Comments on: Early results: PG&E customers like controlling thermostats with iPhones

By: John

John — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 11:47:46 +0000

PG&E keeps missing the point that Matt noticed. The smart thermostats they are trialing do not benefit from smart meter installation and will not until PG&E forces time of use pricing onto its customers.

What makes a smart meter “smart” is its support for two-way communication with the power provider and if anything but TOU (and laying off their meter readers) was the goal then PG&E would be introducing smart thermostats that use the smart meter for network communications instead of requiring customer purchased broadband Internet at the home. That would broaden the base of customers who can participate in the 5% use reductions AND make the smart meters start to work for their customers.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 17:34:35 +0000

Katie,
What does a smart thermostat have to do with a smart meter or the smart grid? Remotely controlled thermostats (via web and/or mobile) have been available for years and do not require a smart meter of any kind. The meter is nothing more than a device to measure a commodity – kilowatt-hours of electricity. It has nothing to do with the thermostat.

How do you propose a utility or HVAC contractor examines a HVAC system before arriving at the house? One way would be to have the customer examine the system and report to the utility or Honeywell what type of system they have but this seems even more inefficient than having a professional service person do it.

By: Steve Dune

Steve Dune — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 14:01:54 +0000

This is informative for HVAC products thank you very much.

By: olivierb

olivierb — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 05:23:58 +0000

Have been using my 3M filtrete wifi thermostat for a year now and love it!
The interface on my iPhone gets better with every update.
It also cost less than all of the mentioned thermostat.

By: Frank

Frank — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 00:39:14 +0000

Here’s a page where you can apply to participate in the PG&E trial: https://thermostat.opower.com/pge

By: PGE Customer

PGE Customer — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 22:16:25 +0000

Paul, there are solutions that Honeywell produces that solves many of the installation and compatibility problems you bring up (which are completely valid by the way).

Fortunately for anyone who is part of a utility-run program like this PG&E one, the installation is done by a professional and is free to the consumer.

By: Felix Hoenikker

Felix Hoenikker — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 21:00:50 +0000

Hahahaha any 12 year old could have told you that they’d like to control it with their iphone.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 19:31:34 +0000

Based on my experience with the Nest thermostat, I love having control from a smart phone (use it even when in the house to alter thermostat settings), love the information these thermostats collect, but it will be a bear to get them into many homes, as your article mentions.

Home HVAC systems vary widely in not just the capability of the equipment installed, but the way that equipment was installed. So many homes don’t have enough power running to thermostat points to run smart thermostats, either because their zoning boards are old or cheap, or because the installer didn’t wire things properly at installation.

Fixing these problems can cost many times the price of a Nest, and it can require multiple visits from HVAC people, many of whom aren’t familiar with the power requirements of the new devices.

Wifi is another issue, but it’s cheaper to solve.

Nest has done a good job with designing their product, but the problems that can crop up post-installation will have a whole lot of people tearing their hair out, and this will slow adoption.

Still, when your plane lands and you can turn the heat on just in time to arrive home to a warm house, it’s great.