Talk:Load control switch

Reality check.
or reduce power to the appliance during times of peak electrical demand.

This is simply not possible since the power mains provides Voltage not power. So, unless you have a smart grid enabled appliance, it is only possible to cut the RMS Voltage with a device similar to a light dimmer. This would work only on resistance heating devices. I note that if the device in question has a (electronic) power supply, that this would not reduce the power used since that power supply would respond by drawing more current.

I know of only one home appliance where this would work without modification of the device and that is a conventional electric water heater (tank with resistance heating elements). However, with a conventional electric water heater, it appears to me that a better alternative is to turn the bottom element off an on. Still, this is going to mean that the water isn't going to heat as fast -- slower recovery -- and customers really need a larger (tank capacity) water heater to cope with this.

Might I make a suggestion: you need Electrical (and other) Engineers to fact check energy articles.

Tyrerj (talk) 18:05, 2 January 2011 (UTC)