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Quick start

This quick start guide walks through a complete project in ten steps – the shortest path to a meaningful result. The detailed description is given under Program workflow, the full scope of functions in the Documentation.

Step 1 – Start the program and check the settings

After starting, the header shows program name and version. Under Administration › Settings check the import and export directories and the path to the VDI 3805 manufacturer data once. The interface language is switched in the main menu; the program restarts to apply it.

Step 2 – Create a project

Start the wizard via Projects › New. First tick the building blocks the project needs – building, domestic hot water, heat pump, photovoltaics and so on; everything else is skipped. Then enter the project name and the person in charge and select the climate region. Both are mandatory, everything else can be added later.

Step 3 – Make sure the climate region exists

If the location is missing, create it in the climate data management: enter the place name and start the import. EPOS-Plan downloads a typical meteorological year with hourly temperature and irradiance and converts it to the four main orientations. Select and save the region on the start page.

Step 4 – Enter the heat demand

Choose a building from the catalogue – filtered by residential or non-residential use, building type and construction period – and transfer it to the project. As reference either enter the floor area or, if available, the annual consumption of oil, gas or fuel; the program then scales the demand to the real consumption. Add domestic hot water as a separate item with its annual consumption, and process heat in the same way. Do not forget network losses if a heat network is involved.

Step 5 – Enter the electricity demand

Select a consumer type and enter the annual consumption, or – considerably more accurate – import a measured load profile. EPOS-Plan works internally in quarter-hourly values, which is decisive for self-consumption and storage.

Step 6 – Select the generators

For every category a catalogue with manufacturer data is available: heat pumps with complete performance maps, boilers, CHP modules, collectors and PV modules. For the heat pump, pay attention to the flow temperature – it determines which performance map is used and therefore the efficiency. Set back-up heater, operating mode and any lock-out periods right away.

Step 7 – Assign storage

Create the buffer tank with volume and temperatures and assign it to the generator in the next step. Add battery storage with capacity and power if photovoltaics are involved.

Step 8 – Configure the simulation

In the Simulation configuration dialogue select the generators in the desired order – the order is the priority. Assign the storage and define the switch-on and switch-off thresholds. In the overview on the right, double-click the heat pump to set priority, heat source, heat sink and operating mode. Save the configuration.

Step 9 – Run the simulation and read the results

The annual simulation covers 8,760 hours of heat and 35,040 quarter hours of electricity. Look at these four figures first: the share of the back-up heater, the bivalence point, the full-load hours and the residual heat demand. If residual heat remains, the design does not carry the peaks. On the electricity side, self-consumption ratio and self-sufficiency answer the storage question. All time series can be exported as CSV files.

Step 10 – Compare variants and add costs

Change only one parameter at a time – flow temperature, machine size, storage volume, operating mode – and run the simulation again; this keeps the effect of every decision visible. Once the technical design is settled, record investment, operating and energy costs per component with service life and prices.

The most common pitfalls

A wrongly chosen climate region shifts demand and bivalence point noticeably – it is better to import the nearest location yourself. An underestimated hot water demand makes summer operation look too favourable; where a circulation line exists, its losses have to be included. If the flow temperature is assumed too optimistically, the performance map no longer applies and the seasonal performance factor will be lower in practice. And a buffer tank without sensible switching thresholds leads either to continuous operation or to constant cycling.

Worked application cases are collected under Examples, the engineering background under Fundamentals.