Comments on: Standards and standard thinking http://www.smartgridlibrary.com/2009/06/22/standards-and-standard-thinking/ Information Generation | Transmission | Distribution Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:01:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: Christine http://www.smartgridlibrary.com/2009/06/22/standards-and-standard-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-4 Christine Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:14:38 +0000 http://www.smartgridlibrary.com/?p=112#comment-4 The most commonly cited and realistic demand response example today is turning down the heat or turning up the AC temperature in response to utility requests for those peak demand days. Personally, I would be happy if I could enter office buildings or homes in the summer time that are not at meat locker temperatures. In the future, realistic DR examples may include you giving permission to your local utility to drain some power from your plugged in electric vehicle (provided you ensure that you can get from point A to point B before need to recharge). We have to get smarter appliances too. It would be nice if my refrigerator only made ice at night when electricity demand is lowest and so are the rates. Simple energy efficiency measures can give you the best bang for your utility buck right now. If you are willing to create a new habit and save yourself between $5-10/month in electricity costs, put all of your home entertainment stuff and personal computer stuff on basic power strips that have an off switch. You just need to make it a habit to remember to turn off the power strips. (for potential savings of $120/yr, I managed to do it!) You'll recoup the purchase price of these simple power strips in one or two months. If you need the fancier power strips that keep some equipment on all the time, then it will take longer to recover your purchse price. I heard someone say that leaving a computer on 24 hours a day (even if you put it to sleep or hibernate) is comparable to letting your car engine idle all the time. It is a great way to consider not only the energy wasted, but also the polluting emissions generated in electricity production. The most commonly cited and realistic demand response example today is turning down the heat or turning up the AC temperature in response to utility requests for those peak demand days. Personally, I would be happy if I could enter office buildings or homes in the summer time that are not at meat locker temperatures.

In the future, realistic DR examples may include you giving permission to your local utility to drain some power from your plugged in electric vehicle (provided you ensure that you can get from point A to point B before need to recharge).

We have to get smarter appliances too. It would be nice if my refrigerator only made ice at night when electricity demand is lowest and so are the rates.

Simple energy efficiency measures can give you the best bang for your utility buck right now.

If you are willing to create a new habit and save yourself between $5-10/month in electricity costs, put all of your home entertainment stuff and personal computer stuff on basic power strips that have an off switch. You just need to make it a habit to remember to turn off the power strips. (for potential savings of $120/yr, I managed to do it!) You’ll recoup the purchase price of these simple power strips in one or two months. If you need the fancier power strips that keep some equipment on all the time, then it will take longer to recover your purchse price.

I heard someone say that leaving a computer on 24 hours a day (even if you put it to sleep or hibernate) is comparable to letting your car engine idle all the time. It is a great way to consider not only the energy wasted, but also the polluting emissions generated in electricity production.

]]> By: Michelle Gabriel http://www.smartgridlibrary.com/2009/06/22/standards-and-standard-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-3 Michelle Gabriel Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:54:40 +0000 http://www.smartgridlibrary.com/?p=112#comment-3 Thank you for writing about the laundry example! I cannot understand the demand response at all. I thought I was missing something. I don't need a lot of fancy technology to tell me to do my laundry on off-peak hours. Do you have any examples of a realistic demand response? Seriously, as a consumer, what do I need to know other than a general idea of off peak and how much in general I can save. No one is going to be constantly checking rates when their bills already are $40-$100 per month. It's like spending zillions on creating a pen that can write in space instead of using a pencil. I know that's not a true story but it is a great example. Thank you for writing about the laundry example! I cannot understand the demand response at all. I thought I was missing something. I don’t need a lot of fancy technology to tell me to do my laundry on off-peak hours. Do you have any examples of a realistic demand response? Seriously, as a consumer, what do I need to know other than a general idea of off peak and how much in general I can save. No one is going to be constantly checking rates when their bills already are $40-$100 per month. It’s like spending zillions on creating a pen that can write in space instead of using a pencil. I know that’s not a true story but it is a great example.

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