Final answer:
The notion that a cold anticipator starts the cooling system early is false; thermostats in cooling systems activate based on actual temperature changes. The efficiency of cooling systems like air conditioners and heat pumps is tied to the Coefficient of Performance (COP), which is more favorable when there's a small temperature difference between reservoirs.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that a cold anticipator starts the cooling system early to allow the air conditioning system to get up to capacity when needed is false. Instead, the anticipator in heating and cooling systems generally relates to a heat anticipator in a thermostat for heating systems. When it comes to cooling, the thermostat responds to temperature changes in the environment and activates the cooling system as required, without a pre-emptive start based on anticipation.
In technical terms, both refrigerators and air conditioners, as well as heat pumps, operate most cost-effectively for cycles with a small difference between the high temperature (Th) and the low-temperature (To or Tc) reservoirs. This is because the efficiencies of these systems are dependent on the Coefficient of Performance (COP), which improves with a smaller temperature difference between the reservoirs.