WEBVTT - TechStuff Adjusts the Thermostat 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.920 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:08.840 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 0:00:09.000 --> 0:00:17.560 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello everyone, 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.400 welcome to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Poulette. I 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:23.360 am an editor how stuff works dot com and sitting 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:28.920 across from me, looking heated, is senior writer Jonathan Strickland. Baby, 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:34.440 it's cold outside, So yes, we're going to take the 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:36.800 temperature today in our podcast. Yeah, we're going to talk 0:00:36.800 --> 0:00:39.480 about the thermostat. Now, we've already talked about air conditioning, 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:42.400 yes we have on the show, so but we didn't 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:45.680 didn't cover thermostats at all when we talked about air conditioning, 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:48.880 not really. And the thermostat, of course, is that handy 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:53.600 dandy little device that helps you maintain the right temperature. 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:56.600 Because you know, there are air conditioner and heater units 0:00:56.600 --> 0:01:00.200 out there that don't use thermostats. You manually have to 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:03.560 turn it on or turn it off. So when you're thinking, Gali, 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:06.119 g the house shore is cold. Now, I don't need 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:08.240 that air conditioner on anymore. You can go and switch 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:11.920 it off. But most of them tend to have some 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:17.319 sort of thermostat in there. Which helps maintain a comfortable temperature. 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:20.640 You set the temperature you want, it starts whatever the 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:23.559 process is that needs to get to that temperature, whether 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:26.959 that's cooling the air down or heating it up, and 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:30.520 then once it reaches that temperature, ideally it shuts off 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:34.920 so that you don't continue on the pathway to reach 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:39.120 the other side of uncomfortable. Well yeah, and uh it's 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:42.399 also I think the second largest lead leading cause of divorce. 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:48.760 I want to two degrees colder. Are you done now? 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:52.880 I am okay, yeah, no. Uh. Thermostats are not not 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:56.840 exclusive to houses, of course, or or buildings or or 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:01.200 keeping people comfortable. They're also in many other devices for 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:05.760 keeping those devices comfortable, like say a car for instance. 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:09.800 Um anything that that where you need to measure temperature 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:14.080 and switch on a cooling or a heating um in 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:16.040 your In your car, it might turn on the cooling 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:20.560 fan when it senses the engine might be nearing overheating um. 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:24.280 And if you look at a house thermostat and you 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:27.720 see one of those digital, high tech programmable models on 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:30.280 the wall, you might get the idea that they are 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:33.840 super duper sophisticated. But thermostats don't have to be that 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:39.240 sophisticated and in fact actually used physics to um determine 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:41.799 or you know, to set off the switch inside that 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:44.359 that makes things hotter or cooler. Yeah, it's actually pretty 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:46.480 cool in a way. You know, I don't mean that 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:50.000 in a temperature way. I see what you did there. 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:54.480 These things are hot. Uh now they, like Chris was saying, yeah, 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:57.160 uses physics. If you're looking at let's say, let's talk 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:00.280 about one of the old thermostats. Okay, So so it's 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:02.679 like that little beige box that's sitting on the wall, 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:06.079 and it's got the little upon got a dial, yeah, 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:08.720 either a dial or a lever, and it has a 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:11.520 little physical read out that you look at, and it's 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:14.200 got a little red needle in that that read out, 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:17.720 and by turning the dial or moving the lever to 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:20.000 the left or to the right, you move the needle 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:23.920 up and down this temperature range to set it to 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:27.240 whatever you want. So let's say we're gonna say that 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:30.320 the the temperature inside the house right now is a 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:33.080 is a chilly sixty five because because we're in the 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:37.280 dead of winter in Georgia and so so we want 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:39.680 to we want to boost that up to about seventy two. 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:42.120 Let's say we want we wanted to be a little warmer, 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:44.440 maybe a little warmer than we normally would, because it's 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:46.160 kind of chilly, and we want to I want to 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:49.600 have a nice little day inside. So we move the 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:53.160 the lever so that it moves up to seventy two 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:56.119 and then magically the heater comes on until it hits 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.640 around seventy two degrees and then shuts off. But what's 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:03.200 going on inside, well, inside the thermostat is at the 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:08.160 very heart of it is a mercury switch. Mercury. Yeah, 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:11.120 don't drink it. No, No, mercury is pretty cool stuff. 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:13.440 It's uh, you know, it's a it's a metal which 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:16.960 at room temperature is liquid. Yep. As a matter of fact, 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:20.480 my family, for some reason, when they broke an old 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:26.080 mercury thermometer, decided to keep the mercury in a baby 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:29.040 food jar, which oddly enough, we still have. Of course, 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:33.120 it's sealed up, you know, touch mercury is highly toxic. Yes, yes, 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:36.320 you do not want to have any contact with mercury, 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:40.760 but um as a header. But sealing it up inside 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:43.000 a jar, you know, I got to see, you know, 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:45.160 move it, and it's it's really neat to watch it 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:49.480 break apart into little metal balls and then reform. It's 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:54.120 like Terminator, Yes, exactly, it's the one when the in 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:57.360 the documentary Terminator too would come apart. You know, you 0:04:57.360 --> 0:04:59.960 would see it kind of turn through these liquid shape 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:03.880 and then reform. Well, that's essentially you know, that's mercury. 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:08.160 That's what mercury does. Although mercury rarely will take essentience 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:12.120 and then chase after Sarah Connor, that part, Yeah, that 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:15.839 part doesn't happen that frequently. Um, But but it is 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:18.880 a liquid metal. And uh, and here's the thing about it, 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:22.000 here's where we get into some physics. We're gonna you know, 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:25.480 we'll get into more in a little bit, but metals 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:30.520 um actually pretty much everything will tend to expand when 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:34.320 exposed to heat. Now, what's really happening is that you're 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:37.400 adding energy into a system and the atoms in that 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.359 system start to move around, and this is what in 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:43.040 effect causes expansion. And of course, if you add enough 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:46.719 heat to something, depending on what it is, not everything 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:49.560 will will vaporize. But a lot of stuff vaporizes will 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:52.240 turn into a gas form. Uh. That's really when the 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:54.800 atoms are have so much energy and they're moving around 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:58.680 so much, they're no longer cohesive as a liquid um 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:01.719 So Marcy Ary, I mean it takes a lot that 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:04.400 it takes way more heat than it would then we 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:08.040 would generate to turn mercury into a gas. But all right, 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:09.919 and its liquid form. What happens is you put it 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:14.000 into an enclosed space, you add heat. It's going to 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:16.800 the liquid inside that enclosed space is going to expand. 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:21.359 The volume increases as the temperature increases. So if you 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:25.400 were to put mercury, say in a glass bulb, that 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:30.080 one side is elongated into a tube, very thin tube. 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:36.120 As the heat increases, the mercury would appear to climb 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:39.640 that tube. It's because the mercury itself is expanding, the 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:43.440 volumes increasing as the temperature increases. And that's the basis 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:46.520 of a thermometer, the old mercury thermometers. You would have 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:49.640 this glass tube that was filled with mercury. You would 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:53.200 have numbers that would correspond to whatever the temperature was, 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:56.000 and then as the temperature rises, you'd see the little 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:59.560 level of mercury increase inside that glass tube. You know, 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:03.039 suddenly I want to ride my bicycle that's a different 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:05.279 kind of mercury. You want to ride your bike, yes, 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:12.840 fat bottom girls, you make the rock and world alright, alright, 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:15.720 the same song does reference it anyway, that's true. That's 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:20.400 in a thermometer that you've got the mercury expanding to 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:22.440 tell you what temperature it is. Yes, but there's a 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:25.800 mercury switch, as you said, inside the thermostat right now. 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:28.960 In this case, the mercury switch is it's a little different. 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:32.440 It's not it's not acting as a thermometer. It's a 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:36.680 glass vial and it has three wires in it. There's 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:38.840 a wire that goes along the bottom of the glass vial, 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:43.320 which is in constant contact with the liquid mercury. Then 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:46.760 you have wires on the left and right side of 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:49.600 the vial that are just out of contact with the mercury. 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:54.120 But the vial itself can tilt to the left or 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:57.239 to the right, and when it does tilt, the mercury 0:07:57.440 --> 0:07:59.880 then comes in contact with the wire that's on that 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:03.600 particular side of the glass vial and then completes a 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:06.880 circuit between the bottom wire and the wire that's on 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:11.320 the respective side. So let's arguably say the the vial 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:14.000 tilts to the left. The mercury now is in contact 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:16.000 with both the wire along the bottom of the vial 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:17.680 and on the left side of the vial. And now 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:21.920 you've got a circuit. So this gives us some opportunities 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:24.640 here if we create a system that will tilt the 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:27.840 vial one way or the other based upon certain parameters 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:30.520 we haven't. We have a switch, and we have a 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:32.440 switch that can either be off or it can be 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:35.880 on on two different directions, which is great for heating 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:39.320 and cooling. Yes, so now we think, okay, well, well 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:42.480 you've got the switch. Uh, let's say that you want 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:44.720 to adjust the heat, and you want to turn up 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:47.559 the heat, and you you move that that uh, that 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:51.520 lever over that's going to tilt that glass vial right, 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:54.320 The mercury is gonna move over to the correct side, 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:57.760 and that's going to initiate it's going to complete a 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:00.880 circuit and then send electricity to the heater, which will 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:04.560 get the heater going and the fan will start to 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:07.959 turn and you'll start to have warm air pumped throughout 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:11.320 the house or whatever it is that you're in. Right, Okay, 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:17.360 so how does the thermostat know when to stop? Well, 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:22.040 more physics. Now. You know we've we've talked about how 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:24.720 mercury is used in thermometers and you might say, oh, 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:27.400 so it's sort of acting like a thermometer, right, because 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:30.040 it can tell if it's hot or cold. No, in 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:34.120 this case, mercury is just acting as a conductor. And 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:37.559 because it's it's useful because it's liquid in this case, 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:41.559 and it will make it will flash into the and 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:46.480 and touch the two contacts together in the appropriate case. 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:50.880 But uh, in this case, we're using uh, a couple 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:55.000 of other metals. Yeah, it's uh using a thermometer called 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:58.520 bimetallic thermometer. And based on its name, you may be 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:03.120 able to discern what's special about this kind of thermometer. Yes, 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:06.160 it's got to to two metals and one actually it's 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:09.880 not in one. They're laminated together, yes, to make a strip. 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:12.480 So so yeah, on on one side of the strip 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:14.400 you have one metal and on the other side of 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:17.240 the strip it's another metal. They're joined together. And here's 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:20.520 why you want this. You see, different metals will expand 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:24.800 at different rates in in reaction to a change in temperature. 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:28.760 So one metal, when you when you apply heat to 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:32.840 it might expand rather rapidly, while a second metal in 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:36.200 relation to the first one, will go more slowly. And 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:39.319 you put these two different pieces of metal together, and 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:43.000 as one expands a rate that's faster than the other, 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:48.040 it's going to change the shape of that sheet of metal. Now, 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:52.559 in the case of these thermostats, these bimetallic thermometers tend 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:56.600 to be arranged in a coil. And so you've got 0:10:56.600 --> 0:11:00.600 a coil of this material where on the outer edge 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:02.559 and the inner edge it's two different metals. The inner 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:06.760 edge is usually the one that expands faster um when 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:10.559 when heat is applied, you've got it in this coiled shape. 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:14.839 And uh, the way this works is that when it 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:19.240 when the temperature rises, the the expansion on the inner 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:23.320 layer of this coil will cause the coil to uncoil, 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:27.199 start to unwind. When it unwinds enough, it actually presses 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:30.920 up against the mercury switch and puts it back into 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:35.520 its central configuration. Okay, I don't need to be on anymore. 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:38.920 I'll turn off exactly. The mercury no longer is in 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:41.760 contact with both wires because once it is set back 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:44.280 to its central location, only the bottom wire is connected. 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:48.680 The circuit is broken and the heater stops working. Uh. 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:51.440 And in general, usually there's a system in place where 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:56.800 this will actually shut off before you reach that full temperature, 0:11:56.840 --> 0:12:00.240 because depending on where you are in the house, like 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:02.440 you don't want the thermostat to be right next to 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:06.280 the heating vent, no, because it'll the temperature of thermostat 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:09.160 will change too quickly, right, So you would you might 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:11.640 be in a situation where if the hot air were 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:14.080 right next to the thermostat, the thermostatic goes, oh okay, 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:16.960 it's already seventy two degrees. Meanwhile you're in the living 0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:19.440 room going why is it so cold in here? Right? 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:22.000 So you want the thermostat to be someplace where it 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:24.679 will be exposed to the flow of air, but won't 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:28.760 be right there at a vent. So the thinking here 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:31.800 is that, well, if we we may want the thermostat 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:35.000 to shut off a couple of degrees cooler than what 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:37.640 you said it at because the room that's going to 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:40.160 be closer to the actual vent is going to be 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:43.079 warmer than wherever the thermostat is, and the heat will 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:47.040 disperse throughout the house. So it's kind of a way 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:49.200 of making sure you don't get too warm, because then 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:50.840 you're gonna be sitting there thinking I said it to 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.520 seventy two and now it feels like it's like seventy six. 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:57.000 What's going on? So um to do that, they have 0:12:57.160 --> 0:13:02.600 a resistor inside the thermostat. No, I'm not going so. 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:06.480 Resistors will actually heat up as electricity goes through them, 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:10.679 and the resistor itself acts as a heater for that 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:13.240 coil that's inside the thermostats, so it will expand a 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.040 little faster than it would if it were just measuring 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:20.160 the ambient temperature of the air, right, so uh, that 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:23.520 will cause the heater to to shut down a little 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:26.760 more quickly than it would if if it were just 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:31.760 reacting to the ambient air temperature. So um. Of course, 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:35.120 if the the house cools down, you know, after you've 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:37.760 heated it up, then that coil is going to slowly 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:42.360 start to contract, you know, as as it's uh, as 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:44.640 that temperature drops, and if it contracts enough, then the 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:47.559 mercury vial is going to tilt again, and that's going 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:49.520 to start the system all over again. You get that 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:53.360 completed circuit, sends the electricity to the heater, and you 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:55.240 start up again. The same thing is true, by the way, 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:58.640 of air conditioning, except you know, you're talking about contracting 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:01.959 instead of expanding. But it's just tilting the mercury viile 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:06.520 the other way, and as the temperature goes down, the 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:10.040 coil contracts, and then the file will eventually be set 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:14.320 back to its central configuration. Uh. Now that this is 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:19.280 your basic analog thermostat. It's not the way all thermostats work. 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:21.240 It's the way the older ones work. So if you 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:23.000 ever in a building that has that and you hear 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:26.480 that clicking noise, that's the sound of the file actually 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:32.600 turning and uh and and the circuit completing. Um, that's 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:37.160 that's what you're hearing there. Some thermostats are using thermistors, 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:41.880 which are sort of digital thermometers. It's a little different. 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:45.920 That's that's not um based on the mercury switch necessarily, 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:49.240 although some are kind of a hybrid between the two. Yeah. 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:52.360 I actually think that that that system is brilliant because 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:55.360 it's relying on the laws of physics. You know what 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:58.520 you're not going to change for the thermostat. So it's 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:00.920 not like neutrinos are suddenly going faster than the speed 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:04.880 of light. Um. And that was a joke people, I 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:07.640 know I'm reading up on the whole story. That was 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:10.920 just a me playing playing a joke about the laws 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:13.520 of physics not changing. Right, No, but it's a it's 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:16.800 a brilliant system because it's so simple in its design. 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:21.760 Um and very frankly, I've I've found that the manual thermostats, 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:24.000 while they don't necessarily save you as much energy as 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:27.320 a programmable Uh, some programmable thermostats are real painting the 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:30.920 neck to you, especially if you don't realize what what 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:34.600 setting it's on, or you take a week of vacation 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:37.520 and you're at home when you're thinking, well, it's so warm, 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:40.560 and then oh, it's on the programmed one as opposed 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:42.880 to a constant I almost always turned the program off, 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:47.840 which is not terribly um efficient and and actually one 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:50.680 could argue irresponsible of me because it means I'm wasting 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:54.960 electricity and uh that's probably no, that's I can't really 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:58.000 argue with that, right Well, um, well, the digital ones 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:00.160 that use the thermistors. In case you're wondering how the 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:03.880 thermistorre works, it actually is um allowing. Uh. It changes 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:07.400 the electrical resistance of the material inside as the temperature changes. 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.760 That's how it determines uh, if it's at the right 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:13.680 temperature or not, or whether you know, the the heating 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:18.000 or cooling device needs to be still going. Um. And 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:21.920 of course the programmable thermostat still use uh still need 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.760 to be able to identify what temperature it is because um, 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:29.400 you know, it's it's simply adding a layer of electronics 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:35.000 to the simplicity of the thermostat. Because you know, you're 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:36.800 just saying, Okay, at six in the morning, I wanted 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:39.360 at this temperature at you know, two in the afternoon, 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:41.760 and I wanted at this temperature on the weekend. I 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:44.360 wanted to be this you know. Once you do that 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:48.360 and it has uh the clock in it internally set correctly, 0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:52.400 assuming that your batteries don't die. Um, you know, it's 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:55.440 it's just adding a layer of complexity. But the thermostat, 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:58.600 at its heart, it's still using uh, you know, basically 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:01.640 measuring the temperature and using this which to turn the 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:05.240 heat or cooling system on or off. Yah. Got so, Yeah, 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:09.760 There's certain components are gonna be uh common across all thermostats. 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:12.919 They may not take the exact same form, but they 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:15.639 follow the same function. Even in a system where you 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:19.040 have zoning. Yeah, zoning can be important if you're in 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:21.080 a well, if you're in a build office built in 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:24.639 office building, clearly you're gonna need zones because especially if 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:28.560 it's say it's a high rise um or a skyscraper, 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:31.200 that's the temperature is going to vary quite a bit 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:33.959 from the very top to the very bottom. Especially if 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:36.320 you imagine that there was no heating or cooling system 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:38.919 in there at all, you would know, you know, well, 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:41.280 it's gonna feel a lot different on floor number one 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:45.320 than it is on floor number fifty. So so you've 0:17:45.320 --> 0:17:47.880 gotta have special zoning in there. But even some houses 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:50.720 will have it, especially depending on the layout of the house. 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:54.040 You know, some houses are if they're like a flat 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:57.520 style where it's it's multiple floors, it may be that 0:17:57.600 --> 0:18:00.399 the bottom floor is always much cooler or than the 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:03.000 top floor, and you might want special zoning there so 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:12.520 that the entire domicile remains and a comfortable temperature. Um. So, yeah, 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:15.840 I mean that's also fairly common. And we're also seeing 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:21.280 some web connected thermostats these days where you can even 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:27.800 you know, manage your home's climate remotely the Internet of Things, Yeah, 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:32.320 which is interesting and frustrating in the sense that it's 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:34.720 frustrating in the sense that there's not really a standard 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:38.680 way to approach this yet. So it's all proprietary. Yeah, 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:41.600 but you can, you can. There's several different companies that 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:45.040 offer home automation systems and basically what you do as 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:48.240 you set the h different systems up and we're talking 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:52.120 things like locking and unlocking the doors, turning lights off 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:55.639 and on, um, the thermostat, and all sorts of other things, 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:59.960 perhaps UM camera security system some you know, the different things, 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:01.600 and you can have the system set up to where 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:04.400 you can manage all these things through a computer or 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:07.800 even your smartphone. Now, um, and yeah, I mean it's 0:19:07.840 --> 0:19:10.679 it's it's pretty simple. It's just uh, you're right. I 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:15.280 mean a lot of the times the hardware is proprietary. 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:18.119 So let's say you have one company and their billing 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:20.120 has gotten out of control and I could I could 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:23.760 get a cheaper system. Um, you're likely to have to 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:27.200 have the new company come in and install their equipment 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:29.960 because it won't they can't go, oh, well, you know, 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:33.280 I can I can use so and So's equipment. You're 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:37.280 probably not. Now that's not necessarily true, but it is in. 0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:40.200 In some cases, there's also the possibility. There's also the 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:42.600 possibility that whatever company you go with ends up going 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:46.160 out of business. And if that happens, if your commands 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:49.760 are sent through corporate servers before they get to your 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:52.600 house to make whatever the changes are, if that company 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:55.120 goes out of business, then you're out of luck. I mean, 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:59.080 most of these systems still have the way, you know, 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:01.680 you can still program him it manually, so that it's 0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:04.040 not like all functionality is going to disappear. It's just 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:07.720 that the extra stuff you pay for might not stick around. 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:11.439 But that does bring us to an interesting development, something 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:15.320 that has made the news recently. Uh, and it's it's 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:17.960 kind of interesting that that's such a you would normally 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:20.960 think thermostats those are fairly mundane. Yeah, I mean the 0:20:21.000 --> 0:20:23.800 sort of thing that usually makes waves in the tech world. 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:27.679 I could guarantee you that that the thermostat you were 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:30.560 describing earlier in the episode is something that people, just 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:34.080 about everybody we're talking to on this podcast has seen 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:39.440 in somebody's house at some point, simply because um, it's 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:43.240 so reliable. Thermostats don't just break in a lot of 0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:47.240 instances I've seen, you know, the old mechanical thermostats last 0:20:47.400 --> 0:20:50.840 years and years and years and years. Um so, and 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:53.119 I could just about guarantee that people have seen the 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:55.360 type that you were talking about before, the the pre 0:20:55.480 --> 0:21:00.639 digital variety. Um so, you know, other than the programmable thermostat, 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:04.719 there hasn't been I would say a massive surge in 0:21:04.880 --> 0:21:08.240 thermostat technology. Yeah. The the web connection is probably the 0:21:08.280 --> 0:21:10.520 closest thing that we can come to. But even then 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:14.400 you're just adding some sort of connectivity to the device. 0:21:14.680 --> 0:21:16.680 In this case, we're talking about something that that goes 0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:20.560 a step beyond just connectivity. And we owe thanks to 0:21:21.480 --> 0:21:26.760 Mr Tony Fidel who made a real name for himself developing, 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:32.280 being one of the developers on a truly iconic product, yes, 0:21:32.600 --> 0:21:35.560 which is the iPod. And in fact, it's so iconic 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:38.480 that we have podcasting. Uh and yeah, there are people 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:42.520 who refer to it as netcasting or or webcasting, but 0:21:42.520 --> 0:21:45.320 but truth you know, the podcasting is like the common 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:49.960 that's different. Podcasting is is the common term for what 0:21:49.960 --> 0:21:51.800 what it is that Chris and I are doing right now. 0:21:52.280 --> 0:21:56.119 Um and it we you know, it owes everything to 0:21:56.320 --> 0:21:59.080 the Apple iPod. It was the MP three player that 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:01.720 it was not the stimpy three player to hit the market, 0:22:01.760 --> 0:22:05.320 but it was a huge success and it essentially defined 0:22:05.480 --> 0:22:09.399 the market once once the iPod hit and people started 0:22:09.400 --> 0:22:12.560 to adopt it, all other MP three players at that 0:22:12.600 --> 0:22:18.040 point for moving forward were essentially guided by the iPod. 0:22:18.200 --> 0:22:20.760 Either they were trying to do what the iPod did 0:22:20.760 --> 0:22:23.360 but do it better, or to try and completely depart 0:22:23.440 --> 0:22:25.880 from the way the iPod did things in a way 0:22:25.880 --> 0:22:33.000 to differentiate the product from the standard bearer. Really so well, 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:35.000 I was gonna say one of the things that made 0:22:35.040 --> 0:22:38.919 the iPod great and its time was the simplicity of 0:22:38.960 --> 0:22:43.560 its controls. And you'll remember, just a couple of minutes ago, 0:22:43.600 --> 0:22:47.119 I was talking about how some digital thermostats can be 0:22:47.200 --> 0:22:50.280 a real pain in the neck to use UM because 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:57.040 the controls aren't necessarily UM aren't necessarily straightforward in their labeling. Yeah, 0:22:57.160 --> 0:23:00.480 or it may it may take multiple step just for 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:03.080 you to go. Like if you want to get really 0:23:03.119 --> 0:23:07.800 granular with your programming, so that you know, for instance, uh, 0:23:08.000 --> 0:23:10.000 you might tell a work one day out of the week, 0:23:10.560 --> 0:23:12.240