Battle of the Thermostat
I have something that I want to get off my chest.Well maybe it's more truthful to say that I'm really searching for some validation as well. You know what I mean-valididation that my position is the correct one and my husband is being an idiot. (Notice I did not say my husband IS an idiot, just that he sometimes plays one on TV. You might remember him from such films as "Honey, I Can't Find My Car Keys", "The Great Toilet Seat Incident", and "Undewear, the Buffalo Roams")
Anyway, last night my husband and I became engaged in a healthy debate. Married couples are allowed to do this and many will tell you that it is the key to keeping the spark alive. You know what they say about make up sex, don't you? Now this debate did not arise to level that begs hot, sweaty make up sex. Nonetheless it was a debate, a discussion, a difference of opinons, an argument. You pick the noun.
I came home from work yesterday to an extremely cold house. This after spending the day in the Arctic Tundra otherwise known as my office. For some reason my office building operations cannot get the temperature right. Now we have had a spell of warm weather, so I understood the need for the air conditioner. But the unit never turned off all day yesterday. It kept blowing an Arctic blast of freon laced air from the vent on the floor of my office. I ended up closing the vent and putting a trash can over it to block the remaining air that was able to escape the clenched jaws of the vent.
So when I got home and noticed the frigid conditions that have enveloped my living room, I look at the thermostat. I knew that when I left that morning I had intentionally set the thermostat to 74 degrees. It was now set on 70 degrees and was blasting cool air like a walk in freezer. I set it back to 74 degrees and criticized my husband's thermostat adjustment, which thus began the debate.
Our disagreement was two-fold.
Fold #1-We disagreed on what room temperature is. My position is that room temperature is 72 degrees. My husband claims that 70 degrees is proper room temperature. Granted I don't think there is an scientific ruling on the official room temperature, however I think most would agree that it's 72 degrees. My husband's argument is that 70 is a round number, so he must be right. WRONG! Now, he may feel more comfortable at 70 degrees and would like that to be HIS measurement of room temperature. But that doesn't mean that most other warm blooded human beings prefer room temperature to be a balmy 72 degrees.
Fold #2-The second part of our argument involved the proper setting of the thermostat. I can't tell you how many times I have tried to convince my husband that his thermostat adjustments do not make sense. His strategy when he is too hot or too cold is to overcompensate the adjustment of the thermostat temperature.
For example, yesterday when he got home he was feeling rather warm, so he turned the thermostat down much lower than his actual desired temperature. His rationale is that if he sets it lower it will arrive at that temperature quicker than if he simply set it to a reasonably desired temperature. I have tried to explain that regardless of what temperature you set the thermostat on, it is not going to reach that temperature any faster. The unit will just continue to run and run until it reaches that thermostat setting.
I also told him if he looked at the power bill each month he would understand my sensitivity to this issue, as well as the goosebumps upon goosebumps that have set up camp on my arms. To which his reply was that this was his house and he was going to be comfortable even if it costs him an extra 16 cents a day. My point was that since we have ceiling fans, we can make some minor adjustments without sacrificing comfort. I have to say that I am not one of those people who are always cold, so I don't think I'm not being unreasonable. And I'm far from a thrifty person, so that's not really the point either.
The delicate balance of a marriage hinges on a couple's inclination and ability to compromise and rise above petty arguments. It's not about whose right and whose wrong, as long as ultimately HE knows which way the wind blows. And in my house, trust me, that wind just might be blowing icicles.
Anyway, last night my husband and I became engaged in a healthy debate. Married couples are allowed to do this and many will tell you that it is the key to keeping the spark alive. You know what they say about make up sex, don't you? Now this debate did not arise to level that begs hot, sweaty make up sex. Nonetheless it was a debate, a discussion, a difference of opinons, an argument. You pick the noun.
I came home from work yesterday to an extremely cold house. This after spending the day in the Arctic Tundra otherwise known as my office. For some reason my office building operations cannot get the temperature right. Now we have had a spell of warm weather, so I understood the need for the air conditioner. But the unit never turned off all day yesterday. It kept blowing an Arctic blast of freon laced air from the vent on the floor of my office. I ended up closing the vent and putting a trash can over it to block the remaining air that was able to escape the clenched jaws of the vent.
So when I got home and noticed the frigid conditions that have enveloped my living room, I look at the thermostat. I knew that when I left that morning I had intentionally set the thermostat to 74 degrees. It was now set on 70 degrees and was blasting cool air like a walk in freezer. I set it back to 74 degrees and criticized my husband's thermostat adjustment, which thus began the debate.
Our disagreement was two-fold.
Fold #1-We disagreed on what room temperature is. My position is that room temperature is 72 degrees. My husband claims that 70 degrees is proper room temperature. Granted I don't think there is an scientific ruling on the official room temperature, however I think most would agree that it's 72 degrees. My husband's argument is that 70 is a round number, so he must be right. WRONG! Now, he may feel more comfortable at 70 degrees and would like that to be HIS measurement of room temperature. But that doesn't mean that most other warm blooded human beings prefer room temperature to be a balmy 72 degrees.
Fold #2-The second part of our argument involved the proper setting of the thermostat. I can't tell you how many times I have tried to convince my husband that his thermostat adjustments do not make sense. His strategy when he is too hot or too cold is to overcompensate the adjustment of the thermostat temperature.
For example, yesterday when he got home he was feeling rather warm, so he turned the thermostat down much lower than his actual desired temperature. His rationale is that if he sets it lower it will arrive at that temperature quicker than if he simply set it to a reasonably desired temperature. I have tried to explain that regardless of what temperature you set the thermostat on, it is not going to reach that temperature any faster. The unit will just continue to run and run until it reaches that thermostat setting.
I also told him if he looked at the power bill each month he would understand my sensitivity to this issue, as well as the goosebumps upon goosebumps that have set up camp on my arms. To which his reply was that this was his house and he was going to be comfortable even if it costs him an extra 16 cents a day. My point was that since we have ceiling fans, we can make some minor adjustments without sacrificing comfort. I have to say that I am not one of those people who are always cold, so I don't think I'm not being unreasonable. And I'm far from a thrifty person, so that's not really the point either.
The delicate balance of a marriage hinges on a couple's inclination and ability to compromise and rise above petty arguments. It's not about whose right and whose wrong, as long as ultimately HE knows which way the wind blows. And in my house, trust me, that wind just might be blowing icicles.
posted by amyd | 4:13 PM
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