CA wants remote control of thermostats

[Herdfan]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/11/america/calif.php

Looks like Big Brother in the People's Republic of CA is getting warmed up for Title 24, Act II.

 

[upstatemike]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/11/america/calif.php

Looks like Big Brother in the People's Republic of CA is getting warmed up for Title 24, Act II.

Once again it seems like a non-issue. Worst case you leave the "big brother" thermostat powered up but don't hook it to your HVAC system which is really run by your HA controller. Should not be an issue unless CA decides to send enforcement officers door to door to check up on you in which case it would be long past time to move to a different state anyway.

 

[Sacedog]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/11/america/calif.php

Looks like Big Brother in the People's Republic of CA is getting warmed up for Title 24, Act II.

I heard about this the other day. Sometimes I hate living in CA! The GD liberal politicians here seem to forget about things like constitutional rights, and just want government to control everything. Add to that the personal taxes, property taxes, and small business taxes, and it is about all I can take. I just paid the permitting fees for our new house this week, and shelled out $30k for "school impact fees". It's good to know that my kids are getting a "free" education! Do I sound bitter.

Anyway, getting off of my soapbox, I agree with Mike. Unless they are sending people house-to-house, how would they enforce this. Also, who the heck is gound to pay for the thermostats for every single house. Probably only the homeowners....again!

 

[IVB]

It'll never happen. Even if they "enforce" it, all we need is some enterprising person to create a dummy device that sits in front of your real thermo, accepting whatever command comes in and giving a false "yeah, ok, i'll get right on that" response

 

[Digger]

The Long Island Power Authority has had these for about 10 years although I dont remember seeing them promote them anymore. They were installed for free and they offered a rebate to those that lowered their summer usage compared to the previous year.

My parents had one installed in their house. It basically turned out to be a free programable thermostat. Probably only remotely controlled once or twice a summer for a few hours.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

HAI has a new thermostat coming out that they were showing at CES with capability of getting information from new utility power meters (some with a zigbee interface) as well as power company control so they can set back your thermostat in the event of extreme power loads.

I'll be doing a review of this soon.

 

[Herdfan]

Should not be an issue unless CA decides to send enforcement officers door to door to check up on you in which case it would be long past time to move to a different state anyway.

It seems to me that it would be similar to Title 24 enforcement, ie all new construction/remodels must have them. If that is the case, then a large majority are going to do nothing about it. Sure there will be some who are so disgusted by it that they will rip it out and repalce it with another, but most won't.

As for enforcement, not living in CA (thank God), isn't there something in Title 24 that requires home affected by it to be up to code when sold?

 

[IVB]

No chance does a home have to be fully up to code when sold, my hellish life implementing HA is testament to that.

 

[Sacedog]

The Long Island Power Authority has had these for about 10 years although I dont remember seeing them promote them anymore. They were installed for free and they offered a rebate to those that lowered their summer usage compared to the previous year.

My parents had one installed in their house. It basically turned out to be a free programable thermostat. Probably only remotely controlled once or twice a summer for a few hours.

We actually have that system with my local power co, where they can turn off your A/C during peak energy usage periods. The difference with that is that it is voluntary, where at the Title 24 law would be manditotry.

 

[Sacedog]

Should not be an issue unless CA decides to send enforcement officers door to door to check up on you in which case it would be long past time to move to a different state anyway.

It seems to me that it would be similar to Title 24 enforcement, ie all new construction/remodels must have them. If that is the case, then a large majority are going to do nothing about it. Sure there will be some who are so disgusted by it that they will rip it out and repalce it with another, but most won't.

As for enforcement, not living in CA (thank God), isn't there something in Title 24 that requires home affected by it to be up to code when sold?

Not when sold. Title 24 is enforced when building a new house, or doing any type of major remodel.

 

[brotsten]

I just paid the permitting fees for our new house this week, and shelled out $30k for "school impact fees

Wow, that bites. Ours are $5000 and we complain alot about that price.

Brian

 

[AnthonyZ]

That is sheer insanity. Rather than offer incentives (and I mean real incentives) to voluntarily make the changes, they want to, ultimately, spend more on creating invasive procedures, rules, equipment, etc. The state should not have the right to "come in" as they see fit. The people of CA would be better served by offers of free standard programmables for low income residents and substantial incentives for those in a position to purchase, say a Prolifix (SP?) IP enabled stat. HA owners are already leading the charge with conservation of both energy and water and if they can show a savings should recieve a break of some sort (whether it comes from PG&E or the state). Just another reason to ultimately get off the grid in my opinion.

 

[Sacedog]

I just paid the permitting fees for our new house this week, and shelled out $30k for "school impact fees

Wow, that bites. Ours are $5000 and we complain alot about that price.

Brian

Once again, it's the politicians who ultimately caused this problem. They saw that they could take money from schools for other projects, and put the burden of paying for the education system through School Impact Fees, Mello Roos property taxes (designed specifically for supplementing schools...by the way, that is an ongoing tax, paid with my property tax, of $1,440 per year), and bonds that are way too easy for voters to pass in this state. All of the voters see a measure on the ballot, that will help out the schools, and they almost automatically vote it into law, without even looking to see with the fiscal impact will be. Dang, on my soap box again. :lol:

Hopefully the changes to title 24 will only be for new construction, and major renovation, as it is now. Even so, it still does not seem right for the power company to be able to control our standard of living. If I want to run my A/C in the summer, and pay for the electricity that it consumes, I should be able to do so. Yes, I know, how unenvironmental of me. :huh: I just think that while they have good intentions, they go about it the wrong way. Take for example the current title 24 regs; all lighting in new construction will be flourscent by 2010. Ummmm, do they not understand how much worse a flourscent bulb is in a landfill, over an incadescent?

 

[Michael McSharry]

I built a house in Washington State not too long ago and did have about $10K in permit fees of which $3K was for school impact. Is it now that we have "no kid left behind" that requires a 10X increase in revenue to support it?