If your company uses the forecast type of Gal per Day, Auto-Baseload or Auto-Baseload & HW, you not only need to think about when to change K Factor Seasons but also about when to change the baseload Season. Unlike K Factors, where we recommend using only Winter & Summer Seasons, when using baseloads we recommend using all four seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall). Similar to changing K Factor seasons, the timing of the change depends on your company.
If you have any “Gal per Day” customers, our recommendation is that you use all four baseload values and change baseload seasons at relatively the same time each year. You could base this on the standard season changes we see on a calendar or change seasons based on the needs of the majority of your customers. This is because with Gal Per Day accounts, the baseload is recalculated with each delivery and you won’t want the usage from one season affecting the baseload in another season. The reason most accounts are put on Gal Per Day is because they have a different type of usage in each season. For example, they use their fuel for a dryer and cooktop all year, and a pool heater in the spring and summer. With this setup, the customer’s baseloads could look something like this: Winter: 0.5, Spring: 5, Summer: 3, Fall: 0.5. Each season the Baseload will go up & down depending on the customer’s actual usage; switching seasons will ensure that the calculations are their most accurate for that time of year and will help to avoid runouts and/or smaller deliveries.
If you have Auto-Baseload and/or Auto-Baseload & HW accounts it’s a little different because thebaseloads do not recalculate with each delivery — only the K Factors recalculate. If the baseload needs to be adjusted, you’ll need to manually make those changes. Typically accounts are set up this way because the customer has additional equipment (fireplace, stove, pool heater, etc) that requires additional fuel above and beyond the usage for Heat & HW equipment. The amount of fuel this equipment uses can vary depending on the time of year. Using a baseload to account for the additional usage is the easiest way to handle this. That way, the K Factor is calculating only the fuel needed for the usage of the Heat or Heat & HW equipment.
Do your customers have consistent usage throughout the year so the same baseload is used in each season? If all of your customers are set up so that the same baseload is used year round then there isn’t a need to change baseload seasons at all, and you can stick with only changing K Factor seasons.
Once you’ve decided to change the baseload season, navigate to Management > Maintenance. Once there you’ll need to click on the ‘Change Baseload/Gal Per Day Season’ button. A pop up with step by step instructions will display. Follow the instructions to change the baseload Season. If you run into any issues we suggest reviewing our Help Document “Changing Baseload Seasons” which should answer most of your questions. If you have additional questions, please contact support and we’ll be available to assist.