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ECA Recent Update History

Version Changes

Version 4.02.5 [4/17/2015]

  1. Replaced the images in the tree on the Project Explorer with ones that are both more appropriate and the correct size so they are not distorted.

  2. Fixed a bug where it was possible for scrollbars to show up in some of the child windows when they were not needed. And corrected the scrollbars to work properly when they are needed.

  3. Changed the splash window and About ECA window with ones that look better.

  4. Fixed a bug where pasting text from the clipboard would paste it twice on some inputs.

  5. Restored the option to open the project you double click on the Project Explorer.

  6. Made it so the print preview on the Customize Default Banner window will pan without zooming in if you click and drag the mouse on it.

  7. Fixed a bug where the mousepointer would remain an hourglass at certain times when it should return to normal.

  8. Fixed a bug that developed in the previous update where having both images defined for the custom banner could cause an error that would cause problems on the reports.

  9. Fixed a bug where the Customize Default Banner window would not come to the front if it was already opened when you clicked the button for it in the menu or toolbar.

  10. Removed the "Tools | Toolbar" menu item, since toolbar customizations are not saved.

  11. Updated the shortcut icon to match that of the program's main window.

  12. Corrected the tab order on several windows. Also removed the arrow and Enter key navigation on some windows because it was too far from being correct, and made it so Tab key can be used to navigate instead.

Version 4.02.1 [3/31/2015]

  1. Fixed a bug on the Pressure Drop (Feet of Head) window, where it would never save a user entered value for the heat pump feet of head in the Heat Pump input in the bottom right area of that window. Now, if you select the "Man/Calc" option under Heat Pump Performance on the Closed Loop System Data window and then enter a value for Heat Pump on the Pressure Drop (Feet of Head) window and then save the project it will retain your value.

  2. Corrected the appearance of several of the toolbar buttons in the main window.

  3. Fixed a bug where the toolbar appeared customizable, but did not remember your changes. Now it is not customizable.

  4. Fixed a bug where the Project Explorer toolbar was movable, but would not remember your changes. Now you can't move it. Did the same thing for the Print Preview window's toolbar.

  5. Corrected the position of the scrollbar that scrolls the preview page on the Print Preview window. Corrected that window's caption.

  6. Increased the margins on the printout and the Print Preview window to 1/2 inch, all the way around. These margins can be overridden in the program's configuration settings (INI) file.

  7. Corrected the border style and presence of minimize and maximize buttons on some of the windows.

  8. Corrected the appearance of the preview of the main window background on the Options window.

  9. Corrected the positioning of several of the popup windows so that they are centered over the main window instead of at arbitrary locations on the screen.

  10. Removed the "Open Selected Project" item from the Project Explorer's toolbar, since it did not work. Removed the associated option from the Options window.

  11. Made it so the ECA Help window does not float over the main window, which makes it more convenient to use under some circumstances.

  12. Added the ability to pan the Print Preview by clicking and dragging the mouse.

  13. Reformatted this ECA Readme.doc file and removed unnecessary information.

Version 4.0.64 [3/19/2012]

  1. Fixed a problem with the Weather Data window. Some of the changes to the weather data were not being saved.

Version 4.0.63 [5/6/2011]

  1. Fixed an installation problem that I accidentally introduced in the last update.

Version 4.0.62 [4/29/2011]

  1. Made the program fully Windows Vista and Windows 7 compatible.

Version 4.0.61 [3/25/2011]

  1. Fixed a problem that prevented access to the heat pump database files.

Version 4.0.59 [3/21/2011]

  1. Made it so ECA can import Rhvac version 9 project files.

  2. Fixed the acceptable range of the inputs on the help windows for cooling load and heating load.

Version 4.0.58 [11/19/2009]

  1. Fixed a problem that caused invalid rated and adjusted heat pump performance data to be preserved when a user-defined model name was entered.

  2. Corrected the calculation of heat pump adjusted performance data again.

  3. Made it so a message is displayed informing the user what needs to be done after he types a heat pump model name that is not in the heat pump database.

Version 4.0.57 [11/2/2009]

  1. Made it so the program checks to make sure the leaving water temperature is above the freezing point of the circulation fluid.

  2. Added more prebuilt layouts to the loop layout builder.

  3. Corrected the calculation of WaterFurnace and ClimateMaster heat pump adjusted capacities and adjusted efficiencies.

Version 4.0.56 [10/16/2009]

  1. Corrected the calculation of FHP heat pump adjusted capacities and adjusted efficiencies.

  2. Made it so the default design conditions that will appear in a new project are more realistic than before, provided that the "New Projects Copy Autoload" option is turned on.

  3. Fixed problems with the Import From Rhvac feature.

Version 4.0.55 [10/2/2009]

  1. Added a new layout, 1 X 2, to the loop layout builder.

  2. Made it so the position of each project window is saved, and that position is restored the next time the window is opened.

Version 4.0.54 [8/11/2009]

  1. Fixed a problem with the Add Model window that is used to add a heat pump to the database.

Version 4.0.53 [8/6/2009]

  1. Made it so manufacturers can be added to the heat pump database.

  2. Removed some obsolete Trane models from the heat pump database add added some new Trane models. Also added some Bard models and some Heat Controller models.

  3. Made it so the minimum Reynolds number that will guarantee turbulent flow is 2500, as recommended by the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association.

Version 4.0.52 [7/7/2009]

  1. Made it so the Reynolds number and the heat pump efficiency are dependent on the circulating fluid temperature.

  2. Added the circulating fluid specific heat and thermal conductivity to the General Project Information report.

Version 4.0.51 [6/2/2009]

  1. Corrected the earth loop pressure drop for a parallel loop layout.

  2. Added two Load Adjustment Factor inputs to the General Project Data window. Each of these factors makes the design heating load hours or cooling load hours correlate with the effective heating load hours or cooling load hours experienced under actual operating conditions.

Version 4.0.49 [4/29/2009]

  1. Corrected the Reynolds number calculation for a series loop layout.

  2. Fixed a problem with the heat pump cooling and heating range displayed on the Select Model window. For the newer Water Furnace models, the cooling and heating range had been displayed in the wrong units.

Version 4.0.48 [4/10/2009]

  1. Made it so error messages about the temperature or flow being out of the range allowable with the selected heat pump will appear only if a heat pump has been selected from the database.

Version 4.0.47 [3/18/2009]

  1. Corrected the average bore hole depth shown on the Pipe Length and Bore Calculations report.

  2. Corrected the average bore hole depth shown on the Weather tab of the Calculation Results window.

Version 4.0.46 [1/27/2009]

  1. Made it so the heat pump adjusted performance data will be updated automatically when the design conditions (such as temperature, water flow, and air flow) change.

Version 4.0.45 [12/9/2008]

  1. Converted the program's help file to HTML Help.

Version 4.0.44 [11/19/2008]

  1. Fixed an error with calculating the pipe length of a slinky layout system that happened when the trench length or number of trenches was entered manually.

  2. Corrected more specifications of the WaterFurnace Envision heat pumps.

  3. Made it so new checkboxes appear during installation to determine if the pipe database, fitting database, and soil database will be overwritten.

Version 4.0.43 [11/17/2008]

  1. Corrected some specifications of the WaterFurnace Envision heat pumps.

  2. Corrected the pressure drop calculations.

Version 4.0.42 [8/18/2008]

  1. Corrected the water flow range that is calculated when an FHP heat pump is saved.

Version 4.0.41 [8/15/2008]

  1. Added specifications for some FHP heat pumps in the GT series. The specifications were incomplete in the previous version of ECA.

  2. Fixed a problem with adding FHP heat pumps to the database. In the previous version of ECA, some specifications were not being saved and an extra column was being added on the Water Flow Correction tab.

  3. Fixed a problem with the heat pump pressure drop calculation for FHP heat pumps.

  4. Made it so only the optimal water flow value can be entered on the Closed Loop System Data window when an FHP heat pump has been selected.

Version 4.0.39 [8/8/2008]

  1. Changed the minimum values for the heating load, cooling load, fluid density, fluid viscosity, purge velocity, design temperatures, and number of slinky trenches.

  2. Made it so only FHP models will be shown in the Heat Pump database window, the Select Model window, and the Edit Model window if there is an FHP logo picture in the folder where ECA is installed.

  3. Made it so the previously selected model will be highlighted when the Select Model window opens.

  4. Made it so the water flow and air flow on the Closed Loop System Data window will be checked for validity when the heat pump is an FHP model.

  5. Changed the name of the Help Conditions window to the Specifications window.

  6. In the Select Model window, removed the Configuration button and changed the name of the Condition button to Specifications.

  7. Made it so the Specifications window will not open unless a model has been selected in the Select Model window.

  8. Made it so the water flow range and air flow range on the Specifications window are accurate when the heat pump is an FHP model.

Version 4.0.38 [7/31/2008]

  1. Made it so when you are in the Closed Loop System Data window and you select an FHP heat pump from the database, the optimal water flow and air flow for that heat pump are automatically copied to the Closed Loop System Data window.

  2. Restored the heat pump data for several FHP models that had no data in the previous version of ECA.

Version 4.0.37 [6/18/2008]

  1. Changed the name of the FLORIDA heat pump database to FHP.

  2. Alphabetized the heat pump models in the FHP database.

  3. Removed obsolete heat pump models from the FHP database.

  4. Made it so heat pump performance data will never be erased from a project as long as the user does not change the heat pump, even if the heat pump is no longer in the database.

  5. Fixed a problem with calculating adjusted performance data for FHP heat pumps.

Version 4.0.36 [5/12/2008]

  1. Added several Florida heat pumps to the database.

  2. Added the header pipe trenching cost to the total system cost.

Version 4.0.35 [4/11/2008]

  1. Made it so the maximum pipe coordinate in a horizontal trench is 99.

  2. Made it so Pressure Drop Per Loop is equal to Total Earth Loop Pressure Drop when the earth loop system has parallel flow.

Version 4.0.34 [4/7/2008]

  1. Corrected the pipe length for a horizontal loop because it was too short.

  2. Made it so the runtime fraction cannot exceed 1. If the runtime fraction were greater than 1, the heat pump would be operating more than 744 hours per month, which is impossible.

Version 4.0.33 [2/22/2008]

  1. Made it so the heat pump EER and COP are decreased if antifreeze is present in the closed loop circulation fluid.

Version 4.0.32 [12/4/2007]

  1. Corrected a mistake in an error message that appears when the heating EDB is out of range.

Version 4.0.31 [10/26/2007]

  1. Corrected errors in the calculation of the Reynolds number.

  2. Corrected errors in the calculation of the pressure drop per loop.

Version 4.0.29 [10/24/2007]

  1. Made it so you can type a heat pump model in the Closed Loop System Data window.

  2. Made ECA compatible with Windows Vista.

  3. Made it so ECA will run properly on foreign versions of Windows that use the Double Byte Character Set, such as Korean, Chinese, and Japanese versions.

Version 4.0.28 [6/5/2007]

  1. Updated the soil temperature, annual swing, and phase shift values in the weather database using ASHRAE's Design/Data Manual For Closed Loop Ground Coupled Heat Pump Systems.

Version 4.0.27 [5/23/2007]

  1. Fixed an error in the Reynolds Number equation.

  2. Fixed another error in the midpoint load equation.

Version 4.0.26 [5/18/2007]

  1. Fixed errors in the run time fraction equations.

Version 4.0.25 [5/16/2007]

  1. Made it so changing the antifreeze properties will change the density and viscosity of the circulation fluid.

Version 4.0.24 [4/18/2007]

  1. Corrected errors in the Water Furnace Envision data that I added recently.

  2. Corrected an error in the midpoint load equation.

  3. Made it so a warning message will appear if the Cooling EWT or Heating EWT is unacceptable.

  4. Made it so a warning message will appear if there are zero vertical bore holes.

Version 4.0.23 [2/26/2007]

  1. Added data for all the remaining Water Furnace Envision models to the Heat Pumps Database.

  2. Made it so the default projects folder at startup will be the folder containing the last project that was opened.

  3. Added a Browse for Projects Folder button to the Project Explorer.

  4. Made it so the items in the Edit menu and the Window menu are enabled and disabled at the right times.

  5. Added a list of all the open windows to the Windows menu.

  6. Improved the appearance of the report headers.

Version 4.0.22 [12/15/2006]

  1. Added data for several Water Furnace Envision models to the Heat Pumps Database.

  2. Stopped the program from crashing when an input is clicked on the Closed Loop System Data window.

  3. Stopped the program from crashing when the View Detailed Results button is clicked on the Closed Loop System Data window.

  4. Made it so the Man/Calc performance data on the Closed Loop System Data window will not change unless new data is entered.

  5. Changed the recommended Heating EWT value to 50.

Version 4.0.21 [8/18/2006]

  1. Made minor updates to code and data processing for calculating heat pump capacity and efficiency.

  2. Updated calculations for number of pipes per trench for horizontal loops. Now more configurations including asymmetrical layouts are supported.

  3. Technical updates.

Version 4.0.20 [6/26/2006]

  1. Added new Water Furnace series heat pumps. They are listed in a different category under "Water Furnace 2006".

  2. Various updates to accommodate new heat pumps and other issues.

Version 4.0.19 [5/26/2005]

  1. Updated some Climate Master heat pumps to correct the valid ranges for GPM and CFM when selected. Note that you have to elect to overwrite the existing heat pump data during installation to get this heat pump data updated.

  2. Fixed bug which caused a division by zero error if Heating EWT or Cooling EWT temperatures were set equal to calculated soil temperatures. Now a warning message is printed recommending to change the temperature value instead.

Version 4.0.18 [5/25/2005]

  1. Fixed problem with selecting a heat pump model in the Closed Loop System Data window. Previously in some cases heat pump data in the Rated or Adjust rows would be blank or incomplete when a heat pump was selected from the model list. Now data is always filled in completely in this window for the selected heat pump.

  2. Included new update for Check for Update utility.

  3. Technical updates.

Version 4.0.17 [3/24/2005]

  1. Updated weather database to add more than a dozen new Canadian cities. Note that for current users the option must be checked to overwrite weather data during the update to install this new data.

  2. Fixed bug that did not allow the manual addition of a new weather city at the end of the alphabetical list of cities.

  3. Updated install to always add the weather database file during the first install of ECA on a given computer.

Version 4.0.16 [12/15/2004]

  1. Fixed bug introduced in version 4.0.11 that could interfere with adding a new heat pump database name (or editing an existing heat pump).

  2. Added 4 new model TT series Climate Master heat pumps to the heat pump database.

  3. Technical updates.

Version 4.0.15 [11/2/2004]

  1. Fixed bug that caused Error 13 when pressing the View Detailed Results button in the Closed Loop System Data window when some of the selected heat pump data was blank or 0.

  2. Added warning message if the entered or selected heating capacity is insufficient to meet heating load. Unlike this warning for cooling capacity this does not prevent calculations or printing, since backup electrical heating or similar could be used to make up the difference in heating capacity.

  3. Technical updates.

Version 4.0.14 [8/25/2004]

  1. Added Copy License File button to the About ECA window. This allows selection of the drive (floppy disk drive, CD-ROM, etc.) where your ECA license file is saved, for easy license activation.

  2. Made it so selecting the Parallel loop layout changes the calculation of pressure drop through the system loop. Now pressure drop is divided among parallel loops, and remains as one single loop value when the series configuration is used.

  3. Fixed bug that caused actual loop length to not be recalculated after a preview or print if only a change in the loop layout was made.

  4. Added more detail to "invalid correction factor" error message that appears when air/water temperatures are out of range of the temperatures used in additional cooling factor and similar heat pump database tables. Now the valid range of temperatures is included in the message, allowing you to more easily check against the temperature values like EDB entered in your project.

Version 4.0.13 [8/6/2004]

  1. Added feature that uses the new Check for Update utility. This utility, used by all Elite Software programs, can automatically check for updates and prompt you with the option to download an update from the Elite Software website before proceeding.

  2. Technical updates.

Version 4.0.12 [7/8/2004]

  1. Added feature to import from an RHVAC 8 project. Previously this feature had only imported RHVAC for DOS projects, but now the latest Windows version of RHVAC is supported.

  2. Added selected Canadian cities to weather database.

  3. Updated project Help file, and made it so pressing F1 in a program window displays the help topic for that particular window.

  4. Fixed problem where adding a new city to the weather database would change the weather city opened in a previously saved project file. This is fixed now; when a saved project is opened the city name and index are checked to make sure they agree, and are adjusted if necessary.

  5. Technical updates.

Version 4.0.11 [7/1/2004]

  1. Fixed problem with opening a project which had been saved with the Manually Adjusted checkbox selected in the Closed Loop System Data window.

  2. Technical updates.

Version 4.0.10 [2/14/2003]

  1. Fixed a problem with the Autosave function. Previously it would not save changes you made to a window that was left open and otherwise unchanged (no selections of other windows or tabs) before the Autosave timer increment passed. Now all changes are saved during Autosave, including ones that are made to the currently selected window and/or tab.

  2. Corrected minor problem that would prompt you twice to save changes if you had changed the current project without saving, then selected to open a file from the file list at the bottom of the File menu. Now the prompt only appears once.

  3. Increased allowable inputs for heating load and cooling load to 5000000 Btuh. Also increased allowable input for circulating pump cost to $9999.00.

  4. Fixed problem that would not prompt to save the current project if you made changes and selected the Close (x) button to exit ECA. Now the prompt to save changes appears before ECA is closed.

  5. Technical updates.

Version 4.0.9 [2/3/2003]

  1. Fixed problem that would not install the Database directory under the main program directory if the default program directory was not chosen during installation. Now the Database directory is installed correctly no matter where the program is installed on your computer.

Version 4.0.8 [11/15/2002]

  1. Fixed problem during installation where error message would appear mentioning "OLE2.DLL is a bad image." While this did not create problems with the program itself, it was an annoyance and now it no longer appears.

  2. Made default choice during installation to not overwrite the existing heat pump database. Previously the default was set to overwrite these files.

  3. Updated the Custom Banner window to automatically read more license information for display in the banner.

  4. Corrected some units displayed in the Heat Pump Database window, e.g. changed MMBtuh to Btuh for heat pump capacity.

Version 4.0.7 [7/16/2002]

  1. Made it so an error message concerning a correction factor no longer appears while entering data in the Closed Loop System Data window. This message should only appear when selecting a heat pump model.

  2. Prevented the appearance of Error 13 when a field was made blank in the Closed Loop System Data window.

Version 4.0.6 [1/11/2002]

  1. Fixed problem which sometimes caused an error when File|Quick Print Reports was selected.

  2. Allowed the heat pump model name to be cleared in the Closed Loop System Data window.

  3. Technical updates.

Version 4.0.5 [6/21/2001]

  1. Added more options for a slinky design. Now the user can enter slinky trench length or number of slinky trenches. The default slinky calculation can still be used as well.

  2. Updated text descriptions of EDB and EWB entries in the Closed Loop System Data window. These values are more clearly described as indoor coil entering air temperatures.

  3. Changed program behavior when the user chooses a heat pump model type. Previously, the model type was not allowed if the user-input system water flow and air flow fell outside the range for the chosen unit. Now when a unit is chosen, the water flow and air flow values are changed to the middle of the range allowed for that unit. This should make choosing a heat pump model a faster, smoother process.

  4. Allowed more standard pipe types to be used with a slinky configuration.

  5. Added units to heat pump model type selection window. Previously this window indicated "Heating Range" and "Cooling Range" but without units.

  6. Updated background colors used on some forms to make them more readable.

  7. Updated Sample.ecw and Autoload.ecw files to comply with new file format. The old file format can be used, but new slinky data will not be saved in those files. You should start a new project (using the new Autoload file if you wish) if you want to use the new slinky features. Note that if you want the new Autoload file to be installed with the latest version of ECA, you should move or delete Autoload.ecw from your Projects directory before installation.

  8. Technical updates.

Version 4.0.4 [3/15/2000]

  1. Added 3 system files which are required to be installed to run the MicroHelp display tool for selecting heat pump model.

  2. Added the latest Florida Heat Pump databases. Now the latest models of FHP heat pumps can be used in ECA.

  3. Updated code to be sure that if a temporary file is detected that the user is prompted on opening that file and asked if they want to use or discard the temporary file.

  4. Fixed scrolling problem with the heat pump model display tool mentioned above. Before now, the selection would scroll up when a heat pump model was selected. This was unnecessary and distracting, so it has now been eliminated.

  5. Fixed the data ranges for air and water temperature and flow available for use with some Water Furnace heat pump models.

  6. Fixed a bug which caused a program error that would terminate the program if the user had entered an air or water temperature or flow value outside of the range allowed by the chosen heat pump and subsequently the user tried to open one of the available databases such as the soil database. Now the error no longer occurs.

  7. Eliminated the graying out of the toolbar selections of the main program screens such as General Project Data and Pressure Drop Data. Now these toolbar buttons can be used to toggle between these screens when they are open, which is the convention used by other Elite Software programs.

  8. Prohibited user manual typing of inputs for various items such as the heat pump model. All available models are available by selecting from a list in the drop down menu for this item.

  9. Fixed bug which did not allow Performance data to be displayed for Water Furnace or Climate Master data.

  10. Added feature to allow user to update their copy of ECA by inserting their license diskette in the A: drive, going to the Help menu in the program, choosing About ECA, and pressing [Shift]+[Ctrl]+L. This will bring up a dialog instruction box allowing you to copy the license file from the diskette and update your copy of ECA. This is a simple way to update the program from the Demo to the Active version.

  11. Increased allowable inputs of water flow rate for heat pump to 999 GPM, and air flow rate for heat pump to 99,999 CFM.

  12. Technical updates.

Version 4.0.3 [2/15/2000]

  1. Updated install script to accommodate installation on Windows 2000.

  2. Reenabled text pasting with Ctrl+V and technical changes.

Version 4.0.2 [2/4/2000]

  1. Updated projects directory saving and technical changes.

Version 4.0.1 [10/8/1999]

  1. Updated icons and technical changes.

Version 4.0.0 Beta

  1. Beta testing and updates.

 
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