BobRip
Elite Member
I signed up last May for a program where Dominion Power can turn off my AC unit for 15 minutes at a time and then back on for 15 minutes. They then pay you $40 at the end of the season. They connect a box to your AC to do this. I figured that my AC would still run half the time and how often would they really do this. This helps then deal with peak loads and handle green energy variability.
In August (we had been out of town for most of July and August), I noticed that our humidity was high in the house and then that the compressor was not running when the unit was in high speed. I called out my AC guy and after two hours we found that Dominion had disabled high speed. I had the AC guy disconnect the box. Then I called Dominion to reconnect it. I then found out the following.
1. Your use between 11 am and noon is monitored and between noon and 4 pm they give you half of that on time. These times may shift. If it is a cool morning and you do not use AC, then you get no AC in the afternoon.
2. They do this five days a week. Monday thru Friday.
3. They are removing 100's of these a week because of complaints.
4. My AC would run in the less efficient high speed mode a lot more making my overall consumption higher.
I left the control box disconnected. Does anyone else have experience with these.
In August (we had been out of town for most of July and August), I noticed that our humidity was high in the house and then that the compressor was not running when the unit was in high speed. I called out my AC guy and after two hours we found that Dominion had disabled high speed. I had the AC guy disconnect the box. Then I called Dominion to reconnect it. I then found out the following.
1. Your use between 11 am and noon is monitored and between noon and 4 pm they give you half of that on time. These times may shift. If it is a cool morning and you do not use AC, then you get no AC in the afternoon.
2. They do this five days a week. Monday thru Friday.
3. They are removing 100's of these a week because of complaints.
4. My AC would run in the less efficient high speed mode a lot more making my overall consumption higher.
I left the control box disconnected. Does anyone else have experience with these.