Letting the power company control your thermostat?

[KarenF]

Oh hell no. I don't let the car insurance track our driving and I do not opt in to the power company controlling our thermostat. We are good safe drivers and set the thermostat responsibly ourselves. There are enough intrusions and monitoring in our life already.

 

[Texas Proud]

Kind of a reverse scenario here in Dallas . Have a GENRAC 24KW to power house on Gas if the grid goes down. We received a notice from energy provider offerings $5 an hour if in an emergency they could switch off our electric and have us run on the generator. Thus taking some users off the grid for a duration of time. . Kind of like supplementing the grid? But I still wonder if there would then be a gas supply issue?

Interesting... what happens if the grid goes down Still get paid...


Mine is a Kohler and we were on it for 22 hours last month... cost in the neighborhood of $27... not sure if $4 per hour is worth it..


I read they are good for about 3,000 hours and say a replacement is $7,000 you are using $2.33 per hour wear and tear plus $1.23 gas... plus maintenance... you are using $3.50 and hour expense for $5 and hour payment... not a winning strategy for you IMO...

 

[TheWizard]

Not interested in having the power company be able to control my usage. I would be interested in time of day rates where I can make the decision on when to run certain appliances.

Also not interested in having my driving monitored since I'm a bit aggressive at times, accelerating to get through an upcoming crunch zone on a multi lane highway, rather than slowing down.

And what about passing on a two lane rural highway, one lane in each direction? When the yellow lane marker allows it, you PUNCH IT to get around the vehicle in front ASAP. Speed limit doesn't apply to those passing maneuvers; I sometimes get up to 90 or more in the Mustang briefly.

And then there was the time in west Texas where I tested the F-150 to see if it really has a 100 mph electronic limiter. (It does.)

And infrequently, I see a timid driver stopped at the bottom of an expressway on ramp, too afraid of accelerating properly earlier on that ramp to merge into the traffic flow safely.
Does a monitoring system penalize that unsafe behavior?

So anyway...

 

[Exchme]

Right now, they are asking, soon they will be telling. It's all about the mandate for wind and solar and failure to invest in nuclear or even fossil plants. Wind and solar work when they work, not when you need them, storage of electricity at utility scale is ludicrously expensive, so shortages are becoming more acute all the time. It will become like the old joke:

Q: "What did you use for lighting before candles?"
A: "Electricity"

 

[Badger]

Via the app.

I am not computer savvy but I do know enough to power off my cell phone. Can they track you if you have your phone powered off while you are driving?

Cheers!

 

[REWahoo]

Can they track you if you have your phone powered off while you are driving?

Nope.

 

[Koolau]

Q: "What did you use for lighting before candles?"
A: "Electricity"

 

[Koolau]

It is USAA's "Safe Pilot" program, other insurers have similar programs. You install an app on your phones and allow the insurer to monitor your driving. You get a 10% discount for signing up and then up to a 30% discount based on how safely you drive. You are "dinged" for phone handling, harsh braking, taking/making calls while driving, etc. We've earned a 27% discount which works out to be a $600 savings per year for us.

More details on the program: https://www.usaa.com/insurance/safedriving/?akredirect=true

EDIT: Here is a thread from last year discussing these programs. https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/auto-insurance-discount-115142.html

I hope that $600/year savings is because you own a whole bunch of cars. IIRC we pay just a little more than $600 total for one car in the Islands. YMMV

 

[REWahoo]

YMMV

^ This.

 

[Koolau]

They’d rather pay their customers to use a few kilowatt-hours less than buy those kWh from a nearby utility OR startup a jet-engine powered peaking unit.

Hmmm. I don't look for a similar deal for limiting our power usage (maybe rate changes during the day only??) We average 5 KWh/day of electric usage. Not much potential for savings there.

 

[Raygun99]

Texas proud: I also declined the offer. I thought the wear and tear on the generator did not warrant the $5 bucks and hour offer. The Generator is there as an emergency source for MY home. I did not see why I should supplement the GRID in the event the power company could not support its ever growing demand. Including allowing crypto mining etc. That said $5 bucks an hour = No Thank You.. But I still question what the Gas provider would do if everyone in the state turned on the generators? Would the Gas providers start to lose pressure?

 

[Winemaker]

Oh boy here we go about EV charging vs. AC demand. Simple answer. Electric Vehicles charge at NIGHT when the demand is much lower. Power companies have excess capacity at night. Makes sense if you think about it.

Not everybody works a "normal" schedule and is home at night when it is not "peak" times. And if everyone that can charge at non peak times, non peak times will become peak times. Power companies schedule their maintenance at night so they are available for the peak times the next day. It does not make sense.

 

[Koolau]

Not everybody works a "normal" schedule and is home at night when it is not "peak" times. And if everyone that can charge at non peak times, non peak times will become peak times. Power companies schedule their maintenance at night so they are available for the peak times the next day. It does not make sense.

It probably makes sense right now. But when many more people drive EVs, even the "off-peak" hours will be the "New-peak" hours as you suggest. Something in the grid needs to change before a mass move to EVs will be successful. YMMV

 

[Midpack]

I think it’s amusing that power companies email asking customers to cut back on peak days. I assume 99.9% of customers don’t/won’t. We conserve every day of the year regardless - electric, gas & water.

I am hoping our power company will offer peak/off peak rates before I buy an EV (within the next year) - I will charge off peak if they do. We get the same rate 24/7 which seems counterproductive…

 

[Koolau]

Texas proud: I also declined the offer. I thought the wear and tear on the generator did not warrant the $5 bucks and hour offer. The Generator is there as an emergency source for MY home. I did not see why I should supplement the GRID in the event the power company could not support its ever growing demand. Including allowing crypto mining etc. That said $5 bucks an hour = No Thank You.. But I still question what the Gas provider would do if everyone in the state turned on the generators? Would the Gas providers start to lose pressure?

If they bumped that payment to $25/hour, it just might be worth it. Regarding gas reserves to power generators. I'm guessing that would be a non-issue if the crisis were short lived as most are. Also, not all that many folks have generators so the use of gas wouldn't really be that extreme IMHO. Of course, YMMV.

 

[TheWizard]

It probably makes sense right now. But when many more people drive EVs, even the "off-peak" hours will be the "New-peak" hours as you suggest. Something in the grid needs to change before a mass move to EVs will be successful. YMMV

Best for EV owners to have a solar + battery setup at home to allow no-cost anytime charging of their vehicle for local trips, commuting or otherwise.

Long distance road trips are a separate issue.
Somewhere they must have stats on how many EV miles are local vs how many are >150 miles from home...

 

[Koolau]

I think it’s amusing that power companies email asking customers to cut back on peak days. I assume 99.9% of customers don’t/won’t. We conserve every day of the year regardless.

Yeah, as mentioned above, I don't know what I'd turn off. I've got a fridge which, nearly as we can tell on our sabbatical requires 1KWh/day. Everything else of our 5KWh/day is stuff like the TV, the internet, the computer, a couple of LED lights at any given time, what else?? No heat, no AC. I let my hair dry naturally after a shower until it's just damp - then use the hair dryer to fluff up what's left for about 45 seconds.

Not much we could save. But we would try.

 

[TheWizard]

Yeah, as mentioned above, I don't know what I'd turn off. I've got a fridge which, nearly as we can tell on our sabbatical requires 1KWh/day. Everything else of our 5KWh/day is stuff like the TV, the internet, the computer, a couple of LED lights at any given time, what else?? No heat, no AC. I let my hair dry naturally after a shower until it's just damp - then use the hair dryer to fluff up what's left for about 45 seconds.

Not much we could save. But we would try.

Plus, most Hawaiians eat their fish raw, rather than baking it in a 350° oven for twenty minutes.
So that saves a lot of KWHrs...

 

[Murph]

I guess it icks me out they could control my house from afar and seems a terrible practice for hackers. Couldn't a good hacker turn down everyone at once and cause a major problem? Not like things never get hacked.

Do you have to have a Wi-Fi thermostat?

 

[Koolau]

Plus, most Hawaiians eat their fish raw, rather than baking it in a 350° oven for twenty minutes.
So that saves a lot of KWHrs...

Well, dis haole boy like his fish baked, broiled or just maybe breaded and fried. But he eat poke or sashimi if it's put on da table. He actually like da raw fish but still has dat little bit of "ick" factor goin' on.



We probably fire up our actual oven 10 times a year. Mostly we have this little counter top oven (half the size of a microwave) that broils or bakes our fish (etc.) I'm sure it uses a fair amount of juice, but not like the regular oven. By the way, the little broiler sits on TOP of the real stove.

 

[REWahoo]

I am hoping our power company will offer peak/off peak rates before I buy an EV (within the next year) - I will charge off peak if they do. We get the same rate 24/7 which seems counterproductive…

Our electric co-op offers an optional "time of day" rate structure which we've been on for several years, long before purchasing our EV. I did a comparison and found (pre EV) that we were paying an average of $5/month more June through September but saving up to $20/month November through March.

Now that we have an EV and charge it during off-peak hours that savings has gone away, replaced by a reduction of $75/month in gasoline expense.

 

[davidfin]

We’ve been in the program for years. Totally voluntary. Before PGE turns up thermostats it pre cooled the home a few degrees. Usually 4:00 to 7:00. Works fine and I like the rewards. Don’t care who knows about my thermostat.

 

[RetMD21]

We don't have a smart thermostat but did give the utility permission to attach a device to the AC that lets them turn off the compressor "for brief periods of time." So far we haven't noticed any difference. They say that just running the fan for a while should suffice and presumably this allows them to manage peak load.

 

[Texas Proud]

Not interested in having the power company be able to control my usage. I would be interested in time of day rates where I can make the decision on when to run certain appliances.

Also not interested in having my driving monitored since I'm a bit aggressive at times, accelerating to get through an upcoming crunch zone on a multi lane highway, rather than slowing down.

And what about passing on a two lane rural highway, one lane in each direction? When the yellow lane marker allows it, you PUNCH IT to get around the vehicle in front ASAP. Speed limit doesn't apply to those passing maneuvers; I sometimes get up to 90 or more in the Mustang briefly.

And then there was the time in west Texas where I tested the F-150 to see if it really has a 100 mph electronic limiter. (It does.)

And infrequently, I see a timid driver stopped at the bottom of an expressway on ramp, too afraid of accelerating properly earlier on that ramp to merge into the traffic flow safely.
Does a monitoring system penalize that unsafe behavior?

So anyway...

You are wrong on passing, the speed limit still applies... so you could get a ticket going 90 in whatever speed zone you were in...

 

[djsander]

We have a programmable thermostat with a Wi-Fi connection. It’s what was standard to install when we had the the HVAC replaced. I told the tech once you get the update disconnect from the Wi-Fi. Which he did. We don’t even program it. We can raise and lower as needed. We keep the AC higher most of the day and still have it above what most would consider normal in the evening. We are not going to let an outside entity have access. We already conserve. Do similar with heating in the winter. My main concern is when they replace the analog meters with smart meters on the electric. I asked the meter reader the other day when I was outside and she said they were still testing and working through some issues. Without the smart meter we get the same rate through out the day. We received a rate filing notice in the mail earlier this year and it had page after page of info and rate tables. I did notice they had time of use rates in the filing. I’m sure it’s coming once they get approval for smart meters.