Thursday, June 28, 2007

Load Management


Tell me if you've seen this or even have it where you live.





Back on May 7th, we received an e-mail from our electricity company telling us that if we signed up by June 1, we'd get a $10 bonus for letting them install this contraption onto our HVAC unit which is radio-controlled by their Center:

On summer afternoons when the demand for electricity is critically high, we will transmit a radio signal to temporarily (7 minutes) cycle your compressor off. The fan inside the home will continue to run in order to maintain comfort in the home; you should not even notice that the compressor is off. The combined effect of thousands of switches on our system allows for a significant reduction in peak demand. The switches are only utilized at peak periods from June 1st through September 10th, Monday through Friday, between 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 pm. (not on July 4th or Labor Day).


The switch is installed and maintained free of charge. AND, besides the $10 early bonus, they will give an annual bonus of $10 to those using it.

Is that a no-brainer or what! It didn't take us long to say YES. And when we came home from Amsterdam the week of June 15th, there it was. Have we noticed it inside? Not one whit!

You know me. I'm for anything that conserves our precious resources!

11 comments:

  1. that's so awesome Ginnie, a total no brainer like you said! we don't have one, and I've never seen or heard about it. But i wonder if that's because we don't have air conditioning? Most of the homes here don't. Probably much like San Diego.

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  2. It's ideas like this that will make a difference. It's great that you're supporting it.

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  3. We don't have that here...well not yet, anyway...And I've not heard about it before...Very Very Interesting!

    Thanks Sooo Much for your visit and for your sweet Birthday Wishes! It is very much appreciated...And lovely to meet you, too!

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  4. I have heard of this, but as I don't have central air, it would be no use to me. Good idea to conserve energy and resources though. I would like to installa solar panel or two, for hot water, but the cost is enormous.

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  5. No catch, nothing???
    sounds too good to be true :)
    am so with u on conserving resources :)

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  6. How interesting! Barely anyone here has air conditioning so I've never seen or heard of it before. Looks like a great idea if they're going to start getting everyone to do it.

    And who doesn't like free money?
    :-)

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  7. Mad: I do know that so many places in CA don't need or use A/C, so I can understand why you don't have this. But it really is a no-brainer for us who have it. Can't live in Atlanta without A/C!

    Ruth: One step/person at a time, right?!

    OOL: You are one lucky lady to have the support of so many people, Naomi. Happy Birthday again!

    Ex-S: Solar panels would be good, too! I wonder how many years it would take for them to pay for themselves??

    Moi: Nope, no catch. They really want to make it easy for people to get with the program!

    Christina: Exactly. Free money is like finding it on the ground and not picking it up, if you don't get with the program!

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  8. Never heard about it at all - what a great idea and such good service! Lucky you and as you said: a brilliant way to precious resources.

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  9. That is a great idea. I hope they bring in something like that over here soon.

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  10. Renny: Anything to help our dear Mother Earth! I'm all for it!!

    DW: Not even all our counties here in Atlanta have it yet so I guess we're the lucky ones right now! But can you imagine the energy we would conserve if it were available all over the world!!!

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  11. Never seen such a device- No need for it here during the Summer. May be during the winter, when people are at work from Mo - Fr.

    Great invention.

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