Why Utah Homes Should Use Solar with Smart Thermostats

On average, Nest determined that they save their customers between 131 and 145 dollars per year.

Getting a smart thermostat for a Utah residence with solar will save you even more money. Smart Thermostats are typically between $200 and $300 dollars.

You could easily recoup the cost in a couple years and continue to save for years to come. With rebates from Dominion Energy and Rocky Mountain Power, you have the potential to save even more.

Rocky Mountain Power Smart Thermostat Instant Rebate

Rocky Mountain Power is giving a 50 dollar rebate for select smart thermostats. All their approved thermostats are Energy Star certified.

How to Get the Rebate

To obtain this rebate you need to first verify that you are a Rocky Mountain Power Customer. You also need to either have central air conditioning or electric heating. Once you have confirmed these two things, they will give you a code that you can use on your desired thermostat.  If the manufacturer has other deals going on at the same time you can also combine these offers.

Eligible Rebate Products

There are four smart thermostats that have Rocky Mountain Power approval. By taking a closer look at each option you will be able to see which one is the best fit for you.

Nest Thermostat E

The Nest Thermostat E  allows you to create a simple temperature schedule. This can then be adjusted whenever on the app. You can also change your thermostat to nest leaf temperatures to save you even more money. It uses your phone location to determine when you have left the home. When you leave it changes the temperature of the home to an environmentally-friendly setting so you aren’t wasting it.

Nest Learning Thermostat

Nest Learning Thermostats will program themselves after you have used it for a week. Like the E this thermostat also gives you all the same options that the app allows you to utilize. It also allows you to see the weather and is compatible with more heating and cooling systems.

Ecobee 4

The ecobee4 comes with a room sensor and a built-in Alexa voice service from Amazon. The room sensor allows you to adjust your temperature setting for a specific room.

The Ecobee 4 also comes with an app that allows you to control your thermostat from anywhere. When it senses that you aren’t home it will change the setting to a temperature that will save you money.

Ecobee3 Lite

Unlike the Ecobee4  the 3 lite doesn’t come with room sensors or a built-in Alexa. You can, however, connect the 3 lite to most voice services systems. Most of the app services on the ecobee3 lite are the same as the ecobee4.

Dominion Smart Thermostat Rebate

Dominion is also offering 50 dollar rebates to approved smart thermostats. All of the approved thermostats have met specific requirements. These qualifications include occupancy sensors, Wi-Fi enabled and, programmable. They all also have either an online dashboard, mobile app, or both.

How the Rebate Works

Because this is a rebate, you also need to show proof that you purchased and installed a qualified system. To acquire this rebate, you need to be a Dominion customer with an active meter. You must give them a copy of your most recent Dominion power bill.

This is to verify that you have the primary gas heating on the GS rate schedule. If you are a property owner not on the Dominion account, you also need to fill out a property owner addendum.  As further proof, you will also need to send a copy of your current property tax records.

What You can Use the Rebate On

Dominion has a couple of options that are the same as Rocky Mountain Power. There are however several other options that Rocky Mountain Power didn’t include.

Nest Thermostats And Ecobee 4

Both of the nest thermostats are on Dominion’s qualified list. The ecobee 4 also is on this list.  The Ecobee3 lite, however, is not included on Dominions list.

Ecobee 3

The ecobee3 is basically the same as the Ecobee 3 lite except it comes with a room sensor. The problem is that as of July 2018 the ecobee website sold out of the ecobee 3. Although you can still buy it you will be paying more for it.

Carrier

There are two carrier thermostats that have been Dominion approved. These models include the TP-WEM01-A and the SYSTXCCITC01-B.

Both models have the same basic smart thermostat functions. They are both 7-day programmable touch and go systems. The main difference between the two is that the TP-WEM01-A is humidity sensing. The SYSTXCCTC01-B can control the temperature of up to 8 areas with added room sensors.

Bryant

Again Bryant has two thermostats that are comparable to the other approved thermostats. The first is the Model T6-WEM01-A and the second is the Model SYSTXBBECC01-B. You can only get Bryant and Carrier products through dealers in your area or online stores. Both Bryant and Carrier also are a bit more expensive than the other thermostats.

How Smart Thermostats and Residential Solar Can Help Utahans Save More

No matter which smart thermostat you choose, you will be saving on your energy bill. With solar, however, Utah is able to drastically compound the amount it can save on power bills month over month.

The ROI of Rooftop Solar in Utah in Relation to Smart Thermostats

Like most smart thermostats, solar has a pretty good return on investment.  Within the first couple years, you will start to see savings in comparison to your power electric bill. This is because you are now paying a fixed rate instead of an indefinite variable one, and with energy that you own, unlike coal-based power.

How Smart Thermostats and Utah Solar Work Together

With the combination of solar with a smart thermostat, however, your savings increase. Now while you are paying for solar you are also using less energy which means your solar array can work for you. If you have net metering, that means that you will get credited for the extra energy that is put on the grid. At the end of each month, these credits are used to offset energy that was used at night. If you have enough credits then you won’t owe anything for the energy you have taken off the grid. Wise energy use combined with energy from the sun will allow you to optimize your savings.