> it's difficult to cool the whole house or even a single room by leaving the freezer door open

I think cooling with an open freezer is impossible in general? Or is that your point and I don't understand the argument?

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alphazard 3 days ago | parent [-]

The point is that just dumping an arbitrary amount of cold into the house is unlikely to change the temperature because the thermostat has access to more heat, and has a different goal.

That example was meant to illustrate why simple one off actions have a diminished or imperceptible effect on the system.

	▲	rcxdude 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		It's just not a great one because an open freezer or fridge will not cool a room at all, anyway: it pumps heat (with some inefficiency, i.e. more heat) from inside itself into the room, so it will on average heat up a room if it's left with its door open.