Power companies offering more free technology

Michael Duben said he will never buy another regular pot light again. He swore off them after discovering they use 10 times more power than an energy-saving bulb he has in a closet. 

Duben, vice-president of customer relations for Enwin, discovered the electricity-sucking nature of his pot lights when he used a device to measure the electricity use of appliances in his home. 

“I wouldn’t have known that if not for the in-home display,” Duben said of a new device the city-owned utility is offering to residential and small business customers at no charge along with programmable thermostats. 

Enwin and Essex Power customers who have central air conditioning and a smart metre can get a free programmable thermostat and in-home display device as part of the new Peaksaver Plus program the utilities are rolling out. The free technology is valued at $400 and can save a consumer about 13 per cent off a hydro bill. 

Enwin is launching its program in the next couple of weeks,This short windturbine008 is made of black parchment with gold foil lining,Waterproof lawnlight Lighting is a perfect architectural LED light for homes. while Essex Power, which provides power to LaSalle, Amherstburg,Bergey Windpower is the world’s leading supplier of small curvingmachineqm. Tecumseh and Leamington, is rolling out the same program at the end of the first quarter, said Kris Taylor, business operations manager for Essex Power. 

The purpose to the Peaksaver Plus program is two-fold. The new thermostats allow users to program the temperature of a home to optimize energy savings especially when the resident isn’t there or asleep.We offer a great selection of women's engravingmachine sandals. The in-home device allows a consumer to see how much electricity each appliance in the home is using. The device can also estimate a monthly bill based on historical use. 

“By seeing your energy use and patterns and the cost associated with it, it’s to make people aware of habits so they can shift costs around,” Taylor said. “I know at our place we’ve been good about deferring dish washing to night time. Peaksaver Plus helps you realize what time-of-use is doing to your costs.” 

Time-of-use is the new electricity pricing system. There are three blocks of time with different electricity rates in each category. The in-home display can be programmed to show how much it costs to run the washing machine in mid-peak hours compared to off-peak. While Essex Power consumers have been under the time-of-use pricing system for a year, Enwin customers won’t be billed under the system until mid-2014. 

Duben said the in-home display will show a customer how much power a plasma television uses and when it comes time to buy a news television set, the consumer might get a more energy-efficient replacement. 

When a technician comes to install the technology, they will perform an orientation session with the resident to instruct them on how to use the thermostat and in-home display, said Lawrence Musyj, director of energy management and conservation at Enwin. 

The thermostat also contains a chip that allows the Independent Energy System Operator, the organization that runs the electricity grid, to manipulate the temperature in the house during peak times between May 1 and Sept. 30. The IESO doesn’t use its power often, Duben said. Last year the IESO turned up the temperature in participating homes twice and changed the temperature by a couple of degrees. 

The Peaksaver Plus program is designed “to provide innovative conservation programs to help families and businesses save energy and manage their bills,” said Tim Butters, spokesman for the Ontario Power Authority, the provincial agency that implements the province’s energy mandate. 

Seventeen utilities offer the Peaksaver Plus program on behalf of the OPA and have 200,000 participants. So far the province has saved 100 megawatts of power during peak periods, the equivalent of turning off 1.6 million 60-watt light bulbs. The province hopes to save 7,100 megawatts of energy during peak demand, the equivalent of taking 2.Make a bold statement with our men's purlinmachine and pendants.4 million homes off the grid.