![]() ![]() “The sort of more systemic change is, in fact, insulation. Swaths of structures in the US were built with cheap energy in mind: Why waste time and money sealing a house when you can just crank up the air conditioning? “We are in a world where we rely basically almost exclusively on air conditioning to cool wooden shacks,” says Wagner. This makes precooling less efficient-no point in switching on the AC before demand spikes if your house is just going to heat back up in an hour. Unfortunately, American homes often lack sufficient insulation to keep the heat out and the cool in. (This actually happened in Texas last summer, confusing customers who didn’t realize they’d opted in to such a program.) Another strategy, called precooling or preheating, encourages customers to turn on their AC units or heaters before peak demand so that their home reaches a comfortable temperature sooner and only has to be maintained later. ![]() With the proliferation of smart thermostats, utilities can also remotely turn down customers’ temperatures to reduce demand. ![]()
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