Energy Optimizer

Today I applied for us to receive an Energy Optimizer unit through KCP&L (Kansas City Power & Light, our electric company). Basically, they upgrade your thermostat and you give them the ability to "cycle" your air conditioning on days that are extremely hot. On the hottest weekday afternoons from June through September, demands on KCP&L’s system are the highest. At these times, they may either raise the temperature a few degrees, or cycle the air conditioning compressor off and on for 15-minute increments for no more than 4 hours. This means that the air conditioner still circulates air, it's just not "conditioned" air. From their description they only take advantage of this option between noon and 5pm on weekdays, and we're never home then anyway. It's good for the environment and our electricity bill!

The cool thing about this is you can control your thermostat from the internet! We would be able to turn it up or down from any computer hooked to the web, which will be great when we are on vacation or if the weather changes drastically during the day. It would be nice to turn the thermostat way down when we go to North Carolina to visit my parents this winter, but turn it back up from their house before we head home so it's a comfortable temp when we get there! Convenient and wallet-friendly!

I don't know how long it will be before I hear back from them about getting it all set up - they have 1,000 units in place in the KC area already, and it sounds like the demand is pretty high, so I don't know how long it will be before we get called. I look forward to it, though. I think it's great that KCP&L is offering a program of this nature. I hope that a majority of KC residents take advantage of it!