First-World Problems...

That's a nice modern thermostat with all sorts of neat features that allow me to change the temperature setting automatically. It's great for air conditioning, which is perfect for variable temperatures. There is no reason to keep the house cool when we aren't home, or the downstairs cool when we are asleep upstairs.

It's great! I hardly ever touch it during the cooling season, and just turn it off in September or October.

But...

This is a simple, robust and frankly marvelously designed thermostat that isn't dependent on electronic circuits, and will probably work for the next 50 years without a hiccup. It controls a small radiant heat zone that is isolated from the rest of the house by a door, and has lots of windows so it cools off much more quickly than the rest of the house.

So what's the problem? Well, trying to balance the heating demands of different systems can be an exercise in futility. Four radiant zones, one steam heating zone (on two floors!) conspire to make me scratch my head and say, "F$%k it!"

Oh...for added complexity, radiant responds extremely slowly, so using setbacks is a waste of energy. Steam of course responds very quickly, so that system can be set back, but to what end? It will just end up wasting energy too....I think.

Or maybe not!

Yeah...this is the agony of the First World!

posted by CBD at 02:00 PM

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