Ok, I probably will post lots here as I am a new home owner and have tons of questions. When I had the electric switched over they said they house had a load or a demand meter on the house which could save us money but you have to use more electric?

What are the pros and cons on this kind of system?

tkrussell

I need more info as to the utilitiy rates to determine the best for your situation. Basicly, the difference is the load measures power in kilowatts per hour and you are charged for KWH, say, ten cents per KWH plus service charges.
Demand is based upon amount of power used during a certain time of day and amount used averaged at fifteen minutes.
Ask your particular utility how each is calculated, and you should be able to determine the actual benefit of each.Also ask for any other programs available.

Hope this helps.

Kevin

labman

These are more common in industrial plants. In general, electric demand peaks in the early afternoon. If the electric company can shift loads to other parts of the day, they can avoid the expense of building new plants while continuing to meet demand. One common domestic application is the ETS, where you have a large, well insulated hot water tank that heats in the middle of the night.

If everybody in the house is at work or school all day, and the rates are right, it could be a good deal. With a programmable thermostat, you could leave the air conditioner off through the heat of the day, and then have it kick on an hour before anybody comes home and cool the house down. there are different way to plan ahead and avoid usage when the rates are the highest. Make the electric company show you the numbers.

lionfoxx

Ok, I see, I thought load and demand were the same, oops. When I called she mentioned the house had a demand meter on it, and that I could save money but we had to use a certain amount of electric a period, or month. That not all house were eligible for demand meters, etc.

I think my dad said they had a load meter, and some people say they have never known anyone who saved any money with a demand.

The house is about 2200 sq foot, with AC, Electric Stove and Electric double oven. Of course my girlfriend will have a microwave, and being a computer neard I am using one room for my pc/router switching lab. All my pcs have about 300-400 watt power supplies in them, but only one may be left on all the time. I will have to read what amps my routers and switches draw, those all won't be on all the time either.