We're often asked if the Better Box is a Load Controller. It's NOT. The Better Box is, instead, the world's only Demand Automation Computer (DAC).

Both Load Controllers and DAC's are forms of demand management. The primary difference is that a Load Controller is "always turning things off." This is an experience homeowners quickly become frustrated with, to the point of discarding their Load Controller and their attempt at demand management with it (which is a shame since demand management on a Demand plan is their biggest opportunity to save on electricity). This frustration stems from the fact that a Load Controller involves setting a hard limit on how high your demand can be in a moment. So, if your target billable demand is 4kW, a Load Controller will never allow you, even for an instant, to exceed 4kW. This is an un-intelligent way to manage demand because this isn't how your utility bills demand on a Demand plan, which means such frustration is unnecessary. Your utility is instead interested in (and bills) your highest average demand in defined intervals within defined peak periods instead of billing you on your highest single moment of demand. So why would you buy a demand manager that doesn't know this and then grow frustrated because of it, possibly to the point of not even using it?

The Better Box Demand Automation Computer (DAC) by Demand Better, on the other hand, is aware of how your utility bills you for demand (kW) on their Demand plan: the highest average from a month of 30 minute peak windows in the case of SRP and the highest average from a month of 60 minute peak windows in the case of APS and TEP (to name three Arizona examples). It's able to maintain your target billable demand without frustrating you because how high your demand can be in a moment is decoupled from your (highest) average demand (although the two of course still have a relationship that Better Box manages). So, with demand automation, if your target average demand is 4kW you can still, for example, regularly hit four times that amount - 16kW - in your peak windows and still achieve your target billable average demand (kW). Consequently, if saving money without being frustrated to the point of no longer caring about saving money sounds appealing, the Better Box Demand Automation Computer is for you.

Impressively, the Better Box is also for you if you wish to save money while simultaneously being more comfortable (yet another advantage of demand automation), as described in our next section on "Comfort."