Do you want your utility company to be able to control your refrigerator? The EPA does. The agency is pushing for the manufacture of fridges that can be controlled remotely by bureaucrats at the power company. Of course, this is all in the name of controlling the climate.

CNS News has the scoop:

Zitat

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has revised its Energy Star energy-efficiency requirements for residential refrigerators, and it is encouraging the inclusion of “connected” features that respond to utility signals to curb their energy consumption.

The EPA announced the new requirements on June 27. Included is the optional “smart-grid” connection for customers to electronically connect their refrigerator or freezer with a utility provider.

“The updated requirements raise the bar for energy efficiency in these products and, for the first time, encourage manufacturers of Energy Star appliances to include optional ‘connected’ features,” according to the EPA release.

The connection feature allow the utility provider to regulate the appliances’ power consumption, “including curtailing operations during more expensive peak demand times.”

Currently, consumers must give permission for their appliances to respond to utility signals.

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Read the whole thing, it’s more of the same old creepy big brother crap we’ve become so accustomed to. For now they say this is in a pilot stage, but for how long.

http://lonelyconservative.com/2013/07/ep...Conservative%29

I heard that this crap has been coming for some time. The best bet is to try to get yourself some good functional appliances without all of the "smart" crap on them and hope that you can still get parts for maintenance for as long as they are allowed to be sold. (Even better is to have a machinist as a friend in case you need a part (or part of a part) that you can't get any more.) I hope my "dumb" washer, dryer, and other appliances last longer than I do.

What's to stop me from sabotaging the signal?

Quote: Weird Tolkienish Figure wrote in post #3

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What's to stop me from sabotaging the signal?

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