Our electric company has been mostly good through the years but no more. Starting tomorrow and through the summer the rates for electric go up 50% during the afternoon hours. Naturally that is when you need air conditioning the most... I predict there will be much sweating going on very soon. It is beginning to sound like one or 2 of those little personal air conditioners might be worth a try. I see them as low as $89.
50% ; holy crap that is insane. I can feel your pain with that one. They know they got you and nothing you can do about it. Crazy !!!
Easy enough to fix...programmable thermostat that bumps the temp up during the afternoon hours...should work out fine if the place is already cooled down nicely by noon Stuff like this has been done before by the power companies...but it sure seems like we are being hit from all angles all of a sudden! The fleecing of America!
It's only going to get worse as utilities are pressured to eliminate fossil fuels from the repertoire of energy generation. For years they averaged these fluctuations in costs, now they are incentivized to reward/punish those who consume during peak/non-peak demand times. Unfortunately this most often affects/harms low and fixed income residents who are not financially or intellectually capable of monitoring their energy profile(s). Or can't for health reasons. Some who live in areas where these rates skyrocket (or suffer rolling black-outs) ) between 4 and 9PM ( a peak residential time-of-use period ) have turned to Tesla Powerwall types of battery banks to store both solar and/or power from cheap rate periods for use during the peak rate periods to combat skyrocketing bills. Welcome to the Green New World that some want to implement.
That's it. They try so hard to say it won't be much but another summer like last year will cost a lot more than they are saying. Isn't it strange too the play on words? "By reducing energy use during on-peak times, you can lower your electric bill." No, you won't be lowering your bill. It won't be lower and you won't be as comfortable.
How goes a 50% increase from 2pm to 7pm when a majority of people get home cause only a $2 a month increase??
Back when I was with a mechanical/electrical outfit, (maybe 15 years ago), we were designing ice systems for commercial customers who were signing contracts for reduced electric rates at night. Thus making ice at night and using it for chilling during peak times. Mostly university campuses and military. It all fell apart when BGE "deregulated" and different rates became available. But one manager told me he still liked the flexibilty the system gives for shut downs, even though the power bill is no better. For residential customers, they offer a program to cut off the AC on hot days and pay you $25 per summer month. I participated for a few years but the subcontractor that runs the program screws it up so bad that I cancelled. Worth the $75.
So we have been 20 something years without ac. We've lived in apartments in cities, and now a house in a neighborhood. There are maybe 2 or 3 weeks a summer when life is a lot less bearable. We may end up with ac in the sleeping quarters this summer as not sleeping well, is bad news. The following are coping mechanisms we have found useful: Cold showers any time and multiple times a day. Right before bed a good time to have a cold shower. Drink lotsa cool to cold water. Have a basement? Maybe fix up a room down there for stupid hot nights. We tried running a dehumidifier.....generated too much heat, but the air was dry. Running one in the basement keeps it cool and dry. Leave the house for cooler spots for the hot part of the day: parks, wooded trails with streams for playing or sitting in....libraries, coffee shops, etc... Thoughts about power: can you find a way to mount solar panels somewhere, say on a trailer, and use a battery to two to run the ac for all or part of the night? Chest freezer: make an ice block or two, the size of a cooler, run a fan over the cooler (or 5G pail) to cool a room? Sca
Or install a heat pump type water heater the next time you need one...makes the basement cool/dry for the same price as running a DH (or less) and then gives you "free" hot water to boot!
I too have wondered the same thing. I also think they want people to sweat more by not running air conditioners. I can live with that but the need for refrigeration is great as is water and lights and.......
Perhaps its more about money? Or, they want people to quit using unnecessary electricity due to them not being able to meet demand? Or they're worried about a fragile grid becoming overwhelmed? Another thing we did: ran a fan in a window and sucked cooler night air in all night, then closed up as soon as the sun hit the building. Worked in all but the hottest few weeks. Sca
Years ago I had a day/night meter. It was basically 2 meters and 2 rates 1 rate from 7 am to 7pm and another for 7pm to 7am. Worked out good for me running 30+ fish tanks at the time
Years ago in a previous house we had a separate meter for the water tank. It would only heat water from around 8PM to 6AM. Even with a rather large water heater little kids taking baths and laundry day there could be no hot water not too long after supper. That's pretty much when I started with 'navy' showers to conserve hot water. Still a habit.
I use this method a lot but when I start to stick to the sheets, I waive the towel and turn the AC on. I grew up working on a farm and sweating in my bed at night for a better part of the summer. I promised myself I would never live like that. Here in south Jersey, we get about 6 weeks where I run the AC almost daily and other than that, just on the humid nights where it doesn't cool down below 70-75.
