Point of thermostat?

"Beardedgeek;c-16572737" wrote:

"Francl27;c-16572585" wrote:
I disliked the idea of the feature, and I really dislike the feature now.

Really, I see NO point in it. I mean, I don't even have to constantly play with mine in real life - just set it on a temperature and forget about it... I suppose that turning weather effects off Sims would make it useless too, no? Maybe I should do that to save the extra $80,000 every Monday.

Yeah, it seems the developers have confused the function of a thermostat (set the temperature to whatever you want, and it does it automatically and a furnace / AC.

A lot of modern thermostats do have separate AC/furnace settings, though. I just turned my AC on (heatwave IRL, though the AC is going off again soon for the day) - it required me to set the thermostat to "cool". It's set at a different temperature than the "heat" options, or it would overcool the house. When I don't need either, I set the thermostat to "off".

After reading how much the thermostat can raise bills I would've loved to see an "eco/cost friendly" alternative. Like maybe a thermostat that's cheaper in buymode yet makes bills higher (maybe it's old, used, not very efficient, etc.) and one that costs a lot more in buymode but has "smart technology" that will turn off when it's not needed, thus making bills cheaper. Or they could've put in a ceiling fan or window with an airconditioning unit? I think those would've been 'cool' (haaaa get it?) alternatives to only one thermostat option.

"LittleMissLimos;c-16572753" wrote:
After reading how much the thermostat can raise bills I would've loved to see an "eco/cost friendly" alternative. Like maybe a thermostat that's cheaper in buymode yet makes bills higher (maybe it's old, used, not very efficient, etc.) and one that costs a lot more in buymode but has "smart technology" that will turn off when it's not needed, thus making bills cheaper. Or they could've put in a ceiling fan or window with an airconditioning unit? I think those would've been 'cool' (haaaa get it?) alternatives to only one thermostat option.

They have done that, in a way, by giving alternatives to turning the thermostat on - ice cream, a swim, a fireplace for a room - even changing into temperature-appropriate clothing (Hot/Cold). I'd like to see alternatives that cut bills overall, though, like using solar panels (which would work better in some worlds than others, even).

"Beardedgeek;c-16572737" wrote:

"Francl27;c-16572585" wrote:
I disliked the idea of the feature, and I really dislike the feature now.

Really, I see NO point in it. I mean, I don't even have to constantly play with mine in real life - just set it on a temperature and forget about it... I suppose that turning weather effects off Sims would make it useless too, no? Maybe I should do that to save the extra $80,000 every Monday.

Yeah, it seems the developers have confused the function of a thermostat (set the temperature to whatever you want, and it does it automatically and a furnace / AC.

Mine has a switch for heat/cool. If I want to set my house at 70 when it’s 96 outside (like right now) I would have to have it on cool, or the air won’t kick on. I’m sure some thermostats have that functionality, but a lot of them don’t.

it's just a fun object to me but i don't use it that much bc bills. i was playing the spencer-kim-lewis family and one of them got a moodlet about how nice it was to be in a cool building after being outside in the heat. it was a pretty short moodlet tho? i think it was 60 seconds or something.

I look at the addition of an thermostat or anything for that matter it is not just to act like how things do in RL, it provides options in game even if it's function may be useless or have limited use. I more than likely will not care to use the item but it is an option that I can use or not use for there are other options that I do not use in this version or it's previous versions and I still enjoyed myself. Heck some people cannot even program an modern thermostat and all they want to know is how to turn on the heat or A/C or turn it on or off. I have an thermostat that is an piece of trash and all I know how to do is turn it on and turn it off and for me I do not want to program an thermostat in game but still it can be an option for others if they wish to go that route as long one can just turn on and off at will. :) I do like the thermostat idea and just need tweaking as well as some of the other options in the game.

I like the thermostat and I like that now there are things that you have to spend money on unexpectedly whether it be high heat bills or replacing items after a storm. It was so easy before to accumulate and keep money and now there is finally an element of challenge to it. This pack is a giant breath of fresh air for the game. Rags to riches challenges are so much more fun because now there is actually an element of challenge to them. So are legacy challenges because of the risk weather has brought your Sims are no longer 100% guaranteed to survive to old age. I am loving it! The devs have is several opt out on the thermostat, put some regular clothes in the hot and cold categories they can change into in the house during extreme temps, buy a reward trait that makes them nonreactive to temperature, and specifically for winter put fireplaces in several rooms, or save up for a pool to use in summer.

After lurking on the forums and seeing that it’s best to only use the thermostat when it’s hot and cold outside and only then, i haven’t had to have it on much. But when i do, my bills don’t jump too high at all. You’re not supposed to have it on all the time or else you’ll get these outrageous bills as someone said in another thread.

Or you can just have them put on the appropriate clothes as mentioned before if you’re playing a rags to riches story like I am.

Just going to toss this out there. For those with high bills, get the frugal trait from the reward store for at least one Sim in the house. My Sims have a very large house, pool, hot tub, green house, a bunch of higher end items, a really full inventory and used the thermostat for 3 days during a heatwave, their last bill was just under 4,000! My other family that I play has a small house with not much in it, and their bills were 15,000 after only briefly using the thermostat.

Well yeah. All my sims, no matter what, get Gym Rat and then Frugal ASAP.
Then traits to fit their goals and careers.