again. I also inquired at Gemaire in opening an acc with them and then I can get access to Designstar. Let me ask him again and see if I can get access to it quickly. If not I am going to open acc with Gemaire. LOLL

Well?

Thanks appreciate it

Originally Posted by kangaroogod

The anticipation is killing me

Hey Kangaroogod! Sorry there was a delay on part of my uncle in getting his info to the local gemaire sale associate so he can gain access to rheem's website. I just spoke to him and he is forwarding me his info to gain access also to the online program. I will check it out and post back here the outcome. I will post some print screen shots if you like also. I am going to try to get also the hvac buddy load calculation and do a load calculation on my home and compare the results with Rheem DesignStar. Let's see how accurate is the calculation.

The anticipation is killing me

Originally Posted by Rodney28334

Does Designstar have a "Draw" type option? I also used HVACcalc but am going to Wrightsoft based on thier wright draw program and ability to add D also.

I don't know, but when I get a hand on it , I will let you guys know.

Does Designstar have a "Draw" type option? I also used HVACcalc but am going to Wrightsoft based on thier wright draw program and ability to add D also.

I too would be very interested to see how an accurate manual-j compares. Keep us posted please

Let me know how that works out. My uncle is currently getting setup for the Designstar. He wants me to use the program and do everything. Now only question is will the building code inspector take the load calculation. We are soon to find out.

A friend of mine has been using it lately. I am going to give him an address of a job that I did a load calc on and have him run it through Designstar and see how close it is. I have a hunch that there will be large discrepancies in some cases (I.E. home has a vaulted ceiling with no insulation, has a ton of single pane windows, no floor insulation)

My personal opinion is that the fudge that us added is enormous. It does give someone that wants to have a cool looking graphs/charts and a professional look the ability to create a document that is in the general ballpark within minutes. My personal opinion is that it is not very accurate without altering the calc especially the window sizing. Just my .02

Rheem DesignStar

Have any of you guys been using the Rheem Designstar software for Heat Loss and Heat Gain Calculation? How is it and how accurate is the calculation? Is the calculation accepted well at your local building code offices? I am doing some research for my uncle who is a mechanical contractor in south florida. Another option my instructor at school told me is the software by Wrightsoft Right-J. I have also seen and used before hvac-calc 4.0. The county building code offices are really tighten up the belt when pulling permits. They require now a load calculation which they didn't do before. LOL, its a bit hard for my uncle to chew and swallow as he was old school and would always say 400sqt per ton. LOLLLL

Any feedback would be appreciated