Power company load management switch for air conditioner

[brianl703]

I sent an email to my local power company (Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative) about whether they are still installing them on air conditioners and what the benefits of having one installed are and this is what they said:

"Hello Brian: Yes we install load management switches on electric water
heaters and air conditioners. There is really two benefits to having the
switch. One is that they help us in keeping our cost down associated with
peak demand, that is it helps us to stabilize our rates from going up. By
having it on your air conditioner, we will do a first call response to a no
cooling call from you. We will send out a technician to check the switch and
diagnose your air conditioning problem, there by saving you the cost for
having a contractor come out and charge you for that time to figure out what
the problem is. If it is a loose wire or a fuse we will replace it for free.
There is no cost to this program. If the problem is more than a loose wire
or fuse, you can either have our contractor fix it for you or call your own
contractor."

I am most interested in the part about keeping costs associated with peak demand down. Because this is an electric cooperative, any money they save comes back to me as a credit on my electric bill, in addition to not having rates go up.

I think this is a good idea, and I'm going to get it installed on my air conditioner.

EDIT: The switch is controlled by a radio signal, much like a pager. In fact I think the signal is almost identical to a pager.

 

[tom slick]

my mom has had a system like that on her AC for years. she has never noticed it being "off". she gets a discount on her electric bill for participating in the program.

 

[michaelc80]

I've participated in that for years and have never noticed any cooling difference. If I remember correctly they are allowed to cycle the AC off for 10 minutes every hour-but only during "peak alert" periods (the blower still runs and circulates the air in the house). Here in central Iowa we haven't had a peak alert for a couple of years that I can remember.

We also get a discount off the bill every fall for allowing them to install the device even if they don't have to activate it during the summer.

 

[Shannow]

my parents installed a reverse cycle air conditioner.

They get a rebate for using more, not less.

I guess that's why the Oz power industry will be on the world's news services sometime in the next 24 months.

 

[MN Driver]

In my area of Minnesota, Xcel Energy uses the "saver switch". It gives a discount on the electric bill to have it. Ours is a legitimate switch but there are a few people who have the switch but had it rigged so that they don't get shut off on when peak demand hits. When our peak days come around sometimes I will walk around the house and see the compressor is off and when I go inside the blower is on and the switch has my compressor off with the house 4-6 degrees warmer than it is set to be. People have their reason for rigging theirs because the power company charges more money to remove it than it is to have it rigged.

 

[brianl703]

When they do need to reduce peak load, NOVEC turns it off for 15 minutes every hour or 7.5 minutes every 30 minutes.

They will de-install it free of charge if I don't want it anymore. Having someone show up for free to look at the air conditioner if it craps out is a nice bonus.

 

[satterfi]

quote:

---

Originally posted by brianl703:

I am most interested in the part about keeping costs associated with peak demand down. Because this is an electric cooperative, any money they save comes back to me as a credit on my electric bill, in addition to not having rates go up.

---

Power companies are required to operate with reserve capacity. If they don’t have reserve capacity in their own generation facilities, then they go out and buy it. Having customers that will shed load counts as owning reserve capacity.

 

[MN Driver]

During my senior year of high school there was a day that was somewhere in the 90's and it was towards the end of the school day the power company ordered the school cut the air conditioning. In about an hour all the rooms were above 80 degrees, it was bad. Our power company says they have enough reserve capacity to run without using saver switches and without cutting contract agreements for 'advanced peak demand'. They say it just costs too much to get the power. Our power is a little less than 8 cents per kW. It used to be 9 cents a few weeks back.

 

[labman]

Interesting. Maybe they should give away programmable thermostats. If everybody is out of the house all day, having it shut off from say 8 AM to 5 PM, and kick back on in time to have the house cooled off before you get home, it could shave a big chunk off the mid afternoon peak.

 

[brianl703]

Apparently they've combined a load management switch into a thermostat:

http://www.comverge.com/products/superstat.php

It's programmable via the web