Crossword clues for thermostat
thermostat
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Thermostat \Ther"mo*stat\, n. [Thermo- + Gr. ? to make to stand.] (Physics) A device which automatically regulates temperature, or provides a signal used by another device to regulate temperature. The temperature-sensitive signal may be electronic, as that produced by a thermocouple. The signal may also be caused mechanically, as by the unequal expansion of different metals, liquids, or gases by heat, which can then cause the opening or closing of the damper of a stove, or the like, as the heat becomes greater or less than is desired.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
automatic instrument for regulating temperature, 1831, from thermo- + -stat.
Wiktionary
n. a device that automatically responds to changes in temperature by activating a heating or cooling system to maintain the temperature at a desired setting
WordNet
n. a regulator for automatically regulating temperature by starting or stopping the supply of heat [syn: thermoregulator]
v. control the temperature with a thermostat
Wikipedia
A thermostat is a component which senses the temperature of a system so that the system's temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint. The thermostat does this by switching heating or cooling devices on or off, or regulating the flow of a heat transfer fluid as needed, to maintain the correct temperature. 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, as well as kitchen equipment including ovens and refrigerators and medical and scientific incubators.
A thermostat is often the main control unit for a heating or cooling system, through setting the target temperature. Thermostats can be constructed in many ways and may use a variety of sensors to measure the temperature, commonly a thermistor or bimetallic strip. The output of the sensor then controls the heating or cooling apparatus. A thermostat is most often an instance of a " bang-bang controller" as the heating or cooling equipment interface is not typically controlled in a proportional manner to the difference between actual temperature and the temperature setpoint. Instead, the heating or cooling equipment runs at full capacity until the set temperature is reached, then shuts off. Increasing the difference between the thermostat setting and the desired temperature therefore does not shorten the time to achieve the desired temperature. A thermostat may have a maximum switching frequency, or switch heating and cooling equipment on and off at temperatures either side of the setpoint. This reduces the risk of equipment damage from frequent switching.
The term thermostat is derived from the Greek words θερμός thermos, "hot" and στατός statos, "standing, stationary".
Usage examples of "thermostat".
T cells is starting a process which ends up with your hypothalamus turning up the thermostat.
It appears that as the thermostat tests the blood passing through for temperature so the appestat tests it for glucose content.
Alden speculated that Lily was obliged to wait for some late autumnal sunset to align itself exactly with the rusty croquet hoops atilt in the side yard before she could touch the thermostat.
Alf Brummel had a key to the church and was already there, switching on the lights and turning up the thermostat.
He switched on the low-intensity interior lighting, adjusted the thermostat to 20 degrees Celsius and activated the sensor array.
In addition to shutting off the water heater and resetting the thermostat, she included a cleanout of several cabinets that would fill the vanwagon.
Regular cleaning and repairs of the building were performed by a maintenance service, but the Dorritt brothers had been given the use of a small basement apartment in return for minor janitorial duties involving fuses and thermostats and cutoff valves.
Surely a simple thermostat made of a bimetallic strip will do the job as well.
So I got the Bug out, locked the doors and set the thermostats, and I set out.
The subtlety and sense of timing of a thermostat or a cardiac pacemaker, Pete decided -- that's what it takes to be a hunter -- a feeling for the rhythm of things and a power over them.
I'd moved the thermostat up to 70, but all it did was click off and on ineffectually.
Today, restricting ourselves to general purpose computers, and ignoring the ubiquitous special purpose machines that inhabit everything from thermostats to automobile fuel injection systems, several hundred million machines are in use around the world.
They saw the models of the automatic kneaders, the vitaminizers, the remote signal thermostats and timers and controls.
You can hang half a dozen different monitors off of it and play DOOM with someone in Australia while tracking communications satellites in orbit and controlling your house's lights and thermostats and streaming live video from your web-cam and surfing the Net and designing circuit boards on the other screens.
It is like the action of a thermostat which controls the oil furnace in the basement.