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Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That
sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. I can imagine that people using the Celsius scale would notice one degree more or their thermostat has half degrees. I also found this at the roulette wheel of knowledge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit |
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Terry wrote:
Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. I can imagine that people using the Celsius scale would notice one degree more or their thermostat has half degrees. I also found this at the roulette wheel of knowledge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit Hi, So now you know equvalent of 1 deg. F in Celcius? Your thermostat has something called anticipator and more advanced digital ones have temperature band(how accurately it'll control temperature). |
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"Terry" wrote in message ... Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. I can imagine that people using the Celsius scale would notice one degree more or their thermostat has half degrees. I also found this at the roulette wheel of knowledge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit I've had three different brands of electronic thermostats. As far as I can tell, they are settable in rather small increments that don't map directly to Fahrenheit or Celsius degrees. That means that for many Fahrenheit settings and probably all Celsius settings, you can bump it either up or down without changing the displayed temperature setting. There have been lots of times when I've found that "high 20" was just right while "low 20" was too cold. As for the Fahrenheit scale, the one thing that seems "natural" about it is that zero is DAMN cold and 100 is DAMN hot - but they are still within the range of temperatures people can experience in the Real World. Zero Celsius doesn't really seem to cross any threshold of extremeness, and 100 Celsius is outside the range of temperatures you'll see on any weather report. |
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Terry wrote:
Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. Put it at 69º and buy a sweater with the savings. I can imagine that people using the Celsius scale would notice one degree more or their thermostat has half degrees. I also found this at the roulette wheel of knowledge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit -- Joseph Meehan Dia 's Muire duit |
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Terry wrote: Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. Three things to consider : First, if the thermostat is behind the computer, then there is a good chance the hot air from the computer fan and/or monitor are affecting the thermostat, at least when they are on. Since the thermostat will be warmed by this, it will seem cooler elsewhere. When the computer is off, the thermostat will be more accurate. Second, most, if not all, thermostats allow the temperature to fluctuate in a range centered on the desired temperature. The reason for this is mosly a matter of efficiency, as keeping the temperature at a constant setting would require the heater to go on and off frequently. This is not only inefficient, it is annoying. Finally, the outside temperature can affected by other things. In a still room, warm air will rise, and cold air will sink. The floor will often be significantly cooler than a thermostat mounted fairly high on the wall. Also, if the thermostat is mounted on a central wall, this is frequently more insulated and stable than areas near exterior walls. A ceiling or other fan can help balance the temperatures, but this will also increase your energy bill. Dean G. |
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Terry wrote:
Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. I can imagine that people using the Celsius scale would notice one degree more or their thermostat has half degrees. We have been officially metric for almost 30 years now, but most people over 30 still seem to thing in Fahrenheit. I don't understand it because Celsius makes so much more sense. Water freezes at 0 and boils at 100. That 0 C makes a big difference in weather conditions. When it drops below freezing it is cold, so having a scale that zeroes out at the freezing point makes a lot of sense. You are quite right about being able to detect a one degree difference in temperature. One degree C is noticeable while one degree F is not. |
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On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 19:37:49 -0500, Dave Smith wrote:
We have been officially metric for almost 30 years now, but most people over 30 still seem to thing in Fahrenheit. I don't understand it because Celsius makes so much more sense. Water freezes at 0 and boils at 100. That 0 C makes a big difference in weather conditions. When it drops below freezing it is cold, so having a scale that zeroes out at the freezing point makes a lot of sense. You are quite right about being able to detect a one degree difference in temperature. One degree C is noticeable while one degree F is not. Many of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson in particular, because they were rational, wanted us to use the decimal system. |
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wrote:
"Nick Danger" wrote: but they are still within the range of temperatures people can experience in the Real World. Zero Celsius doesn't really seem to cross any threshold of extremeness, That's a guy from above the 26th parallel talking. We have our water pipes above ground here and zero C is very significant. I'm missing somthing here. Did you mean the 56th parallel? Where do you live? Dick |
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On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 12:13:20 GMT, "Joseph Meehan"
wrote: Terry wrote: Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. Put it at 69º and buy a sweater with the savings. Or 68! |
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Dave Smith wrote:
Terry wrote: Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. I can imagine that people using the Celsius scale would notice one degree more or their thermostat has half degrees. We have been officially metric for almost 30 years now, but most people over 30 still seem to thing in Fahrenheit. I don't understand it because Celsius makes so much more sense. Water freezes at 0 and boils at 100. That 0 C makes a big difference in weather conditions. When it drops below freezing it is cold, so having a scale that zeroes out at the freezing point makes a lot of sense. You are quite right about being able to detect a one degree difference in temperature. One degree C is noticeable while one degree F is not. I don't know where you are, but weather reports and temperatures on buildings are all in Fahrenheit. Schools teach metrics as though it was a foreign language. While whiskey, wine, and soda are measured being soda are being sold in metric, beer and most other necessities of life are sold in US measurements. Try to by lumber by the meter. Dick |
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Which means what? The metric system IS decimal while the current US system
of feet, inches, pounds and onces is not. "Karl S" wrote in message ... On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 19:37:49 -0500, Dave Smith wrote: We have been officially metric for almost 30 years now, but most people over 30 still seem to thing in Fahrenheit. I don't understand it because Celsius makes so much more sense. Water freezes at 0 and boils at 100. That 0 C makes a big difference in weather conditions. When it drops below freezing it is cold, so having a scale that zeroes out at the freezing point makes a lot of sense. You are quite right about being able to detect a one degree difference in temperature. One degree C is noticeable while one degree F is not. Many of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson in particular, because they were rational, wanted us to use the decimal system. |
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mm wrote:
Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. Put it at 69º and buy a sweater with the savings. Or 68! I would have to turn mine up. I have a programmed thermostat. The highest temperature programmed is the evening at 68F. During the day it is 64 and at night it is 60. |
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On Wed, 8 Nov 2006 02:04:47 -0500, "Nick Danger"
wrote: "Terry" wrote in message .. . Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. I can imagine that people using the Celsius scale would notice one degree more or their thermostat has half degrees. I also found this at the roulette wheel of knowledge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit I've had three different brands of electronic thermostats. As far as I can tell, they are settable in rather small increments that don't map directly to Fahrenheit or Celsius degrees. That means that for many Fahrenheit settings and probably all Celsius settings, you can bump it either up or down without changing the displayed temperature setting. There have been lots of times when I've found that "high 20" was just right while "low 20" was too cold. As for the Fahrenheit scale, the one thing that seems "natural" about it is that zero is DAMN cold and 100 is DAMN hot - but they are still within the range of temperatures people can experience in the Real World. Zero Celsius doesn't really seem to cross any threshold of extremeness, and 100 Celsius is outside the range of temperatures you'll see on any weather report. I think that 100 Fahrenheit was intended to be human body temperate re, they just missed a little. The 0 point may have some connection with freezing to death (DAMN cold). Temperature is one of the few commonly-measured things in which, (in either Celsius or Fahrenheit) 0 represents an artificial point rather than the complete lack of the thing being measured. -- 47 days until the winter solstice celebration Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "God was invented by man for a reason, that reason is no longer applicable." |
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On 8 Nov 2006 12:22:05 -0800, "Cindy Hamilton"
wrote: wrote: On Wed, 8 Nov 2006 02:04:47 -0500, "Nick Danger" wrote: but they are still within the range of temperatures people can experience in the Real World. Zero Celsius doesn't really seem to cross any threshold of extremeness, That's a guy from above the 26th parallel talking. We have our water pipes above ground here and zero C is very significant. Frost line is 42 inches here. When I got out for the morning newspaper, I don't even bother about a jacket unless it's below 20 F. Cindy Hamilton I've been outside at 20F (with no wind or rain). It didn't seem cold at all. -- 47 days until the winter solstice celebration Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "God was invented by man for a reason, that reason is no longer applicable." |
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"Dave Smith" wrote in message ... Terry wrote: Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. I can imagine that people using the Celsius scale would notice one degree more or their thermostat has half degrees. We have been officially metric for almost 30 years now, but most people over 30 still seem to thing in Fahrenheit. I don't understand it because Celsius makes so much more sense. Water freezes at 0 and boils at 100. That 0 C makes a big difference in weather conditions. When it drops below freezing it is cold, so having a scale that zeroes out at the freezing point makes a lot of sense. You are quite right about being able to detect a one degree difference in temperature. One degree C is noticeable while one degree F is not. ------ Right on- by the way, I am 75 and have no problem with Celsius after our long overdue conversion. 20-21C is fine , 0C cover your tender plants and watch for icy atches. -40 C= -40F -Shirtsleeves are fine for 50-100 meters depending on the wind as humidity is not a problem (better than NYC at temperatures near 0C). 100C makes sense as well as 0C in that boiling water is something you don't want to wash your willie with. It really is a matter of associating what you feel with the scale. (Fahrenheit zero is based on the commonsense measure of the freezing point of a saturated salt solution which everyone has on hand, and boiling point is 180 degrees above the freezing point of "pure" water. Completely logical of course ) As for thermostats- I wonder how many are accurate to within 1 division on their scale and, if so, what does it mean at some other location in the house or even the room? -- Don Kelly move the X to answer |
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On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 22:05:23 -0500, mm
wrote: On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 12:13:20 GMT, "Joseph Meehan" wrote: Terry wrote: Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. Put it at 69º and buy a sweater with the savings. Or 68! But NEVER 65. That's too cold. I've been through that with my parents. -- 47 days until the winter solstice celebration Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "God was invented by man for a reason, that reason is no longer applicable." |
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"Dick Adams" wrote in message
... Dave Smith wrote: Terry wrote: Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. I can imagine that people using the Celsius scale would notice one degree more or their thermostat has half degrees. We have been officially metric for almost 30 years now, but most people over 30 still seem to thing in Fahrenheit. I don't understand it because Celsius makes so much more sense. Water freezes at 0 and boils at 100. That 0 C makes a big difference in weather conditions. When it drops below freezing it is cold, so having a scale that zeroes out at the freezing point makes a lot of sense. You are quite right about being able to detect a one degree difference in temperature. One degree C is noticeable while one degree F is not. I don't know where you are, but weather reports and temperatures on buildings are all in Fahrenheit. Schools teach metrics as though it was a foreign language. While whiskey, wine, and soda are measured being soda are being sold in metric, beer and most other necessities of life are sold in US measurements. Try to by lumber by the meter. Dick ------ He happens to be in Canada. However, he could have been in every part of the world except the US. -- Don Kelly remove the X to answer ---------------------------- |
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On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 19:37:49 -0500, Dave Smith
wrote: Terry wrote: Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. I can imagine that people using the Celsius scale would notice one degree more or their thermostat has half degrees. We have been officially metric for almost 30 years now, but most people over 30 still seem to thing in Fahrenheit. I don't understand it because Celsius makes so much more sense. Water freezes at 0 and boils at 100. That 0 C makes a big difference in weather conditions. When it drops below freezing it is cold, so having a scale that zeroes out at the freezing point makes a lot of sense. You are quite right about being able to detect a one degree difference in temperature. One degree C is noticeable while one degree F is not. It we were talking just about temperature, people could adapt to either scale. However, in general the metric system is much more sensible. -- 47 days until the winter solstice celebration Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "God was invented by man for a reason, that reason is no longer applicable." |
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On Thu, 09 Nov 2006 03:21:58 GMT, "mwlogs"
wrote: Which means what? The metric system IS decimal while the current US system of feet, inches, pounds and onces is not. And had multiple units of measurement for the same thing. Units which are not simply related (as in length: there's feet, inches, yards, rods, fathoms, angstroms, light years and more), so adding to the difficulty of obtaining and using measurements. Metric has ONE unit for each thing, and a set of related prefixes for large or small multiples of any unit. "Karl S" wrote in message . .. On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 19:37:49 -0500, Dave Smith wrote: We have been officially metric for almost 30 years now, but most people over 30 still seem to thing in Fahrenheit. I don't understand it because Celsius makes so much more sense. Water freezes at 0 and boils at 100. That 0 C makes a big difference in weather conditions. When it drops below freezing it is cold, so having a scale that zeroes out at the freezing point makes a lot of sense. You are quite right about being able to detect a one degree difference in temperature. One degree C is noticeable while one degree F is not. Many of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson in particular, because they were rational, wanted us to use the decimal system. -- 47 days until the winter solstice celebration Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "God was invented by man for a reason, that reason is no longer applicable." |
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Mark Lloyd wrote:
On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 22:05:23 -0500, mm wrote: On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 12:13:20 GMT, "Joseph Meehan" wrote: Terry wrote: Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. Put it at 69º and buy a sweater with the savings. Or 68! But NEVER 65. That's too cold. I've been through that with my parents. Actually mine is at 65º right now. That is my usual daytime temperature. At night it goes to 62º In the evening I go up to 67º and in the morning right before we get up, I have it go to 69º -- Joseph Meehan Dia 's Muire duit |
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Dean G. wrote:
Terry wrote: Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. Three things to consider : Four things, actually. To the below, add humidity level. We're talking about the differences between "latent" heat and "sensible" heat. A quick explanation found online... Any mixture of air and water vapor contains heat. Part of that heat is represented by the "sensible temperature" of the air. (Sensible heat can be measured by a normal thermometer...one with a dry sensing bulb.) The other part of the heat in the air is its "latent" heat. Latent heat is the energy that was used to evaporate the mass of water that the air now contains. So if the air now contains a great deal of water vapor, its latent heat is high. Conversely, if the air is rather dry, its latent heat is low. The sum of the sensible and latent heat of the air is called its "enthalpy", sometimes called its "total heat". ------------------------- In my own home, I've found that 70F at 15% humidity will feel chilly. 70F at 55% humidity will feel warm and comfortable. Running a humidifier during a heating season means that one can set thermostats lower and still feel comfortable. Pastorio First, if the thermostat is behind the computer, then there is a good chance the hot air from the computer fan and/or monitor are affecting the thermostat, at least when they are on. Since the thermostat will be warmed by this, it will seem cooler elsewhere. When the computer is off, the thermostat will be more accurate. Second, most, if not all, thermostats allow the temperature to fluctuate in a range centered on the desired temperature. The reason for this is mosly a matter of efficiency, as keeping the temperature at a constant setting would require the heater to go on and off frequently. This is not only inefficient, it is annoying. Finally, the outside temperature can affected by other things. In a still room, warm air will rise, and cold air will sink. The floor will often be significantly cooler than a thermostat mounted fairly high on the wall. Also, if the thermostat is mounted on a central wall, this is frequently more insulated and stable than areas near exterior walls. A ceiling or other fan can help balance the temperatures, but this will also increase your energy bill. Dean G. |
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Mark Lloyd wrote:
People often confuse the advantages of a different system, with the problems encountered in converting to it. These are quite different things. The trick is not to convert. It just messes you up and you remain stuck in the old system of measurement. It makes things so much easier. I confess to still preferi to measure fuel efficiency in miles per gallon, because the number of litres per 100 km reverses the significance of the size of the numbers. On the other hand, calculating travel times in metric is much easier. The standard highway speed in 100 kph, so a 500 km trip should take 5 hours. There is no need to go through the extra steps of converting 500 km to 300 miles and dividing by 60. Notice the complicated "standard" layout of the letter keys on your keyboard (qwerty). This was designed to slow down typing. -- 47 days until the winter solstice celebration Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "God was invented by man for a reason, that reason is no longer applicable." |
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In article m,
says... wrote: You probably have different criteria for swimming pool temperatures too I suppose. I use the metric system for that. 30C and over is to warm and anything below 27 is getting too cold. 25 is freezing. Swimming pools are not standard equipment around here (Michigan, U.S.A., about 42 N latitude), since an outdoor pool can be used only about three months a year. The seem to be pretty common here in VT (~45N), though I haven't a clue why. However, my neighbor had one when I was a kid. When we got in it to open it up for the summer the water was about 20 C. That was pretty nippy, and we didn't stay in very long. I think we let it get up to about 25 C before we really used it, but that was 30 years ago and I didn't bother to commit the details to memory. I had a pool when we lived in NY. Depending on the outside temperature, 25C was about the bottom end I'd use it. A few times it got up to 30C, but unless it was 35C outside it was like taking a bath. We *do* have a hot tub, and we keep it at about 38 or 39 C. It's outdoors and we use it year-round, provided it's not too windy. Just don't ask me about my electric bill. Ouch. -- Keith |
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Terry wrote: Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. What does that next to last sentence say... I don't even want to venture a guess. Depends on your location relative to thermostat location. Typically thermostats are located on an interior wall. If where you sit is close to an exterior wall where the sun strikes the building, especially if you're sitting near a window, then the radiant heat energy through the wall in that general area can easily cause the temperature there to be 5ºF or more higher than your thermostat setting (all cats know this intuitively)... place a thermometer on your computer desk. You can try positioning a few small fans throuhgout your house to more evenly distribute air, as your hot air system is not on all the time, probably less than half the time. My office is at a point furthest from the house thermostats (I have two), and that room is at a southwest corner so it receives full sun all day, and has two large windows, which contribute to a greenhouse effect, so where I sit the temperature can be at least 5ºF warmer than the rest of the house, and that even though my central air system contains an AprilAire filtration system that runs at low speed all year (only switches to high fan when the system calls for AC) so the air throughout my house is constantly circulating, but that does not negate radiant heat from an exterior wall, it's like sitting in front of a heat lamp. I could move my desk to the opposite side of the room so I'll be at the interior wall but I enjoy being able to look out the window too much, so I endure the warmer temperature... my thermostats are set at 69ºF, the rest of the house is pretty close to that temperature (+/-1ºF) but my office is at 73ºF as I type... the sun is very bright right now. Sheldon |
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krw wrote: In article , says... Mark Lloyd wrote: On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 22:05:23 -0500, mm wrote: On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 12:13:20 GMT, "Joseph Meehan" wrote: Terry wrote: Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. Put it at 69º and buy a sweater with the savings. Or 68! But NEVER 65. That's too cold. I've been through that with my parents. Actually mine is at 65º right now. That is my usual daytime temperature. At night it goes to 62º In the evening I go up to 67º and in the morning right before we get up, I have it go to 69º Mine is set to 64F now (morning), 59F at night, and 67F in the evening. If we're cold, it gets cranked up but we usually don't. Sweaters and sweats are the norm. The cats have coats on. ;-) BTW, our frost line can go down beyond 7' (broken mains down that far). -- Keith It is snowing and 30 degrees out now so I just chunked another piece of wood on the fire :) Harry K |
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On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 23:08:14 -0600, Mark Lloyd
wrote: On Wed, 8 Nov 2006 02:04:47 -0500, "Nick Danger" wrote: "Terry" wrote in message . .. Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. I can imagine that people using the Celsius scale would notice one degree more or their thermostat has half degrees. I also found this at the roulette wheel of knowledge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit I've had three different brands of electronic thermostats. As far as I can tell, they are settable in rather small increments that don't map directly to Fahrenheit or Celsius degrees. That means that for many Fahrenheit settings and probably all Celsius settings, you can bump it either up or down without changing the displayed temperature setting. There have been lots of times when I've found that "high 20" was just right while "low 20" was too cold. As for the Fahrenheit scale, the one thing that seems "natural" about it is that zero is DAMN cold and 100 is DAMN hot - but they are still within the range of temperatures people can experience in the Real World. Zero Celsius doesn't really seem to cross any threshold of extremeness, and 100 Celsius is outside the range of temperatures you'll see on any weather report. I think that 100 Fahrenheit was intended to be human body temperate re, they just missed a little. The 0 point may have some connection with freezing to death (DAMN cold). My understanding is that 0 F was just the lowest temperature that Farenheit could reliably generate. |
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Don Kelly wrote: ---------------------------- "Dave Smith" wrote in message ... snip (Fahrenheit zero is based on the commonsense measure of the freezing point of a saturated salt solution which everyone has on hand, and boiling point is 180 degrees above the freezing point of "pure" water. Completely logical of course ) snip Don Kelly move the X to answer Correction: the F scale was based the freezing point of that solution and set at 32 degrees. Then 100 was selected as the normal human body temp, or that is what I heard, not sure). Just why they set the freezing point at 32 vice 0 escapes me. Harry K |
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Harry K wrote: Don Kelly wrote: ---------------------------- "Dave Smith" wrote in message ... snip (Fahrenheit zero is based on the commonsense measure of the freezing point of a saturated salt solution which everyone has on hand, and boiling point is 180 degrees above the freezing point of "pure" water. Completely logical of course ) snip Don Kelly move the X to answer Correction: the F scale was based the freezing point of that solution and set at 32 degrees. Then 100 was selected as the normal human body temp, or that is what I heard, not sure). Just why they set the freezing point at 32 vice 0 escapes me. Harry K Oops. Correction to the correction. You are correct. I just can't come up with how the 0F mark was arrived at. Harry K |
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Dave Smith wrote:
We have been officially metric for almost 30 years now, but most people over 30 still seem to thing in Fahrenheit. I don't understand it because Celsius makes so much more sense. Water freezes at 0 and boils at 100. That 0 C makes a big difference in weather conditions. When it drops below freezing it is cold, so having a scale that zeroes out at the freezing point makes a lot of sense. You are quite right about being able to detect a one degree difference in temperature. One degree C is noticeable while one degree F is not. I disagree, even though I have a science background (Physics). Metric is great for doing that sort of thing, but for weather, not so much. Fahrenheit is good because 100F is really nice and hot, and 0F is really nice and cold. Bounds the temps that humans deal with rather nicely. 100C is outside the range of experience (one hopes) and 0C is coldish. Who cares what temperature water boils at? The degrees F have nice granularity, so you don't have to deal with fractional ones when describing the weather. Brian -- If televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who won't shut up. -- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com) |
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In article .com, "Harry K" wrote:
Harry K wrote: Don Kelly wrote: ---------------------------- "Dave Smith" wrote in message ... snip (Fahrenheit zero is based on the commonsense measure of the freezing point of a saturated salt solution which everyone has on hand, and boiling point is 180 degrees above the freezing point of "pure" water. Completely logical of course ) snip Don Kelly move the X to answer Correction: the F scale was based the freezing point of that solution and set at 32 degrees. Then 100 was selected as the normal human body temp, or that is what I heard, not sure). Just why they set the freezing point at 32 vice 0 escapes me. Harry K Oops. Correction to the correction. You are correct. I just can't come up with how the 0F mark was arrived at. http://chem.oswego.edu/chem209/Misc/fahrenheit.htm -- |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| | Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". | | Gary Player. | | http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
OT Fahrenheit
On Thu, 09 Nov 2006 12:41:51 GMT, "Joseph Meehan"
wrote: Mark Lloyd wrote: On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 22:05:23 -0500, mm wrote: On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 12:13:20 GMT, "Joseph Meehan" wrote: Terry wrote: Now that the winter is here I have my thermostat set to 70. That sometimes seems a little low. When I push it up to 71 it seems a little warm. The place I notice it the most is when I am setting at my computer desk. I have on the wall behind it. The desk does not cover the vent. Put it at 69º and buy a sweater with the savings. Or 68! But NEVER 65. That's too cold. I've been through that with my parents. Actually mine is at 65º right now. That is my usual daytime temperature. At night it goes to 62º In the evening I go up to 67º and in the morning right before we get up, I have it go to 69º Maybe that thermostat was off, and it was actually 55 that was too cold. -- 46 days until the winter solstice celebration Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "God was invented by man for a reason, that reason is no longer applicable." |
OT Fahrenheit
On Thu, 9 Nov 2006 08:52:36 -0500, krw wrote:
In article , says... On Thu, 09 Nov 2006 03:21:58 GMT, "mwlogs" wrote: Which means what? The metric system IS decimal while the current US system of feet, inches, pounds and onces is not. Farenheit is decimal. ;-) And had multiple units of measurement for the same thing. Units which are not simply related (as in length: there's feet, inches, yards, rods, fathoms, angstroms, light years and more), so adding to the difficulty of obtaining and using measurements. Metric has ONE unit for each thing, and a set of related prefixes for large or small multiples of any unit. Light years don't exist? WHAT?? The closest I said to that was that the light year is not a metric unit. I suppose you know a light year is NOT an amount of time. snipped top poster's out-of-line quotes -- 46 days until the winter solstice celebration Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "God was invented by man for a reason, that reason is no longer applicable." |
OT Fahrenheit
On Thu, 09 Nov 2006 09:09:38 -0500, Dave Smith
wrote: Mark Lloyd wrote: People often confuse the advantages of a different system, with the problems encountered in converting to it. These are quite different things. The trick is not to convert. Right. I don't like to see of the anti-metric propaganda that says something like "The quarterback in on the 21.8347 meter line." (supposed to make metric look complicated). It just messes you up and you remain stuck in the old system of measurement. It makes things so much easier. I confess to still preferi to measure fuel efficiency in miles per gallon, because the number of litres per 100 km reverses the significance of the size of the numbers. "km per liter" would have the units in the right order, and would be a closer equivalent to "miles per gallon". BTW, I remember seeing the fuel efficiency of an army tank given in "gallons per mile". On the other hand, calculating travel times in metric is much easier. The standard highway speed in 100 kph, so a 500 km trip should take 5 hours. I like to do math with simple numbers like that. There is no need to go through the extra steps of converting 500 km to 300 miles and dividing by 60. Notice the complicated "standard" layout of the letter keys on your keyboard (qwerty). This was designed to slow down typing. -- 46 days until the winter solstice celebration Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "God was invented by man for a reason, that reason is no longer applicable." |
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