4 ms·
" But you will have a perfect correlation between thermostat setting and outside temperature." You meant a perfect causation between thermostat setting and ins
by emiliobumachar 13y ago
" But you will have a perfect correlation between thermostat setting and outside temperature."
You meant a perfect causation between thermostat setting and inside temperature, right?
- josephlord 13y agoThe correlation will be between the thermostat output and the outside temperature. The thermostat output (combined with outside temperature) are the causation for inside temperature. There should also be a correlation and causation between thermostat setting and inside temperature.
- anon4 13y agoWell yes, but I also meant what I wrote. When the temperature outside goes down, the thermostat goes up and the other way around. They are perfectly correlated, even though you can't really say one causes the other (outside temperature does in a very roundabout way cause thermostat setting). I like that example because it counters both "causation implies correlation" and "correlation implies causation".
- baddox 13y agoI'm confused. Don't you simply set a thermostat to the desired indoor temperature and leave it? Assuming the desired indoor temperature is constant, I would expect the thermostat setting to be constant, the internal temperature to be nearly constant, the outdoor temperature to be uncorrelated, and the energy usage of the heating/cooling system to be correlated with the outdoor temperature (namely, the difference between outdoor temperature and desired internal temperature).
- brc 13y agoI think he means not the internal temperature, but the differential the thermostat sends to the heating, or somethign like that. I kind of get the analogy, but it is a little tortured if people can't pick it up immediately.
- ProblemFactory 13y agoI think the confusion arises from the term "thermostat". The example works much better with a "heating power dial", not a "desired indoor temperature dial".