CPS energy thermostat

[Blake]

Just got mine installed this morning.

If you haven't contacted your local energy company to see if they offer the free thermostat and free installation, I suggest you do so before the program ends.

It's a digital touch screen display that you can preset the temperature for all hours of the day and all days of the week. For example, during the winter months, I will be programming the thermostat to stay at about 65 degrees from about 8am to about 6pm when we are not home M-F.

You can also adjust or program the temp from the internet. Very nice.

http://www.cpsenergy.com/images/PeakSaverbackground.jpg

CPS says it's worth about $300

[PublicOption]

thanks I will call them first Monday. I install a digital t-stat myself...but I like that internet option.....so thanks.

[PublicOption]

thanks I will call them first Monday. I installed a digital t-stat myself...but I like that internet option.....so thanks.

[Bender]

any security on it? I don't like other people in my house screwing with my thermostat. They turn it down during the summer, and turn it up during winter. I set it on 79 during summer and 70 during winter, maybe 72 if its super cold outside.

The other lazy asses that live here screw with it when I'm sleeping, or at work. They turn it down to 78 during summer and turn it up to 74 during winter.

I'm the only one working and paying bills around here.

edit: sounds like a great deal though. I'll probably take advantage.

edit: I just noticed the payment received noticed at top. What if I pay late, like usual? Don't want everyone seeing "Where's our money, you're late!"

edit: also, CPS controlling the thermostat (possible) seems kind of Big Brotherish.

[ploto]

What is Peak Saver? CPS Energy Peak Saver program will give you a FREE Honeywell programmable thermostat and install it for you at no charge. When demand for electricity is at its highest , Peak Saver participants agree to let CPS Energy remotely access their central air conditioners to cycle compressors off for short periods of time – about ten minutes each half hour - from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday during peak demand months. Typically May through September cycling will not occur everyday, only when demand is at its highest. Cycling generally occurs no more frequently than your system would normally cycle– it just allows CPS Energy to control timing to manage electric demand. The resulting temperature variation is typically no more than two degrees.

If you are planning a special event, you can be removed from the program temporarily by calling 1-866-222-7645 at least two working days in advance.

Who can join? All CPS residential customers with central air conditioning or heat pumps are eligible. Homes with window units are not eligible. All homes must be approved prior to installations. Homes with central air conditioner and supplemental window units may be eligible after screening. Homes with more than one unit must include the two largest units in the program.

It is recommended that customers operating child or convalescent care business in their homes please not participate in the program.


I understand that participation in the Peak Saver Program allows CPS Energy to cycle my central air conditioner during times of peak demand from May 1st through September 30th each year or during system emergencies.

I understand the thermostat is the property of CPS Energy until the contractual terms of 3 years from the date of installation have been met.

The thermostat can only be removed with the approval from CPS Energy.

http://www.cpsenergy.com/peaksaver/peak.jsp

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Just got mine installed this morning.

If you haven't contacted your local energy company to see if they offer the free thermostat and free installation, I suggest you do so before the program ends.

It's a digital touch screen display that you can preset the temperature for all hours of the day and all days of the week. For example, during the winter months, I will be programming the thermostat to stay at about 65 degrees from about 8am to about 6pm when we are not home M-F.

You can also adjust or program the temp from the internet. Very nice.

http://www.cpsenergy.com/images/PeakSaverbackground.jpg

CPS says it's worth about $300

Why would you do that? If you are not there to benefit from the heating/cooling, that is simply wasted money and energy.

The smarter thing to do would be to have it switch off during the day and fire up about 1/2 an hour before you get home. Then have it turn off 1/2 an hour after you go to bed, turn on half an hour before you get up, then turn off agian when you leave the house for the day. This will minimise your energy consumption and thus your bills, while maximising your utility of the energy you use. Also, shutting off and sealing rooms that you don't need to heat, and vents to those rooms, will reduce the volume of air the heater needs to condition and thus also reduce your bills.

Leaving heaters on low during the day or overnight DOES NOT save on total energy consumption, it vastly increases it. I am an energy auditor for a living and know this both from theoretical and specific examples, including my own ongoing sustainability audit of my own habits and their impact on consumption.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

What is Peak Saver? CPS Energy Peak Saver program will give you a FREE Honeywell programmable thermostat and install it for you at no charge. When demand for electricity is at its highest , Peak Saver participants agree to let CPS Energy remotely access their central air conditioners to cycle compressors off for short periods of time – about ten minutes each half hour - from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday during peak demand months. Typically May through September cycling will not occur everyday, only when demand is at its highest. Cycling generally occurs no more frequently than your system would normally cycle– it just allows CPS Energy to control timing to manage electric demand. The resulting temperature variation is typically no more than two degrees.

If you are planning a special event, you can be removed from the program temporarily by calling 1-866-222-7645 at least two working days in advance.

Who can join? All CPS residential customers with central air conditioning or heat pumps are eligible. Homes with window units are not eligible. All homes must be approved prior to installations. Homes with central air conditioner and supplemental window units may be eligible after screening. Homes with more than one unit must include the two largest units in the program.

It is recommended that customers operating child or convalescent care business in their homes please not participate in the program.



http://www.cpsenergy.com/peaksaver/peak.jsp

Ah-ha!

So this is how they're trying to shed peakload, by getting people to hand over control of their a/cs during summer. Very interesting. Never heard of this before.

In California they do things like offer annual discounts to customers who volunteer to be blacked out during the afternoon of the 10 hottest days of the year.

The reason utilities want to do this? Uptake of a/cs, which are very power hungry, has led to severe demand spikes on hot summer days, and for the utilities that means building new plant to service demand, which is expensive for them (and you - you pay for it in the end). Instead, some early adopters are starting to use techniques like this to manage their demand. You'll see more and more of these kind of voluntary rationing programs in the coming years.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

BTW, if anyone wants advice on how they can reduce their household energy consumption, and thus their BILLS, or find monetary and environmental savings in any other aspect of their lives for that matter, I'm happy to answer questions in this thread. I've studied this subject and continue to learn more every day, I'm passionate about it because sustainability is the only future we have on a finite world, and I have implemented sustainable practices in my own life and assisted others to do the same in their own way. It would also be fantastic to hear what other people are doing. :)

[DisgruntledLionFan#54,927]

I do the half an hour thing.

In the summer, it's set at 85 when I'm not home, 78 when I am home. This past summer I turned on my AC for one whole week.

I never turn off the furnace in the winter, but it's it a balmy 58 when I'm not home. 68 when I am home.

And I don't really understand why you'd need to access your thermostat from the internet. Ever.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

I should also mention that small investments like gap and crack sealing, insulation, and insulating window coverings, can pay themselves back very quickly in terms of savings on energy bills. Want to know more just ask. :)

[CosmicCowboy]

Did they also tell you that it will "turn itself off" 20 minutes out of every hour whether you want it to or not?

[dougp]

I wanted to say thanks for buying these - though you're not in my companies market, we're a large supporter of Smart Monitors (which is what these are.) Not sure if it mentions, but if there's a potential rolling brown out, they can and will power down non-essential electronics.

[mrsmaalox]

Did they also tell you that it will "turn itself off" 20 minutes out of every hour whether you want it to or not?

Ohh man don"t get me started on that one! I've lived thru one of those "voluntary" energy saving, free thermostat deals in Maryland. The only problem was that I didn't sign up for it,
the previous owner of the house did!! The 20 min shut off happens during peak usage hours, so that means the hottest time of the day during the summer and the coldest during the winter----which is absolute hell for a stay at home home mom with 3 little kids.

So unless there is a clear cut way to also "voluntarily" sign off of the program on demand, I'd stay far away from it.

[Big P]

So you dont mind CPS having control over your thermostat? Great, another thing for the govt. to "take care" of for us.

[PM5K]

I can't speak for allowing CPS to control your AC, but I can say that they've been doing this for years and probably won't end it any time soon.

[sabar]

BTW, if anyone wants advice on how they can reduce their household energy consumption, and thus their BILLS, or find monetary and environmental savings in any other aspect of their lives for that matter, I'm happy to answer questions in this thread. I've studied this subject and continue to learn more every day, I'm passionate about it because sustainability is the only future we have on a finite world, and I have implemented sustainable practices in my own life and assisted others to do the same in their own way. It would also be fantastic to hear what other people are doing. :)

New central A/C that is actually efficient. Can easily slice your kilowatt hours in half. Also did a bunch of little things like sealing gaps and such, but have noticed very little improvement, if any at all. Those will take a long time to pay themselves off. The new A/C unit paid itself off over a single summer :lol

If people want to save energy (and cash), then don't use a heater in winter. Your body radiates a crap-load of heat already. Trap it under a few layers of clothing instead of paying though the nose for heat that rises to the ceiling anyways.

[Drachen]

Did they also tell you that it will "turn itself off" 20 minutes out of every hour whether you want it to or not?

If you read the thread about the 3rd to 5th post, someone posted the explanation of the program from the CPS website which clearly states that during peak usage (during the day in the months from May to September) that it will cycle your AC off for about 10 minutes an hour (when needed). So yes, they did tell you that it would be cycled off. I have been in this program for about 2 years now and have had no issues with it at all (in fact I have the predecessor thermostat, not touch screen, but I really like the looks of this one and want to see if I can have it swapped out). I really don't understand why people wouldn't want to do it. You get a free programmable thermostat with internet access and all you have to do is cede control of your thermostat to CPS during the week in the summer from 8-5 for 10 minutes an hour. After 2 years, you have your control back for those 7.5 hours a week and are left with a free programmable thermostat.

As for the person who said that his new AC paid for itself over one summer, I have to ask, are you sure or are you just exaggerating. Even after tax credits ACs are north of $1500 or more for the efficient ones. 5 months with bills cut in half would mean that you would have to be saving 300 a month over your previous bills in order for this to be true. Were you paying 600 a month?

I am really not trying to call you out, instead, I am in the market for a new AC and want to know what kind of deal you got. I have a 2280 sq ft house with old windows (probably as old as the house which is 31) and my highest electricity bill was 260 (avg in summer is abou 210 and winter is about 130) and I am relatively liberal with AC (I am not the worst that you have met, but I know I could be better). I don't think it will cut my bills in half or anything, but if they dropped by 30% or so, that would be nice.

Also to the guy who offered his expertise for saving energy, etc. I have a question. I too want to update my house for the purposes of sustainability, etc. (its not just the money), but I don't know where to start. Assume that everything needs upgrading, what are some things to start with. A prioritized checklist would be nice. Or if you know someone who I should talk to, I would be willing to do so too.

[Blake]

Why would you do that? If you are not there to benefit from the heating/cooling, that is simply wasted money and energy.

uh...I really don't know why I would do that. I do cut it off during the summer when we aren't there for the most part so I'm not sure what my thought process was.

Is there an extreme outdoor temp that would ever justify leaving the unit on it's lowest/highest settings in either summer or winter?

Is it possible for electronics to fry or for anything to get damaged from the house getting down to a freezing temp?


The smarter thing to do would be to have it switch off during the day and fire up about 1/2 an hour before you get home. Then have it turn off 1/2 an hour after you go to bed, turn on half an hour before you get up, then turn off agian when you leave the house for the day. This will minimise your energy consumption and thus your bills, while maximising your utility of the energy you use.

it might be smarter and more energy efficient, but it aint happening.

[Blake]

And I don't really understand why you'd need to access your thermostat from the internet. Ever.

my first thought when I read that was me being upstairs while the thermostat is downstairs and I'm already on the internet and am too lazy to walk down to adjust it.

[Blake]

Did they also tell you that it will "turn itself off" 20 minutes out of every hour whether you want it to or not?

yeah they did and I already knew about it because my parents hooked this up last year and it seemed to work pretty good for them

Sorry I failed to mention that.

[Blake]

I wanted to say thanks for buying these - though you're not in my companies market, we're a large supporter of Smart Monitors (which is what these are.) Not sure if it mentions, but if there's a potential rolling brown out, they can and will power down non-essential electronics.

eh?

I'm going to assume that's a different type of smart monitor than the one that was just installed for my a/c unit.

[Blake]

Ohh man don"t get me started on that one! I've lived thru one of those "voluntary" energy saving, free thermostat deals in Maryland. The only problem was that I didn't sign up for it,
the previous owner of the house did!! The 20 min shut off happens during peak usage hours, so that means the hottest time of the day during the summer and the coldest during the winter----which is absolute hell for a stay at home home mom with 3 little kids.

So unless there is a clear cut way to also "voluntarily" sign off of the program on demand, I'd stay far away from it.

I don't see why you can't get out of it if you didn't sign up for it.

[Blake]

So you dont mind CPS having control over your thermostat? Great, another thing for the govt. to "take care" of for us.

I would mind if they took complete control of my thermostat, but I don't mind having my thermostat turn off M-F during peak hours for 20 minutes an hour.

Is there a reason why I should?

[Drachen]

I don't see why you can't get out of it if you didn't sign up for it.

Yeah, you can get out of it, just call them and tell them you didnt want to be part of the program, and that you would like to cancel out of it. They will probably come take their thermostat, so you would likely have to have a different one installed.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

uh...I really don't know why I would do that. I do cut it off during the summer when we aren't there for the most part so I'm not sure what my thought process was.

Is there an extreme outdoor temp that would ever justify leaving the unit on it's lowest/highest settings in either summer or winter?

Is it possible for electronics to fry or for anything to get damaged from the house getting down to a freezing temp?

it might be smarter and more energy efficient, but it aint happening.

So, you agree it's a dumb thing to do, it's going to cost you money (and the environment both resource depletion and emissions), and yet you can't be bothered to set the timers properly, which will take you all of maybe 10 minutes? That's absurd.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

New central A/C that is actually efficient. Can easily slice your kilowatt hours in half. Also did a bunch of little things like sealing gaps and such, but have noticed very little improvement, if any at all. Those will take a long time to pay themselves off. The new A/C unit paid itself off over a single summer :lol

If people want to save energy (and cash), then don't use a heater in winter. Your body radiates a crap-load of heat already. Trap it under a few layers of clothing instead of paying though the nose for heat that rises to the ceiling anyways.

Gap sealing costs virtually nothing, so I'm not sure what you mean by it taking a long time to pay itself off. Also, gap sealing, unless the gaps are everywhere and/or large, is not the kind of thing you'll "notice", but you will notice it on your bill if you compare from year to year because it means your heater/cooler is not working as hard to maintain a set temperature since there's less air inflow from outside.

As for new a/cs, sure they are more efficient than older models, but they still use a lot of power - most units I see are rated at 5-8kW. So, it's still important to minimise time used, minimise volume of air conditioned, and set the thermostat as high in summer and low in winter as is comfortable in order to minimise energy consumption and bills.

If you want to see how much more efficient your new unit is, as a very rough guide (which doesn't account for seasonal differences or changes in your behaviour), compare this year's bills to last year and the year before, and the year before, etc. I think we should all do this as a way of reminding ourselves of what we are consuming, and also as a way of reminding ourselves that changes to behaviour and technology can minimise our energy consumption.

[Blake]

So, you agree it's a dumb thing to do, it's going to cost you money (and the environment both resource depletion and emissions), and yet you can't be bothered to set the timers properly, which will take you all of maybe 10 minutes? That's absurd.

I plan on setting them properly during the day thanks to your tip.

thanks :tu

as for the night time, however, I'm not turning them off if we are home.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

I plan on setting them properly during the day thanks to your tip.

thanks :tu

as for the night time, however, I'm not turning them off if we are home.

Well done, and apologies for my slight acerbity in that last post. I was having a bad day, but there was no need to be sarcastic. :)

As for overnight, you can do that, but it will cost you money. If you go to bed at a reasonably regular time, and set the heater to come on 1/2 an hour before you get up, you won't notice the difference temperature wise, particularly if you zone it to the bedrooms. However, you will save 6-8 hours of the heater operating and that could be as much as 16kWh of electricity a night (probably an underassumption given that I'm assuming an 8kW heater operating for 15 moinutes an hour to retain the temperature you have set - it may operate a lot more than that. Want to work this out, if you are up one night record when the heater comes on and goes off for a few hours and average it), which at 15c/kWh (what we pay here) is $3.20 a night, about $300 a quarter, and $1200 a year (based o nthe assumptions above, which need testing). Up to you.

Last thing I'll suggest is why not try it out? And if 1/2 an hour before you get up isn't enough try an hour - adjust it accurately to your need, optimise the efficiency of both your comfort and the operation of the heater now. The reason I suggest this is that the pattern by which you use your heating/cooling is an ongoing thing - you might do the same for the next 20 years, needlessly cost yourself $20,000+ (energy prices are set to skyrocket over the next deacde), and you've also cost the community through potentially unnecessary depletion of a non-renewable resource, not to mention the environment. And please don't get the impression that I'm judging you here, because I'm not. I'm simply listing the potential consequences of your choices.

Good luck with it! :tu

And if what I've told you makes sense to you, learn to explain it simply and tell others around you. Energy efficiency is an easy win for everyone.

PS Maybe I should come over there and start an household energy auditing business, and run seminars on how sustainability can save you money, make you happier, and lower your impact on the planet at the same time?

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Also to the guy who offered his expertise for saving energy, etc. I have a question. I too want to update my house for the purposes of sustainability, etc. (its not just the money), but I don't know where to start. Assume that everything needs upgrading, what are some things to start with. A prioritized checklist would be nice. Or if you know someone who I should talk to, I would be willing to do so too.

Sorry, missed this the first time. :)

In short:
1. Orientation - maximise the sun entering the house during winter (for you that would be the south face, here it is the north), minimise it in summer using eves, retractable awnings, deciduous trees, etc. Once sunlight enters a house it is absorbed by objects and re-emitted in the longwave IR frequencies, which glass is opaque to ie. once the heat is in, it's in and has to find another way out, which leads to...

2 Insulation - make sure it's at least 10' thick in the ceiling (the more the better), retrofit walls with insulation if they don't already have it (there are a number of blow-in products on the market), and then if you can (raised wood floors), insulate under your floor.

3. Gap, crack and passive vent sealing throughout the house (our houses are leaky, you won't suffocate). Use incense in each room to track back to the air movement through cracks you might not be able to see. Aslo gap seal doors to rooms you don't need to heat/cool and shut off the vents to those rooms (particularly bathrooms! Use radiant heat there, not a vent!).

4. Window coverings - the idea of window coverings is to trap the air at the window and stop any convective currents into the room. that means very well fitted (minimise gaps around sides, top and bottom of blind) insulating honeycomb, Holland or Roman blinds, or double-lined drapes with pelmets and velcro stuck around the frame so that you can seal it well.

There are many other things to talk about - skylights, choice of appliances, lighting, etc, but I need more specifics about the house.



Is there an extreme outdoor temp that would ever justify leaving the unit on it's lowest/highest settings in either summer or winter?

Is it possible for electronics to fry or for anything to get damaged from the house getting down to a freezing temp?

Not sure what you mean by the first question - can you clarify it?

As for second question, I'm sure extreme cold like -15C might affect some things, but no, the only possible problem related to cold that you might face is frozen water pipes. But then I've lived in a place where we regularly go to 0C to -5C in winter and we never had any problems with anything.