Free Energy Calculator App Compares Costs, Emissions

The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) has introduced a free energy calculator app that gives construction professionals and propane marketers a faster way to compare fuel emissions and heating costs. The app is now available as a free download for Apple and Android mobile devices.

“Builders, contractors, and propane marketers spend much of their time away from the office,” said Bridget Kidd, PERC’s director of residential and commercial programs. “With this new app, these busy professionals can use their mobile devices to provide customers with on-the-spot pricing comparisons and emissions data. Customers can then use this data to make more informed decisions about their heating systems.”

The new energy calculator app is a mobile version of PERC’s heating energy cost and emissions calculator, available at buildwithpropane.com. The app compares carbon emissions and costs for space- and water-heating systems fueled by propane, fueloil, and electricity. Users can search for “propane energy calculator” in Apple’s App Store or Android’s Google Play to find and download the energy calculator app. After launching the energy calculator, users answer a series of questions about the heating system, including location, energy source, energy price, age, and efficiency rating.

The app then generates the heating system’s projected annual energy costs and CO2 emissions for one year. It compares the system’s costs and emissions to those of an Energy Star-qualified propane heating system using the latest Environmental Protection Agency benchmark efficiency measurement—95 AFUE—for the northern U.S. Users can save the results generated by the app and email them to customers or contractors. “At some point, almost every homeowner will ask, ‘How much will this system cost to operate?’” Kidd said. “Our new energy calculator app presents professionals with the opportunity to research various space- and water-heating options and answer that common question within seconds. And, because the app provides emissions data, they can also give their environmentally conscious clients the information they need to make greener choices.”