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A classic office problem. Ugh. The thermostat happens to be right next to the overweight post-menopausal woman who keeps it as low as it goes which is around 60. The thermostat isn't terribly accurate so that ends up being more like 65, but that's too cold for me and half the office keeps space heaters going year round because of this issue. I, unfortunately, am not allowed to have a space heater in my workspace. I try to quietly turn the thermostat to 70 (which merely cuts the AC down a notch), but she always spots it within 30 seconds or so.
I hate having to haul a sweater around with me 365 days a year, but the rest of the office has decided they'd rather avoid the confrontation which means my only option is to rant here and shiver through the day because I forgot my sweater today.
You know most thermostats in a large office building don't actually work. The temp is controlled by the engineering office and the thermostat is just there to make you think you have control.
This may be a silly question but for those of you who work in offices, what do you keep the tempeture set at in the office? I'm a warmer person so I usually try and keep it on 70 which I though is normal but my co-worker keeps turning it down to between 55-65.
Office temperature and humidity conditions are generally a matter of human comfort rather than hazards that could cause death or serious physical harm. OSHA cannot cite the General Duty Clause for personal discomfort. Office Temperature/Humidity
As a general rule, office temperature and humidity are matters of human comfort. OSHA has no regulations specifically addressing temperature and humidity in an office setting. However,Section III, Chapter 2, Subsection V of the OSHA Technical Manual, "Recommendations for the Employer," provides engineering and administrative guidance to prevent or alleviate indoor air quality problems. Air treatment is defined under the engineering recommendations as, "the removal of air contaminants and/or the control of room temperature and humidity." OSHA recommends temperature control in the range of 68-76° F and humidity control in the range of 20%-60%.
If its actually to 55 - 65, thats below OSHA recommendations, but no legal violation.
I would recommend closing the registers, air vents around your part of the office. That should increase the air flow to the other registers.
I would recommend closing the registers, air vents around your part of the office. That should increase the air flow to the other registers.
It isn't always because someone likes it unreasonably cool/hot. Temperature can vary greatly from the thermostat setting depending on where the air vents are located.
If you find it too cold/hot, close/open the vents near you. If you can't do it yourself, talk to the buildings/office/facilities management people. Sometimes it's a vent that was left open/close and they forgot about it.
I work in large open concept offices. We often have to ask maintenance to open/adjust the vents. I even have an incident with one side of our office getting uncomfortably cold despite adjusting the thermostat way up. Turns out the heat sensor was located near a computer's heat fan was, so the A/C was overcompensating. Once we moved the computer, the thermostat setting was fine.
Let me put it this way... you can always put on a layer or two... you can only take off so much! If I had to pick one or the other, I'd rather be too cold than too hot. 68 degrees feels perfect to me but some offices are set for 74 or more.
Offices around here seem to hover in the 68-73 range, and all of that is too cold for my liking. I wear long pants, long sleeves, closed-toe shoes, etc. to work in summer. I also keep a heavy sweater and a pair of fingerless gloves at my desk and sometimes even that isn't enough...I also have a space heater.
You know most thermostats in a large office building don't actually work. The temp is controlled by the engineering office and the thermostat is just there to make you think you have control.
Absolutely correct! Facilities maintenance got tired of everyone adjusting the temp.
Company I worked for moved to a new building; old bldg was great as far as temps, but the new bldg was a nightmare. Our section was freezing while just down the way a bit the temp was comfortable. We complained so much they finally had contractors come out and redo the entire cooling system in our area (the ducts were messed up or something like that); anyway when they were done it was better.
Some say the temp should be on the cool side to keep employees alert; but when it's way too cold one can't concentrate on anything except trying to get warm. And if you sit under one of the vents and have the a/c blowing down the back of your neck it's pure torture!
Where I work is always frigid. I wear long sleeves, sweater, no sandals. I am not complaining though, in Japan right now, due to the loss of 30% of their energy from the earthquake/tsunami, the regulation for office temps this summer is set at 83 degrees. Sure, sounds warm...
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