Empty room hottest, a result of breaking this (10)

I believe the answer is:

thermostat

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'breaking this' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'empty room hottest a result of' is the wordplay.
'empty' suggests removing the centre.
'result of' indicates anagramming the letters.
'room' with its middle taken out is 'rm'.
'rm'+'hottest'+'a'='rmhottesta'
'rmhottesta' with letters rearranged gives 'THERMOSTAT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for thermostat that I've seen before include "Temperature regulator" , "Heating device" , "Temperature controller" , "Form of control" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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