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Turning Up Heater When Off on Shabbos

shalom,
Is it permitted to turn an electric radiator down or up whilst the timer switch is off but coming on later? If the problem is muksah then perhaps one could do it with there elbow/teeth etc? Is this permitted?

Answer:

It is permitted to turn it down.

Under extenuating circumstances, such as somebody who is ill or a young child who needs the heating, it is even permitted to turn it up, and this should be done with a shinuy.

Best wishes.

Sources:

See Minchas Shlomo (2:23) and Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasa (13:25-6) who permit making changes to a timer when the current is off, where there change is to elongate the current situation (to make lights that are on go off later, or lights that are off go on later). See also Yabia Omer 318. However, these authorities did not permitted bringing the melachah closer by changing the clock, since this is a Gerama of melachah on Shabbos.

Although this is quite the same issue as that of the question, we see that there is no prohibition against making changes in the electric circuitry, where these changes have no immediate effect, and will not cause a melacha to happen.

By the same token, it is permitted to turn down the heater while the timer is on, because this will not cause any extra melachah. However, it is not permitted to turn it up, since this will cause an extra melachah, unless there are extenuating circumstances, in which case it should be done with a shinuy, as other cases of Gerama (see Shemiras Shabbos 13:29 and Yabia Omer loc. cit.).

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