PECO Smart Saver Digital Cycling Unit - Watch Out For The Red Light!
As temperatures reached record levels on Friday PECO declared a “conservation event” under which customers who have enrolled in the Smart Saver A/C program had their central air compressor units turned off via a radio signal. According to PECO this remote compressor shut down should only last approximately 50% of the previous hours run time. Customers should experience little or no discomfort in the air conditioned space.
In theory this sounds great, however my experience and several other people that I have spoken to had a vastly different experience on Friday. Upon my arrival home on Friday afternoon the thermostat read 85 degrees and I knew there was something amiss as soon as I entered the house. The fan was running but the compressor was silent. A half hour later I called my HVAC service company and the first thing they asked was I enrolled in the Smart Saver program. I was informed that by checking the exterior control unit for a red light you will know if PECO has taken control of your unit. Sure enough the red light was illuminated. My next call was to PECO and after 30 minutes of waiting I was told that there was an event in progress which would be in effect until 7:30 PM.
When I came back inside the temperature had risen to 87 degrees and was surely going higher, and the upstairs was especially uncomfortable. Back outside to watch the lights at 7:30 I saw two short green lights, and then the red light went off, and the compressor came on!
I have no idea when the interior temperature returned to the 78 degrees that the thermostat was set to, but we did not sleep upstairs Friday evening, and I think I heard the air running full blast until 4:30 AM.
I do not think this long cooling recovery saved offset any energy saved during the shutdown, and I hope that during the next “conservation event” the system works as promoted. I will keep my fingers crossed during the next hot spell.
Update – Tuesday July 26
I did receive a return call from PECO on Monday evening regarding the issues encountered on Friday and the phone call I placed then. I was told there were isolated incidents of equipment problems with some customers.
A technician came out to my house today and checked the Smart Saver equipment and stated all was in working order. So I am dubious about the next “conservation event” and what will happen.
