Source
r/vegaslocals•
thundershawk

Who else is dying from NV Energy's FlexResponse Program

First off, I know I can opt out but I just want to rant

How the hell does this save $?! It will drop your thermostat 4 degrees lower than your regular temp in hopes that a "couple hours" of it not running will get back to your regular temp when it's over. For example, my house is usually 78, then I guess it dropped to 74 at some point and not even an hour passes, it's already 81!! Wth I feel like it would of saved more to just leave it running normal than do that.

Also they're so extremely tricky in not saying exactly what time this shit is going to occur, just "late afternoon" on certain days. Like this is Vegas, I need to mentally prepare for that shit and why can't they pick a time when we barely notice like at 4am when sleeping? So stupid

Posted Jul 9, 2022, 3:49 AM UTC · edited

3433
hambordamaram•

It’s not meant to directly save you money, the intent is to reduce demand during peak demand periods, lowering their costs. The savings you obtain are through the discounted electric rate they pass on to you on your bill.

As for shifting your thermostat at a time you won’t notice, there isn’t demand at 4am like there is at 5pm when the sun is at its hottest and everyone returning from a day shift is cranking their ACs as they get home, which is why the shift occurs when it does.

49
DinobotsGacha•

So the company that profits from selling energy now controls your thermostat. Yep, sounds like a good idea

29
lvdude7•

It’s not meant to save you money. It’s meant to keep demand lower at certain times.

27
apathyczar•

Yeah we opted out of this and bought a thermostat where we can just set it to stay a few degrees warmer in the middle of the night. I'm environmentally conscious as hell but when they were ticking the thermostat to 85 degrees at 4 pm in July, that was too much.

22
particleman3•

85 in the house ..... That's a hard pass. My Nest Learning thermostat is just fine.

9
sunrayylmao•

This is the way to do it. Manage your own energy and temps. Leave it in the hands of the power companies and they'll let you roast alive.

2
averyrisu•

Yeah one of the many reasons i never signed up for that program. It does not help that if the misses is home that day, i have to have my office closed up as i work from home and will typically in that room have 2 computer running and 3e monitors in what is the warmest room in the house, so if the rest of my house was 85 degrees god knows i would be sitting in a room thats fucking 90.

6
thundershawkOP•

Thank you!! Yeah they gave me a free EcoBee and this is the catch, did you have to return it though when you opt out?

1
Pusheen-buttons•

So I didn't get an ecobee, they installed this pos and said I could swap to an ecobee after 2yrs which is coming up this month. For the ecobee can you use the ecobee app or have to use the NV Energy thermostat app? If it's the same shitty NV energy app I'd rather just buy it myself

1
thundershawkOP•

Oh wow no mine is the black Ecobee and I use their actual app, not NVEnergy's

2
Pusheen-buttons•

Thanks for the info. Other than the community events are there other issues with temps? This app constantly freezes and does some eco mode that has evidently saved me a whole $2.50 this year by constantly raising it to 79-81°

1
perpetualteenager•

I’m not on this program, but isn’t the point to help them conserve when they have the highest demand? So, not at 4AM.

If your thermostat is changing from 78 to 74 to 81, I would probably call and see if they can check your settings.

12
thundershawkOP•

Makes sense.. Seems kinda dangerous for homes but worth a try on their end I guess, hope they do it to businesses too running a/c on the weekend when they're closed

1†
bitcornminerguy•

This is actually an excellent point. They’d probably save a ton of energy working with closed businesses to temp up during off hours and wean back down before they open.

4
pushdose•

Wait, people actually let the power company control the temperature in their own homes?!? Why would you allow this? Get a Nest or Ecobee and be done with it.

6
thundershawkOP•

The Ecobee came free with Nv Energy

3
PossibilityOrganic•

Because its not ment to save energy its meant to remove load for grid stability. But its done it a very basic and stupid way. And you get a few pennys when this needs to happen.(that's the savings)

​

If it was an intelligent about it that would force the unit on BEFORE the peak so that the unit was still off during it and temp was still adequate. But this would require homeowners and builders to install hvac correctly and slightly over size them. Witch wont happen so were stuck with shit ideas like above.

Another smarter system that some can do is you may be able to run you house down to say 60 at night(when your ac is more efficient and there's less grid demand) and use the house as basically a thermal battery for the rest of the day. You need decent insulation for this however again track home issues of minimal viable product.

But most track homes here have barely enofe AC to cover the load, so the night time thing is not really possible because they would never catchup. Unless you rip out duckting and put bigger units and more vents in. aka:$$$

4
thundershawkOP•

Damn I think we would literally need to get it down to -300 degrees to go a whole day without a/c hahah totally makes no sense in energy saving

1
-cocoadragon•

There's shading and angles and geothermal, which aren't things I see done with city homes in mass lots. The angle of your house to the sun makes a helluva difference in temps and mental health as you get proper sun light with out it heating your house.

1
PossibilityOrganic•

If you have the opportunity to walk into a custom(non track home shit) built home here you would be amassed, even in vegas 110deg heat. If home that's being built (without ac yet) that insulated properly it can be like 78-82 inside for a month or so into the 100deg days. Because concrete slabs are a great thermal mass/battery. And that's really what your chilling in the above.

0†
StableAccomplished12•

This actually makes your A/C unit work harder according to my A/C tech. It's better to just opt out, and keep your A/C unit at a constant temp.

4
Christhebobson•

I feel you on the temperature going back up incredibly fast. It's like my house has no insulation, but it's full of the stuff

2
MarsupialMaven•

At 4am there is no strain on the grid because it is the coolest time of the day and people are sleeping. So they are fine at 4am. The problems seem to happen late afternoon/early evening when people come home and try to get stuff done like cooking/laundry/dishes/etc. BTW Wi-Fi is usually slower during those hours too, whether you actually notice it or not. Too many people trying to access the net at the same time.

I get an email in advance telling me when they are going to flex me.

1
thundershawkOP•

Wow totally didn't know that about wifi.. I get the email too just telling me dates though, wish they would say what time? Feels like forever

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
techindica•

Can someone please tell me how I can opt out?

1
thundershawkOP•

It has the option in the app, you click the green eco+ icon on the home screen and a pop up will show to cancel/be back in control of your thermostat for the day

3
techindica•

Thanks!

1
Satchel987•

I had the same issue with them "pre cooling" the house prior to them adjusting the temp up. Problem was, I was at work all day and this cost me a lot of money. You can call them to opt out of the pre cooling and keep the energy events enabled with the option to override it if needed. They do provide some year end credits when you participate. Good luck!

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InevitableSwordfish6•

I’ve had neighbors complain of the bill. Is it lower/ higher than usual ?

1
thundershawkOP•

It's suppose to be lower, my first time so we will see

1
Empyrealist•

It simply doesn't work well for some people - especially those with inadequate insulation and other HVAC-related factors.

If it doesn't work for you at your particular residence, then you should just opt out.

1