Lovers of governmental conspiracy theories will enjoy today’s story, as we look at what has been an on-going effort—for at least 10 years — by California and energy utilities to take control of your home’s thermostat and much more.

Only this is no theory. It’s for real, and we’ll tell you about in a moment, but first, picture yourself returning to the produce section at a supermarket the day after you purchased a five-pound bag of potatoes — for $1.79 — instead of the 10 pounds requested.

Today, the price at the same display — the same bags of potatoes — is $8.25. You ask the produce manager, “What’s going on? How can this be?” and her response is, “Well, we just got word that the next crop of potatoes months from now will be more expensive, so we are passing that cost on to you, now.”

That’s what we see with petroleum. Prices can change hourly, even though what is in the service station’s tanks today was paid for months ago, as most suppliers hedge their costs, and buy forward, while happily passing along those future prices to us, today. To most consumers, this practice stinks.

Beginning several years ago — over significant objections — Smart Meters were installed by energy utilities across the country. These devices allow charges to vary by time of day, sending information about a customer’s usage to the utility in real time. Rate plans are offered, so that it is possible to significantly reduce your bill by scheduling certain activities — running the dishwasher, or doing a load of laundry — at hours when prices are lower.

“And Smart Meters were nothing in comparison to what’s happening now,” Chatsworth, California-based Tony Albers, Product Manager at Venstar, Inc. told You and the Law.

Venstar is one of the largest U.S. makers of energy-saving smart thermostats with over 8 million sold in the North American market.

“Dennis, your readers need to be aware that if they are going to replace their home heating and air condition system, and the contractor files a building permit, then a new thermostat will likely be required,” Albers points out, adding, “But not just any thermostat.”

As he explained, “California’s Energy Commission is now requiring that thermostats are able to communicate back to the utility which could have the ability of raising or lowering the temperature setting to reduce the homeowner’s energy use.
You read correctly. Your utility could be able to raise the temperature in summer, or lower it in winter, saving energy, and something more.
However, things go well beyond being able to take over your thermostat. It will be more difficult to anticipate how much our energy bills will run, and we should expect to pay more, as Albers describes:

“Much like airlines which contract for jet fuel months out, locking in the price, utilities do the same thing, buying a year out, a certain amount at a set price. If a heat wave comes through, or winter is abnormally cold they need to purchase more energy on the open market, and must float with the price as it goes up and down.

“Utilities do not want to buy a year out. Their wish — granted by California — is to pass along real time pricing to the homeowner. So, you could be on a good rate plan, but if they are suddenly required to purchase more energy, up goes your bill,” he observes.

“To help the homeowner know consumption and cost, new thermostats must be able to display your current price level. If you are paying a 24 cents per KW and your price spikes to 50 cents, the thermostat can be programed to set itself back, and that’s a very good thing.”

Homeowners are legally able to avoid losing control of their thermostat by purchasing one online or from a home improvement store.

“The ability of a utility to take control of your temperature settings is something that has to enabled by the homeowner. It isn’t automatic. So, merely connecting a new thermostat does not allow the utility any access to it,” Albers underscores.

Three years ago this column reviewed programmable, smart, wifi thermostats produced by Venstar and Honeywell, finding both to be excellent products, and since that time we have realized significant energy savings. Many more are on the market today.

In our experience, having the ability from anywhere to adjust the thermostat has been a great convenience and a conversation piece as well. Do your research, watch user videos, and get ready to lower your energy bill.

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield and enjoys hearing from his readers. Contact Dennis Beaver.

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Should a non-custodial parent be allowed to remotely monitor the environment – temperature and humidity – inside the children’s home? Would a judge order the installation of an internet-connected thermostat, enabling, under certain conditions, the temperature to be raised or lowered?

We’ll have answers in a moment, but first, here’s an example of how being able to do those things proved to be critical to Larry Meadow’s 92-year-old mother-in-law, Virginia.

Larry and his wife reside in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, 1300 miles from Lakeland, Florida, where Virginia lives. In July 2016, on one of the warmest days of the year – with Central Florida’s usual high humidity — he was alerted to mom facing a significant health risk.

No one phoned him, yet he knew that unless something occurred immediately, she was facing a risk of dehydration and possibly heat stroke. The air-conditioning system had either been turned off, or failed, as her home’s temperature and humidity were rising at an alarming rate.

But how could he know this?

“We placed sensors in each room at mom’s house, which were connected to MyAcuRite Smart Home Monitoring network and was programmed to send an alert to our cell phones if:

1. Temperature or humidity in any room went beyond our defined comfort limits;

2. Other nearby weather-related hazards were actually occurring;

3. Weather alerts or forecasts mentioned a threat to life or property in her general area.”

After receiving the alert that the indoor temperature was well above 80, Larry next, “Looked at the app on my cell phone for her internet-connected thermostat, and seeing that it was turned off, I turned it back on.”

By knowing the environment in his mother-in-law’s home, combined with the ability to remotely access her thermostat, he prevented what could have been a tragedy.

“This was our first, very personal experience with the impact of a personal weather station on the health and safety of our own family,” he told You and the Law.

His comments were all the more interesting considering that Larry is Director of Platform Solutions at AcuRite.
“Mommy keeps it too hot in summer and we freeze in winter”

“After our divorce, my wife moved from Fairfield to Chicago with our four children, 3 to 15 years old. The kids have complained to me that in summer the house is over 85, horribly humid, but in winter, they have to wear coats and gloves while inside!,” “Elliott” said. 

“I pay spousal and child support, so she can pay the utility bills. She tells me, ‘I’m just being frugal and it’s none of your business.’ This is not healthy or fair to the kids. Would a court require the installation of an internet-connected thermostat allowing me to remotely monitor temperature, humidity, and make adjustments if conditions were outside what is usually considered as the comfort zone?” he asked.

Reasonable Request?

We ran this interesting question by two family law attorneys, Hanford-based Jeff Levinson, and my pal from Loyola Law School, Certified Family Law Specialist in Seal Beach, Glen Rabenn.

Both agreed that most courts would not issue such an order.

“Unless you can establish that the children’s health is at risk, courts will not issue an order regulating mom’s conduct as to heating and cooling,” Levinson points out, and cautions, “Children can be highly manipulative. Once seeing an opening, they will play parents off against each other, looking for ways to run the show.”

He recommends that dad, “Have the kids for the summer and tell them to bundle up, at home, in the winter. This issue does not require judicial intervention.”

Ask for a change in custody

Agreeing with Levinson, Rabenn finds that, “Unless you have real health issues or Children’s Protective Services involved, Family Court judges do not tell people how to live.

“I doubt a judge would grant the order, as it would amount to micro-managing what goes on at home. What if the kids say, ‘We are getting bad food.’ Judges do not want to virtually go inside homes and dictate how to live.

“Dennis, if your reader believes it is in the best interests of the children, he can ask a court for a change of custody, or alternatively, remote monitoring and ability to control the thermostat. That’s the more sound approach.

“Children exaggerate and manipulate. You can be sure about that. Kids will tell one thing to mom and another to dad as they think they know what their parents want to hear,” Rabenn concluded.

We will revisit personal weather stations in a future article, looking at who should not rely on them.

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield and enjoys hearing from his readers. Contact Dennis Beaver.

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I needed to be at our office at 7 in the morning one Monday when nighttime temperatures in the San Joaquin Valley fell to below freezing. The new thermostat which we were testing for this story was scheduled to give us 72 degrees by 8:30, with an “unoccupied” winter setting of 55 degrees Fahrenheit, high enough to keep interior pipes from freezing.

So, when I stepped inside, an hour and a half early, how cold do you think it was?

It wasn’t cold at all – it was a comfy 72.  But how could that be, as no one had been in the office all weekend long?

Using my computer from home the night before, I accessed our Wi-Fi enabled smart thermostat, changing the program; I could also have used an App on my Smart Phone.

But that’s the bling part of this new generation of smart, programmable thermostats.

The real value-and reason to upgrade-are the significant energy savings and added comfort these amazing, user-friendly devices bring.

For the past several weeks-at the request of “Eric,” a reader in McKinleyville, way up in California’s beautiful Pacific Northwest, we have been testing Consumer Reports top rated smart thermostats manufactured by Honeywell and Venstar, both home and commercial versions.

He asked, “In your opinion, does it make dollars and cents to change our old thermostat?”

Our answer is absolutely yes.

With one difference-a talking feature on Honeywell’s Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat with Voice Control, activated by saying Hello Thermostat and helpful for visual or mobility impaired users–both companies have products that are unbelievably easy to set up and use, will save you money, and ideal for any home-especially those with internet and Wi-Fi.

For anyone who thought that a thermostat was boring, then hang on to your utility bills, because now it’s easy to benefit from the energy saving features which programmable thermostats have had for years:

“But which a high percentage of people have never used.  In our experience, 90 percent of people have a setback thermostat, but only about 50 percent know how to use it.  Of those, perhaps 20 percent will use the energy-saving, programmable setback feature.

“Older folks are less likely to use programmable thermostats than younger, as are recent immigrants with limited language skills.  So, a thermostat that is self-instructing in the owner’s language would be so much easier,” Hanford-based Stephen Stout of Kennie’s Indoor Comfort Specialists, told You and the Law.

Walks you right through the programming

Prompts and engaging menus that walk you right through all the settings-such as time, temperature, days when you are away or when the home or office is unoccupied-are actually fun to set up and offer multiple languages. But these thermostats are also just beautiful, allowing vast choice of color and appearance changes to match any decor.

We spoke with Brad Paine – Director of Residential Product Marketing at Honeywell, and Tony Albers, Venstar’s Product Manager. Both pointed out what the ability to remotely control your thermostat means to the user who has internet and Wi-Fi.

“Remote access is awesome, it’s truly phenomenal,” Paine enthusiastically commented. “It is a feature that changes our industry dramatically, offering significant energy savings and greater comfort and control to users.”  Albers agrees, noting:

“There are many reasons why remotely monitoring and having the ability to adjust settings can be important.  Now, it is possible to be anywhere and see if your equipment is running when no one is there. If you will not be at home at the usual time, with an app, you can adjust the program and temperature, saving hours of run time, or as you did, tell the system to come on earlier than programmed.”

Do it yourself or professionally installed?

“If you can connect a computer router, then you should easily be able to install a smart thermostat,” Paine told us.  “But if not, then call a contractor,” he suggests.

While both companies have extremely easy to follow installations instructions, as our office staff are all thumbs, we used a licensed heating and air-conditioning contractor, and that can be a good idea for another reason.

“The advantage in having a professional do the installation,” Albers stressed, “is that it will be done correctly, and the features and simple programming will be explained. It is money well spent – and that investment will be recouped in energy savings.”

But there is more to energy savings than owning a smart thermostat, as you can still see insanely high bills while shortening the life of your entire heating and air-conditioning system. We are not exaggerating.

The key to avoiding expensive repairs lies in selecting the right filter and changing it on a set schedule.

And that’s our story, next time.

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield and enjoys hearing from his readers. Contact Dennis Beaver.

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