Has anyone signed up for an electricity plan that is linked to your wifi-enabled thermostat?

I've been with Think Energy for years, and my plan is up in a couple of months. I'm a low user of electricity - <500 kWh for about 1/2 of the year but 1000+ in the hottest months - so I get hosed on rates.

The renewal options with Think still seem to be the cheapest, but the one where I give them access to my Honeywell thermostat is by far the best deal.

Anyone done this with Think or any other energy provider? I have my concerns, but I'm not entirely sure how it works. I already keep my house pretty warm during the day when I'm not there. Does it override my settings?

The website does say I can opt out by adjusting the thermostat myself. But you lose the $10/month credit if you do this more than 2x per month.

Quote:

---

Does it override my settings?

---

Yes.

I wish I had more info on how it does this. The website is pretty vague. I already have my daytime limits pretty high because I'm not home. I don't really want the thermostat changed at night when I am home.

I looked at the details of the 36 month plan renewal. The increase in prices is almost entirely Centerpoint delivery charges. The actual cost of electricity is about the same. The thermostat plan is only good for 12 months. I don't really think it's worth the effort to go with the 12 month plan.

Basically during periods of higher demand they will change the settings to reduce energy usage, so it depends on the circumstances. I've had friends complain about their AC being changed to 84 degrees or the heater changed to 60.

Ugh. That's a big NO from me!

Also those set points are nuts! We usually have to be without power for over a day for my house to get that warm/cold. There shouldn't be any reason to change it by that extreme amount for a short period of time.

You would think that they can see your demand and compare it to past days with similar temps. Then predict what you'll use.

And if they have access to the thermostat, see that you are set at a level above their requirement.

The annoying thing is that they are trying to minimize peak power. They under bought peak demand and don't want to have to buy spot price power.

~egon

Ryan the Temp said:

---

Basically during periods of higher demand they will change the settings to reduce energy usage, so it depends on the circumstances. I've had friends complain about their AC being changed to 84 degrees or the heater changed to 60.

---

Can you not override those? We have that in Colorado w xcel but can always override. I'm assuming if we override too many times we get dinged on the credit they give us.

The plan I was looking at, if you override more than 2x a month you lose the credit. A whopping $10/month.