what schedules are you running for Time of use rates and smart home energy automation?

[DunbanHero]

I’m trying to get smarter about peak rate hours with my home battery setup, but I’m struggling with the human side of it. I can automate a bunch of stuff, but if the house gets warm or someone loses hot water, I’m going to hear about it immediately.

A specific moment was last week when I scheduled the AC to back off during peak and it technically worked, but the living room got uncomfortable and everyone noticed. For people doing smart home energy management, what rules do you run to shift loads during peak without making the house feel like a science experiment?

 

[Alan]

My best rule is a comfort floor. Never let the house go past a temp range everyone agrees on. Then automate around that. Battery runs the peak window, HVAC shifts a bit earlier, and heavy loads are blocked during peak unless someone hits an override button. The override button is what keeps it from feeling like a science experiment.

 

[BigGrizzly]

I stopped trying to micromanage appliances. I let the battery cover peak hours and only shift the easy stuff like dishwasher and laundry to off peak. People don’t notice, and the bill still improves.