Google DEMAND MANAGEMENT, the link above outlines the beginning of the trial, the jist of it is copied below.
4.3.3.1 Direct Load Control Phase I
This trial which was completed in March 2006
19 was reported in some detail in Interim
Report No 1. It sought to:
•
determine customer perception of change in comfort levels resulting from the
remote management of domestic air conditioners;
•
determine the impact on aggregate demand for the sites in the trial;
•
gain experience in the installation and operation of proprietary technology;
•
test the performance of selected control technology; and
•
gain experience in quantification, metrics and verification.
A sample size of 20 customers was selected from a pool of 50 customers in the
Adelaide metropolitan area that represented a cross section of the community in
terms of: house type; age of house; occupants’ lifestyle; metropolitan geographic
location and size and type of air conditioner.
The results of the trial confirmed that external control of air conditioners had taken
place and that customers felt no perceptible reduction in comfort levels.
In terms of aggregate demand, the trial confirmed that forced cycling of airconditioner
compressors reduced aggregate demand in the sample group by about
17% from a peak of approximately 30 kW. Also ETSA Utilities gained useful experience,
albeit on a limited scale of: roll out of controllers; control cycle times; customer
behaviour; communications reliability and management and storage of metered
data.
These important learnings were used to inform the larger scale Phase II & III trials.