I have definitely seen thermostats that go up by units of 0.5 °C though. Honestly I would have guessed they are the rule rather than the exception.
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It’s always amused me that two bits of US culture where metric is used (although not exclusively), is the size of ammunition and the capacity of engines, because I expect the sort of person in either culture to be somewhat resistant to change.
Anyway, I’ve always liked that one litre of water weighs one kilogram, and is ten centimetres cubed.
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Hah! The UK is, ostensibly, metric, but weed is sold in ounces.
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Plus, the UK uses pounds for money.
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That’s cos the creatures that use it most are very, very small.
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Machinist here, and I assume you’ve got a typo there because a mil (or thou) is a thousandth of an inch.
It’s actually a great unit. In a world where metric didn’t exist, thousandths of an inch are the metric system of Imperial, if that makes sense. No more fractions or twelves, everything is a decimal. If metric isn’t an option (which it apparently isn’t in America) then decimal inches are really great. The other advantage to thousandths is that, at the scales machinists operate at, everything becomes an integer. You’re dealing with one thou clearances and 50 thou finishing cuts, that sort of thing. In metric machining, everything is in decimals of millimetres or sometimes microns, which is less convenient. It’s not a deal breaker either way but the point is it’s not as simple as one being better universally.
As for America making the switch, the problem is they try to do everything bottom up and never really commit. I think it’s down to how weak the federal government is in the US. Big decisions like that have to be made from the top. I was the first generation in Canada to grow up with metric and the country just made the switch one day and that was it. All our schooling was taught in metric, all the signage was changed, etc. It didn’t cost that much or take that long really. The richest country in the world could certainly do it if you wanted to.
It created a funny generation gap though- my sister and I were all metric as kids, but our parents were all imperial. So we’d give them distance estimates in metres and they’d have no idea what that was. Funny thing though, is that Canada still uses imperial for many things casually between people. So we grow up being taught only metric, but then you absorb imperial through culture as you grow up because everyone still uses it for a lot of things. The country is officially metric, but you might not know it talking to people or building houses, that sort of thing.
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Thanks! That was the last barrier to my moving to Canada. See you soon!
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Not stone?
I’ll see myself out.
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The good news is you won’t have to worry about your air conditioner setting for the next few months.
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Almost everything we buy is labeled in metric. Look in your cupboard - every jar & box is labeled in metric. We use both systems because we can, and smart Americans understand the metric system. If you don’t, you should up your game. It’s not that difficult to understand.
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I mean, it’s designed to be easily understood. The problem is developing instincts and heuristics. That is something that only happens when you grow up with something (or use it for a long time at least). That only happens when the entire country switches.
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In further agreeance.
Firstly people are terrible judges of absolute temperature. Our nervous system is far better at detecting relative temperatures.
But most relevant almost all thermostats have a pretty wide deadband where no heating or cooling calls are made. Even if you get the fanciest variable heatpump/furnace combo your still going to have a deadband in excess of 0.5C. More realistically a couple degrees in either direction is likely.
Then there is room to room variation. So my fancy thermostat is regulating fan only and heat calls to stabilize the area it is located in. But upstairs/downstairs are always offset and even different rooms will heat/cool a little faster.
Yes super high precision HVAC is possible but it sure isnt economical…
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Volume should be measured according to old barrel-making practices, because then you know exactly what a buttload is.
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Right there with you on this. It’s difficult (but not entirely impossible) to buy a metric tape measure in the States. And if you find one that has both metric and imperial, the metric edge is always the hardest one to use.
When I installed the laminated flooring in our kitchen and dining room, I was delighted that it was all constructed according to metric dimensions. I got myself a metric-only tape measure and it was a breeze laying out the cuts for both rooms. I’m not going back.
Except, inflating tires is still only happening around here in pounds per square inch (psi).
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Three lids.
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Wtf are those??
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What? You don’t watch shows where most of the characters are hats? Maybe you need to buy a few lids yourself!
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