Andy Bardwell

[Andy Bardwell]

Full cord. OptiMiser uses a conversion of 20 MMBtu (20,000,000 Btu) per full cord, for an average heat content of a full cord of wood.

[Andy Bardwell]

There are two options for creating a line item that says what you want on the Bid Form (copying from the original list of tasks):

4. … add Line Item: – you can edit ANYTHING on a line item row the description, unit costs, and count. So, you can commandeer any of the line items you’re not using, and edit to say what you want.

5. Adding Items to the Template: Line Items can be added to the Template by using the Add Items option. This option takes more time, and can’t be done from the Bid Form, but it allows you to add Line Items to the Template, that will show up on the Bid Form permanently.

[Andy Bardwell]

The Bid Form is a very flexible estimation tool that can contain a wide variety of items to customize a cost estimate. This forum post describes some basic ways to edit the Bid Form.

Each step below is illustrated by Screenshots that demonstrate setting details for a crawl vapor barrier.

1. Bid… Button: Each Improvement has a Bid… button that will take you to the Bid Form with settings that show the rows for that improvement. (See ScreenShot#1CrawlBidButton.jpg)

2. Improvements vs. Line Items: The Bid Form allows for adding customizable items and costs in two primary different ways. Each Improvement area on the Bid Form includes rows above and below a hashed line. (See ScreenShot#2CrawlBidFormImprovement&LineItems.jpg)

2.1 Improvement Items: above the hashed line. These are rows that are set by controls in the interface. For example, setting the insulation type for crawl improvements is an Improvement item.

2.2 Line Items: below the hashed line. These re rows that can be edited at will by the user. New line items can be added to the Bid template, so the user can add new items for use in all future projects. For example, the Crawl section has line items for cleaning up an old vapor barrier, and another for blocking crawl space vents.

3. Edit Improvements for the current project only: Improvement items can be edited for the current project only, versus editing them for future projects by editing the Template, shown in Step #8. These edits will only appear in the Bid Form. (see ScreenShot#3EditImprovmentforProjectOnly.jpg)

4. Remove Improvement & add Line Item: the vapor barrier improvement can also be removed by setting the number of Units to 0, and then setting the number of units for the line item vapor barrier to any amount. (See ScreenShot#4RemoveImprovement&EditLineItem.jpg)

5. Adding Items to the Template: Line Items can be added to the Template by using the Add Items option. (See ScreenShot#5AddLineItemButton.jpg)

6. Add Line Item to the Template: Adding an Item to the Template begins by making a copy of a similar item, and then editing the copy. (See ScreenShot#6AddLineItem.jpg)

7. Edit Added Line Item: A new Line Item, or a previously existing Line Item, can be edited. The Description, Taxability, Labor and Material unit costs, Cost Unit, Checkbox to include the item on the Bid Form, and Notes can all be edited. (See ScreenShot#7EditAddedLineItem.jpg)

8. Edit Improvement Selections: Improvement selections can also be edited for future projects on the Template. The Description, Taxability, Labor and Material unit costs, Cost Unit, Checkbox to include the item on the Bid Form, a Checkbox to make the selection the default, and Notes can all be edited. (See ScreenShot#8EditImprovementSelection.jpg)

[Andy Bardwell]

Michael – do you mean that the ability to split out costs, or a range of costs, or show cost options, would be a workable solution?

[Andy Bardwell]

Michael – thanks for the insightful question. There is no way to include the weatherstripping of doors and windows on those pages. One option would be to deselect those pages, and add the weatherstripping  on the Air Sealing page in the editable comment area.

You can also add the weatherstripping on the Bid Form as a Misc. item. This will appear on the detailed cost estimate which will be available as part of the report. This feature has just been released to our Beta release group – so should be available soon.

[Andy Bardwell]

OptiMiser now offers users the choice of Tablet, Wide Screen Desktop or Desktop display. This choice can be made at any time by going to the display settings on the Preferences tab (see attached screenshot). Setting the Screen Style to Tablet will also set Magnify on, and switch to slider numeric controls. The slider is easier to manipulate on a touch screen versus a spinner.  We are working on other improvements to the touch interface which will include bigger web-like controls, and an keyboard which opens up whenever you select a text input.

[Andy Bardwell]

When you say “stop auto fill of customer name”, do you mean the printed name in the form or the signature?

[Andy Bardwell]

Travis – I”m back in the saddle, and want to add a little more detail to Gamaliel’s answer.  The Pool Pump analysis can be used with three different levels of detail in your inputs, from one click, a simple selection from a listbox, or using a detailed pump specification analysis:

1. Pool Checkbox: checking the “Pool” check box provides the simplest way to add a pool pump and electrical heater to both the base and improved side (with no improvement).  Checking adds a Single Speed electric pool pump in the Misc Electric Loads and Major Auxiliary Electric Loads tables accessed via the Major… and Detail… buttons.  You can edit the hours of use and watts on these tables. Note that if the number of units is changed on the table, this checkbox is no longer checked. There are Pool check boxes on the Appl & DHW / Lighting & Other tab or, if you aren’t in Wizard mode, on the Owner / Building / Other tab. 
2. Pump Type: Selecting the Pump Type from Single Speed, Two Speed, or Variable Speed (or No Improvement or None) will make an input for HP or Turnover visible.  Enter the HP (or use the default for a Single Speed or Two Speed pump, or Turnover for a variable speed pump. Wattage of variable speed pumps depends on the speed the pump is running, and the speed will depend on the turnover, so electrical usage is determined by turnover (number of times all the water in the pool circulates through the filter in a day).  The Variable Speed Pump analysis includes an optimization routine that calculates the minimal electrical usage for a variable speed pump for the selected turnover. Therefore proper setup of the pump is required to achieve these results. The [Pump…] button will open the detailed pool pump analysis screen which shows the defaults being used for pipe size, filter type, presence of a cleaner, turnover, etc.
3. Detailed Analysis: The [Pump…] button will open a detailed pool pump analysis which is adequate for specifying the size of a pump including pipe size, filter type, presence of a cleaner, turnover, etc. The same optimization routine is used for variable speed pumps.

[Andy Bardwell]

Les – my response really doesn’t belong in the “Modifying the Component Library” section, since the solution available doesn’t require changing the Component Library.

Instead, I’ve attached a modified Standard.bid (called TemplateName.bid) which includes a new item “Heating, Cooling and Delivery System” that combines all heating, cooling and delivery system improvements.  I also put an “X” in the selection column for the Seal Ducts, Heating and Cooling items, so they will not show (delete this X to have them show).

The same methods used to create this modified Proposal form can be used to create other custom Proposals.  You can create a Proposal where improvements are grouped and/or presented in any way you like.  After customizing the Proposal, you can save the file and use the customized proposal anytime.

To use the attached TemplateName.bid, just use these steps:

1. copy the file into the Modules directory in your OptiMiser installation
2. rename the file with the name of any Template you want to use it with, or, if you don’t use Templates, rename it with any name you choose
3. load OptiMiser
4. load the Template:
   • if you don’t use Templates, go to the Bid / Templates, and enter the name you gave the file in “New or Existing Template”.  For example, if you renamed the file “MyTemplate.bid”, type “MyTemplate” in “New or Existing Template”.    Click “Create Template”
5. go to Bid / Current Bid and select the Template for the .bid form (MyTemplate in the example above)
6. select the Heating, Cooling or Seal Duct improvement (so you can see the way they will show up on the new Proposal form); each improvement would be selected as usual
7. go to the Proposal form:
   • with “Rows: All” you will see the new “Heating, Cooling and Delivery System” item , as well as the original items for Heating, Cooling, and Seal Ducts
   • now pick “Rows:  Selected”, and you will only see the new “Heating, Cooling and Delivery System” item; this is because I put an “X” in the selection column for the Seal Ducts, Heating and Cooling items, so they will not show (delete this X to have them show).

When ever you want to use this special Proposal form, select that Template.   If you want to use it all the time, right-click on the Template control (Bid / Current Bid or Owner / Project / Auditor Agency Program / Template) and click “Save Value as Default”.

To make your own changes in the .bid file, you can open that file in Excel, and edit the Proposal sheet.  (Good idea to save the original, in case you need to go back!)  To open in Excel, open Excel first, change “File Type” to “All Files *.*”, and select the .bid file.   Alternatively, you can double click on the .bid file, and then select Excel as the program to use.  The file is Protected, but no password is required.

How to add a new item to the Proposal that groups together other improvements:

For example, to create a new improvement that combines the heating / cooling system and delivery system improvements, add a new item to the Proposal form by copying the rows for one of the other improvements, and using “Insert Copied Cells”.   Then change the formulas for Cost, Savings, etc., so they use a sum of the Cost, Savings, etc. for the System and Delivery improvements.  If SIR is needed, add a column for SIR, and calculated by:
                                      (System Savings + Delivery Savings) / (System Cost + Delivery Cost)

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