Electricity Usage

Hello,
SAM runs hourly simulations, so it needs hourly data describing the electric load (it assumes there are 8,760 hours in one year). If you only have monthly usage data (12 values of monthly usage totals), then SAM has to create data for the hourly data. This obviously adds a lot of uncertainty to your analysis because the hourly data that SAM creates is unlikely to match the actual residential consumption patterns.
To use SAM when you only have monthly usage data, choose the "Calculate Load Data" option on the Electric Load page, and provide the data describing the basic energy parameters of the building along with the monthly usage data:

1. 
   Click Electric Load.
2. 
   Choose Calculate Load Data from the list options.
3. 
   Type values for the building energy parameters and monthly usage data.
4. 
   To see the hourly data that SAM creates from the parameters, click View load data.

Best regards,

Paul.