What's a reasonable temperature for an office?

So every year around this time the battle of the thermostat commences. In our office I seem to sit in a hot pocket. No, not the microwavable entree, an area of the office that seems to end up being a few degrees warmer than anywhere else. There are others in the office that feel that the current temperature is fine (even a little to cold). It doesn't help that the people who think it's to cold sit in an area of the office that is just that, cooler. They are always jacking the thermostat up, which turns our area of the office into an oven. The most obvious solution to this dilemma is to swap places, this would never fly. It happens that the cooler area of the office has windows, we do not. So I put it to the good folks of EB.com, how hot is to hot? How cold is to cold?

I keep my thermostat at home at or above 78 degrees when the A/C is on (like they tell you to). But at home I can wear whatever I want (or nothing at all). I have ceiling fans to help cool me too. Here in the office I am compelled to comply with the company dress code (closed toed shoes, long pants, collared shirt, etc.). There is no air movement what so ever. Getting a fan doesn't work b/c it blows the papers around on my desk. In the office, anything above 75 degrees and I start sweating. It's gross. I'm sticking to my chair as we speak. I'm this close to saying F the dress code, I'm changing into shorts and flip flops. ldman:

Can you get a fan and point it up, or put it on a bookshelf so it moves air above you? That's what I have done. My office is an old historic Charleston style brick building with no insulation. I have 3 windows in my office and one HVAC vent. My office shares an HVAC unit with the cube farm, which has vaulted 18ft. ceilings, so naturally, the cube farm stays much cooler, with the thermostat (located in the cube farm) set on 72, my office is a cool 78. So I got a fan and put in on my bookshelf, it will move air out of my sweat box and pull some fresh air in, and it seems to move the air around well enough that it will drop the temperature to 75 or so.

I would sat that 75 is the max the temperature should get to in the summer, but I prefer between 68-71. Anything above that and I'm like you, sweating my butt off. Like Chuck suggested, could you put a fan on a shelf or even on the floor beneath your desk. That might help out a little.

Ble_PE said:

I would sat that 75 is the max the temperature should get to in the summer, but I prefer between 68-71. Anything above that and I'm like you, sweating my butt off. Like Chuck suggested, could you put a fan on a shelf or even on the floor beneath your desk. That might help out a little.

Click to expand...

I do have a fan, but it's under my desk blowing on my legs, it helps some but not enough.

I am the facility engineer and the brunt of the COMPLAINING about this every freakin time 2 people don't agree on this. We have our room temp setpoints in a locked computer and any adjustment would require someone with login access to change it.

Just for what it's worth - you will never make everyone happy. We have summer and winter setpoints. Depending on your dress, it'll vary (ie. more people wear sweaters/etc in wintertime).

Almost all office areas are treated the same:

Summer = setpoint 73 deg (it will swing some)

Winter = setpoint 70 deg (it will swing some)

My recommendation - get someone in power to make a decision and then lock a box around the thermostat. If you're too hot - dress accordingly and get a cubicle fan. If you're too cold - have a jacket/smock you can slip on if you get chilly.

For every degree in cooling = 3% in utility bill for that space (or some rule of thumb like that).

TouchDown said:

I am the facility engineer and the brunt of the COMPLAINING about this every freakin time 2 people don't agree on this. We have our room temp setpoints in a locked computer and any adjustment would require someone with login access to change it.
Just for what it's worth - you will never make everyone happy. We have summer and winter setpoints. Depending on your dress, it'll vary (ie. more people wear sweaters/etc in wintertime).

Almost all office areas are treated the same:

Summer = setpoint 73 deg (it will swing some)

Winter = setpoint 70 deg (it will swing some)

My recommendation - get someone in power to make a decision and then lock a box around the thermostat. If you're too hot - dress accordingly and get a cubicle fan. If you're too cold - have a jacket/smock you can slip on if you get chilly.

For every degree in cooling = 3% in utility bill for that space (or some rule of thumb like that).

Click to expand...

I know that people will disagree on what a comfortable temperature is. I just feel that the current temperatures aren't working. We got through this every spring/summer, last year they were supposed to lock the temperatures last year, that doesn't seem to have happened. It doesn't help that the building maintenance is incompetent. There are parts of this office that are 10 degrees cooler than other areas. It's insane. To add to that issue, the people that sit in the cooler parts of the office are mostly women. Women, for the most part, seem to be more comfortable at warmer temperatures. The people sitting in the hot part of the office all seem to be men. We are more comfortable at cooler temperatures. To add to this issue this time of year the women come into work wearing sandals, skirts, and sleeveless tops. I'm stuck wearing long pants, shoes, socks, etc.. My stance is if they are cold they need to put on a F-ing jacket. I'm melting over here and I'm not allowed to wear any less clothing!!!!!

<--- Can't vote on this one, simply because I seem to be comfortable most of the time. The only times I complain is when the temp is outside the 65-80 range. Here in CO, you get used to the fact there are daily outside temperature swings of as much as 40 degrees. This time of year in the car, you need the heater in the morning and the AC for the drive home. In fact, the thermometer outside said 35 degrees when I left to go to the gym at 6am, forcast says to expect a high of 65-70 (which in a sunbaked car = 90 degrees). (http://www.9news.com/weather/forecast/default.aspx).

I always found it funny that the two people in my office who seem to have temperature issues sit right next to each other. One is from Wyoming and prefers 65, and the other puts on a sweater anytime the temp is below 75 (she actually takes her shoes off and wears wool socks & slippers in the office).

We have a multi zone system that produces all sorts of temperature variations. It has been 90 dgrees in the men's room and 61 in my office. I always keep a jacket behind my door and a space heater under the desk, because you never know what the temp will be like.

I don't complain about it, just adapt to it.

roadwreck said:

I'm stuck wearing long pants, shoes, socks, etc.. My stance is if they are cold they need to put on a F-ing jacket. I'm melting over here and I'm not allowed to wear any less clothing!!!!!

Click to expand...

Depending on dress code in your office, might I suggest hitting up a golf store for your work clothes? They tend to have lighter, "breezy" types of slacks and shirts that conform to the collard shirt + slacks dress codes. It's not uncommon for me to wear Nike and Adidas "dry-weave" shirts during the summer.

Capt Worley PE said:

I don't complain about it, just adapt to it.

Click to expand...

When I am sticking to my chair and have sweat running down my brow I start to complain.

roadwreck said:

Capt Worley PE said:

I don't complain about it, just adapt to it.

Click to expand...

When I am sticking to my chair and have sweat running down my brow I start to complain.

Click to expand...

Meh, I've just learned that it doesn't seem to make much of a difference until 'certain' people complain. Note that I'm not saying you shouldn't.

This is the reason for 90% of complaints we get from clients after they have occupied a bldg we designed. Most of the complaints come from women (sorry the truth hurts) and most of the time it because their bathroom is too cold. Which is why we have started putting ceiling heaters in every restroom with an exterior wall, regardless of size. You just cant satisfy everybody, all the time, even ASHRAE admits that. One of the running jokes around here is that we should have all been electrical engineers. Ill bet they dont get calls that their wires are too small or their lighting scheme just isnt working out.

Office temp depends 100% on 2 things:

Who sits next to the thermostat.

Who complains the most/loudest.

Our thermostats are all locked. We even have to call the building maintenance to have the temperature adjusted (our company only occupies about 25% of 1 floor in a 17 story building). Unfortunately, it seems as if our HVAC system is set-up backwards: The heaters seem to only work in the 17th floor and the AC only works on the first. I guess the thinking is that if you pump enough of the hot air into the top of the building, it will eventually force it's way down to the other floors.

Honestly, I think alot of the big temp fluctuations in our office is due to the fact we are on the southwest corner of the building and have direct sunlight into our office all-day, everyday and that most of the vents for the office are narrow slits along the ceiling by the windows.

I used to work with a guy who obsessively monitored the temperature in his cube. If it was outside of 71-73 degrees (he told me the the range), he would call building engineering and complain.

If you're a guy and it get's to hot in the office and your dress code is very restrictive...

Watch out for:

Not once did I ever find Molly Shannon funny...

When I have thoughts of someone kicking her in the teeth I think she's funny.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. She is a comic genius.

:wanker:

Have you tried a little re-balancing? Block off some of the vents in the front of the office to push a little air back towards your section. If nothing else you can always unhook the duct from their vent(s) and just let the duct blow into the ceiling space while you crank down the a/c. A lot of people only complain its cold when the air is blowing directly on them, so if you can block it off or adjust the diffuser so it blows away from them it might help.

^^^ Or just kick the complainers in the teeth. Less physical effort involved.