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In Chicago, we have an API where we can get pricing updates every 5 minutes. I recently set up my AC (largest power draw) to cut off when the price goes above
by enobrev 22d ago
In Chicago, we have an API where we can get pricing updates every 5 minutes. I recently set up my AC (largest power draw) to cut off when the price goes above a certain threshold.
I don't have long-term data yet, as I just implemented this about 6 weeks ago, but last month's bill was 10% lower than the previous month and the same month the previous year. I'm looking forward to seeing the results over time.
I've been trying to think of what other automations I can try out when the price gets high. I thought maybe shorter light timers for automated lights, but all of our lights are LED, so the savings isn't really worth it.
- fragmede 22d agoDo you have a battery so you can time shift and charge it when it's cheap and use the battery when it's expensive?
- podocarp 22d agoMany times the battery costs more than the savings, even if you charged it up for free, say at a mall or mcdonalds or something. If there was a large savings the utilities provider would be doing it already. Well that's also why people are looking into cheaper energy storage solutions.
- adaml_623 22d agoI'm going to disagree with you although I'm not an expert so you might be right. My understanding is that there are large savings available theoretically at the grid level but the capital to build it is limited and the grid interconnects to make it work are limited. So globally there are huge amounts of battery storage being added to the grid but this is bottlenecked by capital and grid connections. Oh and land/planning permissions. Long story short, house level battery storage may be worth it for some people
- eru 19d agoI guess it depends on how cheaply you can get your batteries and how you charge yourself for the space they take up. As electric cars become more popular, we should see a deep market for second-hand batteries?