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Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

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Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#101

Post by moistly »

Rayhem wrote: post #88
codazoda wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to pay for them but I do wish I had automatic windows. It would be so nice if my windows automatically opened if the temperature outside was a few degree's cooler than my house and I was in "cool" mode. If it took the wind into consideration, even better. My house cools off so nicely when I open windows on opposite sides, but I have to remember to open and close them at the appropriate times and I have t…

Adaptive vents, too. Why cool the whole house when I'm going to be in two rooms for the majority of the (hot) afternoon before opening the window to the bedroom in the evening?

I want floor vents that are wireless networked, coupled with occupancy, CO2, and temperature detectors. They should have the smarts to figure out when to open and close, such that rooms are never stuffy, and never too hot or cold.

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#102

Post by MonkeyMalarky »

seiferteric wrote: post #92
xyzzyz wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you also recommend that people don’t live anywhere it snows? I mean, heating up in winter uses even more energy than cooling down in summer.

It's funny that I have seen several anti A/C articles and several pro Heat Pump articles in recent times, do you think they know these are the same things in reverse? At least A/C is often used in sunny locales were solar can be used effectively.

Same thing in reverse but where I live, in the summer I'm cooling from 30C down to 20C and in winter I'm going from -18 to 18.

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#103

Post by google234123 »

LazyMans wrote: post #86
jandrese wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nest has an energy saving feature that feels like it is trying to boil the frog. We normally keep the thermostat at 78F (~25.5C), but over the course of a couple of weeks it ticked it up to 79F, then 80, then 81, and now 82F (~28C). I had to go in and manually adjust the schedule to get it back to something reasonable.

Where do you live? I'm just curious because I can't imagine living at 78F anymore.

78-80 doesn't feel to bad in a dry climate imo

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#104

Post by KoftaBob »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #12
cratermoon wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also the semi-mythical "Super Bowl Flush" https://news.arizona.edu/story/super-bowls-super-flush-just-...

Perhaps we should have a national “if it is yellow, let it mellow, if it is brown, flush it down” ad campaign.

Yeah very very few people are going to follow that, the vast majority will find the idea disgusting and not nearly beneficial enough to justify it.

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#105

Post by wiredfool »

seiferteric wrote: post #92
xyzzyz wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you also recommend that people don’t live anywhere it snows? I mean, heating up in winter uses even more energy than cooling down in summer.

It's funny that I have seen several anti A/C articles and several pro Heat Pump articles in recent times, do you think they know these are the same things in reverse? At least A/C is often used in sunny locales were solar can be used effectively.

AC is more than 100% efficient in heating the environment. This is unfortunate, but thermodynamics will win in the long run.

Heat pumps are more than 100% efficient at heating the house, which is what we want, and one of the places where we are on the same side as thermodynamics.

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#106

Post by googlryas »

codazoda wrote: post #80
taylodl wrote: post #71

I really don't like the strategy of super cooling in the morning. I prefer fresh air instead. I throw the windows open wide and let all the cool morning air in. By midmorning I'm usually starting to close those windows because the outside air is getting warmer. By mid afternoon I'm closing all those windows and turning on the AC and setting the temperature to 1 degree (Fahrenheit) cooler than the current room tempera…

I don't want to pay for them but I do wish I had automatic windows. It would be so nice if my windows automatically opened if the temperature outside was a few degree's cooler than my house and I was in "cool" mode. If it took the wind into consideration, even better. My house cools off so nicely when I open windows on opposite sides, but I have to remember to open and close them at the appropriate times and I have t…

Automatic windows seem hard, but you can accomplish this "easier"(not super easy, but doable if you are a home DIYer) by having a "whole house fan" + a make up air unit(basically a vent that opens up when the fan turns on, supplying outside air to replace the air the house fan takes away).

Fairly common to see here in Boulder and the front range in older homes(before ubiquitous AC units), because it tends to be cool at night + hot in the day during summers, so around 5AM you can have the house fan turn on, cool your house, and then you ride that throughout the day until the evening when the temperature starts to drop again. Works quite well IMHO - my first rental had a system like this as well as AC, but I actually never touched the AC.

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#107

Post by rblatz »

ceejayoz wrote: post #59
wil421 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn’t work. People use electricity at peak hours because working people and families are on similar schedules. We all get home from work or wfh office, start cooking, and doing other things because we have time after work/school. Not to mention 5pm is usually the hottest part of the day so ACs run.

It does work, though. Nest's program pre-cools to get you through the hottest hours without having to kick on the AC, moving some of the region's demand from the 4-6pm slot to the 2-4pm slot. I find myself going "huh, it's getting a little warm" at about 5:45pm, at which point I check and remember it's a "Rush Hour" session.

Does precooking really work? I’d assume it would have to cool my house down below 65 to keep it below 80 all afternoon. 111+ days are brutal in certain rooms even with both ACs set to 76.

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#108

Post by doubleunplussed »

wiredfool wrote: post #105
seiferteric wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny that I have seen several anti A/C articles and several pro Heat Pump articles in recent times, do you think they know these are the same things in reverse? At least A/C is often used in sunny locales were solar can be used effectively.

AC is more than 100% efficient in heating the environment. This is unfortunate, but thermodynamics will win in the long run. Heat pumps are more than 100% efficient at heating the house, which is what we want, and one of the places where we are on the same side as thermodynamics.

In the long run ACs are exactly 100% efficient at heating the environment. The extra heat is only temporarily displaced from the building being cooled, and will leak back in eventually.

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#109

Post by bombcar »

moistly wrote: post #101
Rayhem wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adaptive vents, too. Why cool the whole house when I'm going to be in two rooms for the majority of the (hot) afternoon before opening the window to the bedroom in the evening?

I want floor vents that are wireless networked, coupled with occupancy, CO2, and temperature detectors. They should have the smarts to figure out when to open and close, such that rooms are never stuffy, and never too hot or cold.

If you setup water heater / cooled systems using the in-floor (sometimes in-wall) pipes, they get that almost for "free" - you can turn on and off zones very easily.

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#110

Post by baxtr »

moralestapia wrote: post #95
evanreichard wrote: post #11

Ecobee has eco+ which has "Community Energy Savings" [0]. It was just way too intrusive. It seemed to be a reactive system vs proactive. Technology Connections goes into this more [1], but I believe they should be providing a system that proactively cools when there is less demand _prior_ to an expected increase in demand. Effectively using your house as a "battery". When I had it enabled, I was _always_ too hot (in…

>Sorry, not sorry: I'm not willing to sacrifice my comfort for the ~$10/mo incentive. Hey, but at least you don't use plastic straws, right?

Someone who works at a bar told me recently that they “discovered” long tubular pasta (forgot the exact name) to be the best organic straws.

PS: You’re welcome.

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