Home & Garden
In California, It Pays To Go Green (Literally)
There's a free service that wants to reward you for turning off the lights and doing your laundry later. Here's everything you need to know.
Free money doesn't exist, but easy money sure does. In fact, if you live in California, there's a company called OhmConnect that'll actually pay you to turn off the lights or wait until the night to run the dishwasher. And if you have smart home devices, you can earn even more.
It sounds too good to be true, but how it works is actually pretty simple. When you and everyone else in town get home from work, turn on the lights and start using huge amounts of energy all at once, the power companies struggle to keep up. They'd rather pay you to unplug than have to start up an additional power plant to meet demand.
How You Actually Make Money
You could probably guess that Sunday nights are a hot time for everyone in the neighborhood to do laundry, watch TV and crank up the heat. You might not realize, though, that folks on your block are using tons of energy on weekday mornings, too. The power companies want to pay you to unplug during both of these so-called "peak usage" windows, and OhmConnect lets you know exactly when they are.
So when there's a window coming up where lots of people are expected to be using lots of energy, OhmConnect will give you a heads-up. And if you turn off your lights and power down during these "OhmHours," you'll be rewarded for the energy you didn't use.
The average OhmConnect user earns $350 a year, but there's the potential to earn even more — especially if you have smart home devices.
The Advantage of Smart Home Devices
If you already have a smart thermostat, smart plugs or a smart lighting system, pat yourself on the back. These devices are designed to conserve energy and save you money, and when you connect them to OhmConnect, they can save you even more.
How does that happen? Well, when an #OhmHour begins, your connected smart devices will automatically power down. You can override this at any point, but it's basically a super-easy, smart way for you to make some extra cash without having to lift a finger.
Get Started Saving Money
If you're a PG&E, SCE or SDG&E customer, you're eligible to sign up for OhmConnect and start saving today. Once your account is set up (it takes about two minutes), you'll be able to control your appliances from the platform's dashboard. And if you have smart devices, it's easy to connect them to OhmConnect so they automatically participate in #OhmHours. It's a win for your wallet and the world.
You can get rewarded with cash payments or be entered into a biweekly prize drawing if you conserve energy during what the company calls Prize #OhmHours. Past prizes have included:
- Costa Rica vacation getaways
- Target gift cards
- Concert tickets
- Disneyland trips
- Apple watches
- Home cleaning
- So much more
You have nothing to lose and so much green to gain. Sign up for OhmConnect today, and your bank account and the environment will thank you for many years to come.
Sources:
OhmConnect - How It Works
Smart Home Technology and OhmConnect
These Devices Mean You Can Crush Your #OhmHours Without Lifting A Finger
Smart Thermostats 101: All You Need To Know To Upgrade & Save On Your Energy Bill
Where's The Best Place To Put My Smart Plug?
Photo Credit: All images via Shutterstock
