Estimation of degree-days and ambient temperature bin data from monthly-average temperatures

This chapter offers a method which only needs the monthly average ambient temperature to obtain estimates of daily bin data and the monthly heating or cooling degree-days for any base temperature. A relationship is established between ambient temperature bin data and degree-days. Long-term temperature data for nine US locations is used to develop a relationship for estimating bin data. A relationship for estimating monthly degree-days is derived. Both relationships are compared to data from twelve US locations. Additional correlations are developed to allow the estimation of bin data or degree-days for any hour of the day. It is concluded that if the monthly-average solar radiation is known for the month, bin data and degree-days can be estimated for any hour of the day.