In episode 88 of the #AskDerekCole Show, host Derek Cole answers two homeowner questions about summer energy use. First, he explains why he would not enroll in a utility‑offered load‑management program that lets the utility remotely shut off an air‑conditioner for a small annual fee. He argues the $30‑$32 cost is not worth the loss of comfort, the risk of indoor humidity buildup, and the potential for compressor damage when the device cuts power while the unit is in a mid‑stage cycle. Second, he offers practical, low‑cost ways to keep energy bills down without raising the thermostat: unplug “power vampires,” avoid running heat‑generating appliances (washer, dryer, stove) during peak heat, employ passive cooling by closing shades and doors, and schedule laundry for cooler times or use outdoor clotheslines. Throughout, his tone is conversational and advisory, with a skeptical stance toward utility load‑management schemes and a helpful, pragmatic attitude toward everyday energy‑saving actions.
Questions this video answers
No. Derek advises against it because the $30‑$32 annual fee trades comfort for a small savings, can lead to indoor humidity issues, and may damage multi‑stage compressors when the device cuts power mid‑cycle.
Unplug idle devices (power vampires), avoid running washer, dryer, or stove during peak heat, close shades and doors for passive cooling, keep thermostat moderate, and schedule laundry for cooler times or use outdoor clotheslines.
Chapters
Hey, on this episode we talk about load management system for your AC unit and how can I save energy even though I don't want to turn my temperature down. You ask your comfort and energy questions and they get answered. This is the Ask Derrick Cole Show. Hey, this is Derrick Cole. Welcome to episode 88 of the Ask Derrick Cole Show, answering your home and energy questions. And we're coming off a very hot week. We're kind of recouping, slowing down a little bit, but it's fine. I mean, I would rather be 100 degrees, but we all can't have what we want.
Should I sign up for the load management program with my energy company?
Since this is the Ask Derrick Cole Show, I'm going to give you my opinion. I would never sign up for this program. My energy company offers it to me and I say no, because for $32 a year, they now have control to turn my power off and my AC off. I'm sorry, my AC, not my power. My AC off whenever they feel like it. So last week it was 101 degrees and they could turn my power off or my AC off at 2 PM and leave it off for— I think the contract says like, you know, within 18 hours they can go more than 10 hours. What? You realize how warm my house gets when it's 100 degrees outside and my AC is off? So no. The reason they offer you that program is because in the summertime I Obviously everyone's running the AC, there's a lot of strain on the power grid, so they want to not use other power companies for power. So to save them from doing that, they offer you this program, say, hey, you can save $30 a year. You put this little device on your outdoor unit, we turn your AC off, leave your indoor fan running. Side note, which is not a good idea because around here we have about 70% humidity. So you don't want the inside fan to run with no AC, and they can control, okay, now we feel like turning it off, or we don't feel like turning it off. We do feel it's not worth it for $30. I'm not going to sacrifice my comfort, my family's comfort, and more importantly, when I get home at 5:30, 6:30 at night, I don't want my house to be 79, 80 degrees and I'm having to pull it down to 74 because the power has been off on my AC for the last 2 hours. So as you can probably tell, I have a very strong response to this question. I would, I would not do it. Now, a lot of people do it, and you know what, that, that's your call. It's your house, it's your home, it's your AC. What we've seen professionally here is that the individuals with the 2-speed or 2-stage compressors, when it's really hot outside, it's running the second stage. So for it to turn off efficiently, it needs to go down to first stage and then turn off. The problem with this device being on the unit is that it just cuts the power off. So you could be between one first stage and second stage, it doesn't matter. It's going to turn off and then we've had quite a bit of problems, malfunctions, compressor issues because it wasn't properly shut down. It was in the middle of stages. So that's a whole nother problem. But outside the comfort situation, I would not recommend you do that.
I'm worried my energy bill will be high with this hot weather. What can I do besides adjusting my temperature?
Simple things you can do. People, people don't understand, my wife and kids are one of them, that even though you're not charging your cell phone and it's plugged in, it is still pulling power. So unplug the things you're not using. Unplug them from the wall. It is what they call power stealers or power vampires. They're taking energy and they're, and they're not doing anything. They're just taking energy. So that's one thing I would do. It's very, very simple. You know, when it's 1, 2, 3 o'clock in the afternoon when it's really hot, or even 5 o'clock when you get home and it's still the end of the day where it's pretty warm, I would not run things like your washer and your dryer, things that, you know, if you cook on the stove, I would kind of hold it off or go outside and do it on the grill. You just don't want to add heat into the home that's already hot. So you're trying to cool the house down, but then you're cooking and you got a dryer going and you're just adding more problems onto what you're doing. Also, the shades. I know some people like to leave the front door open. So again, when it's really warm outside, you obviously want to shut that door. You want to close the shades. You know, on that sunny part of the house. You want to do as much as you can for your home to do that thing that's really called passive cooling, where you're just not letting the sun infiltrate the space when you don't need to. So those are little things you can do. Um, I'm not huge on, you know, setting your temperature way up when it's hot outside. I don't think that that's probably going to help you out because you're going to pull it back down when you get get home. So little things like that will add up. I mean, you do those little things and you think about, you know, the heat of the day on your house. So as much as you can do to not add to that situation, the better. So that makes sense. Yeah, I mean, when I came home from church, like a few Sundays ago, and I was like, Like 2 o'clock, I was like, yeah, we need to dry these clothes. It's like, whoa, no, do not dry the clothes, it's so hot outside. So I waited till sundown to do it.
I'll just hang them outside. Oh, they're gonna be dry in a minute. Pray that it doesn't rain while it's out there.
You're assuming we have outdoor hangers, and that's—
that's a European thing, they hang your clothes outside.
We used to do it when I was little. What was it? What do they call those? Clotheslines.
Clothespins.
Clotheslines. We used to have clotheslines outside.
How do they call it? That comes from somebody who has a dryer at home.
Yeah, we use a dryer now. So you want that fresh, clean smell on your clothes. It's called UV and ozone. That's what that's called outside. That's it? Yeah. All right, episode 88 of the #AskDerekCole Show. Be sure to hashtag your questions #AskDerekCole and we will get them on the show.
