Chris Saul's Blog

Tuesday July 21, 2009

Thermostat abuse

Dubai is horribly hot and sweaty at the moment. Just walking around leaves you drenched and grumpy - yuck.

Thanks to the hot weather, it's that time of year where a certain kind of abuse is perpetuated across Dubai - thermostat abuse.

There seems to be something in the human pysche that makes the majority of people refuse to trust the humble thermostat. It seems that most of my fellow Dubai residents simply cannot believe that setting the thermostat to the temperature you want will actually have the AC work, as quickly as possible, at getting the room down to 21C and keeping it there.

Despite the blatant evidence to the contrary, people insist on believing that this humble switch mechanism is actually a setting for the temperature of the air that will be blown out.

Hot inside? Whack the thermostat to 10C and then wonder why it becomes icey cold and stays that way.

Cold inside? Whack the thermostat to 30C so that it'll warm up quickly, then whack it back down to 10C again when it gets too hot.

People! Here's what you need to do - set the thermostat on the wall to the temperature you want the room to be at. 22C is good. Then simply leave things alone - the thermostat will ensure that the temperature stays at the setting you have chosen.

Phew! I'm glad I've got that one off my chest.