I don’t know about you but my power company has recently introduced a program called peakSAVER, designed to help reduce the demands on the electricity system.

In this case, the power company visits your home and installs a peakSAVER switch on your central air conditioner, water heater, dryer or whatever other appliance you may see fit to include. During peak times, like hot summer days, a signal is sent to cycle your system off and on to reduce the amount of electricity needed in the area (in my case, the province). They say you won’t even notice a difference while you’re doing your part to conserve without any further time, effort or cost!

But why do it? Well, for the greater good, I guess. The peakSAVER program is designed to reduce the demand on the electrical system by approximately 1kilowatt per home. That’s the equivalent of turning off ten-100 watt light bulbs. Programs like peakSAVER help everyone in the long run by reducing the need to import electricity and reducing the pressures on our distribution system. And it’s totally green - peakSAVER will help to reduce the size of future generators, reduce the emissions caused by electricity generation and hopefully reduce the number of those smog days we are getting too accustomed to dealing with.

And how does it really work? During peak periods, the hydro company sends a signal to the unit in question to interrupt power to the appliance for a short time. Air conditioners are cycled off for 15 minutes out of every 30 minutes. Water heaters and pool pumps are turned off for the entire load management period - this time will not exceed 4 hours.

There is no cost to participate and there is no maintenance cost. Contact your power company if you want them to introduce their own peakSAVER program!