THE GAPING BLINDSPOT
EVER WONDER WHY THE SAME 21°C SETTING FEELS FINE ONE WINTER DAY AND CHILLY THE NEXT
?
This happens because your thermostat is flying blind.
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It is incapable of sensing what you feel.
It doesn’t know.
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Its sole purpose is to maintain the home at a constant air temperature set by you.
Blame the thermostat for this!
All thermostats today track air temperature alone! Even modern smart thermostats remain “not-so-smart” because they, too, measure but one thing: air temperature. All mindlessly mimic the very same core technology,
and THAT is the gaping design flaw.
This is the key reason many of us wrestle with our thermostats trying to set the “sweet spot” that can deliver both consistent thermal comfort and energy savings.
MOST OF US MISTAKENLY GAUGE OUR
THERMAL COMFORT
WITH AIR TEMPERATURE
ONLY. WHY
?
MANY MORE AMBIENTS ARE AT PLAY
Air temperature is NOT the only ambient parameter that affects your thermal comfort.
Air temperature, is only part of the equation.
It’s not even the dominant part.
YOUR BODY IS A METABOLIC ENGINE
Your body produces heat constantly.*
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To avoid thermal build-up, the body must shed energy to its surroundings.
If heat is removed faster than produced, we feel cold and a shivering reflex generates more heat. If heat removal is too slow, we feel warm and begin sweating to evaporate the excess energy.
The trick to thermal comfort?
Ensure that the heat we produce matches the heat we lose. Only then are we in thermal equilibrium and feel comfortable.
We shed heat through many different biological mechanisms, and it may be surprising to know that the primary way we lose heat to our environment is not measured by any thermostat today.
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It’s called radiance.
*Every cell in the body produces heat as they burn up energy. Some organs will be on more than others, such as the brain, or muscles if you are exercising, therefore they get hotter. This needs to be spread around the body and this is done by the blood, which heats some organs and cools others“
Think back to the last time you were in a supermarket and walking into the frozen-food section, didn’t you feel an immediate chill?
Of course you did. But that’s not because the air temperature around the coolers is a little colder, rather it’s because your body is losing heat radiantly to the colder surface in front of you (the freezer door).
And, the colder the surface, the faster we lose heat, hence why you felt that sudden chill.
That’s radiance. And it's the PRIMARY way we interact thermally with our environment:not through convection (air), but radiance!
Frankly, it's astonishing that no thermostat (smart or otherwise) even measures it!
RADIANCE.
THE DOMINANT
AMBIENT FACTOR.
AND
THE
OTHERS
There are other factors, of course, such as relative humidity, wind speed, clothing, and activity level of the occupant.
Each can greatly affect your thermal comfort.
And, only when we factor ALL parameters together, are we able to see your “true temperature”, similar to a weather report’s “feels like” temperature (RealFeel), but for indoors.
?
Given all this, it becomes clear why smart thermostats are incapable of keeping us comfortable in our home.
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They're blind to most of these parameters!