Degree Days.net Desktop – Assemble Lots of Data, Fast
The API behind the desktop app
The desktop app fetches data from the Degree Days.net API: a state-of-the-art commercial system that enables numerous other software systems to access degree-day data automatically.
Degree Days.net Desktop is only possible because of the powerful API and the intensive number-crunching that it performs to churn out large volumes of degree days, fast.
“It is well worth the posted monthly rate to have all this data at my fingertips, and it is allowing us to enhance our energy performance reporting greatly.”
Matt Roman, Visteon Corporation
“The desktop app is incredibly useful for me as I need to pull multiple kinds of data for more than 40 properties at once. A process that used to take me as much as an hour is now done in seconds.
It was very easy for me to get up and running. The app provides user friendly explanations for each feature that are visible as soon as you start using them, and the interface is pretty intuitive.
We're looking forward to integrating the API into other aspects of our energy program over time. But the desktop app gives an immediate return on the investment in an API subscription because you don't have to be a programmer to download all of the data at once.
Thank you for this program!”
Laura Troise, HEI Hotels & Resorts,
ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year
Our desktop app makes it quick and easy to download data for lots of locations at once:
- Specify a list of locations and the data you want for each.
- Let our system generate and assemble the data for you automatically.
- Export it all into a single spreadsheet.
It's fast, it's reliable, and it will work for a handful of locations or for hundreds or thousands. For smaller numbers it will save you time and repetitive clicking on our website. For larger numbers it can open the door to more ambitious projects that just wouldn't be realistic without it.
You can give the desktop app a list of weather station IDs, or you can give it postal/zip codes or longitude/latitude positions and let our system figure out the best weather stations to use automatically. We have a sophisticated algorithm for doing this, taking into account each station's data quality and history as well as its location.
Specifying locations as postal/zip codes or longitude/latitude positions is ideal when you have a list of buildings that you want degree days for. It works efficiently for big lists too, as the desktop app uses "two-stage data fetching" to: (1) identify groups of nearby locations that share the same weather station; and (2) fetch degree days just once for each group.
And that's not all:
- You can fetch HDD and CDD, in multiple base temperatures, all at the same time...
- You can save your list of locations and use it to fetch fresh data whenever you want...
- There's no 36-month limit so you can use it to get extended historical data like that available through our website with Degree Days.net Pro...
- It works on Windows and Mac...
- It fetches data through the Degree Days.net API, so it's accurate, reliable, and very fast (provided you give it an API account that is powerful enough for the amount of data you need). More on this to the right and further below.
Get started with the desktop app
We suggest you start by watching the demo video to get a feel for what the desktop app can do and how to use it. Then:
1. Download and install OpenWebStart
If you haven't done so already you'll need to download and install OpenWebStart. This is free open-source software that the desktop app needs to run.
- Download OpenWebStart from here (for Windows, Mac, or Linux).
- To install on Windows: Open the file and follow the installer through (the default options are fine).
- To install on Mac: Open the file, double-click the big "OpenWebStart Installer" icon (see screenshot), confirm that you do indeed wish to open it, then follow the installer through (the default options are fine).
NB You shouldn't need OpenWebStart if you have a version of Java installed that includes Java Web Start (such as that from java.com), but there's no harm in installing OpenWebStart anyway. If you or your IT staff want more technical info about OpenWebStart, please visit openwebstart.com.
2. Download and open the desktop app launcher
Click the button below and download the file called "app.jnlp":
Once downloaded, you'll need to open it. You can either do this from your browser, or by opening your downloads folder and double-clicking the file. It should open with the OpenWebStart software installed in step 1 above.
If you can't seem to download the file, your firewall might be blocking the download. This happens often in corporate networks. If you're not sure what this means or what to do about it, it's probably best to get your IT staff to take a quick look. They should be able to remedy any obstacles and install the software easily.
The launcher will create a desktop shortcut that you can use to open the desktop app whenever you need it in future. You can also return here and download/open the launcher again at any time.
3. Get an API account and copy in your API access keys
The desktop app fetches data from the Degree Days.net API. If you have an API account already, you can enter your API access keys into the desktop app and start fetching data immediately. If not, you can sign up for a new API account here. New API accounts are created immediately, you just need a credit card. The better the API account you go for, the more data you will be able to get through the desktop app. The signup page has guidance to help you choose.
If you don't yet have an API account, you can still download the desktop app and try entering some locations and configuring the data you want from each. You could also try fetching data with the test API account... It will only let you fetch data from the Cape Cod area, but it should be enough for you to confirm that everything works as it's supposed to before you sign up for a proper API account.
4. Let us know if you have any questions or problems
We hope you like the desktop app, and please do feel free to contact us if you have any questions, comments, or problems, or if you'd like to let us know how you're getting on with it – we'd love to hear!