CORE Cool Credits FAQs

CORE Cool Credits reward you for being a bit more flexible with your smart thermostat schedule. As a participant, you help make energy more reliable and cost-effective for all CORE members. Plus, you’ll get a $25 enrollment bonus.

Here’s how it works: On extremely hot days, energy demand can spike so much that getting power to everyone who needs it can become inefficient and expensive. On days when we anticipate there will be a high demand for energy, CORE will schedule a Cool Credits event, during which we will shift some of your energy use out of the hours when demand is highest. We’ll do this by working with your thermostat to keep your home comfortable all day, while being a bit more flexible about when we cool it.

By tweaking your thermostat schedule so your air conditioning uses less energy during the most high-demand hours, and coordinating your energy use with thousands of others’, we can keep energy demand under control while keeping you comfortable.

By joining CORE Cool Credits, you’re helping us transform the energy system for the better, making energy more reliable and affordable. You’ll get rewards for being a member, including $25 for signing up, plus up to $25 for each season you participate. Participation is easy; all you have to do is program a thermostat schedule that keeps you comfortable, and we’ll take care of the rest!

Yes! If you have one of the following smart thermostats, you can join CORE Cool Credits and get rewarded.

ecobee

• ecobee3 lite
• ecobee3
• ecobee4
• ecobee Smart Thermostat with Voice Control
• ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium
• ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced
• ecobee Smart Thermostat The Essential

Honeywell Home

• Honeywell Home Wi-Fi 7-Day Programmable
• Honeywell Home Wi-Fi 7-Day Programmable Touchscreen
• Honeywell Home WiFi Smart Color (9000 Smart)
• Honeywell Home VisionPRO 8000 RedLINK
• Honeywell Home WiFi 9000 Color Touchscreen

Honeywell Total Connect Comfort

• Honeywell Home Wi-Fi 7-Day Programmable
• Honeywell Home Wi-Fi 7-Day Programmable Touchscreen
• Honeywell Home Wi-Fi Color Touchscreen Programmable Thermostat
• Honeywell Home 9000 Smart
• Honeywell Home VisionPRO 8000 RedLINK
• Honeywell Home WiFi 9000 Color Touchscreen

The smart thermostat must be used to control your air conditioner, heat pump or evaporative cooling system, and be connected to a reliable, always-on WiFi network.

If you don’t already have a qualifying smart thermostat, you can purchase an eligible model through a retailer of your choice.

ecobee

• ecobee3 lite
• ecobee3
• ecobee4
• ecobee Smart Thermostat with Voice Control
• ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium
• ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced
• ecobee Smart Thermostat The Essential

Honeywell Home

• Honeywell Home Wi-Fi 7-Day Programmable
• Honeywell Home Wi-Fi 7-Day Programmable Touchscreen
• Honeywell Home WiFi Smart Color (9000 Smart)
• Honeywell Home VisionPRO 8000 RedLINK
• Honeywell Home WiFi 9000 Color Touchscreen

Honeywell Total Connect Comfort

• Honeywell Home Wi-Fi 7-Day Programmable
• Honeywell Home Wi-Fi 7-Day Programmable Touchscreen
• Honeywell Home Wi-Fi Color Touchscreen Programmable Thermostat
• Honeywell Home 9000 Smart
• Honeywell Home VisionPRO 8000 RedLINK
• Honeywell Home WiFi 9000 Color Touchscreen

If you already have an eligible smart thermostat, you can receive a $25 credit for joining CORE Cool Credits.

You will also earn up to an additional $25 each CORE Cool Credits season, based on your participation in Cool Credits events:

• $5 credit if you participate in 25% to 49% of scheduled events
• $15 credit if you participate in 50% to 79% of scheduled events
• $25 credit if you participate in at least 80% of scheduled events

Your enrollment credit will be applied to your CORE bill. Your participation credits will be awarded at the end of each CORE Cool Credits season, and be applied to your CORE bill.

The CORE Cool Credits season runs from June 1 through Sept. 30.

Remember, even during the program season, we’ll adjust your thermostat program up to 25 times in the season. The rest of the time, your thermostat will run on your normal schedule, unless it is adjusted by you. We’ll always let you know ahead of time when a Cool Credits event is scheduled.

The goal of CORE Cool Credits is not necessarily to use less energy, but to shift when you use energy to hours when energy is less in demand. This energy shift lets us prioritize efficient-energy sources, and helps keep energy prices down for everyone.

However, installing and programming a smart thermostat can save you energy and money, compared to a standard thermostat or programmable thermostat. So if you don’t have a smart thermostat, or haven’t properly programmed yours, buying and programming one can improve your energy efficiency.

If you do not yet have a smart thermostat, purchase and install an eligible model.

If you already have an eligible smart thermostat, visit our CORE Cool Credits webpage to check your eligibility and sign up.

If you have an ecobee thermostat, CORE Cool Credits will work with the eco+ Community Energy Savings function on your thermostat to keep your home comfortable while shifting your energy use. When you first sign up for CORE Cool Credits, you’ll use the ecobee app to sign up through eco+. After you create your thermostat schedule, CORE Cool Credits will work together with eco+ to learn your preferences and keep you comfortable.

Visit our CORE Cool Credits ecobee page for more information.

To take part in CORE Cool Credits, you must have an eligible smart thermostat:

ecobee

• ecobee3 lite
• ecobee3
• ecobee4
• ecobee Smart Thermostat with Voice Control
• ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium
• ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced
• ecobee Smart Thermostat The Essential

Honeywell Home

• Honeywell Home Wi-Fi 7-Day Programmable
• Honeywell Home Wi-Fi 7-Day Programmable Touchscreen
• Honeywell Home WiFi Smart Color (9000 Smart)
• Honeywell Home VisionPRO 8000 RedLINK
• Honeywell Home WiFi 9000 Color Touchscreen

Honeywell Total Connect Comfort

• Honeywell Home Wi-Fi 7-Day Programmable
• Honeywell Home Wi-Fi 7-Day Programmable Touchscreen
• Honeywell Home Wi-Fi Color Touchscreen Programmable Thermostat
• Honeywell Home 9000 Smart
• Honeywell Home VisionPRO 8000 RedLINK
• Honeywell Home WiFi 9000 Color Touchscreen

The smart thermostat must be used to control your air conditioner, heat pump or evaporative cooling system, and be connected to a reliable, always-on WiFi network.

Don’t have a smart thermostat? Purchase one of the eligible models above from the retailer of your choice.

To join CORE Cool Credits, you must:

• Have an eligible smart thermostat connected to a reliable Wi-Fi network. [See the full list of eligible smart thermostats above.]
• Use your smart thermostat to control your air conditioner, heat pump or evaporative cooling system.
• Be a CORE residential member or commercial member with a single-phase service.

To set up your thermostat so that it’s eligible for the program, you must connect it to a reliable WiFi network and your air conditioning, heat pump or evaporative cooling system, then enroll via the CORE Cool Credits webpage.

A heat pump is a type of HVAC equipment that heats and cools your space by redistributing hot and cool air, rather than heating or cooling the air itself. Heat pumps are a very efficient and effective way of heating and cooling spaces. They’re often used to warm or cool down individual rooms, which allows you to turn down your central heating/cooling and reduce costs overall.

While conventional heating systems, like furnaces, are typically located inside the home and only produce heat, heat pump systems include a unit located outside of the home and can also be used for cooling. They also look very similar to an air conditioning unit.

Because heat pumps can look like air conditioners, here are some tips for telling them apart:

• An AC unit generally needs to be paired with a heating system. Try to locate a furnace or alternate system – e.g., oil, propane, boiler, etc. – in your home. If you can’t find another method of heating, you may have a heat pump.
• Set your thermostat to heat mode, and once you feel your home heating up, check to see if the outdoor unit is running. If it is, it’s a heat pump.
• Find the manufacturer name and model number on the outdoor unit and search the web for a product description of that model and more information.
• Check for a yellow EnergyGuide label on the outdoor unit and look for the words “heat pump.”
• Turn the power off to your system, then remove the thermostat display from its base. Check the wire terminal labeled O/B. If there’s a white wire or no wire, you likely have a conventional heating system instead of a heat pump.

Central air conditioning is a system that cools your home by distributing cooling throughout your home from a central unit using vents and ducts. An air conditioning unit that sits in your window, or a unit that is mounted on your wall or floor, is not central air conditioning.

Installing your smart thermostat can seem daunting, but don’t worry: there are plenty of resources to help!  Select the thermostat that you’re trying to install below, and we’ll connect you with how-to-videos and step-by-step instructions to get your thermostat up and running.

ecobee thermostats

ecobee3 lite thermostat

How-to Video

Step-by-step instructions

ecobee smart thermostats with voice control

How-to Video

Step-by-step instructions

Honeywell Home thermostats

All thermostats

Installation instructions

If your WiFi is offline, you’ll be unable to participate in a CORE Cool Credits event. The links below will help you troubleshoot so that you can participate in future events.

• ecobee: FAQ, Setup Guide, and Troubleshooting
• Honeywell Home: Honeywell Home troubleshooting and support

If you’re having trouble with your thermostat, or have questions about installation or use, contact your manufacturer’s customer support.

• ecobee Customer Support: (877) 932-6233
• Honeywell Home Customer Support: (800) 468-1502

Programming your thermostat isn’t just a time-saver; it is the best way to save money on your energy bills. Creating a schedule that keeps you comfortable also ensures that CORE Cool Credits’ adjustments keep you within a few degrees of those scheduled temperatures.

ecobee

You can create a schedule using the ecobee app or on the thermostat itself. Written step-by-step instructions are on the ecobee support page. If you prefer video instructions, check out ecobee’s instructional video on programming your thermostat.

Honeywell Home

To create a schedule on your Honeywell Home thermostat, visit the Honeywell Home Support Page and select “I need help programming my thermostat.” Select your Honeywell Home model to find instructions for your specific device.

Worried that it will get too hot during a CORE Cool Credits event? Our adjustments are based on your thermostat’s schedule, so your home should never be more than a few degrees off your normal temperatures. However, if you want to make certain your home will not rise above a certain temperature, you can program a max temperature on your thermostat.

ecobee

You can set your ecobee’s maximum and minimum temperatures by creating heating/cooling ranges in the preferences. By creating this range, you can prevent CORE Cool Credits from selecting temperatures outside of the range.

Step-by-step instructions for setting a heating/cooling range

An event is when we make your thermostat schedule a bit more flexible, slightly shifting when your cooling system runs. We do this on days when demand for energy spikes because lots of people are using energy at once, typically on hot days.

During an event, we cool your home before energy demand spikes, then run your cooling system a little less in the hours when demand is highest. We always make sure your home stays within a few degrees of your regularly programmed temperatures, so you should stay comfortable before, during and after an event.

We always notify you when an event is coming up, and we never adjust your thermostat on non-event days.

An event can be scheduled any day between June 1 and Sept. 30, including holidays and weekends. The frequency will depend on the weather and high energy demand days between June 1 and Sept. 30, but never more than 25 times during that window.

An event will typically last 4 hours, though we might cool your home before the event begins, in order to make sure you stay at a comfortable temperature all day.

After an event ends, your thermostat schedule goes back to normal, and we will not make any further adjustments until the next scheduled event.

We will notify you before an event starts to let you know it has been scheduled and when it will take place. During the event, your thermostat and mobile app will display a notification letting you know the event is taking place. The notification may vary depending on your thermostat brand. You’ll also receive an email following the event.

During an event, your thermostat schedule will stay within a few degrees of its usual settings, so if you have a thermostat schedule that accurately reflects your preferences, you shouldn’t become uncomfortable.

If you do feel too uncomfortable during an event, you are free to adjust your thermostat, though doing so will opt you out of that Cool Credits event.

Yes. You can un-enroll from CORE Cool Credits at any time by contacting us at (800) 332-9540 or EnergyPrograms@core.coop.

If you have any questions or comments, you can reach us at (800) 332-9540 or EnergyPrograms@core.coop.