Peak Demand Management is an automated feature designed to help manage device behavior with the goal of keeping your total system consumption under a specified amount (peak demand "threshold"). It requires both an energy monitor as well as at least one controllable device.
Available Energy Monitors (to detect system usage):
Gen 2/Gen 1 - NOTE, only the 200A CT's on mains are required
Utility Connect
Available Connected/Controllable Devices:
EV Charger (on/off, charge rates adjustable)
Smart Plug (on/off)
Thermostats (temperature up/down)
How to get to Peak Demand Management functionality:
1.) Tap the Management icon/button at the bottom of the app and then select Peak Demand Management, second option from the top.
Connected Smart Devices:
On the Peak Demand Management settings page will be the list of "Connected Smart Devices" that can have their control functions automated through this feature. You'll want to ensure that any device that needs to be controlled this way has the toggle "enabled" (showing green) on the right hand side of the device name on the settings page. You can also tap/hold and drag on the 4 bars icon to the left of the device name on this screen to adjust the sort order. This sort order of the devices is important as it is the priority of how the devices will be controlled - with the top device having the highest priority of being on/available with the bottom listed device having the lowest priority. That means that the top device will be turned on first when possible and the last to be turned off.
Feature Behavior:
The energy monitor will continuously track total system usage (via the 200A CT's on Gen 2/Gen 1 or Utility Connect). Once that monitor detects you're getting close (or above) your set Peak Demand threshold, then we will turn off connected appliances via the "Connected Smart Devices" list available in the management settings. Whenever you're back under the Peak Demand threshold, then the connected appliances will be turned back on as long as your total system usage is below the specified amount.
An example might be this:
Imagine we have a Peak Demand threshold saved at 6.0kW. While under that amount, all of our Connected Devices should be on and operational. Once we start getting closer to 6.0kW as detected via total system usage, we'll then start turning off devices from the bottom of the list working upwards until we get to a point where we're under the Peak Demand threshold. Say our real-time total system consumption is 5.7kW and our Air Conditioner is running at 2.0kW (controlled with a Smart Plug). Our system usage then increases to 6.2kW, the Smart Plug will be turned off dropping our total system usage down to ~4.2kW. The Air Conditioner Smart Plug will then remain off until we get under 4.0kW of total system usage since adding another 2.0kW (Air Conditioner usage) would put us over the Peak Demand limit until we drop back underneath 4.0kW of system usage.
If you're having trouble getting the Peak Demand Management feature to work or have any questions about it at all, feel free to reach out to the Customer Support team for additional help.
Feedback and Suggestions
This knowledge base is pretty new for the Emporia team. Our goal is to provide all of the information we can to help you manage your energy in better ways. If this article wasn't helpful, or we could be more clarifying on any points please reach out to the Customer Support team and we'll certainly work to improve these guides.