Author Topic: Anyone recognize this gadget?  (Read 5485 times)

Prepube

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Anyone recognize this gadget?
« on: December 10, 2014, 12:06:17 AM »
my house was built in 1985, and I have no idea what this thing is, other than to show how many kilowatts we are using at any given time.  There's an alarm that goes off when we surpass certain use thresholds.  But what is it really for?  Any one seen this before?  This thing is in my kitchen.

deborah

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Re: Anyone recognize this gadget?
« Reply #1 on: December 10, 2014, 12:11:48 AM »
could it be related to this http://www.google.com.au/patents/US4176785

Prepube

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Re: Anyone recognize this gadget?
« Reply #2 on: December 10, 2014, 12:19:16 AM »
could it be related to this http://www.google.com.au/patents/US4176785
I have no idea.  That looks like a temperature controller/timer.  The readout on this thing is in kilowatts.  I like it because I can look at it to see what my house is using at any given moment, but I can't find any info on it in my internet searches.  Not sure these companies are still around and I am really curious what the intent of this thing was (and why the hell did they put it in the kitchen next to the oven?).

MDM

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Re: Anyone recognize this gadget?
« Reply #3 on: December 10, 2014, 12:37:24 AM »
You might try contacting folks at www.brayden.com.  They have both "mitec" and "econotrol" in their keyword index: http://cqcounter.com/site/brayden.com.html.

Good luck!

Prepube

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Re: Anyone recognize this gadget?
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2014, 07:59:02 PM »
Reply from Brayden:

"No we did not make that particular product but we made (and make) a similar product.  It is called a demand controller and is intended to control your electric heat, hot water and dryer element.  Presumably you have an all-electric home which is why it was installed in your home.  It works in conjunction with a special electric rate called the demand rate.  If you are here in Colorado and on Xcel Energy's system, the rate is called the RD rate, standing for residential demand.  The benefit to you is that if you control your peak demand, you can save 20-40% on you electric bills.

We have replaced numerous Mitec units over the years with our Model 9312A.  Please feel free to contact me if you have questions, would like to discuss replacing your unit or need additional information."

There you have it.  It's a demand controller.

MDM

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Re: Anyone recognize this gadget?
« Reply #5 on: December 10, 2014, 09:08:30 PM »
Interesting gadget - thanks for the follow-up.  Even more interesting is the possibility for a 20-40% reduction on electricity costs....

 

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