When planning heating systems or energy efficiency measures using the autarc software, you may wonder how to handle unheated areas such as basements or ground floors. In general, it is sufficient to record only heated rooms in the software. Depending on the building structure and project goals, there are two approaches with varying levels of detail and effort:
Option 1: Record all rooms in the autarc software (heated and unheated)
How it works: All rooms — including unheated ones such as the basement — are entered into the software.
Special note: For unheated rooms, select the unheated option under temperature settings.
Effort: This approach is more detailed and time-consuming, as it requires entering and classifying more data.
Option 2: Record only heated rooms in the autarc software
How it works: Only rooms with heating surfaces are created in the software.
For unheated basements:
When calculating the heat load for buildings with unheated basements, it is essential to correctly define the boundary conditions of the floor above. In the autarc software, the floor of the ground floor should be marked as adjacent to ground. This setting takes into account the insulating effect of the surrounding soil.
If additional floor insulation has been installed, you can enter a custom U-value to reflect the improved thermal performance in the heating load calculation.