Exercise the Power of the Purse

Technology makes it not only possible, but downright easy, to control your home electricity use — and therefore your home energy bills — even when you’re not at home. Some of these systems are available for sale right now. And you can bet more are going to hit the market soon. That’s because a new federal law now requires that if you ask for it, utilities offer a way for you to see when demand, and therefore electricity costs, are higher and lower, and a rate structure that lets you pay for exactly what you buy. The law also instructs state public utility commissions to study whether it would be cost- and energy-efficient to require utilities to provide these services to all customers, whether or not they ask for them. Managing electricity use saves you money over the long haul as well. If enough people cut down their electricity use, power companies will not have to invest as much in building new plants to generate electricity and wire networks to get electricity from the plant to your home. Of course, any money the power company spends to build facilities shows up one way or another in the rates you pay. So less building by the power companies means less money out of your pocket.

Here are a few systems and ideas available right now:

Make your own power: Enter GridPoint Connect with GridPoint Central. The GridPoint Connect system, which is small enough to fit in the average basement, collects energy from solar panels installed on your home. Some of the energy is stored in a battery, ensuring that you’ll have power even if the lights are off all over the neighborhood. And unlike an ordinary generator, GridPoint kicks in so quickly that you won’t lose all that work you did on your home computer.

In virtually any scenario, using clean, solar energy for at least some of your power needs is going to save you money. But GridPoint’s sister system, GridPoint Central, helps you maximize those savings. GridPoint Central is software that helps you see when you use power, how much power you need at given points in the day, and how that compares to prices and demand on your local utilities. Based on those calculations, you can figure out the most cost-effective rate schedule in your area and program your GridPoint accordingly on a Luddite-friendly screen that makes managing your energy about as complicated as managing your e-mail. In some scenarios, you can actually wind up with energy to spare that GridPoint sells back to your local utility, making you a power entrepreneur.

Get smart heat and air conditioning: Numerous companies now offer thermostats that you can set to go on or off, up or down, at any time throughout the day or even the month.  Set the air conditioning to go up a few degrees while you’re at work or asleep, but to drop down again half an hour before you get home or wake up and you’ll shave significant money off your monthly bill. Some companies estimate savings of more than 30 percent. Some of these thermostats work in concert with other smart features. For example, Honeywell offers a system that works with the programmable thermostat to control temperatures in different areas or rooms of your home so you’re not wasting electricity on a space where no one can enjoy it.

Get smart everywhere else: Numerous companies have leapt into the smart-home market, making this technology — once pretty much reserved for geeks — accessible and easy to use. Systems such as Motorola’s homesight, BuLogics, and Intermatic’s HomeSettings Pro, use the latest technology to make it possible for you to control appliances, lighting, heat and air conditioning and a home alarm system all from wherever you happen to be. Some systems work online. One works through your television. Each is just a little bit different from the other but the bottom line is that they all make it as easy as possible to use as little energy as you can and still remain comfortable, secure and entertained in your home.

Know your power — minute-by-minute: Studies have shown that when it comes to electricity, the more you know about what you’re paying when, the more likely you are to conserve or plan your energy use in the most cost-effective way. The PowerCost Monitor by Blue Line Innovations sends signals from your electric meter to a device in your home that tells you exactly how much energy you are using at any given time and exactly what it is costing you. The technology is not yet compatible with all meters but the company is working to change that, and to make it possible for you to receive the real-time pricing and use information on your computer screen.

Get free help from your utility—or cash back: Some utilities are getting into the energy efficiency game, in some cases giving their customers free, programmable thermostats. Homeowners can program these thermostats from an easy-to-use Web screen from wherever they are logged on. By doing so, they can slash heating and cooling costs by changing the temperature when no one’s home, then changing it again later in the day so they don’t return to a sweltering or freezing house. Naturally, there is a catch. But in most cases it’s hardly worth noting. The catch is that at times when demand for power is highest — usually hot summer afternoons — utilities will raise the temperature on your thermostat by a degree or two. While the change in comfort level in the home is often barely perceptible, a critical mass of one-or-two degree changes can keep utilities from having to build massive new power plants to meet a need that comes up only for a few hours on hot days. Utilities in New York, Washington, California, New Jersey, Colorado and Connecticut are using the ComfortChoice system by Carrier. Kansas City Power & Light in Kansas City, Mo., is using a Honeywell brand system. Others are getting into the game every day so check around. You just could save enough to take a vacation just when the power company needs it most. Even those companies that aren’t offering a free thermostat may be promoting energy efficiency by giving rebates to customers who purchase and use programmable thermostats.