Tag Archives: too hot

Summer Heat Pushes Power Demand To New Heights

It’s been a cooler than average summer up here in New England, but high temps elsewhere have pushed electric power consumption to record-setting levels. At the end of July, an Arizona heat wave sent electricity demand to a new record high. And on Tuesday, Orlando Utilities Commission set a new record for peak power demand, edging out the previous record set in 2007.

Although both utilities were able to manage the increased demand without a hitch, this is one record—like the record for biggest box office bomb—that no one wants to hold. (That dubious distinction is currently held by 47 Ronin, with a loss of ~$150 million. Ouch!)

So why isn’t a new peak great news? Just like a Hollywood flop, it can be costly. When power consumption rises to record high levels, utilities need to allocate new resources to meet the demand. Usually, that means increased expenses for consumers in the form of building new power plants or increasing new power purchases.

Fortunately, utilities are getting smarter about the way they manage demand for electricity. Through so-called “demand response” programs, they’re giving consumers incentives to use a little less power, which helps keep costs down. Sometimes information itself is enough of an incentive. For example, Orlando Utilities Commission is recommending that homeowners set their thermostat at 78 degrees or higher, about the same temperature of a typical Florida summer morning. By putting out these alerts, utilities are keeping customers comfortable—and avoiding blackouts.

With proper information and planning, utilities have shown they can manage peak demand without breaking a sweat. Or, as Ted Geisler, Arizona Public Service director of power operations, described it during the July heat wave, “We’ve been planning all year for a day just like today.”

Image credit: Chuck Coker/Flickr. CC license.

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Before Air Conditioning, Nobody Worked During The Summer

OK, so that headline’s a bit of an exaggeration. But there’s no question that air conditioning fundamentally changed the way we live and work. According to Stan Cox, especially the way we work.

Cox’s book, Losing Our Cool, was recently written up in the Washington Post‘s Wonkblog, in an article called “How air conditioning transformed the U.S. economy.” If this excerpt is to be believed, it’s really pretty amazing.

Before air-conditioning, American life followed seasonal cycles determined by weather. Workers’ productivity declined in direct proportion to the heat and humidity outside — and on the hottest days employees left work early and businesses shut their doors. Stores and theaters also closed down, unable to comfortably accommodate large groups of people in stifling interiors. Cities emptied in summers…. Houses and office buildings were designed to enhance natural cooling, and people spent summer days and evenings on porches or fire escapes.

Air conditioning has helped us survive the sweltering summers, so it’s no wonder A/C installations are taking off like a rocket in the U.S. The number of U.S. homes with central A/C grew 25 percent from 2001 through 2009. And with more of us working at home, A/C helps us set the right temperature for productivity even when we’re outside the office.

The trick is to stay comfortable, while only cooling the space we use. That way, we can save some of the money we’re spending on energy and put it toward other, cooler uses. Like a bowler hat and monocle. Or at least a decent front porch.

Image credit: simpleinsomnia/Flickr. CC license.

Zoning 101: What Is Zoning And Why Does It Matter?

Modern Kitchen Earlier this year, we wrote a post about why a single-zone heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system will never keep your home comfortable. These systems don’t have the dynamic monitoring and control of ecovent, so they’re bound to over-heat and over-cool parts of your home.

But when talking to our customers, we realized most people don’t even think about whether their homes have “zones” or not. They usually just know how many thermostats they have and whether or not their homes are comfortable.

So what is zoning and why does it matter?

Zoning is the practice of separating your home into different areas and heating and cooling those areas individually, rather than trying to condition the whole house at the same time. The best analogy we know comes from lighting. Think about it: You’d never build a home with only one light switch. Instead, you’ve got one in every room and you can set the level of lighting you want individually. But most homes have only one thermostat, which means that you’re probably heating and cooling space you don’t use.

Zoning offers a few important benefits:

Increased Comfort

When you separate your home into different zones, you can finally be comfortable. Think about the temperature difference between your first floor and your second floor. Zoning can alleviate that problem by setting different temperature targets for each level. Zoned systems can do the same thing for different areas on the same floor. Say you only need to cool one area of your house at a certain time of day—for example, when the sun shines on that side of the house. A zoned HVAC system helps you differentiate between those areas and dial in the right temperature.

If you install ecovent for your zoning system, you get an extra level of comfort control. Our system doesn’t care if your home has two zones or 15. You can set the right temperature at the room level, not just floor-by-floor.

Increased Control

In that sense, zoning is all about control. In most zoned systems, you get the benefit of additional thermostats, which each serve as a different point of control. But what if you could control your entire home from a mobile phone or tablet? With ecovent’s mobile app, you can. Even better, the system adjusts automatically to keep you comfortable, so you can worry less and enjoy more.

Saving Energy

Possibly the biggest benefit of a zoned HVAC system is the opportunity to save energy. A well-designed zoning system can save you hundreds of dollars in energy costs each year, and it reduces wear-and-tear on your system by reducing run-times for your furnace or A/C unit. Your home runs more efficiently when you only heat and cool the rooms that need it.

But Is Zoning Worth It?

Most zoning systems require a complicated installation that can take days to complete. And hiring a contractor to tear into your walls to install the necessary ducting and dampers can be expensive. And if anything else in your home changes, it can quickly get out of whack.

ecovent does zoning differently. We’ve designed wireless system that anyone can install in a matter of hours. And it makes every room of your home its own zone. To us, that’s the only kind of zoning that’s truly worth it—because it’s easy, it’s smart, and you can control your comfort from the palm of your hand.

Image credit: Mikhail Golub/Flickr. CC license.

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