Whenever the subject of cool roofing or energy savings comes up, the next topic is usually heating or Cooling Degree Days, and there seems to be a lot of confusion about what these mean. It’s tempting to think that a Heating Degree Day is a day on which you need to turn on the heat, and a Cooling Degree Day is a day on which you need to turn on the air conditioning, but that is not the case.
So let me dive right in: a heating degree day is a way of summarizing the annual heating (or cooling, in the case of Cooling Degree Days) requirements in a particular climate. This is a complex sounding concept that is actually quite simple. On a heating degree day (HDD), the temperature falls below a standard “comfortable” temperature (usually 65° F) so a building or home needs to be heated to maintain the target temperature; and a cooling degree day is one where the temperature is above that target, requiring cooling. Turning climate data into a heating degree day or cooling degree day is a matter of simple math. If the average temperature on a given day is 80°F, the building needs to be cooled 15°F to reach the target 65°F. That day would be counted as 15 cooling degree days (CDD). Let us help you keep your home warm and cool with a professionally enhanced job by a local Tillamook roofing Company. We support the entire building industry’s efforts in creating more sustainable homes, neighborhoods and materials. Together, we hope to provide a better built environment that will endure years to come.