Give everyone an example of how good this is. Last year, I had my thermostat put on the CPS home energy saver plan. Figured with us working out of the house, vacations, etc. we could easily manage the thermostat from our laptops. And it would save us money.
A few weeks ago it was 100 degrees out. I had the AC at 72. I came home and the thermostat was at 77. Turns out CPS, in times of high energy use can change the thermostat up to 5 degrees without notifying you.
Got my CPS bill yesterday. $473.00. Up $150 from last summer when I didn’t have the Home Energy Saver program.
Now, picture this being a chip implanted in someone. Maybe you spent too much money at Walmart. Or you filled up your gas tank one too many times this month because you took that vacation to Mt. Rushmore, which by the way, tagged you as potentially a conservative. Or, maybe you decided to add another 100 dollars to your savings account this month. Well, that is too much so we will take 28% of it from you so Achmed can have a third prayer rug. Don’t want to be a Islamophobe now do we?
That’s just what I can think of off the top of my head. I bet there are hundreds of ways the government can use this to screw the American people.
Call me a tightwad but my ac is rarely below 80 no matter how hot is outside. We are used to it and before anyone says I am mean, the other half is the person that sets the thermostat. :)
I had to look up CPS energy saver. Never heard of it. I can see where it would sound enticing.
We recently had to replace our thermostat. We got a WiFi enabled model, which allows me to control it with my cell phone. No one else has control of it, at least in theory. I’m sure it will help save money, but on my terms. I adjust the temperature based on many factors. I don’t need some stranger turning up the temperature so the fresh peaches spoil before I have the chance to can them, or the bird that’s in a cage away from the vents gets too cold in the winter because the air around the cage is much cooler than the air around the thermostat. I’d be furious!
My cable company offers a security package, which includes video monitoring. You can’t get just the cameras without letting them monitor the images. Who signs up for that? I want to monitor visitors and intruders. I do not want strangers monitoring me in my own home.
Can you still opt out of the CPS program? Get a Honeywell WiFi enabled thermostat. You can control it with a smartphone app, or from a webpage.
Btw, I kind of wandered off in a different direction, but I do get your point, and I agree. No chips in my body, thank you very much!