• frezik@midwest.social
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    8 months ago

    Smart thermostats are what make them really good. In climates where it gets really cold, you need to have a way to switch over from pumping cold air to pumping hot air to using a secondary heat source.

    It wouldn’t have to be that smart, or even networked. A z80 or 8008 processor would have been plenty. High end systems could have done it in the 70s, with costs coming down quickly through the 80s.

    • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      In climates where it gets really cold, you need to have a way to switch over from pumping cold air to pumping hot air to using a secondary heat source.

      That’s standard for all whole house heat pumps and has been for forever. ( as opposed to the mini split heatpumps where it’s a heatpump for one room in a house).