Orwellian Thermostat "Free" from the local Utility

Hello Milo

It is the thin edge of a very large wedge.

No doubt many will be sucked in, and later find out the rules change, and just when you need air conditioning, it'll be turned off, via remote control, to "save energy, global warming" or some such similar rot.

Kind Regards....

Glad you see it that way too, sparky.

I like your wedge metaphor.

You're right that there are no assurances that they won't change the rules...

Thanks for that.

milo

Even if they don't change the rules, that could be just the wrong 4 hours for you.

Don't even consider it!

[Edit - and carefully reading the wording, that could be "4 consecutive hours" - then a ½ hour gap then another "4 consecutive hours" (unless it says "4 consecutive hours" / 24 - check the fine print.].

Great catch!

milo

For what it's worth, utilities used to do this in a more crude fashion. I lived in a small city when I was young where there two meters, one for the lights, etc. and a second one for the hot water, air conditioning, etc. And the second one had a clock in it and would only work in off-peak hours. Ain't technology grand when it goes full circle?

Take a look at the other side of the coin.

Failure to minimize utilities, i.e. natural gas, water, waste water, and electricity and make timing of usage at low demand times whenever possible will inevitably to higher rates for all utilities.

The apathy of the general public to practicing conservation in utilities and recycling leads to required compliance with stricter regulations. If you don't do it on your own big bad government will do it for you. Of course your vote for politicians give them the power to regulate you.

Hello Stirling Stan

Sadly, the Politicians regulate all people, whether those people vote for any politician, or not.

It's the way Statute Law works, entirely unfairly, supposedly for the good of all, but really for the wealthy.

Kind Regards....

OK Sparkstation. What I was implying was that all the voters MUST vote into office a candidate that will have the best interest of the voters in all actions he takes.

Ever since the voters could get the politicians to obtain benefits for them and the politicians could get votes by granting favors the cycle has continued with bigger and
"better" benefits buying more and more votes.

It's DOUBLE PLUS GOOD.

Many electrical systems are nearing peak capacity. On a hot day the extra load due to air conditioning etc can be enough to shut the whole system down.

So, if it's a choice between having the supply authorities shed some load OR having no power at all, I know what I'd do.

It's a classic case of a choosing the "least worst alternative"

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

I recognize the need for load shedding may exist.

I resent the Orwellian means to achieve, and frankly, as was pointed out earlier, don't trust the _________ to behave as agreed.

They are a public Utility. They are given a monopoly in order to best serve the public. SERVE the PUBLIC- Dont give with one hand and take with the other.

PS, I have a backup generator wired in to a second box for essential circuits like heat, kitchen and some lights. I have much experience with Utilities that think interruptions are OK.

milo

We do have an AC in our house, but its really for my wife, not for me. I do not believe in them generally as I find that most people who have AC either at work or at home (or both) suffer more from higher temperatures (outside of the AC) and are seeming more prone to bouts of colds and flu.....

I lived for over 4 years in the 60's and early 70's in Singapore with day temps to 50°C or more and a humidity that meant that a 95% humidity was a really dry day.....100% Humidity was the year in year out norm.....

I was at my best when NOT having AC around, fitter, less fatigued and less plagued by colds and flu......also small injuries to the skin healed faster and cleaner than in some AC environments, as you could get mold starting to grow on the scabs!!!

We had to get our winter uniforms (only hanging in the cupboard) re-cleaned each month in AC AS MOLD WOULD GROW ON THEM TOO.......

In short, AC costs a lot in all areas of both health and utility costs....all made worse if you keep the thermostat too low, as it really should only be a few degrees less than the outside temperature to allow it also to drop the humidity in living areas, if used at all....

I am sure that this post will provoke hefty reaction from hot areas of the planet with AC, but have you really tried going without it for say 3 months? The utility bills will really thank you too!!!

(My wife I were on a yacht for a week (wonderful) with no AC last year in Turkey. The yacht had no thermometer displayed, but most days on land visits it was around 50°C or a tick more. My wife had a great time as she did not know what the temperature was, until I asked a waiter in a Restaurant to show that she was not affected when she did not know, she was really surprised that she had no problems at all!!

In 2003, we had to drive back from what used to be called Jugoslavia, as the temps were around 48°C and she knew it, to a cold cold Germany at only 36°C.........)

Andy I agree, with your thoughts on AC.

However my issue is with the Big Brother take over of my personal use; loss of degrees of frreedom is NOT something I am big on.

Sounds like you're having a great time over there.

milo

Thanks for your kind thoughts.

I think that I did not make my point at all well in my last post. What I intended (but failed) to say was that at least with the AC, too many people take it as a God given right, that is simply not healthy in the long run, nor is it healthy for ones wallet either....

And having a Big Brother approach is awful and can be avoided.....

I bet that in 20 years time electricity and fresh water will be very expensive and if you are economical and can to a degree supply your own in some way, you will find life far easier....as well as getting BB off your back!!!

I am attempting to do both at this time.....slowly but surely. I will still need utilities, but not to such a great degree....

Hi Milo:

I used to have a unit like this that could shut off the AC temporarily under high load conditions. (It wasn't a thermostat -- it actually interrupted power to the AC unit.) I lived in the house for about 7 years, and would guess that having the unit saved maybe $200, because they gave me a lower rate. It only came into obvious usage a couple times in seven years -- although I am sure there were times when its actuation was undetected.

I'd say my experience was generally positive.

Hi Ken. I used to run a steel plant north of atlanta in cartersville back in the 1990's, and we negotiated a special interruptible power rate with Georgia power. It was a very favorable cost per KWH.

Ohio edison is just sharing the interruption, not any rate savings, tho they might think that giving me a new thermostat that is actually working to their advantage, not mine, is some kind of boon.

Georgia power interrupted us so much in 1993 1994 that we gave up on our 3-11 pm shift except for shipping and ran 11-7 and 7-3 in the Summer.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

milo

Ohio edison is just sharing the interruption, not any rate savings,

Incredible! You'd need to be nuts to put up with the aggravation. What princes they are that they'd give you a shiny new thermostat.

I was in Wilson, NC when I did the interruptible power thing, and I just checked to see what the incentive was. $9 per month to do both the AC and water heater. So over 7 years the savings were $756 dollars -- more than I'd guessed.

I have participated in the 'interruptible power' to our AC and electric water heater for many years and have never noticed the interruption. By participating you are actually keeping your demand costs down. At peak usage, if the utility can temporarily trim some usage, it eliminates the need for upgrading the entire grid to accommodate those rare peaks. They would certainly pass those upgrade expenses back to you. Ideally, the most efficient power usage is a constant level load.

We have a slightly different system in the province of Quebec called "dual energy". Since the peak demand is from the cold weather, we can sign up for a dual channel power meter. When the exterior temperature is above -13C, we get a cheaper rate than the other customers, when it is below, we pay more. There is a light indicator placed in the house telling you when the rate is higher.

We are not forced to do anything special but most people reduce their consumption when the higher rates are in effect. The biggest gain comes when you have another source for heating such as oil. You can install a small control that automatically switch to oil heating when it is very cold but use electricity to heat the house when the low rates are in effect.

These type of incentives should be up to the customer and made in a way that the benefits or expenses are obvious. This way we can help reduce the peak load and share in the savings.

I used to save about 25% of my energy bill with this system. I sold that house a few years ago. I don't know if the higher oil price has reduced the saving as electricity also went up. My new house use geothermal heating which gives me an even lower bill than before with better comfort.