No this is not about health care, or abortion, or gay rights, or any things politics based. It is about something as simple as the environmental temperature one prefers to work in.
I think I'm pretty normal. I like the temperature to be between 68 and 72 degrees when I'm working. Not so warm that I'm sweating, but not so cold that I'm incapable of typing.
My cubemate disagrees. He isn't even comfortable until the temperature gets down to around 65. Above that he sweats. The woman in the cube across the aisle agrees with him. Both are extraordinarily vocal.
Last week the AC was broken and the average temperature in our building was hovering around 64/65. They were both happy as a clam. My cubemate spent a great deal of time yelling "quit whining" at anyone who mentioned it was cold. It was so cold that I had to put on my fleece that has extensions for my hands, and still had trouble typing.
This week, they fixed the thermostat and it is now a comfortable 72 degrees. But both he and the woman across the aisle are raising a collassal stink, screaming that they can't work like this and it must be turned down. After yelling at everyone else to shut up when they just mentioned anything about it being cold last week.
Now I will admit that it could be a little cooler. But after they... I shouldn't say they, it's really just him.. spent all last week screaming at people to shut up about the cold, it feels rather unreasonable to me for them to be screaming so loudly now about the warm.
Either way, it would appear the difference is fundamental. Either those two are going to be warm or the rest of us will be frozen.
What does one do in this situation? I do feel bad for them. Well, mostly her - my cubemate is a troll. But unless they can be put in their own room with their own temperature controls, they're going to end up making everyone else suffer if they get their way. I doubt they can be given their own temperature controlled room. This is GE we're talking about. A GE cube farm. It's a bunch of cubes in a single giant room.
Has anyone else run into a situation like this? Or any situation where the was a fundamental disagreement with no possible compromise? How was the situation resolved?
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
Make it 67 so everyone will be equally unhappy.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
quote:Originally posted by Alcon: ... How was the situation resolved?
In fire
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
But if I were to fix it twice, I would kindly favor ice.
Hobbes Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
I actually kinda like the White Whale's solution. (The only alternative is to alternate days of hot and cold). I would note that it's slightly easier/more-acceptable for a cold person to put on a sweater than a warm person to take off their shirt, and 67 degrees seems like the people who like it warmer can deal with it via extra clothing and the people who like it colder can just deal with it.
Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
During the winter, I'm always colder than my cubemates to the point of finding typing difficult. I resolved the issue by buying a space heater. I think your cubemate should invest in a fan or a portable ac unit.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
I have a fan at my desk for when it's too hot and a jacket at my desk for when it's too cold.
bitching accomplishes nothing.
(too cold is better than too hot because you can always put on more clothing)
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
quote:During the winter, I'm always colder than my cubemates to the point of finding typing difficult. I resolved the issue by buying a space heater. I think your cubemate should invest in a fan or a portable ac unit.
Our building is the flagship building for GE's attempt to go green. ACs, space heaters... maybe even fans... are banned from cubes. Too much energy usage. You pretty much aren't allowed to have anything of your own in your cube that takes up power. Just the stuff they give you.
Posted by scholarette (Member # 11540) on :
I am surprised the company lets you put it that low. Ours was set at like 76 during summer, 66 during winter, to save money. I was never comfortable. Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
Then the temperature should definitely be geared toward those who like it cold. If they can't have a fan, they're going to be miserable.
We ban space heaters because they blow the circuits, but fans don't take much power.
If my company banned a fan under the guise of going green, I'd have my resume out.
Posted by DSH (Member # 741) on :
Isn't 'room temperature' 75°?
72° is pretty cool and 68° is down right chilly. My office is usually around 77°. I keep my house at about 78-79°.
I'm surprised GE would foot the bill for a 72° office. They could save themselves a boatload of money by turning up the thermostat.
my $0.02
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
Boy, norms sure are funny things:) To me, cool is 76F...and in fact, I'm so acclimated to that, prolonged 75F starts to feel cold, and less than that I notice almost immediately. I think it's those +100 springs/summers/falls.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Room temperature is betweeen 68 and 73 degrees F.
Too cold is better than too hot - a space heater works better than a fan, and you can always put on more clothes. Moreover, being cold keeps people alert, and being hot make people lethargic and tired.
Posted by Traceria (Member # 11820) on :
So, no fans or space heaters, eh?
While I tend to also be one of the freezing individuals, we all quite enjoy mentioning the sub-zero temps while in company of our equally frozen peers. We all keep blankets or extra jackets, some fingerless gloves in one girl's case, and sometimes, in the winter, don't take our scarves off after coming in from outside. We're usually more amused over our extra layers than we are exasperated. I will agree with those who said to set it colder (the highest temp possible before your nasty cubemate starts sweating...which can't be very aromatic?) and get in the habit of dragging out your sweaters, blankets, fingerless gloves and, in emergencies, get a steaming hot cup of coffee, tea or cocoa!
Posted by rollainm (Member # 8318) on :
I agree the temp should be cooler, especially if fans aren't allowed (which is ridiculous as far as I'm concerned), and this is coming from someone who likes it warm - or at least during the day anyway. Something to consider for those who feel the norm is cooler or warmer than others, humidity probably has a lot to do with that. 78 here in Georgia is unbearable.
Posted by Godric 2.0 (Member # 11443) on :
Our house is set to 78-80 during the summer, but when it's 100-110 or higher, that feels chilly. I like it a little on the chilly side during summer, and a little on the toasty side in winter.
I think our office is 84, which everyone here agrees is comfortable.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
It's not possible for an office to be too cold. For my part, I personally don't care too much about temperature as long as there's air movement, ideally a perceptible breeze. Stale air at 72 degrees is far, far worse for me than, say, a 78-degree indoor temp with some fresh air.
Posted by Launchywiggin (Member # 9116) on :
I've made it a life-long goal to never complain about the temperature or conditions in which I am working. This practice of accepting my surroundings has taught me to be comfortable in almost any condition, hot/cold/wet/loud.
People would be surprised how much more work they get done if they didn't pay attention to the thermostat AT ALL.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Hobbes: But if I were to fix it twice, I would kindly favor ice.
Hobbes
I suppose your frosty response will have to suffice.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
Wow, those are some wild variations in 'comfortable' temperature. I wonder how much they temperature correlate with latitude.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
I'm sure glad your company banned space heaters. I wish ours would. No one seems smart enough to realize they should keep their space heater AWAY from their computer (CPU). And not overload their power strip with those things, either.
Myself, I'm one that is usually always cold. But that's probably because I have no air conditioning at home, I try to rarely run A/C in the car, so I'm more acclimated to higher temps, and prefer it that way. I've heard discussions around the office that show people have a wide variety of preferences for their home A/C settings, as well.
I don't know how anyone finds a compromise. Some people's body temps are naturally higher/lower. People that are anemic are always cold. Older people like different temps than younger people, etc. Heavier people are usually hot, while skinny people are cold. That's just how it is.
Here, the maintenance people set it. period. You can play with the thermostat all you want, if if makes you feel better, but you're not really changing anything - it's all psychosomatic. I just bring a sweater.
Posted by Miro (Member # 1178) on :
When I lived in Alaska, about 80 miles south of the Arctic Circle, we all started getting hot and complaining when the temperature broke 60F. When I lived in the middle east, summer nights that fell below 100F felt great. It's all relative.
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
I'm glad I don't work with coworkers who are as picky as yours, Alcon. Our office is blasted by air conditioning because it's served by the same unit that chills the server room. Despite the fact that we're practically underground, the computers still output enough heat to require air conditioning to run even on the coldest winter days.
It's difficult for a person who has reptilian blood, like me, to stay warm enough in those conditions. During the winter months, I wear two jackets to work, and I know that some days I never take them off. I'll do what it takes to keep the tips of my fingers from being numb, which usually happens when temperatures are in the 60s.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
Human beings adjust to a wide variety of temperatures. People who insist on a certain temperature are simply unwilling to aclimate. What really drives me nuts is people who insist on 68 or less in the summer, but turn the heat up to 74 in the winter. It wasn't long ago that air conditioning was unheard of, but somehow we lived without it.
This isn't about comfort. It's about waste. There's no legitimate reason to set the thermostat below 76 in the summer or higher than 69 in the winter. Anything else is just selfishness.
Posted by Threads (Member # 10863) on :
quote:Originally posted by Glenn Arnold: This isn't about comfort. It's about waste. There's no legitimate reason to set the thermostat below 76 in the summer or higher than 69 in the winter. Anything else is just selfishness.
Why is that selfishness bad though?
Posted by Tarrsk (Member # 332) on :
quote:Originally posted by Alcon:
quote:During the winter, I'm always colder than my cubemates to the point of finding typing difficult. I resolved the issue by buying a space heater. I think your cubemate should invest in a fan or a portable ac unit.
Our building is the flagship building for GE's attempt to go green. ACs, space heaters... maybe even fans... are banned from cubes. Too much energy usage. You pretty much aren't allowed to have anything of your own in your cube that takes up power. Just the stuff they give you.
Wait... they don't allow fans in order to save energy, but they're OK with running the air conditioning constantly? How on earth does that make sense?
Posted by theamazeeaz (Member # 6970) on :
I would use the waste (green) card as your defense to keep the office "warm".
It should be hotter in the summer and cooler in the winter. I think it's stupid when it's to cold inside to wear what you wear outside at work. In the winter, you should be wearing a sweater anywa.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
quote:Originally posted by Threads:
quote:Originally posted by Glenn Arnold: This isn't about comfort. It's about waste. There's no legitimate reason to set the thermostat below 76 in the summer or higher than 69 in the winter. Anything else is just selfishness.
Why is that selfishness bad though?
You're kidding, right?
Posted by Rappin' Ronnie Reagan (Member # 5626) on :
Who knew there was so much self-righteousness about what temperature to set the thermostat on?
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
65? Do they have any idea how much power this takes up?
In the summer, I'm comfortable, provided I'm seated, at 76. In the winter, however, below 70 gets a little chilly when I'm "at rest". I would be the multiple-sweater wearing co-worker at lower than 69 except in the morning (when I'm much better at maintaining body temperature). In the evening I'm cold at 71.
I've heard and read in at least two places that women (except this woman in your office, apparent) get chillier faster-- at around 69, whereas men get chilly at bout 67.
I dislike cold offices, shops etc. I do not want to walk into a store and die of cold. I want cool, but not icy. I had the store at 74 today (and it was super humid outside) and it was fine.
quote:Our building is the flagship building for GE's attempt to go green. ACs, space heaters... maybe even fans... are banned from cubes. Too much energy usage. You pretty much aren't allowed to have anything of your own in your cube that takes up power. Just the stuff they give you.
The fans is kind of ironic, because it's cheaper to have higher temperatures and just blow cool air over people who are warmer, instead of turning the whole building down to 67.
Posted by Threads (Member # 10863) on :
quote:Originally posted by Glenn Arnold:
quote:Originally posted by Threads:
quote:Originally posted by Glenn Arnold: This isn't about comfort. It's about waste. There's no legitimate reason to set the thermostat below 76 in the summer or higher than 69 in the winter. Anything else is just selfishness.
Why is that selfishness bad though?
You're kidding, right?
No. I think you need to provide a better reason for criticizing people's choice of temperature than just dismissing it as selfishness.
Calling something selfish is just a smear. It doesn't actually explain why the matter in question is bad.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
I'm criticizing waste. The world can't afford it, and to say it's simply a matter of personal choice is ignorant.
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