Spring Forward... Fall Back... But How to Stop Falling Back?

My “energy-saving” thermostat has done a number on me.

I really should have suspected that it was a half-baked product when I found that in the summer, the “wake,” “day,” and “sleep” periods could be set as low as 60°, but the “evening” period can’t be set below 71°… I genuinely hope that’s a design defect, not more of Big Brother’s thermostat regulations… yes, that should have served as a warning of more to come.

Here’s the thing.

We left Daylight Saving Time over a week ago... well, all of us did except for my thermostat.

My shiny programmable thermostat still thinks it’s last Sunday morning, between 1:00 and 2:00... and for all I can tell, it will never change its mind without an external influence being exerted.

See, every hour, when it gets to 2:00 a.m., the thermostat sets itself back an hour to 1:00 a.m... and then an hour later, when the thermostat thinks it’s 2:00 again, the thermostat sets itself back to 1:00 a.m. again. It’s been in this loop for days, now.

Brilliant design! Well-tested, too. :(

It’s okay, though... really... because this is the time of year in Oklahoma when you switch your system from “Cool 70°” to “Heat 70°” and back again at least once a day. Seriously. So I’ve had the schedule bypassed for over a week, anyway.

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Incidentally, I put “energy-saving” in quotes – not because the thermostat doesn’t actually “save energy,” because I suppose it does... but it’s important, here, to draw brief attention to the fallacious nature of a premise that I’m not buying into.

When countering the opposition, it’s important never to accept an invalid premise – otherwise, you can end up arguing a point not worthy of argument.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… this is not about saving energy. It is about saving money. It’s not about saving the planet. It’s about saving my wallet. The planet is doing just fine, and will continue to do so, with – or without – my “help.” There is no moral virtue in “saving energy.” There’s not really even such a thing as “saving energy” on any significant scale.

It’s as ridiculous as the notion of “wasting water.” How do you waste water? Lock it up and prevent it from ever entering the ecosystem again? Hide it in jugs under your bed?

Some would say that you “waste water” when you take a long shower.

Let’s think about this... the water comes from a lake or river... it’s treated chemically… runs through a series of pipes, perhaps an intermediate storage tank or tower, to my house, through the pipes, out the shower-head, over my glorious body, down the drain, to the sewer, through a treatment plant, and back to another lake or river… where exactly in that process did I waste water?

Yes… I paid for the treatment and delivery of the water, as well as for its subsequent transport, treatment, and discharge... but the amount of water never changed... I just moved it around a little bit. And, it’s in the same good condition it was in before I used it... possibly even better.

You could say I wasted money, but you can’t say I wasted water.

Simple. Really!