{"id":787790,"date":"2026-07-08T07:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T07:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/787790\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T07:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T07:54:13","slug":"hydro-quebec-is-handing-out-free-smart-thermostats-with-installation-but-theres-a-catch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/787790\/","title":{"rendered":"Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec is handing out free smart thermostats (with installation) but there’s a catch"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’re looking for ways to trim your electricity bill, Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec<\/a> is currently giving away free smart thermostats, installation included. <\/p>\n

The idea behind the giveaway is to get people managing their power use more carefully, especially during the winter peak periods when demand across the province spikes. <\/p>\n

The giveaway is part of a roughly $10-billion energy-efficiency push Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec laid out in its plan for 2035<\/a>. Between now and then, the utility wants to hand out a million smart thermostats across Quebec.<\/p>\n

Here’s how it works, and what you’re signing up for.<\/p>\n

What a smart thermostat actually does<\/p>\n

A smart thermostat is the wall unit that controls the heating in your home or apartment. Unlike an old-school thermostat, it can be controlled remotely and will adjust your energy use automatically based on things like the weather. Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec estimates that people who use one save around $200 a year, or up to 20% on their electricity bill over the winter.<\/p>\n

How to get one<\/p>\n

To get the free Hilo-brand thermostats, you put in a request through Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec’s smart-home site.<\/p>\n

The devices themselves are free, and so is the installation. If you go with Hilo, the utility handles everything from ordering the unit to putting it on your wall.<\/p>\n

The catch<\/p>\n

Accepting the thermostats means committing to the Hilo program<\/a> for at least 12 months. As part of that, you’ll need to switch to the Flex D rate and cut back your electricity use during winter peak periods, mainly in the morning and evening. In exchange, Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec offers rewards to people who stick to the program’s conditions.<\/p>\n

The Flex D rate is a bit of a trade-off. For more than 95% of the winter, you actually pay less than the base rate. But during peak events, which make up at most 5% of the season, the rate jumps sharply.<\/p>\n

To put real numbers on it, the regular D rate sits at about 7.065 \u00a2\/kWh year-round. Flex D keeps that same price in summer, but drops to about 4.886 \u00a2\/kWh from December 1 to March 31 outside peak periods. During a peak event, though, the price climbs all the way to about 46.463 \u00a2\/kWh. So the rate rewards you for shifting your heavy usage, like laundry or cooking, away from those morning and evening windows, and penalizes you if you don’t.<\/p>\n

Do you have to use Hilo?<\/p>\n

No. Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec gives away the Hilo thermostat for free, but other compatible models are available on the market for a cost. The upside of going with Hilo is that the utility takes care of the whole process, from the order to the install.<\/p>\n

This article’s cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.<\/p>\n

This story was inspired by the article “Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec donne des thermostats intelligents GRATUITS et voici quoi faire<\/a>” which was originally published on Narcity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you’re looking for ways to trim your electricity bill, Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec is currently giving away free smart thermostats,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":787791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,101002,12695,12693,66],"class_list":["post-787790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-hydro-quebec","tag-montreal-news","tag-quebec-news","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=787790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/787791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=787790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=787790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=787790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}