As explained in Key Concept 39.2, there is a difference between control and regulation. Think of driving your car. You control the speed of the car with the accelerator and the brake, but you regulate the speed of your car by comparing the speed limit (set point) with your speedometer (feedback) to generate command signals to your foot that is operating the accelerator and brake. For understanding how body temperature is regulated, you must understand the adaptations for heat production and heat loss, how they are controlled, and what information is used to modulate the control signals to achieve a regulated body temperature.
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The basal metabolic rate (BMR) of an endotherm is the lowest metabolic rate necessary for biochemical and physiological processes of a resting animal.
Endotherms produce and conserve metabolic heat to offset heat loss in cold environments.
Mammalian body temperature is controlled by a regulatory center in the hypothalamus that uses hypothalamic temperature as the feedback information.