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Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

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41–50 of 226 posts

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#41

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.

Australia has split flush buttons, with a half-size flush possible. Haven't seen many here in the States; might be good to require in new construction.

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#42
post #19

This is why one of the goals of the “smart grid” is demand response: the loads and grid need to be able to react to each other.

Just curious, is there a term more inclusive than demand response that accounts for generation-side factors like weather and fuel economics/logistics?

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#43

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…

Google is currently doing a proactive system called "Nest Renew"[1]. This system is more focused on using clean energy vs. dirty energy - at least for me (where there is no rate difference based on time)

[1]: https://nestrenew.google.com/

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#45
post #24

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…

> 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". Isn't this exactly what they do? That what the Nest does when there's going to be a spike; it cools the house.

> Isn't this exactly what they do? That what the Nest does when there's going to be a spike; it cools the house.

I don't have any experience with Nest, but the Ecobee seemed to just increase the cool set temp when there was demand. I didn't experience any proactive cooling.

Interestingly, in the Ecobee Community Energy Savings FAQ I linked above it says:

> [...] your thermostat may precool your home prior to the event to make sure you’re comfortable.

But I never experienced this. I wonder if its energy provider dependent.

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#46

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…

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.

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Australia has split flush buttons, with a half-size flush possible. Haven't seen many here in the States; might be good to require in new construction.

They exist, but in my experience are unnecessary. Just adds another component that can break, and saves less water than simply not flushing.

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#48

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…

Nest's does this; it cools below your set temperature in advance of the "Rush Hour" for a few hours. https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9244031

This feature actually makes my house uncomfortably cold.

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#49
post #24

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…

> 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". Isn't this exactly what they do? That what the Nest does when there's going to be a spike; it cools the house.

The nest does this, but it's not very effective. We're getting the 'rush hour' stuff right now (it's 100-105 peak right now) and the Nest does the following:

* Sets the thermostat 2 degrees cooler (74) ~1 hr prior to the rush hour time (3:30-5:30)

* Sets the thermostat to 4 degrees warmer between rush hour timing.

Problem is, with the current heat my house cannot be cooled down to 74 1 hour prior, and even still... it floats up to 80 degrees by ~4:30-5PM anyways and the AC kicks back on. Then it takes until ~10PM or so to get BACK to the 76 set temperature. This is a relatively modern house (built in 2010s), so it has modern insulation, sealing, etc. It's just ACs aren't really sized for being able to wildly swing temperatures and maintain temp. When it's 100+ degrees outside, they're sized so they run basically constantly when the sun is out, so slipping temperature means you're playing catch up for the rest of the night.

Re: Smart thermostats inadvertently strain electric power grids

#50

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…

Like heating/cooling your house more in advance of demand? It would be neat if they could enable/disable demand on a rolling basis where AC runs for one subpopulation for part of an hour then for another subpopulation the next part.

or you know, dont live in the desert e.g Phoenix Arizona, or if you do decide to live in the desert then realise that's your choice and dont add to pollution and climate change by trying to cool down a desert with AC.
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