Rescheck Desktop Shortfalls

Rescheck Desktop Shortfalls

Jobe Leonard wrote this blog post for the Reschexpert blog and Rescheck.info.  He enjoys teaching others about Rescheck software like Rescheck Web and Rescheck Desktop through easy to use and free tutorials like this.

Jobe Leonard Rescheck.info

As you have read the past few days, Rescheck Web from the Pacific Northwest Laboratory and Department of Energy has been in maintenance period. This means that the software has been largely unavailable for 5 day period. We discussed several options to help DIY Rescheck creators through this software outage. One of those solutions was to use Rescheck Desktop instead of Rescheck Web. After using Rescheck Desktop for a few days, here is what I have discovered.

There was a time not long ago when Rescheck Desktop was our go to software for creating Reschecks. Living in a rural area with slow internet speeds and working on jobsites far from good cell coverage it was advantageous to me to have software that did not rely on an internet connection to create Rescheck reports. I used Rescheck Desktop almost exclusively.

Then one day the code updates of IECC 2018 and IECC 2021 arrived and Rescheck Desktop was left out of these updates. To solve this issue I used Rescheck Desktop to create 95% of the Reschecks and would log on to Rescheck Web to solve the Reschecks that required IECC 2018 and IECC 2021.

Very quickly many towns, cities, states, and counties adopted IECC 2018 and IECC 2021 for Rescheck reporting which mean we were spending more time using Rescheck Web for our Rescheck reporting until we eventually made a near exclusive switch to Rescheck Web. We did this because we could see the writing on the wall that Rescheck Desktop will be sunset and no longer updated at a very near time in the future.

Now that Rescheck Web is down we got to spend a few days with our old friend Rescheck Desktop. Here are the top 5 things I do not miss about Rescheck Desktop:

• Rescheck Desktop does not include the most relevant codes. Without IECC 2018 and IECC 2021 Rescheck Desktop has quickly become irrelvant. With IECC 2024 Reschecks coming out in the near future I would expect Rescheck Desktop will remain the forgotten software and slowly become more obsolete.
• Rescheck Desktop has compatibility issues. One of my desktops has one version of Rescheck Desktop. Another laptop has another version. It is impossible for me to open the RCK Rescheck file on one of the computers because the version numbers do not match. So to do a quick R value update to a ceiling you have to download and install a new version of Rescheck Desktop. This takes a task that takes 1 min on Rescheck Web and turns it into a task that take 15-20 min on Rescheck Desktop, and only if you know what you are doing.
• Rescheck Desktop prints ghost PDF files. If you print a Rescheck as a PDF from Rescheck Desktop the file is a certain type of ghost PDF file that I have seldom experienced. Once the PDF is signed and dated you must click “Save As” and rename the file. If you do not the Rescheck PDF will disapear from your computer. Where does the Rescheck PDF file go? No one knows this Rescheck mystery, but if you do not save it properly then you must re generate another Rescheck PDF. Then sign, date, and save it correctly or you will continue on this circular process.

• Rescheck Desktop has too many versions. Rescheck desktop constantly has new version updates, but they do not include the most needed codes. Why spend time on an update if you are not actually updating the software with the needed IECC energy codes?
• Rescheck Desktop is not a great backup anymore. It used to be that Rescheck Desktop was the perfect backup when Rescheck Web was down. That is no longer the case. Code issues, ghost PDFs, multiple versions, and software compatibility have taken this version of software from a dreamboat cruise to a haunted river rapid ride.

Overall, we still use Rescheck desktop occasionally. It has some positives. If some basic issues were taken care of we might consider a wholesale switch back to it. It is of my personal opinion that in the next 5 years that Rescheck Desktop will not exist at all. This will primarily hurt Rescheck creators that operate on remote jobsites, rural areas with slow internet, and locations with no internet at all.

If you need a Rescheck created we offer a Rescheck service. We need your order number, PDF plans, jobsite address, and square footage to get started. You can email that to service@rescheck.info and I will get you taken care of.