The placebo effect: Achieving AC power savings using psychology
Author: Aircon Off Date Posted:5 August 2015
Hot and cold is mostly in your mind
The Placebo Effect: Achieving AC power savings using psychology
“Why guests are not really as hot as they think they are”
We’ve all heard of the placebo effect. Most often referred to in medical terms, patients are given a placebo, or a treatment that will have no effect, in order to test the effectiveness of a new healthcare treatment. Around one third of patients who take placebos will experience an end to their symptoms.
But have you ever heard of a placebo button? Working off the principal of the placebo effect, the placebo button is a technique that’s sometimes used in the HVAC industry to help better manage temperature control for large ducted systems.
Basically, when you press a placebo button, the temperature will look like it’s going up or down, but it actually isn’t. And there’s a good chance that you’ll feel warmer or cooler, even though there’s been no actual change to the temperature.
