Weather Files¶

Weather files are available for many locations throughout the world. Finding the right file that represents the weather in your specific location can sometimes be a challenge. Often the closest weather location is the best one to choose, but sometimes a site that is further away may actually have the most similar weather. This is especially the case in terrain that varies in elevation or when near large bodies of water. Many weather files are available from both public and private sources. The EnergyPlus weather file web site has many weather files with sources described. That web site also has a page with links to many other sites that provide weather files. The modeler must also choose between using a typical year weather files or an actual year file. Typical year files, such as TMY3 and IWEC are representative of long-term weather compiled from 20-30 years of data. Actual year files contain a specific year of weather data and generally used for calibration or verification studies where the simulation results are compared to actual utility bills or other measured data.

EnergyPlus.net Weather File Locations