Heating vs Air Conditioning

dbrewer

We have just moved to a new location with hot/cold issues for a couple of employees. One complains it is to hot , the other in the same office is to cold.

At the old location which was cooler we had allowed space heaters at the individual stations where as now it is an open enviroment and these space heaters are heating the whole area, hence the complaints. We have asked that those that need dress warmer or at least appropriate for the office temperatures of 74 degrees, to no avail. Any suggestions I would like to do away the approval of space heaters, but am afraid of the can of worms that might be opened.

Your input is appreciated.

Thanks
Debra

GJohnson

I am surprised that your fire marshal would allow space heaters. Your solution seems best as someone who is too cold can add clothing where someone who is too hot cannot remove clothing.

Nevada HR

I'm usually on the chilly side, so keep a heating pad by my desk. I can keep warm without affecting others and set it aside when my face turns red. x:-8

Rockie

I agree. Your fire marshall would not allow space heaters under desks. We have this issue also and advise people that are "cold" to bring a sweater or a light jacket. Most people who complain about being cold in the summertime are wearing sleeveless,toeless, stockingless attire and this is one reason they are cold in an air conditioned environment. We generally keep the temperature at a comfortable 74 degrees.

We finally had to put locks on the thermostats as the cold people would turn the temperature up to 85 degrees so they would be warm with minimal clothing. Everyone else was roasting in South Carolina heat.

cnghr

Our heating/cooling system is set up in "zones", where several offices are (supposedly) regulated by a thermostat in one office. My office is one with a thermostat in it, but when I have it set so it's comfortable in my office there's cold air just pouring out in the offices on either side of me. I have to watch if I'm gone for a day, because somebody will come in and crank the thermostat way up in the hopes of getting it warmer in their offices. I've never seen any evidence that it actually works to do that, all that generally happens is that my office ends up WAY too warm but they're still freezing.

Oh, well, it's all moot at the moment, because our whole heating/cooling system stopped working a week ago and hasn't gotten fixed yet so we're all back to the old-fashioned method of opening windows and using fans to keep the temperature tolerable!

Dutch2

This has been an opportunity in very office I have ever worked in....
Don't know that it is even possible to keep everyone comfortable with the temperature.
We finally went to a computer system where the temp is controlled automatically and cannot be changed except in the one office with the controls. This helped with the complaining a bit as the temp is out of our hands. We have set out a few wall thermometers in a few offices just to double check. If the temp is within a degree or two from the pre-set temp, we just say, sorry the temp is in the set range and encourage the ee to dress more appropriately. Seldom is the problem to much warmth so many of the ee's have sweaters or light jackets that they keep in the office for such times.

davids

I used to work in an office where the thermostat was in one particular employee's office. The problem was that this employee was experiencing hot flashes. She would change the thermostat from one extreme to another. Needless to say, other employees were not pleased.

HRQ

Offer to let the freezy cats borrow a sweater, and keep the office cool.

I happen to be a freezy cat whose desk is situated in the coldest part of the office. This can't/won't be changed, so my assistant and I each keep extra sweaters on the backs of our chairs, and in the winter we even bring thin gloves, scarves, etc. We've also been known to wear blankets over our laps.

The office temp is not the problem, the problem is US, and we are the minority. Besides, I'd far rather be cold than hot.

If the employees are truly disgruntled about this, as opposed to just some occasional whining, perhaps they are unhappy about more than just the office temperature?

ACU Frank

If I didn't have a space heater under my desk, I'd have to wear pants. Especially in the winter.

HRQ

Well we can't have THAT kind of silliness going on. Pants, indeed.