User-friendly interfaces

A house should also provide a comfortable environment and in our quest to make it so, one of the very important aspects is heat loss and gain as we are very sensitive to these changes. In achieving and maintaining the temperature comfort we need a thermostat is very helpful.

Invented by Cornelis Drebbel in the early 17th century, the first thermostat was used to close a damper with a float placed in a mercury thermometer.

The thermostat today generally achieves the same thing by connecting the room temperature to the heating/cooling system. It has a temperature sensor that activates the switch (turns on or off) of the house’s cooling/heating system, but it should also eliminate broad swings in temperature, keeping them within a 2 degree interval.

In choosing one, people generally weigh the features and prices of the models; some go with the simple electromechanical type and others go for the complex electronic models which are pricier but offer more control and possible energy savings. A professionally installed Honeywell T-87 Round thermostat costs about 40$ and while you can find an electronic thermostat for 40$ as well, there is usually a reason for it – some might not keep temperature swings to a small level, or might not anticipate well when to turn the heat off, thus wasting resources, or they might just be very difficult to operate.

For the pricier models, the “fight” is on features: manufacturers focus on user-friendly interfaces and useful features like indicating when the filter should be cleaned or remembering settings for up to 72 hours if the power is off.

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