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Thoughts about thermostats

Posted on February 2, 2014February 2, 2014 by Dot

Once, as a first grader, my youngest son asked me, “Did you have to take a piece of firewood to school during the winter?” I explained that I did not attend the Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie.

My ‘grade’ school had a boiler deep in the basement of the building where only the boys in class were sent to fetch the janitor. (Fine by me!) That boiler, fueled by I-don’t-know-what, provided heat to radiators in each classroom very efficiently and reliably.

At home our house was warmed with gas space heaters with clay covers over the open flames. These did a very good job of keeping a room toasty.

Later came the floor furnace, a burn hazard for toddlers. And eventually it became financially possible for most homes to have central heat, a furnace that put warm air evenly throughout the whole house.

Thermostats had always been available for furnaces. Early on, people needed to control the temperature in mills and factories so the mercury thermostat was invented way back in the 1600s.

Somewhere along the way it was discovered that electricity worked well and was safer so that is what is used now. The temperature in our houses are even throughout each room. We can program changes into our thermostat so the heat (or air) adjusts itself without our giving it another thought.

And this is nice, but when there is a power outage it isn’t just the total electric homes affected, virtually everyone is without heat. Because with no electric power to the thermostat, there is no way to turn on a gas furnace.

And I guess I’m here to ask, Why Not? Why is there not a mechanical starter on a gas furnace? If there were, then during a power outage the emergencies would be lessened because those with gas furnaces would have heat in their houses. Fewer people would be in a crisis situation.

Wouldn’t that be a good thing?

Category: Living my Life

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2 thoughts on “Thoughts about thermostats”

  1. Freeda Baker Nichols says:
    February 3, 2014 at 12:55 am

    Sounds like a plan to me. Our heat is electric. Wish we had a wood fireplace or stove to supplement. 🙂

  2. Dorothy Johnson says:
    February 3, 2014 at 1:21 pm

    We have gas heat but as you mentioned the thermostat is dependent of electricity. On the several occasions we’ve found ourselves without electricity, Terry has improvised by tapping into our kind neighbor’s natural gas powered generator with a heavy electrical cord. An electrical engineer friend told him what to do to use that power for just a few things: heater, refrigerator and some lighting. It has saved us so much misery! Wish everyone could do the same.

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Dot Hatfield

Dot Hatfield

Dot Hatfield is a member of the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame and a Certified Lay Speaker in the United Methodist Church. She is the author of 7 books.

Dot’s Books

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  • R.I.P. Emma Lou Briggs
  • To Find a Home
  • The Last To Know
  • Every Day a New Day

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