dead band
n.— «At night, the nanostats are set to “dead band,” a term coined by the university that means that the temperature in the room must be held within a broadened range, reducing the amount of intense heating or cooling required.» —“University studies energy-saving technology” by Kelley Hascall Daily Nebraskan (Lincoln) Oct. 12, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...
A young listener wonders: Why do the words icing and frosting both refer to the idea of being cold? The names for this sweet cover on a cake refer to its appearance, not its temperature. Something similar occurs with the glaze in glazed doughnut...