Thermostat
component which maintains a setpoint temperature
A thermostat is a regulating device component which senses the temperature of a physical system and performs actions so that the system's temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint.
Thermostats are used in any device or system that heats or cools to a setpoint temperature. Examples include building heating, central heating, air conditioners, HVAC systems, water heaters, as well as kitchen equipment including ovens and refrigerators and medical and scientific incubators. In scientific literature, these devices are often broadly classified as thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs). Thermostatically controlled loads comprise roughly 50% of the overall electricity demand in the United States.
A thermostat operates as a "closed loop" control device, as it seeks to reduce the error between the desired and measured temperatures. Sometimes a thermostat combines both the sensing and control action elements of a controlled system, such as in an automotive thermostat.
The word thermostat is derived from the Greek words θερμός thermos, "hot" and στατός statos, "standing, stationary".
Overview
A thermostat exerts control by switching heating or cooling devices on or off, or by regulating the flow of a heat transfer fluid as needed, to maintain the correct temperature. A thermostat can often be the main control unit for a heating or cooling system, in applications ranging from ambient air control to automotive coolant control.
“Thermostat” enters the record as component which maintains a setpoint temperature. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Thermostat, component and maintains can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Thermostat” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.