Air Conditioner settings (home, stats, electric bill)

[funnyhaha]

I'm considering getting the CPS Home Managed installed for our home unit.
We have a 2 story house, roughly 2700 sq. feet.

Anyone have any experience with it? I know a couple posters on here mentioned having it so I was interested to hear pros and cons on getting it installed. We have 1 programmable unit downstairs and 1 upstairs.
Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Rustybolt]

Ok so to be clear, I don't have CPS Home Energy Manager, but do know how it works. It gives you feedback and control of your thermostats over the web, which is a good feature, as well as being able to track your energy usage to look at trends in your usage. In turn, you might be able to make changes that would save you some energy. It also, by default, implements load shedding. During a peak demand period, CPS can cycle your AC condensing unit (the thing outside) off for a period of time. This allows them to meet demand within their resources, which is a good thing...causes the temp in your home to go up, which is undesireable. If it came with a financial benefit, I would be all for it...but there is none beyond a $15 one time credit. No thanks. Personally, I'm going with the Ecobee 3 thermostat which, incidentally, will support Apple's Homekit starting tomorrow when the new model goes on sale.

[hillcountrywinefan]

We had the CPS thermostat that would cycle during peak load periods. Despite having above-average insulation and a thermal barrier, the temp crept up inside the house. I was also told by an A/C tech that the cycling and load wasn't exactly beneficial for the A/C compressor. It made a minimal difference in the monthly bill and the temps were uncomfortable.

Also be very careful of Wi-Fi enabled thermostats/utilities. The IoT (Internet of Things) is a security nightmare. Here's another article that you may want to read about the issue.

[elnina]

Originally Posted by jimmiej

Thanks. I've been told my unit meets specifications for my house, but obviously something's wrong. I tried setting it on 78, but then the indoor temp went up to 80-81.

That could be related to the thermostat location.

To operate properly, a thermostat must be on an interior wall away from direct sunlight, drafts, doorways, skylights, and windows. It should be located where natural room air currents–warm air rising, cool air sinking–occur. Furniture will block natural air movement, so do not place pieces in front of or below your thermostat.


A common misconception associated with thermostats is that a furnace works harder than normal to warm the space back to a comfortable temperature after the thermostat has been set back, resulting in little or no savings. In fact, as soon as your house drops below its normal temperature, it will lose energy to the surrounding environment more slowly. The lower the interior temperature, the slower the heat loss. So the longer your house remains at the lower temperature, the more energy you save, because your house has lost less energy than it would have at the higher temperature.
The same concept applies to raising your thermostat setting in the summer - a higher interior temperature will slow the flow of heat into your house, saving energy on air conditioning.
http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/thermostats

[texdav]

Your air conditioning is likely a one stage and can't keep up. Its probably properly sized for most days but they can only cool so much and still be efficient and not short cycles. You can get a two stage that can be switched to keep up on especially hot days. Some like those with rooms over hot spaces like garages even put window units in those spaces to have separate cooling. You could supplement the same. Put too big a unit and on normal days it will short cycle and you will pay for it. Also look at insulation and leakage.

[elnina]

Originally Posted by hillcountrywinefan

Also be very careful of Wi-Fi enabled thermostats/utilities. The IoT (Internet of Things) is a security nightmare. Here's another article that you may want to read about the issue.

I agree to a degree. There is less worry with thermostat, or automated toilets than remotely controlled entry to the house, or garage, or even some of your appliances. In most cases you can set up notifications and alerts when someone tamper with your settings or try to enter your home.
I wouldn't install a door entry or security system connected to Smart Home Automation.
My entry lock has a biometric reader....

[prim8]

According to that article, they have to have physical access to your Nest, and you'd also know they had done it since it was reset and you would need to run the setup routine again. Unless you bought your thermostat used, I don't see it as a risk as even if they compromised it, what do they get to know? When Nest thinks your home and away and what temperature you like to keep your house at?
It's just a bunch of FUD.

If you're at all interested in a remotely controlled or programmable thermostat I think the Nest is worth considering.
https://www.cpsenergy.com/en/my-home...r-rewards.html
CPS will give you a credit for having one and signing up, then an additional credit every year.
The rush hour just seems to raise your thermostat 1 degree and it's easily overridden, you just change the temperature back.

[hillcountrywinefan]

Originally Posted by prim8

According to that article, they have to have physical access to your Nest, and you'd also know they had done it since it was reset and you would need to run the setup routine again. Unless you bought your thermostat used, I don't see it as a risk as even if they compromised it, what do they get to know? When Nest thinks your home and away and what temperature you like to keep your house at?
It's just a bunch of FUD.

If you're at all interested in a remotely controlled or programmable thermostat I think the Nest is worth considering.
https://www.cpsenergy.com/en/my-home...r-rewards.html
CPS will give you a credit for having one and signing up, then an additional credit every year.
The rush hour just seems to raise your thermostat 1 degree and it's easily overridden, you just change the temperature back.

I disagree. As a 25+ year veteran of IT with a CISSP certification, I can tell you that zero-day vulnerabilities, backdoors and other flaws are being found daily on Internet-enabled devices. These vulnerabilities mean that you, the consumer, are potentially exposed to any miscreants who wish to exploit these issues to their advantage or just for malicious fun. Have a Bluetooth-enabled car? That's another potential vector with serious ramifications.

Thinking that articles like the one I proffered are just FUD is the same thinking that has led so many companies to be hacked. Certainly you must have seen it in the news...

I don't want this thread to get scope drift and veer off from its intended subject, but wanted to make it clear that there is caution and education required by the consumer before you take the plunge into a "connected home."

[Chaka]

78F (used to be 80F but I think we're getting older....). It's 11 years old, 1600 SF house with 12 ft ceilings and 3+ft crawl space underneath. 120 year old home with some upgrades and insulation, but still a bit leaky. No problem keeping it as 78F. Any lower and i'd have to wear long sleeves indoors. We have a harder time keeping it warm in the winter, except on my kid's bunk bed.

[prim8]

Originally Posted by hillcountrywinefan

I disagree. As a 25+ year veteran of IT with a CISSP certification, I can tell you that zero-day vulnerabilities, backdoors and other flaws are being found daily on Internet-enabled devices. These vulnerabilities mean that you, the consumer, are potentially exposed to any miscreants who wish to exploit these issues to their advantage or just for malicious fun. Have a Bluetooth-enabled car? That's another potential vector with serious ramifications.

Thinking that articles like the one I proffered are just FUD is the same thinking that has led so many companies to be hacked. Certainly you must have seen it in the news...

I don't want this thread to get scope drift and veer off from its intended subject, but wanted to make it clear that there is caution and education required by the consumer before you take the plunge into a "connected home."

You can disagree all you want but it doesn't change the facts. There's no serious vulnerability there and even if there was, they can't do much, less damage than just sitting outside your house and watching your comings and goings.
It's a thermostat, it can change the temperature and detect it, and it has a sensor to see if you're home or away. That's it.

You're far more at risk having a smartphone, or a wireless router, or a wifi camera, or a laptop, or a computer, or internet at all.

Don't get me started on the Bluetooth on your car bit. In the vast majority of cars out there, it's not connected to anything but the radio.