What is a replacement analysis?
A replacement analysis compares the total operating cost of an existing HVAC unit (energy, maintenance, operation) against one or more replacement scenarios, over a full year of real operation. The result: how much the replacement saves per year, how many years it takes to pay for itself, and how much CO₂ it avoids.
It's a different exercise from design or sizing. Building simulation tools (EnergyPlus, HAP, TRACE) and project screening tools (RETScreen) are not built to produce a replacement business case quickly, and Excel breaks down as soon as you want real weather and performance curves. That is exactly Optima's niche.
What the method accounts for
Real hourly weather
8,760 hours of real weather data for the building’s exact location, not seasonal averages or degree-day shortcuts.
Performance curves
A heat pump’s COP drops with cold and defrost. Optima uses real equipment curves, not a single nameplate efficiency.
Actual tariffs
Upload a gas or electricity bill: tariffs are extracted automatically and applied to the simulation.
Full costs
Energy, maintenance and operating costs of the existing equipment versus the replacement: the complete financial picture.
How Optima runs the analysis
Describe the building and existing equipment
Location, load, the unit in place and its current operating costs.
Pick the replacement scenarios
One or several candidate units: heat pump, high-efficiency RTU, dual-energy.
Optima simulates a full year, hour by hour
Real weather, performance curves and actual tariffs applied across all 8,760 hours.
Present the case
Savings, payback and CO₂ in a professional PDF report, about 5 minutes end to end.