We use the full detail of the temperature data available. How frequent are the temperature readings you use for the Integration Method? We discuss these approximation methods in more detail further below, but, in a nutshell: the Integration Method is best because it uses detailed within-day temperature readings to account for within-day temperature variations accurately. Some other sources (particularly generalist weather-data providers for whom degree days are not a focus) are still using outdated approximation methods that either simplistically pretend that within-day temperature variations don't matter, or they try to estimate them from daily average/maximum/minimum temperatures. One can't reasonably argue that a typical building would not need any heating or cooling on a day like that! (Though one can reasonably argue about the correct base temperature(s) of any particular building, and that is an important factor to consider.) The average outside air temperature over a day might be a comfortable 65☏ (18.5☌), but, beneath that average, it could have risen to 85☏ (29.5☌) in the early afternoon and dropped to 45☏ (7☌) at night. Why is it important to consider the temperature variations within each day? Well, consider the simple example of a hot day and a cold night. It is how degree days were originally defined and it correlates better with the heating/cooling energy consumption of modern thermostatically-controlled HVAC systems (which vary their output as the temperature changes throughout each day). The Integration Method accurately accounts for temperature variations within each day as well as temperature variations from one day to the next. It's an intensive calculation process, but it's the best method we know of for accuracy of the resulting degree-day data. We call it the "Integration Method" because, mathematically, integration is how it works. We calculate degree days from detailed temperature readings taken throughout each day, using the Integration Method that is introduced in this introduction to degree days and explained in more detail further down on this page. But you might find our answers to these calculation-related questions useful if you're curious, or deciding whether to get your degree days from here or another source, or if you're comparing data from our system with data from elsewhere. If you just want heating or cooling degree-day data, there's probably no need to understand the calculation processes in detail – just use Degree to calculate the degree days for you. This page explains how Degree calculates degree days.
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