I think it's better to have the power usage spread out. Imagine what would happen if all the laundry equipment in a community kicked on at
3:00am. Guys I know who work for the city water department tell me that when something like The Super Bowl or big college game is being broadcast, they can tell when the commercials come on because there will be a drop in water pressure.TDD
I remember my parents used to have their old "electro-mechanical" washer on a timer so it'd come on at night when the rates were lower. Then they replaced it a few years ago with an expensive new all-electronic one - which would just sit there dumbly when the power came on...
That is the downside, yes (my parents' one was in a utility room right at the opposite corner of the house from where they slept)
cheers
Jules
I ran into that with a window A/C unit. During the summer I now leave the window unit on high, but put a timer in series with the temperature sensor.
Maybe you can put a timer in series with the washer lid safety switch?
Right, special off-peak rates have been available here in Germany for ages too. I used such a plan in my previous flat as well, where a storage heater
Nothing bad about that actually, as it allowed for the utility companies to get rid of their excess capacities at night, and for the owner of a storage heater to get (relatively) cheap electronic heat. What would be possible under the umbrella term of "smart grid" goes so much further than this, however, that I'm not sure if I'd really like to see things go that extra mile. What we could see now are really constantly changing, unpredictable prices - just like gas prices. Not completely impossible (though requiring more new technology than just a smart meter) would even be scenarios where more money gets charged for certain kinds of devices. Probably I'm just being a bit pessimistic here, but if it can be done (and if someone can make more money with it), it probably will be done.
Let me add that Germany originally decided to shut down all of its nuclear power plants by 2021 - without having a definitive answer where our electricity is supposed to come from then. Our new government (in office since the end of October) revised this decision a little bit and plans to keep at least some of the nuclear power plants in service for longer, but there are still no plans to build new ones, even though they would actually be safer and more efficient. Well, well...
Greetings, Nils
You can always buy nuclear power from France.
TDD
All of this leads back to the fact that we do not have any good storage technology for electricity. If we had good batteries, electric vehicles would be practical, not just a toy for people who have money to waste and little distance to travel, and we would have the ability to have home power systems that could charge at an even rate and provide for our peak power use locally giving a steady load to the grid.
You must live in a strange place.
I'm in Houston and all municipal water is gravity fed - that is, the pressure is determined by the height of the water towers. There is no way for any central location to know directly what the water pressure is anywhere in the city.
Birmingham is a very strange place sometimes. Da mayor, La La Larry just got hisself sent away to da federal big house. It's can so entertaining 'round here.
TDD
Ahh, theirs was a front-loader (otherwise that would be a very neat idea!)
There's probably still all sorts of safety switches in there that could be tapped into, but it wouldn't surprise me for a front-loader if the controller's not designed to flag an error condition and just halt if the system detects a door open condition when the machine's "running" (after all at that point it probably thinks the room's flooded :-)
cheers
Jules
I would think that if they know the pressure at one place, depending on the elevation they should know what it is everywhere. The exception being if there is a large demand in one area and not elsewhere, then they would have a drop in pressure due to restrictions in the pipes.
Okay, smartypants, top this: Houston just elected a lesbian as mayor.
Instead of condoms being passed out in schools, they're gonna start giving away dental dams.
That could happen. Last year, my power went out. After fussing a bit, I stepped outside. There were FORTY TWO pieces of FIRE EQUIPMENT* in front of my house dealing with an apartment house fire across the street. My neighbor, who was trying to get home, circled the neighborhood looking for a way in. She said that every time she got within about three blocks of the fire, she spotted a pumper hooked up to a fire plug - we guessed wainting for a call for more water.
Anyway, with all that commotion I didn't notice a drop in water pressure. I do have, however, a humongous water tower about two blocks from me (and the apartment house), so I guess if the fire was at the end of the service run, there might be a drop-off.
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Well, I've heard that every thing is bigger in Texas. *snicker*
TDD
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