Don't touch my thermostat

From the Miami Herald-

Starting this fall in Broward County, customers can get a free thermostat from Florida Power & Light that can be programmed on the Internet.

Set the air conditioner at 82 degrees when leaving the house in the morning to save on electricity costs; then, before heading home at night, use the office computer to cool the house down to 78.

Your electric charges will go down -- perhaps substantially. And FPL will even install it in your house for free.

The catch: well, yes, a minor one. You will have to agree to let FPL occasionally control your AC for short periods, perhaps turning it off or down, to conserve energy during heavy demand.

Even when the utility controls the thermostat, however, customers have the ability to override the utility's remote control by calling a toll-free number.

I will absolutely not turn over control of my A/C to anyone. Saving a few bucks to have to sweat through a sweltering Florida day isn't worth it.

Rick at SOTP writes-

Umm, no thanks. I don't care how high tech this system is, I want full control over my air conditioning and I don't want to have to log on or, God forbid, call a toll free number in order to stay cool. Besides, my programmable thermostat does almost the exact same thing without giving FPL the ability to get their grubby little hands on the temperature control.

Some how I don't see many people signing up for this program. Try again FPL.

Linked to- Bright & Early, The World According to Carl,