Missing Electricity Module and ability to "Beat the Peak"?

[cayz]

Three related "Green" questions

1) I recently upgraded my ISY-99i Pro from 3.1.7(?) to 3.2.6, and I don't know if I just lost it, or lost it in a previous update, but I no longer have the electricity module, and it isn't available on the UDI website... I didn't use it previously, but... Where did it go?

 

2) A local power company is really & truly pushing "Beat The Peak" Residential Load Monitoring, which involves an indicator that plugs into a normal outlet. I'm sure it is using some sort of similar signal@zero VAC system that INSTEON uses, and I'm sure much more knowledgeable minds in the subject know about it. Is there a way my ISY 99i Pro can receive & process these signals, and then do "what I can" to help ease the load (drop the lights & fans out, etc.) It won't be much, but anything will help.

 

(I've checked the above questions in "search", with a variety of terms, and didn't see any relevant posts, so, please simply post the thread ID if I've missed it).

 

3) (Since I'm typing in the Green Section)... I'm sure the two biggest power wasters in my house are my Hot Water Heater and my variable speed Carrier heat pump. Are there INSTEON modules that would work with "Beat the Peak" to kill power to the hot water heater (240V, all electric), and/or raise the thermidostat (a programmable thermostat / humidistat) a set # of degrees for the duration of the "Beat The Peak"?

 

Thanks in advance for any responses.

 

James

[cayz]

WRT #3), I have found a Hot Water Heater controller - http://www.smarthome.com/2477SA2/INSTEO ... and/p.aspx .

 

I don't know if the Venstar T1800 or T1900 will work w/ my Carrier - the Venstar does support multiple speeds (which my heat pump is), but the Thermidistat controls an *integrated* humidifier / dehumidifier (integrated into heat pump), which the Venstar seems to do, but only with external systems. I know my HP system is "special", since when they swapped out the old one, they had to run a second 8-wire conductor to the thermidistat, since it requires 11 or 12, instead of the standard 8.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi cayz,

 

Comments below.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

Three related "Green" questions

1) I recently upgraded my ISY-99i Pro from 3.1.7(?) to 3.2.6, and I don't know if I just lost it, or lost it in a previous update, but I no longer have the electricity module, and it isn't available on the UDI website... I didn't use it previously, but... Where did it go?

You can no longer purchase the electricity module for 99i for two reasons:

1. So very little demand for it that there was no ROI to maintain it

2. We moved all energy management functions to 994 to free up code space for essential INSTEON things in 99

2) A local power company is really & truly pushing "Beat The Peak" Residential Load Monitoring, which involves an indicator that plugs into a normal outlet. I'm sure it is using some sort of similar signal@zero VAC system that INSTEON uses, and I'm sure much more knowledgeable minds in the subject know about it. Is there a way my ISY 99i Pro can receive & process these signals, and then do "what I can" to help ease the load (drop the lights & fans out, etc.) It won't be much, but anything will help.

Not with 99 but with 994 there are multiple options all of which depend on your utility company:

1. Open ADR provides pricing and load control signals

2. Smart Grid meters provide information directly from your utility meter. This requires 994iZS and it will require you to get installation permission from your utility

 

3) (Since I'm typing in the Green Section)... I'm sure the two biggest power wasters in my house are my Hot Water Heater and my variable speed Carrier heat pump. Are there INSTEON modules that would work with "Beat the Peak" to kill power to the hot water heater (240V, all electric), and/or raise the thermidostat (a programmable thermostat / humidistat) a set # of degrees for the duration of the "Beat The Peak"?

If you know when the Peak is, then you can use the 30 Amp load controllers to turn on/off your water heater and thermostats to change the set points. The main question is whether or not you know a priori when the peak is.

 

James

[maliha3492]

Thanks for the great write up, ergodic. You hit on all the major points that keep me from being super excited about LED lighting (not that I don't use it to cut down on power consumption), most people don't seem concerned with the lack of color temperature shift that comes with dimming LEDs. My ideal light would be a variable color temp light which was "always on" but had built in Insteon control so that all of the dimming could be handled on the DC side. This would get rid of poor dimming curves and poor behavior at low brightness as well.