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| Photo by Vincent de Groot via Wikimedia Commons |
by Peggy Robin
Although we are still months away from air conditioning
season, I thought I’d throw this question on the table: When you want to make
the room colder by increasing the air conditioning, do you turn the A/C UP or
DOWN?
I have consulted both friends and family and have found
opinion is evenly split…with both sides hot to defend their own point of view.
The ones who say that UP makes it colder tell me that you are making the system
work harder. “Turn it up” is universally understood to mean increase the power,
volume, effectiveness, of whatever system, appliance, or gizmo you are fiddling
with. It’s not an ambiguous call -- no other interpretation is possible, by
this logic
Nonsense, goes the reply. If the gizmo in question is an air
conditioner, whether a whole house system controlled by a thermostat or a
window unit with a dial or digital display, if you want to get more cold air,
you must take action to bring the numbers DOWN. So you must say what you mean to do: “Turn the
air conditioning down” -- by which you mean, move the dial or the digital display
to a lower number. If you turned it up to a higher setting, you would make it
warmer. DUH.
While I’m pondering this dilemma, I’m Googling these phrases
on my tablet. I pulled up many hits with answers. Here are three of them:
Not only did Google not direct me to a clear and convincing answer, but it brought up a brand
new and even more baffling UP/DOWN question. To get to the results of the
search which can be found DOWN below the visible area of the screen, you need
to flick your finger UP toward the top of the glass surface. When the motion you
make is to move your finger up, are you now scrolling UP? Or DOWN? Hmmmm….
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Still Life With Robin is published on the Cleveland ParkListserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.
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