OGE smart hours?

[TJay74]

Working for OGE and being on this program I found the best way to work it is to pre-cool the house down during the morning house. At 8am I set the thermostat to 71° until 2pm, then it goes up to 81°, then at 7pm it drops back down to 75°. House is still really cool when I get home and if comfortable until the 7pm point.

I saved over $230 last year and they was with having 3 extra adults living in the house I normally dont have, and using more kwh than I did the summer before. This year should be even better.

 

[TJay74]

It was installed in our home by the previous owners. They felt like it was a big savings for them. So far, I haven't seen a bill yet, but I am getting used to the programming, and the awareness of peak time, etc. The manual is a little confusing, but I think it will be worth the effort. We have been in this house about a month. (closed on May 20, and then spent our 44th anniversary on May 31 in our shelter in the garage floor)

Even though the thermostat is there from the previous customer you have to make sure to call OGE and sign up for the smart hours program, it does not automatically start on the new customers account. It does continue each year though automatically once you do sign up.

 

[Soonere39]

We just started it a few weeks ago and I'm undecided. I work from home but I don't mind a little heat and I can wear shorts and turn on the ceiling fan. But late afternoon when my wife comes home, we would prefer to have the house cooler and once in awhile we override the system. I have pool pumps running much of the day and I programmed those to go off 2-7 M-F so that's probably a big help there. I haven't checked any reports yet.

 

[DavidMcmillan]

Even though the thermostat is there from the previous customer you have to make sure to call OGE and sign up for the smart hours program, it does not automatically start on the new customers account. It does continue each year though automatically once you do sign up.

Yes, you are correct! OG&E asked me if I wanted to continue it when I arranged for my account to be transferred from Muskogee to our new home in OKC.

 

[DanB]

My power bill has dropped to an alltime low of $97 this month. A year ago it was over $130 and that was averaged. It has slowly dropped every month over the past year.

Yes I get pissed when I get home and the house is 77-80 degrees. But about an hour and a half later I crank that sucker down and enjoy the cool. My wife starts laundry at 7pm or does it in the morning while home during the summer. Other than that we didn't have to change up our daily schedules. We hardly use the oven in the summer as we grill almost every night. That saves on the power bill as well.

 

[TJay74]

If you do the smart hours and averaging it will take about 12 months for your average to really reflect the savings from the SH plan.

 

[NightShade]

Gets up to around 84 in our place. . . takes at least 3 hours to cool back down to around 74 and I have the thermostat set to precool as well.

Apartment and not much of a choice on more insulation or the AC unit.

For those people who do own their heat pumps, on EXTREMELY hot days you can get the patio misting systems and set them up around the heatpump and it will help to make it work more efficiently. Basically have one or two of the misters directed on the outside of the coils. This will be something to either have set on a timer or manually controlled but it will allow the coils to use evaporation along with the air movement to help cool the refrigerant down. Same concept as hosing down a window air when it's super hot out to give it an extra boost.

 

[cvrx4]

Tomorrow is 44 cents tomorrow!!

Sent from Samsung Galaxy S3

 

[DamnYankeeOK]

From 3p-6p

 

[cichlid-dave]

Gets up to around 84 in our place. . . takes at least 3 hours to cool back down to around 74 and I have the thermostat set to precool as well.

Apartment and not much of a choice on more insulation or the AC unit.

For those people who do own their heat pumps, on EXTREMELY hot days you can get the patio misting systems and set them up around the heatpump and it will help to make it work more efficiently. Basically have one or two of the misters directed on the outside of the coils. This will be something to either have set on a timer or manually controlled but it will allow the coils to use evaporation along with the air movement to help cool the refrigerant down. Same concept as hosing down a window air when it's super hot out to give it an extra boost.

So you think that will work on a regular a/c unit to spray mist on it?