[From Bruce Gregory (2003.12.27.1434)]
It occurred to me (while riding my bike, naturally) that most people
treat their heating systems as though the output of the furnace depends
on the magnitude of the error, i.e., when entering a cold room, they
set the thermostat well above room temperature to hasten the heating of
the room.
Bruce Gregory
"Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no
one was listening, everything must be said again."
Andre Gide
from [Marc Abrams (2003.12.27.1446)]
[From Bruce Gregory (2003.12.27.1434)]
It occurred to me (while riding my bike, naturally) that most people
treat their heating systems as though the output of the furnace depends
on the magnitude of the error, i.e., when entering a cold room, they
set the thermostat well above room temperature to hasten the heating of
the room.
It does. 
This is not as crazy as it seems. Most people wrongly attribute
the warmness or coldness we feel to the environment (i.e. the room) when in
fact it's solely attributable to the temperature of our skin and body core.
So the purpose is not really to heat the room as much as it is to heat the
skin and body as quickly as possible. One way to do this is to get the room
nice and hot. Of course there are many ways to accomplish this.
_Error_ rules.
Marc
[From Bruce Gregory (2003.12.27.1522)]
Marc Abrams (2003.12.27.1446)
[From Bruce Gregory (2003.12.27.1434)]
It occurred to me (while riding my bike, naturally) that most people
treat their heating systems as though the output of the furnace
depends
on the magnitude of the error, i.e., when entering a cold room, they
set the thermostat well above room temperature to hasten the heating
of
the room.It does.
This is not as crazy as it seems.
It may not be crazy, but it's not the way a thermostat/furnace system
works. The output of the system is _not_ proportional to the error. The
thermostat simply turns the furnace on and off. The system is in one of
two states and the magnitude of the error has no bearing on the output
of the furnace.
Bruce Gregory
"Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no
one was listening, everything must be said again."
Andre Gide
[From Bill Powers (2003.12.27.1341 MST)]
Bruce Gregory (2003.12.27.1522)--
(writing to Marc Abrams)
It may not be crazy, but it's not the way a thermostat/furnace system
works. The output of the system is _not_ proportional to the error. The
thermostat simply turns the furnace on and off. The system is in one of
two states and the magnitude of the error has no bearing on the output
of the furnace.
Marc was probably thinking that people who are very cold will adjust the
set-point to higher than normal room temperature so the room will actually
be warmer than they want it, so their skin and core will warm up faster.
Then, I presume, the room feels too hot and they set it back to the usual
temperature.
However, if you ask people to explain how a thermostat works (I have an old
reprint on this somewhere), most of them will insist that the room warms up
faster if you set the thermostat higher. Belief affects memory, it seems.
Best,
Bill P/
from [Marc Abrams (2003.12.27.1538)]
[From Bruce Gregory (2003.12.27.1522)]
It may not be crazy, but it's not the way a thermostat/furnace system
works.
Nope. But it _IS_ the way people work. And it is people who utilize the
thermostat/furnace system.
You were talking about the fact that _people_ will want to warm up as
quickly as possible. I agrred with that and said one way of doing that was
by setting the thermostat to a very high temperature. But there are better
and quicker ways to warm the skin and body core than trying to heat a room.
The thermosta/furnace is oblivious to any of this.
The output of the system is _not_ proportional to the error.
Which system are you talking about? Seems to me you might be confounding the
two.
The thermostat simply turns the furnace on and off.
Yep.
The system is in one of two states and the magnitude of the error has no
bearing on the output
of the furnace.
_WHO_ controls the thermostat setting?
Marc
from [Marc Abrams (2003.12.27.1610)]
Thanks Bill.
[From Bill Powers (2003.12.27.1341 MST)]
Marc was probably thinking that people who are very cold will adjust the
set-point to higher than normal room temperature so the room will actually
be warmer than they want it, so their skin and core will warm up faster.
yep.
Then, I presume, the room feels too hot and they set it back to the usual
temperature.
yep.
However, if you ask people to explain how a thermostat works (I have an
old
reprint on this somewhere), most of them will insist that the room warms
up
faster if you set the thermostat higher.
Bill, I never even thought about warming up the _room_ faster, but of course
your right. :-)That is why I said that most people attribute the coldness
and warmness they feel to the environment instead of to the temperature of
their skin and body core.
Marc