Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utcsrgv.UUCP Path: utzoo!utcsrgv!hogg From: hogg@utcsrgv.UUCP (John Hogg) Newsgroups: net.misc Subject: Re: Why don't thermostats work? Message-ID: <3247@utcsrgv.UUCP> Date: Wed, 8-Feb-84 10:54:31 EST Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.3247 Posted: Wed Feb 8 10:54:31 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 8-Feb-84 21:56:15 EST References: <877@ihuxl.UUCP> Organization: CSRG, University of Toronto Lines: 20 The response from the Great White North is that thermostats tend to be very crude in design and poorly positioned. If a thermostat is placed above or close to a radiator (the worst culprits are electric radiators with integral thermostats) then it must be set high, since it thinks the room is warmer than it actually is. Thus, as the outside temperature goes down and the heating system must stay on longer to compensate, the thermostat lives in its own warm little corner, and the rest of the house freezes. Or to rephrase, the temperature gradient between the radiator and the outside wall increases, and as the thermostat lives near the former, the actual living-space temperature drops. You can get the reverse effect by putting the thermostat on an outside wall or in a drafty hall. As the outside temperature falls, the thermostat gets hit by cold blasts and over-responds, cooking the rest of the house. Problems of this sort will be amplified by poor insulation. If your heating system can't keep the house at a reasonable temperature when it's only -10F outside, then either its main component is a large candle or you should seriously investigate the price of weatherstripping... -- {allegra,cornell,decvax,ihnp4,linus,utzoo}!utcsrgv!hogg