How to Save Money EVERY Summer by #SuperCooling

We have homeowners all over the state, especially during the summer time, who want to know how to beat their summer cooling bill. How can I get my cooling bill for next to nothing??

By the time folks give us a call, sometimes they have spent 10s of thousands of dollars on new windows, new insulation, and other expensive home upgrades that may not make as big of a dent in their bill as the FREE money saving options. Those mentioned upgrades can be great for your home, but why not try the free option first and see a return on investment.

According to Steve Koepp of Advanced Home Systems, “the most important thing is rate selection. Most people are aware there are time of use rates. It’s the most economical rates out there and should be embraced. The cost on these plans are substantially less. On peak times will differ from utility to utility; for example, APS on peak is 3:00PM – 8:00PM where SRP is from 1:00PM – 8:00PM.”

Koepp goes on to tell us that with the time of use rates, “85% of the time [utilities] are selling you power at a cost that goes back to the 1970s”. The idea is to shift your focus from how hot I can keep the house until I’m uncomfortable, to how cold I can keep the house till I’m uncomfortable.

This practice can seem a bit counterintuitive, especially since you hear your air conditioner running consistently to accomplish the Supercooling of your home. However, the fact is you’re buying power at 85% below the going rate. 24 cents is the standard on peak kilowatt per hour cost. Off peak through SRP is as low as 3.9 cents. Meaning you can buy the same amount of electricity for 3 cents or for 24 cents.

Rosie says it best: “If the gas station is going to sell gas for $3.00 a gallon between 8PM through 3PM the next day and between 3PM-8PM they are going to sell it for $25 per gallon – when are you going to buy gas??”

During the summer, the bill goes up because of the cooling cost. “If you let the [air conditioning] run at 3 cents per kilowatt instead of 24 cents per kilowatt, it can run 8X longer for the same amount of money!” says Rosie.

How To Supercool

If you are looking to Supercool your home, the best practice follows:

Turn your AC down as low as you can stand it (68-74 degrees) during your off peak hours. This will cool your whole house down to the studs. It will cool the walls, the clothing in your closets, and the carpet under the couch! That way when your off peak hours are over, that cooling will last and carry you through your on peak hours.
Turn your AC up as high as you can stand it (78-85 degrees) during your on peak hours. This will allow your AC to shut off and save money during the most expensive time of day. The coolness you built up during your off peak hours should last you well into the evening before your AC needs to cool you down again.

During the on peak time, try your best to not run other appliance, heat up the house by cooking, or leave doors open for extended periods of time. Lock in that cool air!

Other features of your house should be on off/on peak timers as well such as your pool pump, water heater, and other major energy consuming items.

Depending on efficiency of your unit(s), quality of your home’s construction, etc. Supercooling should reduce your summer cooling bills by about 20-25%. AND YOU’LL BE MORE COMFORTABLE! You can’t beat that!

We feel the most efficient means of accomplishing this time of use purchasing strategy is with an Advanced Home Systems Energy Management Computer – it does all the thinking for you automatically.

Real results from our listeners who saved by trying this method:

Homeowner Example 1:

68 was the low setting and 82 was the high setting. After seeing the results, this homeowner invested in a programmable thermostat.

Month	OffPeak*	OnPeak*	Total*	Bill
July 2013	1825	736	2561	$378.82
July 2014	2317	150	2467	$253.11

*Numbers represent KW/H

This homeowner went from consuming 71% of his power off peak to consuming 94% of his power off peak (that is beyond excellent, we try to get people to a ratio of about 85/15). This resulted in a 33% reduction in his bill, while only dropping his total demand by less than 4%. This isn’t about purchasing less power, it’s about being smart as to when you buy the power you want. Using this tactic, you should be able to get your total price per kw to under 10 cents!

Homeowner Example 2:

View Electricity Bills

Off Peak Temperature: “Varies on time of day due to the wife”

- - 8pm to 6am I dump down to 68 degrees
  - 6am to 11am I let it hit 71 because my “wife gets angry in the morning when it’s cold and has to get ready for work.”
  - 11am to 3pm dump it to 68.

On Peak Temperature:

- - 3:00PM – 8:PM allow the temperature to rise to 82 degrees

Month	Off Peak*	On Peak*	Total*	Bill
July 2018	2023	109	2132	$307.89
July 2019	2265	101	2366	$180.98

*Numbers represent KW/H

Homeowner Example 3:

Tucson resident Glenn H. reached out to share his experience with Tucson Electric Power (TEP) and Super Cooling:

“After listening to your show, I finally decided to try one of TEP’s time-of-use plans. Prior to switching over, I was being charged 14.2 cents/kWh for my total bill.”

“After switching over to their “Demand TOU” plan, my most recent bill (July) was only 8.8 cents/kWh, a 38% reduction in my bill!!! My off-peak use was 97%, while my on-peak use was only 3%. Thanks so much for convincing me to switch over!”

If you are looking for the experts in the industry, Advanced Home Systems can be reached here.

PODCAST

Rosie talks with Steve Koepp of Advanced Home Systems, INC. about reducing your summer energy bills by knowing on and off peak rates.

Testimonials

Woo hoo! Thank you @RosieontheHouse and @KTAR923 for encouraging pre-cooling. We are on month #3 and our @apsFYI bill continues to go DOWN- even going into the hot summer. Lower bills, cooler house, helping to use more solar in the middle of the day=#winning pic.twitter.com/HbBO7DrNNG
— Suzanne Trevino (@trevino_suz) June 7, 2019