During hot summer weekdays, when central air conditioners are running at their maximum, the demand for electricity is at its highest. These times are know as ‘peak demand’. If you have a central air conditioner (CAC), you can help the province to manage this peak demand by enrolling in peaksaver. It’s easy and it’s free! St. Thomas Energy will install a themrostat enabling your CAC to receive a signal that will cycle it down which may increase your home’s temperature by few degrees for a maximum of 4 hours. The adjustment will only occur Monday to Friday most likely between 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. and never on weekends or holidays.
Any residential and commercial (GS<50kW) customer of St. Thomas Energy with central air conditioning is eligible for the peaksaver program. You must be a homeowner in a single-family dwelling with central air conditioning (CAC), OR
You must be renting or leasing a single-family dwelling with CAC and have approval from your landlord to participate.
Once you are enrolled in peaksaver and the thermostat is installed at your home, it can be remotely activated by St. Thomas Energy to slightly reduce your CAC’s electricity demand automatically. This won’t sacrifice your control or the comfort of your home. Activations would only occur:
Most participants note that they do not even feel a change in the temperature of their home.
On weekdays (Monday through Friday), most likely between 10:00a.m. to 10:00p.m. from May 1 to September 30. Never on weekends or holidays.
For a maximum of ten activations during the summer and only for a total of four hours during any one activation. As an example; in 2008, the peaksaver program was activated only five times.
By participating in the program you’ll be joining over 120,000 other Ontarians who are doing their part to reduce the strain on the electricity system. At the same time, you are doing something important for your community and the environment. Once you’ve enrolled and had the device installed, we’ll be happy to recognize your participation with a $25 incentive.
It won’t cost you a thing and there are no ongoing maintenance costs. Plus it’s easy to enrol! As a ‘thank you' for enrolling and having the device installed, you’ll receive $25.
If for some reason you are not happy with the thermostat and you want it remove, please inform us. We will remove the thermostat at no cost to you. We will not reimburse any expense involved in removing your thermostat by yourself or by other contractor.
Absolutely! You’ll join the tens of thousands already participating in peaksaver and this will allow us to reduce the strain on the system during times of peak electricity demand. By joining you are making a significant contribution to conserving electricity and helping to improve your community and our environment.
When just two households participate in peaksaver, they can reduce enough electricity demand to meet the average electricity needs of one other household in Ontario during a time of peak demand.
We expect that the peaksaver program will reduce the strain on the electricity system during the summer on those occasionally hot summer days. This means there will be less need to purchase electricity from elsewhere and that saves everyone money by keeping electricity prices low.
You certainly can. If you don’t own the property, just get permission from the owner/landlord to have the thermostat installed.
If your home has a separate central air conditioning unit and you have an account with St. Thomas Energy, then you’re eligible to participate in the program.
This won’t sacrifice your control or the comfort of your home. When you give St. Thomas Energy a permission to send a signal to slightly adjust your CAC, you’re helping the electricity system during times of peak demand. When activated, your CAC will continue to cool your home, however, in half-hour timeframes your CAC will be adjusted on and off. For the first fifteen minutes it will continue to produce cool air and for the second fifteen minutes, the fan continues to run to circulate the cool air in your home.
These half-hour increments will last no longer than four hours at a time on any one day.
Most participants noted that they could not feel a difference in the temperature or comfort of their home when the activations occurred.
You can always opt out in advance of a specified date by contacting your participating electric utility.
The devices and installation are free and your participating electric utility is there to help you should you have any questions.
No because the technology takes this into account. The remotely-controlled devices reduce the electricity usage but don’t turn off your central air conditioner. As well, the central air conditioners participating in the program are adjusted at different times within each hour which also works to avoid a power surge.
Everyone can help reduce strain on the electricity system. There is a peaksaver program that is aimed at small businesses who use less than 50kW. peaksaver is targeted at homes and small business but there are many conservation programs for large commercial properties and industry as well.
The program is entirely voluntary. We're confident that people will find it to be an easy way to help reduce the strain on our electricity system and benefit communities and the environment.
Absolutely not. We will not have access to any other system in your house. If you choose to participate in peaksaver, St. Thomas Energy will only have access to the central air conditioning.
Yes. St. Thomas Energy prefers customers to be home during the installation of the thermostat. A form must be signed before the contractor leaves the house.
The installation will be done by qualified installers working on behalf of St. Thomas Energy. They are well trained and will carry appropriate liability insurance. We are not responsible for any damages with any appliances.
In periods where demand for electricity is very high, it becomes more likely that we will rely on gas and coal-fired plants to meet the shortfall. These plants release greenhouse gases and contribute to air pollution.
We are always looking for ways to help our customers and our province conserve electricity. Initiatives like peaksaver help everyone in the long run by reducing the strain on our electricity system. peaksaver will help to reduce the emissions caused by electricity generation.
You must have central air conditioning to participate.
The program will only be activated Monday to Friday most likely between noon to 6:00 p.m. and between May 1st and September 30th. If you would like to opt out on a particular date, please contact St. Thomas Energy and you will be able to opt out for a particular day. St. Thomas Energy will require some advanced notice.
Yes, if for whatever reason you are not happy, please contact St. Thomas Energy to speak to a representative. Please do not remove the thermostat by yourself. We will remove it at no expense to you. We are not going t o reimburse any expense that was involved in removing the thermostat by yourself or by other contractor.
No it will not be shut off. When you are enrolled in peaksaver slight adjustments are only made to your CAC. The only difference may be a very slight difference in temperature - most people won’t notice a change at all.
No, participating in the program is easy and requires no effort, time or investment.
Your questions are always welcomed. Questions about this program can be directed to St. Thomas Energy. Customers experiencing problems with the thermostat, please call our contractor at 519-633-5106.
No. As it stands now, the program is currently limited to customers with central air conditioning systems.
Although a high-efficiency system uses less electricity than an older or less efficient system, any and all electricity savings are helpful during times when the electricity system is strained.