Hi everyone,
I’m currently researching to write a resource on how to use Enercalc. From a structural engineer’s perspective, I’m curious to hear your top #1 feature from Enercalc that you use most frequently and get the most value from.
This can be a specific calculator module or a specific feature, such as the ability to copy and paste loads, etc.
I haven’t used Enercalc in years but I do recall that the simple beam calculator with combined loads acting on multi-spam beams was handy and the output easy to review. But you all have that now.
And I still see messages on here I never noticed before, hence my very delayed response.
I’m pretty much all in on clearcalcs and only have Enercalc for one project that will use gabion retaining walls.
I’m curious to hear more about your use case of gabion retaining walls here @PG218:
Rarely. It’s a special project that I will complete two like this in the upcoming year with the potential for more in the future.
I ditched Enercalc a very long time ago. I recall they had a major upgrade (can’t recall but it was when they were migrating to a new platform (version 6 maybe) The product didn’t justify the fees so I switched to Strucalc. And then they went through their own implosion of sorts and started charging customers to use the product they had already purchased outright (version 10?).
And here I am… So, I was going to say that load linking is the best feature; but as i write this, I am also thinking that honesty, continuity, and ongoing development of the product are all also very important.
Enercalc has the best retaining wall calculators since they bought Retainpro software. They also have other calculators not currently offered in clearcalcs.
Thanks @WilsonEngineers for your feedback here - really appreciate your note. We strive to always put our users front and center in what we do here at ClearCalcs and aim to continue doing so!
@Nickv123 we’ll take a look at the retaining wall modules in Enercalc and see how we can incorporate them in our future development.
From other calculators currently not offered in ClearCalcs, what’s the top 1-3 in your wishlist if you have a magic wand and make them available tomorrow?
My top 1 is for the wood roof tie modules to be repaired. I’ve had multiple exchanges about that in the past and my impression was that they would be updated, but nothing has happened yet. I get that there is a balance between adding new features and repairing old ones so that’s all I’ll say about that.
Retaining walls (specifically segmental retaining walls) for sure. They also have great concrete column calculator that includes a rectangular tube shape that is useful.
I’ll third the retaining walls… I think the main thing missing from clear calcs is the diagrams showing all the loading and rebar so it’s much easier to review the program’s interpretation of my input.
Thank @WilsonEngineers, @RES-Tony, and @themathguy for your input here.
@WilsonEngineers, I’m looking after the feature requests prioritization right now, and I can see several of your suggestions for the Wood Roof Tie calculator are already on the list. We’re moving through this list in our development right now, and I’ll let you know as soon as we get to them. You said it rightly there that we’re trying to strike a balance between optimizing existing calculators and delivering new ones. It’s a work in progress!
@RES-Tony and @themathguy, Segmental Retaining Wall is on our list! I’ve added both of your names to the feature request to upvote it. 
I don’t care so much about segmented so much as the load and rebar diagrams more similar to Enercalc/Retain Pro.