Office Air Con Wars
Discussion
Currently at a client site where there seems to be a mini war going on over the air con. On one side we have the ladies who insist on coming to work in thin clothes and then complaining that it's too cold turning the heat up to 24-25. Then on the other we have the I'm double hard or overweight people etc who have problems regulating their body temperature in anything other than Arctic conditions so they set it to 17.
I've seen people from both camps have clandestine meetings about it, spying, espionage, blame, counter-blame, people going off sick due to it being too hot\cold. It really is surprising the amount of time wasted on this stuff. Why can't people just be normal and leave it set at 20-22?
The worst thing is they've currently assigned me a workspace right under one of the main blowers so I go from getting blowing hot hair dryer like air to freezing cold blasts within the space of 5 minutes about 7-8 times a day.
Anyone else have similar air con wars in the office?
I'm going to have to tell my client I'll not be coming to the office so often at this rate.
I've seen people from both camps have clandestine meetings about it, spying, espionage, blame, counter-blame, people going off sick due to it being too hot\cold. It really is surprising the amount of time wasted on this stuff. Why can't people just be normal and leave it set at 20-22?
The worst thing is they've currently assigned me a workspace right under one of the main blowers so I go from getting blowing hot hair dryer like air to freezing cold blasts within the space of 5 minutes about 7-8 times a day.
Anyone else have similar air con wars in the office?
I'm going to have to tell my client I'll not be coming to the office so often at this rate.
Yes, the controller is placed in a locked room and people have actually phoned staff out to unlock the door in order to change the setting. Just leave it on 23 ffs!
Problem is people come in from the cold and go it's boiling in here and want it turned down while the people that's been in for a while have acclimatised and are comfortable.
Problem is people come in from the cold and go it's boiling in here and want it turned down while the people that's been in for a while have acclimatised and are comfortable.
red_slr said:
Google the make / model of ac keypad there is probably some kind of lock out feature.... so you can set it to the normal 19c and then lock the bugger down!
Aha absolute genius. I'm on the case!I reckon productivity would go up 10% if people weren't engaged in all these shenanigans (or more likely they'd find something else to waste time with) but at least I'd be more comfortable.
Byff said:
Problem is people come in from the cold and go it's boiling in here and want it turned down while the people that's been in for a while have acclimatised and are comfortable.
There was a guy in my office that used to engage in this type of s
t all the time. He was quite unfit and after walking from the tube station to the office, his body temperature would be above normal resting temperature. He didn't seem to grasp the idea that exercise generates heat and so when he'd arrive at the office, he would open all the windows until he cooled down. This was with total disregard for those workers who had already been in the office a while and had "acclimatised" as you say. People are generally pretty selfish.
Place I used to work the early arrivers would turn the radiators up to full blast to warm the place up and leave them on all day, summer and winter. The air con would then automatically kick in about 9am, so you would have the aircon fighting the radiators all day, and no one was happy.
It amazes me how supposedly clever people can't work out how to use heating correctly.
The other one is the ladies all wearing thin clothing and complaining it is cold when all the guys are fine - my argument was wouldn't the ladies rather put a cardie or a jumper on than have us guys sat around naked apart from our pants? That would not be a pretty sight in an IT company.
Place I used to work the early arrivers would turn the radiators up to full blast to warm the place up and leave them on all day, summer and winter. The air con would then automatically kick in about 9am, so you would have the aircon fighting the radiators all day, and no one was happy.
It amazes me how supposedly clever people can't work out how to use heating correctly.
The other one is the ladies all wearing thin clothing and complaining it is cold when all the guys are fine - my argument was wouldn't the ladies rather put a cardie or a jumper on than have us guys sat around naked apart from our pants? That would not be a pretty sight in an IT company.
Sheepshanks said:
I feel the cold but 23 is going some - surely everyone must be nodding off?
I don't think the number on the thermostat really relates to the actual temperature - certainly on ours we set it at 24 and the wimmin still moan it's cold, I'm comfortable in a long sleeve shirt but would be too hot if it I was sat wearing this outside on a 24 degree day.soad said:
Blokes like it colder than the arctic, wimmin like it roasting hot - it's the same all over the world.
While I agree it certainly might seem that way, I'm a bloke and I like it set to an average temperature of about 20-22 and my wife agrees. We have a couple of larger ladies in the office who start sweating if it gets much about 22.Anything in the teens feels a bit chilly and 17-18 are what server rooms in data-centres are usually set to, to keep the equipment cool i.e. not ideal for humans and anything over 22 starts to feel uncomfortably warm. Many articles would seem to agree that 20-22 is the ideal temperature and surely a good compromise for everyone rather than the tug of war we have at the moment.
FunkyNige said:
I don't think the number on the thermostat really relates to the actual temperature - certainly on ours we set it at 24 and the wimmin still moan it's cold, I'm comfortable in a long sleeve shirt but would be too hot if it I was sat wearing this outside on a 24 degree day.
Well it's a bit pointless talking about numbers if the numbers are wrong!My desk thermometer is reading 20.3 but the one on the wall is reading 19.6C. Thermostat is set at 21C. I wouldn't mind being a degree warmer. Brr....
Oh this is my pet hate! I spend quite a bit of time in our office in Gibraltar and I'm usually in the only part where the AC isn't locked down. It's genuinely horrific - you can imagine how hot it gets in such a location and then in the top floor of a glass building. The AC is either off (so no airflow and I really have trouble breathing) or if you can persuade them to turn it off they won't drop it below 24. This includes blokes. I honestly think I'm going to pass out sometimes. In summer months I can wear flip flops and shorts which is better but it's still far too hot
Huff said:
Project architect comes clean: I've provided rather a lot of dummy thermostats in some larger staff areas in projects (particularly for NHS staff environments... go figure). All deliberately non-adjustable by users, but leaving them with comfortable illusion of control...
Me in shiny new hospital room: It's ruddy cold.Nurse: Turn up the thermostat.
Me: I would but it's not connected to anything!
I blame you Huff, for all the arctic blasts ever
Six Fiend said:
Huff said:
Project architect comes clean: I've provided rather a lot of dummy thermostats in some larger staff areas in projects (particularly for NHS staff environments... go figure). All deliberately non-adjustable by users, but leaving them with comfortable illusion of control...
Me in shiny new hospital room: It's ruddy cold.Nurse: Turn up the thermostat.
Me: I would but it's not connected to anything!
I blame you Huff, for all the arctic blasts ever
Yes, used to have this. But in my firm we were not trusted with actual control, there was a "facilities" team to handle such things. Therefore, you had to phone. Which meant that the blokes would phone and say it is damn hot and down would trot some chap and check the temp, then go away. Then the women would phone and say how cold it was, and down would trot the same chap and check the temp, then go away.... This would happen a dozen times a day..
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