Overview of the Amply design process
Inviting the homeowner to follow along with you to build trust and increase sales conversation rates
Verifying key assumptions (like windows, insulation) to make sure you are successful with Manual J
Creating a design and scanning room-by-room for the best outcomes
Reviewing building profile assumptions like duct loads and infiltration
Viewing the 3D floor plan
Generating the design and Manual J reports
Amply design process
Prepare for the site visit
The only workflow that Amply requires an internet connection is home address lookup details. Before you start a day of site visits, enter the homeowner's name and address information for the projects you will visit.
This will help you:
Get oriented on the sales opportunity by capturing key details like the number of bedrooms, living sq. ft, age of the home and more
Impress your customer with your knowledge and reduce setup when you are in the home so you can focus on the customer
Collect and verify measurements
To run an accurate Manual J and create a great design we recommend:
Starting with the Building Profile
General: Update basic assumptions like the number of bedrooms or the presence of a conditioned basement
Design Conditions: The closest weather station is selected by default based on the GPS location of the device
Indoor scanning
Scan by room or zone
Start with a small room and modify construction details as needed. Then, going forward, you can move faster and simply focus on scanning without the need to adjust assumptions.
Be sure to adjust window overhangs for each window after scan while standing in the room
This avoids human errors that are more likely to occur when assumptions are adjusted after leaving the site
Take a picture after each scan
Select the nominal capacity of the equipment to create a "virtual install" of the equipment.
Homeowners LOVE this.
Scan all conditioned spaces in the building
Even if you are proposing a one-room unit, it is important to scan the entire building so the load calc engine can "see" the full volume and geometry of the building to compute accurate infiltration loads and load calcs in general.
Outdoor documentation
Take pictures of proposed equipment locations and draw line hide to visual outdoor unit details for the homeowner
Add notes as needed to help the install team
Electrical
Capture close-up and wide-angle shots of the main panel
Make final adjustments to the Building Profile assumptions
Infiltration: This is often the MOST SENSITIVE assumption in Manual J load calculations. Follow the in-app guidance on selecting the most accurate assumption for your project. Even better, complete a blower door test to use measurement instead of an assumption for this variable.
Ducts: Details like duct location are dependent on the scanned room geometry being available
Ventilation: If you have verified that dedicated mechanical fresh air ventilation is present, be sure to indicate that is present
Internal:
Adjust the number of occupants to match the number of people living in the home. Per Man J guidelines, this SHOULD NOT include short-term guests
Appliance loads and
Plant assumptions as needed
Generate Design and Manual J reports
Design Report
Share the design report with the homeowner and install team so that everyone is on the same page
Manual J Report
Export the report for your rebate program administrator, code officer or upload to your Field Service Management (FSM) platform