The PDF report is the document you hand to a client or a crew, and the only thing you pay for in HeatAlgo. Every module generates its own PDF, and all of them share a cover with your branding. This article describes where to download reports, what they contain, how the scaled printable plan works, what units the PDF uses and what the messages during generation mean.
Units in the PDF: metric for now
On an imperial account the app shows feet and inches, ft², °F, Btu/h and gpm. The PDFs do not follow that setting yet: every report, the printable floor plan and the bill of materials print in metric units today - meters, m², °C, W and kW, l/min and l/h - on every account. The PDF will follow the account's units later.
The numbers themselves are the same. HeatAlgo calculates in metric units to EN 12831-1 (heat loss) and EN 1264 (radiant floor output), and the app converts them only for display. To read a metric PDF quickly:
| Metric in the PDF | US unit |
|---|---|
| 1 m | 3.28 ft |
| 1 m² | 10.76 ft² |
| 1 W | 3.412 Btu/h |
| 1 kW | 3,412 Btu/h |
| 1 W/m² | 0.317 Btu/h·ft² |
| °C | °F = °C × 1.8 + 32 |
| 1 K (a temperature difference) | 1.8 °F |
| 1 l/min | 0.264 gpm |
| 1 m³/h | 0.589 cfm |
The table gives the factors for the units the PDFs print, to convert a figure to the unit the app shows on an imperial account.
If you share a report with a US client, say that it is in metric units, or keep the app's imperial screens beside it.
Where to download the report from each module
- Heat loss calculation - step 7 "Result", the "Download PDF" button. The report contains the building's design heat loss, the heat loss per floor area (W/m²), the room table split into transmission, ventilation and thermal bridges, the envelope details with layers and U-values, the calculation parameters and the statement of how far the calculation complies with EN 12831-1.
- Heat pump sizing - the "Result" step, the "Download PDF report" button. The report contains the recommended heat pump, the sizing steps, the bivalent point, the supply temperature options, radiator feasibility room by room, annual costs and remarks.
- Radiant floor heating ("Underfloor heating" in the app) - the drawing toolbar, the "Download PDF" button (cover, section and manifold tables, plan). The arrow beside it ("More export options") opens "Project documents": "Print plan" - a scaled print without the cover and the tables, "Bill of materials" - a separate PDF for the supply house, and "Download everything (ZIP)" - all three in one file.
- Ventilation (heat recovery ventilator, HRV) - the "Result" step, the "Download the report" button (balance, room airflows, the terminal adjustment table, the bill of materials, the unit's data, a drawing fitted to one page). Separately, "Duct layout" - a scaled print, each story on its own.
Under the results in the heat loss calculation, heat pump sizing and radiant floor heating there is a "Report notes" field - the remarks, recommendations and notes you type there appear in the PDF.
Cover and report number
Every report opens with a title page with:
- your logo and company details (first name, last name, company name, phone, website) from Settings,
- the project name, the client's full name and the property address from the project details; the address appears only when the client's name is given,
- the report number.
The report number has the format HA-year-six-character code, for example HA-2026-K7M2XQ. It is given to the full report of an unlocked project - one number per project, shared by every module and every later version. A preview from a project that is not unlocked has no number.
Preview versus full report
From a project that is not unlocked you download a preview: it shows as much as the free account shows on screen - the building summary, one fully calculated room, the recommended heat pump. The other rooms, the method details, the comparison of heat pump options, the loop lengths and the manifold are in the full version. The "Unlock and download the PDF" button spends a credit (or opens the purchase) and generates the full report at once. If you buy a report for one or two modules, you download the full version in those modules, and the project's other modules stay on the free plan until you add another module or the whole project.
After unlocking, each module has 7 days from its own first download for revisions and further PDF versions, and the printable radiant floor plan has its own 7 days from its first download. A subscription has no window. Details in what is free and what a report unlocks.
The printable radiant floor plan
"Print plan" in "Project documents" (the arrow beside "Download PDF" in the radiant floor heating module) generates a scaled plan of one story with the loops, the on-center spacing and the loop lengths drawn on - for printing on site, for example at 1:50 on A3 paper (11.7 × 16.5 in). A scale of 1:50 is close to the US 1/4 in = 1 ft (1:48). After "Set" (or "Change" once a paper is chosen) you set:
- the scale (from 1:5 to 1:500, a custom one too), the paper size and the orientation,
- the grid - guide lines every few centimeters on each sheet.
The plan covers the story visible on the canvas; switch stories to download another. Its lengths and labels are metric, like every PDF for now.
The print preview says whether the whole plan fits one sheet or takes several - then you print all of them and tape them together along the corner markers, or pick a larger paper size. The title block gives the "Project" (the project name), the "Storey" (only when the project has more than one) and the "Issue date". A story nobody renamed prints under the same name as its tab: "Ground floor", "Basement", "Floor 1". The plan needs a calibrated background and at least one drawn section. It is part of the report: on a project that is not unlocked the "Print plan" row shows a lock and "In the full report".
The same card holds "Bill of materials" - a separate PDF for the supply house with the materials list and the plan for cutting the PEX tubing coils, unlocked with the report - and "Download everything (ZIP)", which downloads the report, the plan and the bill of materials in one file; with no paper chosen yet, it asks for one first. The paper you choose is remembered in this browser, and a phone never chooses one, so there the ZIP holds the report and the bill of materials.
The ventilation duct plan
On the "Result" step of the ventilation module the "Duct layout" button opens the scaled print dialog: scale, paper size and orientation, with an upper limit on the number of sheets. Each story prints separately, with the project name, the story name and the issue date in the title block. Stories on the drawing and in the duct schedule are named the way the canvas tabs are, for example "Ground floor", "Floor 1". The main report also contains a drawing fitted to one page. On a free account the duct plan is locked until the project is unlocked.
Compliance with the standard in the heat loss report
The heat loss report carries a status on the result: "Result meets EN 12831-1:2017" or "Approximate result - does not meet strict EN 12831-1 compliance". The second appears when, for example, the perimeter of a floor on the ground was not measured and an approximation was used, the airflows for mechanical ventilation or heat recovery are missing, or the heat-up allowance was taken from the table without confirming the conditions of Annex F.2. The list of reasons is in the "About this result" dialog under the status chip and in the report itself, together with the statement of the calculation's scope. How to bring the result to strict compliance is in the heat loss calculation guide.
Report language
The report is generated in the app's language. With HeatAlgo set to English in Settings, the PDF is generated in English, with English field names. The units stay metric for now, as described above.
Messages during generation
- "PDF generation is temporarily unavailable" - an outage on our side; try again in a moment.
- "Open the floor-plan preview before exporting" - the radiant floor plan needs a current image of the drawing; open the preview and download again.
- "The floor plan changed since the preview was taken" - something changed on the drawing after the preview was opened; open the preview once more.
- "The floor-plan image could not be prepared" - use a smaller background scan or pick a smaller print scale.
- "The project has errors to fix - some figures in the export may be blank." - first fix the fields the app marks to fix.
- "This module has no data to export yet" - the module is empty; enter data or import it from the heat loss calculation.
Downloaded files stay yours for good, also after the revision window closes and after a subscription ends.
A HeatAlgo report follows EN 12831-1 and EN 1264, not ACCA Manual J, and is not accepted for permits or rebates.