It may seem hard to believe, but someday this war with winter is gonna end, and soon enough we'll be lulling ourselves to sleep by counting all the beads of sweat trickling down our glistening tramp stamps. Along with bitching about the heat, we will also be complaining about our electricity bills, but there is a way to minimize that with a FREE device that lets you remotely control the air conditioner thermostats and on/off scheduling of your window air conditioners from a smartphone or an Internet browser.
Eligible window air conditioner owners can request free installation via this coolNYC website. The program is a partnership between ThinkEco, a company that provides "energy efficiency solutions" for utility companies, and ConEd. Here's what it does, via the coolNYC website:
First, you can use the computer-based software to set a schedule for your air conditioner. For example, you may want your window air conditioner to turn on 30 minutes before you arrive home and then turn off shortly after you go to bed. Second, you can program a target temperature for your room using the smartAC thermostat. The thermostat will monitor your current room temperature and turn your window air conditioner on or off to maintain your target temperature. For example, you may want to make sure that the room isn't too uncomfortably hot for your pet during the day while you are at work. Together, these features of the modlet and smartAC make sure your home stays cool but that your window air conditioner is only on when you need it to be.
The offer has been going for four years now, and as an added incentive to lure more participants, ConEd is giving out a $25 thank you gift at the end of this summer in the form of an e-gift card.
During the summer months, air conditioners account for 20% of peak demand in the city. We'd love to know how much of that percentage is the result of retailers illegally blasting their cool air conditioning out on to city sidewalks like the world's their ashtray.
