AL5000 said “…when you’re cold you turn the heat all the way up, incorrectly assuming you’ll get warm faster?”
I, too, used to feel smugly superior to people who did that. Then I found out that they were right, even though their reasoning, if any, was all wrong. (Maybe they think it’s like turning up the flame, or, as in this discussion, adjusting the blend door for more heat.)
I learned (hard way, long story) that the old bimetallic thermostats for home heating do not just switch on/off as the temperature changes. Rather, when the burner is on, part of the electric current for the igniter control is run through the bimetallic coil, heating it up. (I think this was Honeywell’s patented “anticipator circuit”.) The effect is to make the furnace run for a sort-of fixed time, rather than waiting for the air heat to kick the thrmostat off. There is a little adjustment rheostat built into the thermostat, and the instructions say to tweak that until the furnace cycles about N times per hour at normal temp setting. What you are doing, in effect, is adjusting the constant-ish run time. So, it’s second order, but if you push the thermostat up higher, the furnace will restart sooner and cycle faster until the temperature reaches the higher setting. Then the house is too hot. (So remember to turn the thermostat back down to normal when the house reaches the desired temperature.)
I don’t know any similar details about how the digital thermostats work.
I have a programmable digital thermostat in the house. Which ever mode it is set to, cooling or heating, it waits until the temperature is one degree from the preset to turn on, and runs until the temperature is one degree past. It will continue to run until it reaches than limit. This last summer, on the hottest days, the A/C can run continuously from about 12:00 noon until 9:00p. In heat mode, the heater works the same way. It has run for up to 4 hours on the coldest of days, but seems to be better at keeping the house warm than keeping it cool. My older system only has the two modes, and runs both in a binary cycle. Setting the temperature cooler doesn’t make the system pump colder air, and neither does setting the temperature warmer make for warmer air out of the vents.
Both my Toyota Supra and Ford Explorer have electronic climate controls. They both have internal and external ambient air sensors, and use a blend door to control the amount of heat to add to the air coming out of the vents. You can feel the temperature of the air out of the vents change as the cabin temp reaches the digital preset. They also both have automatic fan speeds, so the fan speed also drops as the cabin temperature reaches the preset.
My wife’s older Celica has a blend door controlled by a knob on the dash. It simply has a red swoosh and a blue swoosh to let you know the direction to turn it to control the heat.
My old Toyota pick-up had no blend door. The temperature lever controls how much heat flows through the heater core through an inline valve mounted to the firewall. It had a red triangle and a blue triangle to let you know which way to pull it to increase or decrease the heat. This worked fairly well throughout it’s entire life.
To the OP, it just sounds like you and your car mates have a differing opinion on what is a comfortable temperature. I’d spend more time working out a solution or compromise with them.
My car is a 2010 Nissan Versa, does not have climate control. I’m sure the car will handle fine in the snow. I’ve driven small cars in snow before, never had problems. From my experiance, front wheel drive does well in snow.
When I drive in snow, I don’t pay any attention to operating the heater, my eyes are on the road and my hands are on the steering wheel. I’m a cautious driver…on snowy mornings I’ll leave extra early for work and drive a little bit slower than usual.
Seriously though, try the temperature knob. It’s been possible to adjust the air temp on cars since at least the 1950s. Move the knob or slider and give the system a minute or so to stabilize. Read your manual for further information. If the temperature does not change, you may need to have the system looked at.
TSM, 96% is amazing. Last gas furnace I had was something like 80%. Tells you something about how long ago that was. No gas available for the last 2 homes, had oil heat but those were pretty efficient for oil. Present home is electric (100% efficient but wicked expensive with wood stoves. No thermostat on wood stove- if you’re not careful you get a sweat lodge. Had to open windows in middle of winter a few times in the novice year…
late 2010. This’ll be my second winter with it. I replaced an oil fired boiler about 20+ years old with it, and my heating bills plummeted. It was one of my better decisions. I wanted to replace the boiler anyway, as the cost of oil was getting scary, and opting for the “highest end” unit was a bit of a decision, but it was well worth every penny. I was fortunate in that I already had a gas line in the basement.
You sound like a person who likes it a little on the cool side, so do I, a little tape on the vents will help direct the heat to the passengers and keep it from blowing on you. That might be enough to keep everyone happy.
I bought an older car one time and the driver’s side as all but sealed off with cardboard and tape, so I assumed the driver liked it cooler.
MB - I have a new High-Efficiency Oil-fired boiler from Buderus…Can be direct vented…91% efficiency. I’d go with Natural Gas if it was available…but not even close to my street.
Just put it in front of the vents…haha
with wood stoves. No thermostat on wood stove- if you’re not careful you get a sweat lodge. Had to open windows in middle of winter a few times in the novice year…