Browsing articles tagged with "a/c - Licensed Electrician Robert Monk"

PECO Demand Response rebates for throttled central A/C

Apr 22, 2012   //   by Robert Monk   //   New in electricity..., Smart Energy Blog  //  1 Comment

Central A/C cost just came down for Philadelphians

. . . and participants could help bring down costs for everybody

With its new Smart A/C Saver program, PECO offers residential and business electric customers in its territory a $30/month account credit (up to the total energy bill for that month, during cooling months June-September) for allowing them to remotely cycle central A/C off during high-demand ‘conservation events’ that otherwise cost PECO a ton of money. The program is available to anyone who receives a PECO bill — including smart folks who have already switched to cleaner and cheaper alternative energy generation/transmission providers for energy generation services.

However: at least one customer (see comments at the end of this Lunch Break Blog post) claims they experienced prolonged, contract-breaching turn-off by PECO’s switching unit (DCU). Since the site appears to be composed of extreme libertarian perspectives, these complaints may have as much to do with politics as true experience.

Read more on PECO Smart AC(TM) demand response program options>>

Polarity matters in AC wiring

Apr 3, 2011   //   by Robert Monk   //   Electric 101 Blog, Reasons to do electrical right  //  5 Comments

AC polarity isn’t right, just because ‘it works’

Polarity in AC circuits doesn’t matter; until it does.

A common mistake of amateurs (and some experienced but untrained installers) is to assume that because house AC wiring is ‘alternating current’ moving alternately in two directions, the polarity of the circuit conductors has no significance. Most loads will in fact operate when wired backward (or connected to reversed-polarity receptacles), and the ‘it works’ test often is as far as some installers go in their understanding of proper installation.

Read on to learn the safety concerns with reversed polarity in AC wiring

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