Shocked to find smart thermostats raised remotely by “Smart Savers Texas” progrm

Re:Shocked to find smart thermostats raised remotely by “Sma... by shakna on Saturday June 19, 2021 @01:28AM (#27558014)

78F, at 80% humidity is above the reccommended safe range for young kids. It's a SIDS risk, and those in the article have a toddler.

The concern is more one of safety than one of comfort.

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Re:Shocked to find smart thermostats raised remotely by “Sma... by esyir on Saturday June 19, 2021 @04:38AM (#27558898)

And here I am, sitting in 98f, 80+ humidity, along Millions of others in my area. Somehow, I think that either human genetic variation is so large as to allow such drastic survival rate differences, or that the relationship between sids and temperature is being severly overstated here.

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Re:Shocked to find smart thermostats raised remotely by “Sma... by WastingMyTime89 on Saturday June 19, 2021 @06:49AM (#27559458)

A/C is basically unheard off in western Europe. The temperature is above 78F all summer long with an average humidity of 72% and we don't have more SIDS than the USA.

78F is not even particularly warm. Just dress appropriately and you will be fine.

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Re:Shocked to find smart thermostats raised remotely by “Sma... by alisonkisk on Saturday June 19, 2021 @08:42AM (#27559973)

72% < 80%, and indoor temperature is not the same as outdoor temperature.

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Re:Shocked to find smart thermostats raised remotely by “Sma... by X6S1x6Okd1st on Saturday June 19, 2021 @02:39AM (#27558331)

Yeah 3mo is not a time to losing control of the inside environment

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Re:Shocked to find smart thermostats raised remotely by “Sma... by bpodgursky on Saturday June 19, 2021 @02:46AM (#27558361)

I agree (with a 6 month old of my own) but note that the tradeoff here is some random number of houses losing power _entirely_ through grid brownouts. I suspect overall the SIDs risk would be far elevated by cutting AC to 5% of houses entirely, spiking temperatures 20 degrees, than every house raising temperatures a couple degrees.

(you could try to structure the program so that only low-risk healthy adults were in the voluntary reduction camp, but it does seem like a bit of a logistical nightmare).

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Re:Shocked to find smart thermostats raised remotely by “Sma... by X6S1x6Okd1st on Sunday June 20, 2021 @12:46AM (#27567155)

Congrats! I found it got easier and more fun after the 1y mark

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Re:Shocked to find smart thermostats raised remotely by “Sma... by thrdbndndn on Saturday June 19, 2021 @01:33AM (#27558048)

I highly doubt an air-conditioned space would be above 80% RH.

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Re:Shocked to find smart thermostats raised remotely by “Sma... by pdonis on Saturday June 19, 2021 @01:36AM (#27558070)

It will if the air conditioning isn't running because someone remotely turned up the thermostat, and it's humid outside. Summer relative humidity in the Houston area routinely gets up around 90%.

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Re:Shocked to find smart thermostats raised remotely by “Sma... by thrdbndndn on Saturday June 19, 2021 @03:07AM (#27558445)

I live in Houston RN. The thermostat is set to 78 not 86 or something. It definitely would run.

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Re:Shocked to find smart thermostats raised remotely by “Sma... by pdonis on Monday June 21, 2021 @01:47PM (#27581630)

> The thermostat is set to 78 not 86 or something.

Evidently you are not enrolled in the "smart thermostat" program described in the article, which allows the utility company to remotely raise your thermostat setting regardless of what you set it to. They apparently did that without any regard to the impact it would have on comfort and health.

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Re:Shocked to find smart thermostats raised remotely by “Sma... by thrdbndndn on Monday June 21, 2021 @06:09PM (#27585182)

I'm talking about the article, not my home. It says "the house had already gotten to 78 degrees".

Aagin, the point is the AC is definitely running if the room is only 78F in Houston.

Also I think people really overestimate the humidity level indoor. Even if you leave your AC off for 2-3 days, it will not reach 90% RH unless you leave all your windows and doors wide open.

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