Smart Thermostat Program

Call GCEC at (928) 485-2451 and ask to speak with the smart thermostat program manager, or fill out the contact form on our website.

You can unenroll from the program at any time by contacting GCEC. However, if you un-enroll within one year of your installation, you may be charged for the cost of the thermostat and installation.

A properly installed and configured ecobee smart thermostat has been shown to save up to 23% in heating and cooling costs during normal operation. Yet on days when adjustment events occur, more energy will be required to pre-cool or pre-heat your home and to return your home to its regularly scheduled set point after the adjustment event concludes. On event days, you may not save energy from having your thermostat adjusted.

Participation is 100% voluntary. If you choose to enroll, you have the ability to opt out of up to 35% of event hours in a year – participating in 65% of the total event hours – and still earn a $100 bill credit. For example, if GCEC has 10 events in one year, each for the maximum of four hours, that’s 40 total event hours, and a participant would need to have participated in at least 26 of those hours to earn the bill credit. You can opt out of one hour at a time or an entire four-hour event – the choice is yours. But because we can’t predict the weather a year in advance, we encourage our participants to keep track of their control hours throughout the year.

GCEC is looking for an opportunity to reduce electricity demand on days when it’s coldest or hottest because it helps keep its energy prices lower for all members.

Adjustment events may occur up to five times per month without exceeding 30 events per year. Up to two events may occur in the same week, possibly on successive days.

GCEC will email you the day before or the day of an event.

Adjustment events occur on high energy-demand days during winter or summer. Reducing electricity demand on these days helps to keep energy prices lower for all members.

GCEC-initiated adjustment events occur when GCEC adjusts your thermostat’s set point to curb demand on the electric grid. Adjustment events are four hours long. In the first hour, GCEC will pre-cool or pre-heat your home. In hours two through four, GCEC will incrementally increase or decrease your thermostat’s set point from its regularly scheduled setting. See the table above. Please note that GCEC will not turn off your thermostat at any time.

Right now, you can choose to receive an ecobee3 lite thermostat from GCEC and have it installed in place of your existing smart thermostat. However, GCEC may expand program enrollment in the future to members with existing smart thermostats, including certain models by ecobee, Honeywell, Emerson, and Nest.

GCEC is offering the ecobee3 lite thermostat, although other models may be offered in the future.

Please visit ecobee’s online support center or call ecobee support at (877) 932-6233. GCEC can adjust your thermostat during times of high energy demand only and cannot provide product support.

GCEC will cover the entire cost of the smart thermostat.

Your installation will depend on your contractor’s schedule.

You will receive a voucher for a new smart thermostat, including installation. Your contractor can come by and pick up the thermostat from GCEC and install it at your earliest convenience. After the installation, the vendor will turn the voucher into GCEC for payment.