Common sense that isn't so common

[jackfaire]

I was gonna put this on CS but honestly I can see it going fratching very quickly.

Now it is almost impossible to compare two different homes and how much it will cost to heat them because at least the following factors are involved,

Size of home
Vacant or not
Number of people in home
weather proofing (how much heat seeps out of the home)
height of ceilings
temperature of thermostat
what the weather is like in that area vs the other one

Basically unless most of these factors match you can't really compare one home to the other and say the one should be using more gas to heat or not.

Now the reason this comes down to common sense is that I had a customer tell me that it was common sense that a large home with 2 people in it will use more gas to stay warm than a small vacant home.

Specifically this doesn't work because in a home with people in it the people are generating body heat and helping keep the home warm as well as all of their possessions are displacing air meaning there is less to heat.

An empty home has only the heater generating heat and nothing decreasing the amount of air in the home.

After explaining all of these different factors to her and how physics works she still insisted that, "common sense dictates that a smaller empty home uses less gas"

*facepalm* My big gripe is people like this, they get an idea in their heads that is wrong and rather than let themselves be educated and learn the way it really is they call their ignorance common sense and insist everyone should use it and of course anyone that doesn't just doesn't have any common sense.

I mean seriously is that the way it works? Can you imagine how much bad behavior you could excuse that way? "Oh well common sense dictates that since you help a friend in need I can just take money from your wallet"

Personally I think there is learned sense, no one is born knowing the stove is hot, but I don't believe in common sense.

[blas87]

Common sense died a long time ago.

Look at how many people drive while applying makeup or trying to brush their teeth, how many people fling themselves at oncoming traffic because they just HAVE to cross the street NOW.

[Wingates_Hellsing]

Common sense has taken on the meaning of 'crap that lot's of people think'. IMO that's best described as common stupidity, but I digress. Screw common sense, opt for science!

[insertNameHere]

Well it depends, a vacant house SHOULD cost less to heat than one with people. If truly vacant your not opening the doors as much. Along with you only need to keep it warm enough to keep the pipes from freezing.
For example, my house is set to 68 in the winter, the old house before we sold it was at like 45-55, which is a significant difference as it didn't need to be comfortable for sleeping or not needing a coat. Which is also the theory behind those special thermostat they want you to use while at work for 8hrs that magically heat the house before you get home instead of keeping it warm.

[Dreamstalker]

"Common sense dictates" is just another way to say "I don't have a clue".

[jackfaire]

Well it depends, a vacant house SHOULD cost less to heat than one with people. If truly vacant your not opening the doors as much. Along with you only need to keep it warm enough to keep the pipes from freezing.

*Facepalm* Except you can't compare two different houses what if one has weatherized windows and weather proofing around all of the doors and the other one has a draft.

What if one has a fireplace with the flue open and the other does not. What if one has vaulted ceilings and the other does not.

And how many people doing what? You ever notice that an empty room is never as warm as one that you suddenly stuck a bunch of people moving around in? That is because of body heat.

When people are heating rooms with body heat then other sources of heat would have to work less which means it would lower the cost they are paying.

Also many people do the "don't let the pipes freeze" thing but often put the thermostat at 60 something and think "that isn't going to come on at all"

I lived in a better built house that was much larger with six people coming and going and it cost less to heat than the smaller old house that we had moved from also with six people because the equipment was more efficient and the home had been weatherized and weather proofed.

It stayed cooler in the summers too. I have seen first hand how people can't ignore the other factors and say, "but it was empty"