Goverentment control of my thermostat? Got the letter today.

newbie

Northern Virginia
Government control of my thermostat? Got the letter today.

Today I got a letter from Dominion Virgina Power asking me to participate in a voluntary program to help save energy at my (stick) home. They want to install a device on my outside AC unit that will shut the compressor off during the hottest time on the hottest days of the year. This will reduce the demand on the grid, save mother earth, blah, blah, blah. They will then mail me a check for $40 annually. Ha!

I was beside myself. Is this our country's new energy policy? And right now it is voluntary. I don't suspect to many people are going to want to participate so how long before it is compulsory?

The last thing I want is the government controlling my thermostat....in the name of Mother Earth it seems all things will be possible. George Orwell wasn't that far off.

John
 
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hoefler

Well-known member
Let them install it, then when they are gone, disconnect it and leave thier little box in place and wait for your check.
 

porthole

Retired
That started in my are 15+ years ago. The times when it will actually turn off your compressor are minimal. And in theory, they would shut down as the power company was trying to keep the entire grid from coming down.

In the end I never knew if it ever turned my compressor off and I got compensated for the privilege.
 

jayc

Texas-South Chapter Leaders
And how much harder will your a/c unit have to work to bring the temp down after being off during the heat of the day? I'm sure it will cost you more than the $40 they offer.
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
They tried that same thing here. There were so few who were willing to participate the electric company canceled the program. We all were suspicious of allowing the government control over our air conditioning, as they already control too much.
 

wdk450

Well-known member
The local utility district did that here in hot Sacramento for about 20 years and abandoned the program about 3 years ago - I don't know why. They did keep reducing the savings you got for the same amount of outage down to where it was ridiculous - just played on the "green" heartstrings to get people to keep recommitting.
BTW, the switch (controlled by a special inaudible signal sent over a broadcast FM station SCA 2nd channel) is connected to the air conditioning compressor circuit, so the compressor cuts out while the fan keeps running. They are hoping that you don't notice the difference.
 
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jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
Same difference. Our power company is a Co-Op so it is owned by the customers. They tried it but not enough got suckered in to make it worthwhile. I guess I am just skeptical of allowing any outsiders control of something I should be doing anyway. If we would all get programable thermostats we could set our ACs and heaters to remain at a higher level when not home (at work). We have ours programmed to 78 during the day and 74 at nite in the summer and 68 during the day and 66 at night during the winter. We also turn off the water and set the AC and heater to off when we are gone for more than a day. Also turn off the water heater as well. A little common sense is all it takes.
 

newbie

Northern Virginia
Thought I read that the letter came from Dominion Virginia Power.

Peace
Dave

That is exactly the point. You don't think that this will be a DOE mandate before long? The next logical step is for them to charge a super premium for the luxury to run my ac when and how I want to if I chose not to "volunteer" for the program.

As far as the grid coming down, maybe if we could add a couple more reactors at Lake Anna we could have all the cheap (and carbon free) electricity we need to power our (soon to be mandated?) electric cars.
But limiting consumption instead of building for the future seems to be the current policy. I'm sure that it will make some people "feel" like they make a difference.

John
 

Jimmyt5

Well-known member
Had this done to my hot water heater some years ago by VEPCo. Never new it was doing anything. It would shut down at some peak times of the day for a very short time.....
 

hoefler

Well-known member
How it is suppose to work in theory is, they can shut down your water heater or A/C unit for a period of 2 minutes an hour during peak loads during the day. This is suppose to help balance the grids to help the sub stations balanced steady supply of electricity. It is suppose to help eliminate brown outs ( low voltage which will burn up any electric motor ).
 

newbie

Northern Virginia
Careful,,,, getting close to being political.

Jim M

Jim, I usually try to play by the rules. The title of my post has the word government in it, thus it was inherently political. I read the forum rules before posting and didn't see anything prohibiting a political post. Did I miss it?

John
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
We set our AC (and the furnace) to a comfortable temperature at the beginning of the seasons and leave it there. Once the house is cooled or heated to the set point, monkeying around with the settings only causes the system to work harder. And if the outdated grid does go out again, my automatic whole house generator will take over on natural gas.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Jim, I usually try to play by the rules. The title of my post has the word government in it, thus it was inherently political. I read the forum rules before posting and didn't see anything prohibiting a political post. Did I miss it?

John
John, you are correct. There is nothing specific in the rules regarding politics. I think what Jim is saying is we try to stay away from political discussion mainly because it can get out of hand at times. At least your letter from the electric company gave you an option to choose.
 

kakampers

Past Heartland Ambassador
When we owned a home in Maryland, years ago, we had a similar set-up on our A/C and hot water...this is nothing new. Never created a problem, couldn't even tell it was happening....
 
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