Installation manual

Table of Contents:
Introduction...................................................................................................................... 1
System Description
Control/Display Unit
How to Operate Your Demand Controller ......................................................................... 2
Features for Alpha, ES, and 9212 Controllers ................................................................. 3
Setting the Demand Limit ................................................................................................ 7
Hints for Maximum Savings
Load Shedding Sequence ................................................................................................ 8
Control of Clothes Dryer
Stove Test (Systems Test) ................................................................................................. 9
Load Control Strategies
Service of Heating/Air Conditioning, Water Heater and Clothes Dryer ....................... 10
If You Need Service
Residential Demand Controller Customer Service Program ......................................... 11
Charts & Tables .............................................................................................................. 12
What is a kilowatt (kW)?
For BHP, the demand limit and usage is measured by kilowatts (kW). One kW is equal
to 1,000 watts. For example, if you have ten 100-watt light bulbs on at one time, the
demand is 1,000 watts or 1 kW. If they remain on for one hour, the energy used is
one kilowatt-hour (kWh).
What is Demand?
For BHP, Demand is the rate at which electricity is used during a fteen-minute period.
As you turn on more lights, appliances, and electric heating equipment, you are increasing
your individual Demand (rate-of-use).
Most households have their maximum electricity use from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. This high
residential demand, multiplied by all the homes in the area, is what puts the squeeze
on Black Hills Power’s (BHP) generators. If BHP can encourage enough customers to cut
back on their maximum demand, it can limit the amount it must spend to meet an area’s
power requirements. The savings then can be passed on to customers who are helping by
reducing the maximum rate at which they used electricity.