DoveTailTools spreadsheets are virtual tools for designing building systems that are intended to integrate (“dovetail”) with your methods of sizing components such as piping and ductwork, and with your methods of calculating parameters such as required pressure and flow — thus the name “DoveTailTools”.
DoveTailTools spreadsheets have been created by an engineer who, having worked for consulting engineering companies that — likely similar to your company — have created spreadsheets for many calculations in‑house, realized that some of those spreadsheets leave quite a bit to be desired for somewhat complex calculations. Some of your in-house spreadsheets likely require manually entering pressure loss rates, manually selecting pipe sizes, incorporating rules of thumb, or making other compromises due to the investment that would be necessary to incorporate more accurate and automated features.
Additionally, you may have in‑house spreadsheets where, because some entries such as flow rates and pressure loss rates are manually entered, every change of a fixture or appliance capacity — and every addition or deletion — requires manually updating numerous other entries to maintain accuracy. For many such instances, though you may want to update the inputs, you may forego doing so because the project budget, schedule, or available labor does not support the effort.
A couple of the primary goals of DoveTailTools spreadsheets are automation and accuracy — to address these non‑automated entry and inaccuracy deficiencies. DoveTailTools spreadsheets not only minimize the initial number of entries, they also minimize the update effort necessary when input revisions are required, by automating parameters that are not site‑specific. Minimizing initial entry time and updating effort ultimately minimizes the impact to your bottom line. Updating is not a task to be avoided with DoveTailTools spreadsheets.
Automation also provides improved consistency. For example, using a nomograph, a “wheel”, or a table to manually select pipe sizes often leads to inconsistencies, whereas the piping profile features of DoveTailTools piping system spreadsheets automate the selection of pipe sizes, thereby improving consistency. Additionally, the pipe size profile generating and swapping features facilitate quick resizing of the entire piping system to either reduce or increase the pressure loss of the system.
Another primary goal of DoveTailTools spreadsheets is optimizing the entry of data without regard to the printout format, while also optimizing the printouts for presentability, readability, and analysis. Therefore, the printouts (reports) are configured substantially differently than the input worksheets.
Will DoveTailTools spreadsheets reduce your labor effort? Compared to rule‑of‑thumb spreadsheets? Of course not. No spreadsheet or program will ever be quicker than, for example:
#,### feet × #.# ft wg/100 feet × #.# fitting factor / 100 = ##.# ft wg piping pressure loss
However, if you would — given spreadsheets that provide much more accurate calculations than rule‑of‑thumb methods with not much more effort — invest such effort, DoveTailTools spreadsheets may fit the bill.
DoveTailTools spreadsheets attempt to fill the gap between programs that provide similar calculations but are undesirable for reasons such as complexity or cost, and the spreadsheets that many consulting engineering companies and building systems contractors have created in‑house — without breaking the bank.
DoveTailTools spreadsheets are priced such that if they reduce your effort by one hour per year, they likely have paid for themselves — and every hour saved after that is “gravy”.