wrote in message
...
On Jan 24, 11:19 pm, mike wrote:
On 1/24/2013 4:55 PM, Dimitrios Paskoudniakis wrote:







"Wes Groleau" wrote in message
...
Electric company wants me to install a device that lets them remotely
alter the duty cycle of my AC compressor.

Is this truly harmless?

Can it make the thing less efficient, or wear out / burn out sooner?

--
Wes Groleau

I live in Maryland near DC. I have A/C on the first floor and basement
and a heat pump for the upper level. I get $50/month discount for the
four months of May - August by allowing the utility to be able to shut
off the A/C.

Two years ago during a heat wave, they shut it off from 11:30 AM - 7:00
PM. By that time, my upstairs thermostat read 91 F. That's not a typo.
It got back to a sleepable temp by about 1:00 AM.

You just need to decide what's more important, saving a few bucks or
having ensured comfort.

Yep, that's the issue. To do any good, they have to turn it off when
you most need it.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

But they are not supposed to turn it off for eight hours straight.
The idea is to turn them off in groups for maybe 20 mins
at a time, if necessary. Either something exceptional was happening
or something screwed up. As I said before, I had one on mine
here in NJ for over 10 years and never noticed any difference.
It's going to depend a lot on the shape of the electric system
in the area. But still, turning it off for 8 hours doesn't seem
right. Wonder if he complained to the utility and what they
said? You would think if they did that to people, most of them
would say come take this thing off, end of story....

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My utility has three duty-cycle options if you choose to sign up:

100% - Get 100% of the $12.50 discount per unit (I have two units) if you
allow them to turn it off for 100% of the time they have an emergency.

75% - 75/75

50% - 50/50

I had chosen the 100% option.

Now as for the question why off for eight hours, it was an exceptional
emergency event. After the utility received complaints, they sent a letter
of apology, and also thanked those who had the switch units. They claimed
if nobody had them, there would have been rolling brownouts, it was that
much demand, and those of us who had the units saved their day. I think the
temp that day reached 104 F.

As to another thread, even when there is no cycling off, when it is hot
enough outside, my upstairs heat pump can't keep up when running constantly,
and the temperature rises above the set point while running continuously,
until the outside temp lowers and/or the sun gets lower in the sky. And
that unit is required only for my upstairs. I have drapes/shades. The
thermostat is in the master BR, which has a cathedral ceiling with its own
roof. The room (and rooms below) are on a side section of the house with a
lower roof above the master BR, ie not under the attic.