Meter:Custom is confused about units

I've used Meter:Custom for energy in the past, but never used it for a typical Output:Variable. I'm trying to aggregate all of the outdoor airflows of a bunch of PTACs.

When I do so, this warning below results - and none of the airflows are added to the meter. Can one of you add some light here? Thanks in advance.

The object looks like:

Meter:Custom,
  OAflow,                  !- Name
  Generic,                 !- Fuel Type
  Floor1:NWTHCorner PTAC Outdoor Air Node Name,  !- Key Name 1
  System Node Standard Density Volume Flow Rate,  !- Output Variable or Meter Name 1

.... etc for several nodes....

Here's the warning (repeated for all 20+ nodes)

** Warning ** DetermineMeterIPUnits: Meter units not recognized for IP Units conversion=[m3/s].
**   ~~~   ** ..on Meter:Custom="OAFLOW".
**   ~~~   ** ..requests for IP units from this meter will be ignored.
** Warning ** Meter:Custom="OAFLOW", variable not summed variable Output Variable or Meter Name="SYSTEM NODE STANDARD DENSITY VOLUME FLOW RATE".
**   ~~~   ** ...will not be shown with the Meter results; units for meter=m3/s, units for this variable=m3/s.

3.5k

Jim Dirkes

asked 2020-04-15 02:16:46 -0500

4.4k

__AmirRoth__

updated 2020-04-15 09:36:28 -0500

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Comments

are you setting the output reports to report in IP units? If so, try changing it to SI.

mdahlhausen (2020-04-16 11:51:36 -0500) edit

The OutputControl:Table:Style was set for InchPound, but changing it to JtoKWH or JtoMJ results in no improvement (ie, same warning)

Do you think the DetermineMeterIPUnits subroutine doesn't "know" about flow variables?

Jim Dirkes (2020-04-18 06:58:44 -0500) edit

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Reading up on the Meter:Custom object, you can only add output variables with units of energy defined in the eplusout.mdd file. You will need to add out the oa flow from nodes outside of E+.