The Facts:
It is cubicle city here at TransUnion in Crum Lynne, PA.
Outside temp is 40 degress.
Inside temp is 78.
At 75 a few folks (including a director) balked that it was ‘chilly’.
Maintenance man bullied into raising temps.
Coolest area of floor displays 76.5 degrees.
My hands are sweaty. Feet soaked.
I have pleaded to set the thermostat at 72 degrees…a very normal temp.
I cannot work like this.
72 would barely be tolerable for me, but what you’re experiencing is typical in my building, too. I keep a high-powered fan on me at all times in my office because my coworkers insist on having the heat turned up.
Most people don’t get the concept that it’s easier to layer up than layer down. But personally, I think that a consistent 70 degrees would be ideal for everyone to adjust to.
78 degrees is way too hot to work in. That’s completely nuts. 70-72 is normal.
78 is absurd. Does anybody heat their own house to anything higher than 72?
I would say that 72 should be a “normal” office temp, and I would prefer to see 70. Especially in an office where there is a dress code requiring long sleeve shirts and/or ties. You can always layer on a sweater if you want, but there is a limit to how far down one can strip.
Being slightly chilly keeps one awake and burns more calories, which is good.
Being too warm is uncomfortable and makes people drowsy and potentially stinky, which is bad.
How about this? Bring in a small air circulator/ionizer machine (not a fan… you’ll see why) to put in your cubicle, to help you deal with the overheating. Then the next time you’re on vacation for a while, surreptitiously swap it in for an equally small humidifier. They want 78? Let’s see how they like it at 78 with 50% humidity.
I wish I were making this up.
I’m surrounded by women who are wearing spring attire in the winter.
I just checked the thermostat on the column next to my cube. We are holding steady over here at 77.5, as the sun has made it’s way across the souther sky, warming up this side of the building even more.
Searching for cooler areas, I find a low of 76.5 and one of my direct reports stopped me to tell me she is having hot flashes. I showed her the thermostat in her area.
Now I have to play bad guy and get everyone together on this, because the maintenance guy is reacting to miscellaneous comments. He should look at the damn temp and set it at 70-72.
Unbelievable. I know I am not crazy. 72 is quite warm, pushing the max that anyone would set their heat to. 77…78…and climbing…insane.
I would kill for 72. Hell, I’d kill for the 78 some of you are talking about. You know what my average work temp is?
Oh, man, I wish. We don’t have heat in this building, because we’re all fresh and modern and built by a freaking Florida architect. It’s okay now, but generally speaking it’s damned cold in here. We have air, sure, it runs all year. Sometimes (even usually) it feels like it’s down around 63 or so. I keep a little heater at my desk, and a blankie.
68 (F) is good. Too cold or too hot makes people unproductive, but at 68, I’m usually just right.
I work with post-menopausal women - they’re all always fighting over the thermostat, and only 2 of us even understand the concept of how they work. The others just push the damn thing to one extreme or the other all the time. It’s enough to make you want to beat people.
I keep a fan and a space heater in my office. Self-preservation.
Ours never goes above 68 (nor does my thermostat at home). 78 is utterly ridiculous, especially considering the high cost of heating these days. At the beginning of the winter, my boss talked to all of us and reminded us to dress warmly, because the heat would not be turned up under any circumstances, due to high heating costs. I don’t think I’ve even heard it kick on today, and I’m perfectly comfortable in a light sweater.
If I were you, I’d find out how much the company would save if you turned the heat down to 70, graph it out, and give it to your boss. Then encourage her/him to notify everyone that the office temeprature will be lowered and to dress accordingly. There’s no reason people need to wear spring/summer clothes in the dead of winter.
I am now at 86 degrees with 25% relative humidty. Just got a digital thermometer at lunch.
OSHA guidelines:
30-60% rel hum
68-74.5 in winter
I just want a reasonable temp. I’ll split the difference and agree to 70 degrees.
I don’t even want invoke my opinions. I am just going to state some facts.
Touchy subject.
Really? They have guidlines about what the max temp should be? Are these enforceable, or just recomended?
I’d love to go up to the maintenance director and tell him he has to cool my office or he’ll be in violation of some code somwhere.
I work in an older building (built in the '40’s or 50’s) and the heating/cooling system seems to have been installed at the same time. We’re always fighting to get a reasonable temperature in the office, especially when the seasons change.
We’ve been told that for some odd reason, the heating/cooling system bases it’s actions on the OUTSIDE temperature, not the temperature inside. Earlier this winter season, we alternated freezing/broiling, with temperatures in the low 60’s or mid 80’s. Things have stabilized recently and we’re in the low to mid 70’s now.
I’m sure when the spring weather gets closer, things will go bonky again (as it does every year) and we’ll start broiling/freezing again…
I’d be very happy at 70-72 degrees…
OSHA guidelines are based off the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), who developed a voluntary standard (ASHRAE 55-1981)
Source: http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=INTERPRETATIONS&p_id=24602
But then again, …
About ten degrees higher than the temperature in mine.
I have no idea what it is, but despite the fact that I’m in one of the warmer offices, my officemate and I are always wearing two or three shirts and putting our coats over our laps. 