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

ANALYSIS SPREADSHEET
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS
 

8-H.1 USER INSTRUCTIONS .......................................................................................8-H-1
 

8-H.2 STARTUP..............................................................................................................8-H-1
 

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

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

SPREADSHEETS..................................................................................................8-H-3
 

LIST OF TABLES 

Table 8-H.2.1 List of LCC Spreadsheets ..........................................................................8-H-1
 

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

SPREADSHEET 

8-H.1 USER INSTRUCTIONS 

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

Excel spreadsheets available on DOE's Heating Products 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-H.2 STARTUP 

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

(PBP) analyses for each product class. A separate spreadsheet exists for each product class. 

Table 8-H.2.1 lists the LCC spreadsheets used in this rulemaking. 

Table 8-H.2.1 List of LCC Spreadsheets 

Filename Product Class 

LCC_WH_Gas(Storage).xls Gas-Fired Storage Water Heaters 

LCC_WH_Elec.xls Electric Storage Water Heaters 

LCC_WH_Oil.xls Oil-Fired Storage Water Heaters 

LCC_WH_Gas(Instantaneous).xls Gas-Fired Instantaneous Water Heaters 

LCC_PH.xls Pool Heaters 

LCC_DHE_GWF.xls Gas Wall Fan DHE 

LCC_DHE_GWG.xls Gas Wall Gravity DHE 

LCC_DHE_GF.xls Gas Floor DHE 

LCC_DHE_GR.xls Gas Room DHE 

LCC_DHE_GH.xls Gas Hearth DHE 

To examine the spreadsheets, 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-H.3 DESCRIPTION OF LIFE-CYCLE COST WORKSHEETS 

For each of the ten product classes, DOE created one spreadsheet containing a collection 

of 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 a user interface to manipulate energy 

price trend and start year inputs, and to run the Crystal Ball simulation. 

LCC and PBP simulation results for each design option are also 

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displayed here. 

Statistics The Statistics worksheet contains statistics for each design option. 

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

different efficiency levels for a single Residential Energy Consumption 

Survey (RECS) household.1 During a Crystal Ball simulation, the 

spreadsheet records the LCC and PBP values for every sampled 

household. 

Rebuttable 

Payback 

The Rebuttable Payback worksheet contains the total and incremental 

manufacturer costs, retail prices, the installation costs, the repair and 

maintenance costs, energy use calculations, and the simple payback 

period calculations for each efficiency level. DOE water heater, pool 

heater, or DHE test procedures are used to calculate parameters used in 

energy use calculations. 

Equip Price The Equip Price worksheet calculates retail price values used as inputs 

in the LCC calculations in the Summary worksheet. DOE applied 

baseline and incremental markups to calculate final retail prices. DOE 

calculated the markups differently for replacement units and new units. 

Energy Use The Energy Use worksheet calculates annual energy use by fuel type, 

depending on product class. The annual energy use calculations for each 

design option are inputs to the LCC&PB Calcs worksheet to calculate 

the annual operating cost of the LCC. For gas-fired storage, electric, and 

oil-fired water heater spreadsheets, this worksheet contains efficiency 

equation table calculations for the coefficients for each efficiency level. 

RECS HH Data The RECS HH Data worksheet contains the RECS 2005 household data 

for each product class. During a Crystal Ball simulation, DOE uses 

these household characteristics to determine the location of the water 

heater, the operating temperatures, house heating load, annual gas or oil 

use, size of the house, age of the house, and the age of the existing 

heating products. 

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

unit. 

Installation Cost The Installation Cost worksheet provides the weighted average 

installation cost for each design option. These results are used to 

calculate the total installed prices of the design options. 

Maintenance and 

Repair Cost 

The Maintenance and Repair Cost worksheet provides the maintenance 

and repair costs for each design option. These results are used to 

determine operating costs for the design options. 

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Energy Price	 The Energy Price Trends worksheet shows the future price trends of the 

Trends	 different heating fuels. DOE used energy price data and forecasts from 

the EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2009 for the period until 2030, and 

extrapolated beyond 2030.2 

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. 

NIA Inputs	 The NIA Inputs worksheet contains intermediate inputs used for other 

DOE analyses. 

8-H.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 OPTIONS on the Summary 

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

parameters are: 

a.	 Energy Price Trend: Defaults to “AEO 2009 - Reference Case.” To change the 

input, use the drop-down menu and select the desired trend (Reference, Low, or 

High). 

b.	 Start Year: Defaults to “2015.” 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 (1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 5,000, or 10,000). 

d.	 Subgroup: Defaults to “National.” To change the sample used for LCC and PBP 

calculations, use the drop-down menu and select the desired subgroup from the 

available samples (National, Low-Income, Senior-Only, Multi-Family, 

Manufactured Home, Small-Volume Water Heaters, and Large-Volume Water 

Heaters). 

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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 at the left bottom corner. When the 

simulation is finished, the worksheet named Summary will reappear with the results. 

5.	 Additional information can be found in the Statistics worksheet. 

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REFERENCES
 

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

Consumption Survey: 2005 Public Use Data Files, 2005. 

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

2.	 Energy Information Administration, Updated Annual Energy Outlook 2009 Reference 

Case Service Report, 2009. Washington, DC. Report No. DOE/EIA-0383(2009). 

<http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/> 

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