Re:The Lowly Thermostat, Now Minter of Megawatts
by ironchef on Thursday May 22, 2014 @07:14PM
(#7787150)
I'm on RRTP too. I've saved > 25% using it in the summer. In the summer (for example), I'll crank it down to mid to low sixties overnight (it's pretty cheap) and give it one final kick down to high fifties / low sixties just shy of 6 am. Then set it for 76 or so for most of the day (If it's pretty hot and the temp has drifted up I may do a mid day cooling for a short bit)....then kick things down again at 8 pm or so. You can follow the pricing here: https://rrtp.comed.com/live-prices/?date=20140522 (that's today) or predicted next day: https://rrtp.comed.com/live-prices/predicted-prices/
Re:The Lowly Thermostat, Now Minter of Megawatts
by joezydeco on Thursday May 22, 2014 @08:22PM
(#7787382)
Preloading the house is definitely a great trick for the hot summer days. I've toyed with the idea of building some kind of thermal storage unit in the basement for the really cheap periods...but it was getting kind of silly.
But if you know anyone selling a cheap commercial ice maker I'm all ears.
This is where a more intelligent system than the Nest could be beneficial. I'm not for the power company modulating your use but if you had a system that cooperated locally with your habits I think there's a lot of potential. Nest is 50% there.