(e.g why does 70 degrees on “cool” feel colder than 70 degrees on “heat”)?
In: Technology
Some do. The Ecobee thermostats have an “AUTO” setting option, that will compare the temperature comfort range you’ve set against the inside temp sensor and the outside internet based weather rating, and decide to switch between HVAC and heat modes. You still can set different values for ‘heat’ and ‘cool’ simply because people tend to be comfortable at a wide range (say for example 65-75F) so when ‘heating’ no need to go to the max end of the range, and when ‘cooling’ no need to go to the min end of the range.
But I think your parenthetical has been answered already by others. Humidity, other modifiers on absolute temp (which the Ecobee also has some settings adjustments for). Some even have so-called ‘energy savings’ modifiers which try to target use outside of peak cost times. e.g. pre-cool the house a bit more below the desired max set point earlier in the day, so as to not have to work as hard during more expensive times. So while set to “70” it isn’t always truly at 70. The balance of your ducting room to room, and sun load also make a difference.
Knowing that AC in particular gets LESS effective the bigger the difference is between the desired interior setting and exterior ambient temp, that they’d let you set a moving target, e.g. I’d prefer to keep inside at 75deg F max but if outside temp is higher than that by 20 deg F or more, then just keep inside at (exterior – 20).
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