Posted on 06/23/2022 5:58:19 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Customers say they didn't know they were part of CoolCurrent, an energy saving program which allows their air conditioning could be turned off by DTE
DTE Energy sent out an email Tuesday notifying many of its customers they were part of an energy saving program called CoolCurrent. The email explained to customers that their air conditioning could be cycled on and off during periods of peak energy demand.
Many customers like Sergio Montanez said they were unaware they were part of the program.
The CoolCurrent program involves actually stopping the air conditioner at the source 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off for no more than eight hours in a 24-hour window. Boladian, however, said it’s typically done for no more than four hours at a time.
..."I wanted to cancel it. And that's exactly what I did." Sergio Montanez
(Excerpt) Read more at wxyz.com ...
When we had whole-house Air Conditioning installed nearly 30 years ago, we signed up for this program. They installed a separate meter that only runs the A/C and we get a discounted rate per kilowatt hour for the A/C. We have the same compressor, have not had to replace it and we never notice it being cycled off. The blower still runs, keeping the cool air moving.
It’s hard to calculate how much money this has saved us over the years. Should we ever sell the house, we’ll be sure to let the buyer know so they have the option to cancel.
We have an older thermostat, so they have no access to how low we set the temperature.
A smart meter is an electronic device that records information such as consumption of electric energy, voltage levels, current, and power factor. Smart meters communicate the information to the consumer for greater clarity of consumption behavior, and electricity suppliers for system monitoring and customer billing.
I hate not being able to use my CPAP. I recently stayed in a hotel and the AC outlet was inoperative. I had two bad days of exhaustion.
Using a programmable thermostat, I set the high at 78 during the day, then down to 74 in the late afternoon. At 9:30 PM, it starts down, a degree or two at a time, to a low of 68 at midnight. The unit runs several times overnight, but it doesn't have to beat the heat of the day.
Using this approach, I hardly ever have the AC turn on during the daytime.
It might save you some money.
Witnessed this in a commercial building that was fewer than 5 years old. The company tried to save "go green" and ended up with everyone working from home (pre-COVID-1984) or taking vacation for a week while they waited for replacement parts and technicians.
Population control rules the day..Freeze people in the winter, kill them with heat stroke in the summer.... millions dead with just a hit of the switch...No blood on their hands ,either....
“Smart meters.” This is coming, if current trends persist. The utilities will control your power supply, and you will have the privilege of turning everything off for a couple hours a day maybe 6-8pm, at the decision of the grid managers, if the windmills are not turning fast enough to charge up all the EVs we have had to buy.
Oops. Lots of dead people. I guess it must be that climate change that everyone was warned about ...
No “smart” appliances or controls in my dwelling.
for 20yrs i’ve used AC ~7 times a year
it died last year, gonna try and go wiout this year
Nothing new, utilities here in NJ have had a voluntary program like this since the ‘90s. Easy to bypass as the switching box was on the condenser outside.
—”When we had whole-house Air Conditioning installed nearly 30 years ago...We have the same compressor, have not had to replace it...”
Well, that ruined my day!
My unit only made 27 years!
That said the new unit uses less than one of the kWh running at maximum and ~25% or less on lower loads.
So, after the new biden energy bills, my AC dollar cost is about the same.
“My existing Trane AC sadly died an early death at a very young 27 years.; RIP. I did have the needed R-290(Not the old Texas R-1bbq refrigerant, real R290, no water vapor) to revive it, but then the fan solenoid gave out. And we said our goodbyes.”
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4072077/posts
I like that. I’ve got Ecobees and Nests in service now, and could probably program that up.
Smart thermostat. Central control like this is one reason that utilities and similar government agencies love to install “smart” fill-in-the-blank. Smart power meters, smart water meters, smart thermostats. They can disable things with one keystroke from a central office instead of actually coming out and physically disconnecting anything. It can be used as an actual money-saving and efficiency point...or, it can be used as a means of oppressive central control.
}:-)4
—”Easy to bypass as the switching box was on the condenser outside.”
The smart meter will call you out; when the load does not change as expected.
Then you will be on double secret probation!
When I purchased my home, I had one of those controlled thermostats. I was MISERABLE in the summer - I’d wake up in the middle of the night in a sweat and often could not go back to sleep. I bought a new HVAC and got rid of the thermostat and now sleep comfortably. In the cold. With a fan on.
15 minutes on, 15 minutes off isn’t going to do jack to a compressor.
That’s 4 cycles per hour, which is well within the normal range of operation.
Wifi thermostat. They probably signed up for a lower rate if they allowed DTE to control it without thinking that it would be shut off during a period of peak demand. It’s called load shedding.
At the Opryland hotel they have an agreement that they can produce up to 10 megawatts within a short period to take that load off the grid. They bought a very large slightly used emergency diesel generator from a decommissioned nuclear power plant. I think it had less than 100 hours total time on it as they would start it up periodically to check operation.
They want to place a monitor on your electric meter at the time .
Tell them NO and they charge you 10 more a month .
I reply to the Snake FPL customer service person you are a evil
Creature and I will not allow FPL snakes like You to control my power .
They get testy when you call them out .
They know exactly what the real plans are .
“I hate not being able to use my CPAP. I recently stayed in a hotel and the AC outlet was inoperative. I had two bad days of exhaustion.”
Due to forest fires and just unreliable electricity in California and in the hotels/inns where we vacate on the coast:
I bought a Rockpal 300 watt reserve battery. I keep it plugged in 24/7 and my CPAP is plugged into it and comes on automatically when there is a power failure. It works very well.
I am sometimes not aware that we had a power failure.
My wife doesn’t know that we are having a power failure until she realizes there are no lights anywhere. Then, she informs me in the morning that my CPAPnbattery backup worked again.
The backup battery will without any CPAP adaptation work for 2 nights. I can get 3-4 nights with a special plug that uses DC. I bought a solar system that recharges the battery pack in 5-6 hours.
Now, I am looking at a more powerful system that could power my CPAP unit for days and with a more powerful storage battery and faster solar power that can recharge that battery in about 4 hours.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.