8-A-i

APPENDIX 8-A. USER INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE LIFE-CYCLE COST 

ANALYSIS SPREADSHEET

TABLE OF CONTENTS

8-A.1 USER INSTRUCTIONS .......................................................................................8-A-1

8-A.2 STARTUP..............................................................................................................8-A-1

8-A.3 DESCRIPTION OF LIFE-CYCLE COST WORKSHEETS ................................8-A-1

8-A.4 BASIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR OPERATING THE LIFE-CYCLE COST 

SPREADSHEETS..................................................................................................8-A-2
8-A-1

APPENDIX 8-A. USER INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE LIFE-CYCLE COST ANALYSIS 

SPREADSHEET

8-A.1 USER INSTRUCTIONS

The results obtained in this analysis can be examined and reproduced using the Microsoft 

Excel spreadsheets available on DOE's Home Appliances Rulemaking website: 

http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/. From that page, follow the links to 

the NOPR phase and then to Analytical Tools. 

8-A.2 STARTUP

DOE’s spreadsheet enables users to perform Life-Cycle Cost (LCC) and Payback Period 

(PBP) analyses for both product classes.

To examine the spreadsheet, DOE assumes that the user has access to a personal 

computer with a hardware configuration capable of running Windows NT/2000/XP. All LCC 

spreadsheets require Microsoft Excel 2000 or later installed under the Windows operating 

system. Because certain variables inside the spreadsheets are defined as distributions, the user’s 

computer requires a copy of Crystal Ball (a commercially available add-on program).

8-A.3 DESCRIPTION OF LIFE-CYCLE COST WORKSHEETS

Each worksheet represents a conceptual component within the LCC calculation. To 

facilitate navigability and identify how worksheets are related, each worksheet contains an area 

on the extreme left showing variables imported to and exported from the current worksheet. Each 

LCC spreadsheet contains the following worksheets: 

Summary The Summary worksheet contains LCC and PBP simulation results for 

each design option and product class.

Statistics The Statistics worksheet contains statistics for each design option and 

product class.

LCC & PB Calcs The LCC&PB Calcs worksheet shows LCC calculation results for 

different efficiency levels for single Residential Energy Consumption 

Survey (RECS).

1

Rebuttable PBP The Rebuttable PBP worksheet contains the total and incremental 

manufacturer costs, retail prices, installation costs, repair and 

maintenance costs, energy use calculations, and simple payback period 

calculations for each efficiency level.

Equipment Cost This worksheet calculates retail price values used as inputs in the LCC 

calculations in the Summary worksheet.
8-A-2

RECS Households The RECS Households worksheet contains the RECS 2005 household 

data for each residential product class.

Base Case Eff Dist The Base Case EF worksheet determines the efficiency of the base case 

unit.

Energy Prices The Energy Prices worksheet calculates energy prices.

Energy Price 

Trends

The Energy Price Trends worksheet shows the future energy price 

trends.

Discount Rate The Discount Rate worksheet contains the distributions of discount rates 

for replacement and new units.

Lifetime The Lifetime worksheet contains the distribution of lifetimes for 

equipment of that product class.

8-A.4 BASIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR OPERATING THE LIFE-CYCLE 

COST SPREADSHEETS 

Basic instructions for operating the LCC spreadsheet are as follows:

1. Once the LCC spreadsheet has been downloaded, open the file using Excel. Click 

“Enable Macro” when prompted and then click on the tab for the Summary worksheet.

2. Use Excel's View/Zoom commands at the top menu bar to change the size of the display 

to fit your monitor.

3. The user can change the parameters listed under USER INPUT on the Summary

worksheet. There are four drop-down boxes and one command button. The default 

parameters are:

a. Energy Price Trend: Defaults to “AEO 2010 - Reference.” To change the input, 

use the drop-down menu and select the desired trend (Reference, Low, or High).

b. Start Year: Defaults to “2014.” To change the value, use the drop-down menu and 

select the desired year.

c. # of Trials: Defaults to “10,000.” To change the value, use the drop-down menu

and select the desired number of trials (100, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, or 

50,000).

d. Analysis Group: Defaults to “National.” To analyze a subgroup, use the dropdown menu and select the desired subgroup.
8-A-3

4. To run the Crystal Ball simulation, click the “run” button (you must re-run after changing 

any parameters). The spreadsheet will then be minimized. You can monitor the progress 

of the simulation by watching the count of iterations in the left bottom corner of the 

screen. When the simulation is finished, the spreadsheet will re-open.

5. Additional information can be found in the Statistics and Summary worksheets.
8-A-4

REFERENCES

1. U.S. Department of Energy: Energy Information Administration, Residential Energy 

Consumption Survey: 2005 Public Use Data Files. 2008: Washington, DC. 

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/recspubuse05/pubuse05.html