Analysis: timeseries, XY graph, heatmap and gauge

The four analysis types, when to reach for each, and how sharing, importing and dashboard widgets fit together.

Analysis is where you investigate a question that the standard module views cannot answer. The analysis page lists every analysis for the building, including ones imported from elsewhere.

All four types work the same way to start: add the timeseries you want to compare, then select the period.

Timeseries

The general-purpose type. Plots one or more timeseries against time, which is what you want for "what happened, and when". Use it to line up a temperature against a setpoint, or a fan against the energy it draws.

The timeseries list. Expanding a row shows the graph together with the metadata behind the value.

The timeseries list. Expanding a row shows the graph together with the metadata behind the value.

XY graph

Plots one timeseries against another instead of against time. This answers a different question: not "when" but "how do these two relate". The classic use is energy against outdoor temperature — the shape of the cloud tells you how weather-dependent the building is, and points that sit away from it are the interesting ones.

Heatmap

Shows one timeseries as a grid of coloured cells across days and hours. Patterns that are invisible in a line graph become obvious: a system running at the weekend, night setback that never engages, a shift that starts an hour early. Reach for this when you suspect a schedule problem.

Gauge

Shows a single current number rather than a history. A gauge is built from a formula and an aggregation — average, sum, min or max — over a recent window such as the last hour or last few hours. Use gauges for the handful of values you want to see at a glance rather than investigate.

Analyses can be shared, and a shared analysis can be imported into another building. An import is a copy, not a live link: if the original changes afterwards, ask for a new link and import it again.

Dashboard widgets

An analysis can back a dashboard widget. This matters when deleting: deleting an analysis also deletes any widget based on it. Properate warns you, but it is worth checking whether a colleague's dashboard depends on it first.

Good to know

Data can be downloaded from any analysis for work in your own tools.

Where a threshold is applied, the graph says so — worth noticing before comparing two analyses that look similar.

Analyses can only be imported on analysis pages; the import link will not do anything elsewhere.