POWER RANT

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CJRoss

Member
May 31, 2017
91
6
8
Ecobees require a C wire to run at all, either a real one or one through the PEK, so there's no battery to run out. @Patrick if the Nest operates your AC/heater fine and it just runs out of battery, your Nest may be bad, or you should just run a new C wire (which should be a lot cheaper than replacing the entire AC/heating system). Although I'm not sure if you've already tried that in your troubleshooting steps.
The Nest is the same. That's why I was asking about if it was a four wire system.
 

RyC

Active Member
Oct 17, 2013
359
88
28
The Nest is the same. That's why I was asking about if it was a four wire system.
The Nest does not technically require a C wire unlike Ecobee, but if it can't keep its battery charged, strange things happen, which is why a C wire is recommended if possible.
 

cheezehead

Active Member
Sep 23, 2012
723
175
43
Midwest, US
The Nest does not technically require a C wire unlike Ecobee, but if it can't keep its battery charged, strange things happen, which is why a C wire is recommended if possible.
If your Nest is going into a zone controller, even though the battery charges...just C wire it, most zone controllers have an amperage dip when the initial call commands are issued causing some furnaces & A/C units to periodically short-cycle. Honeywell panels are the most common with this issue but there are a few others as well.
 

hweisheimer

New Member
Dec 9, 2015
17
3
3
42
I log into my account, and the last 2 months were "estimated".

WHY/HOW do they estimate ? When we're on a SMART meter and they have the data to go by?
Are you in a remote-ish area? Although it seems odd, I think that even the power company smart meters transmit the data wirelessly to pole-mounted receivers. If signal strength is an issue, the utility might not get real time data. In a situation like that, the "smart" meter still makes it easier for them to collect the data (they can probably read it from the curb) and allows them to track the more interesting stuff (like looking for regularly occurring disconnect events when you bypass the meter for your grow op).
 

Dawg10

Associate
Dec 24, 2016
220
114
43
We're rural; our power is via the local "Rural Electrification Association" aka rich old-boy network... but that's another story. Something along the lines of a 66% majority of accounts is required to make big decisions, but meeting notices are mailed out the day before the meeting, so if you check your P.O. Box once a week you're SOL.

The meter is 100' from the road and gets read by a truck passing by once a month or so. The 'net says it's either 900 or 2.4GHz.
 

bitrot

Member
Aug 7, 2017
95
25
8
HAhaha listen to you all whinge. In South Australia, we have the most expensive energy costs in the world, yes we are stupid down here.
Hah...I challenge you on that claim, as over here in Germany, the “green revolution” has increased energy prices to ridiculous levels.

Some 2015 statistics on average energy cost world wide (which probably includes the industry that usually pays far less than Joe Public):

Electricity prices by country 2015 | Statista

I pay more than twice as much as the average FYI.
 

TType85

Active Member
Dec 22, 2014
630
193
43
Garden Grove, CA
Hah...I challenge you on that claim, as over here in Germany, the “green revolution” has increased energy prices to ridiculous levels.

Some 2015 statistics on average energy cost world wide (which probably includes the industry that usually pays far less than Joe Public):

Electricity prices by country 2015 | Statista

I pay more than twice as much as the average FYI.
Electricity here in Southern California is about 3x as much as the US average listed in those stats for us users that use a lot of electricity. With solar my costs are now down to around 20c/kwh which is a lot still compared to other parts of the US.

upload_2017-10-2_14-8-9.png

This is a beautiful thing to see.