Monday, December 10, 2007

Crank Up Your Thermostat

For many years now, scammers have been telling us not to set our thermostats too high, because "Setting your thermostat higher doesn't make it get warmer any faster". Of course, we all (including the scammers) know this is a lie. Here's why: thermostats are often located in drafty hallways. When the heat turns on, these hallways get warm quickly (convection heating), and the thermostat turns off EVEN THOUGH THE REST OF THE HOUSE REMAINS COLD. Of course, the overheated hallway's heat eventually passes (via much slower conduction) to the rest of the house, at which point the heat finally turns on again. This process repeats, but the house is heated much slower than if you'd just cranked the thermostat to begin with. This winter, crank your thermostat to keep your house warm. And maybe crank it just a couple of extra degrees just to show the scammers that their stupid little lie never worked.

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