Colleague bringing in own industrial fan and me freezing

[Liliannna1]

I've got a colleague who I might add is very overweight (is this a reason for someone to be hot 24/7?) anyway my desk is in the vicinity of his HUGE industrial desk fan he has brought into work and is using to cool off. Managers have said it's fine as it's his own fan but the problem is I'm freezing and it's preventing me from working. I don't feel I should have to bring in extra clothing to put on when I get to work. There isn't the option of moving desks either.

This is causing lots of issues and it's got to the point I don't want to go to work!

WWYD?

Totally sympathize, OP. We had this at college. One hugely overweight classmate who was allowed the windows open constantly as she sweated so profusely with the slightest physical exertion. The rest of us just had to freeze! It's so awkward as, as above, you're accused of fat shaming if you mention this as being an issue. But it is! Chances are said colleague wouldn't be anywhere near as hot if he was a regular weight. I have no idea what you can do about it though. Thermometer? Workplaces have to be over 16C so you could check that's the case where you sit?

To be fair why comment that the reason he might be hot is because of his weight? I have a co-worker who has health issues and has to take steriods. He sweats more because he gets hotter more. Being overweight doesn't mean thats why he could be hot. Maybe for your colleague it could be but its not really your business as to why he is so hot. It is your business that the fan is making you cold.

ok but what if he's left to simmer he starts to smell

fwiw i agree. cardigans won't warm your hands, feet, face, neck up.

YANBU. Very selfish of him especially as it blows paperwork around too. I hate fans blowing on me and the noise must be awful too. I'd be contemplating fan sabotage

To be fair why comment that the reason he might be hot is because of his weight?

Because if he's overweight it is going to be factor in his excessive "hotness". That's why whales etc have a deep layer of blubber - it insulates and keeps them warm. Same with people - skinnies feel the cold, morbidly obese feel the heat.

It's not rocket science.

foodtime as mentioned the other lady in the office also complains. I'd LOVE for you to sit there in -7938485 conditions daily

I wouldn't mind if the obesity was hereditary but unfortunatley I don't see why I should suffer as a consequence of someone sitting there stuffing their face all day hence the weight comments

If the consenus is that the fan is making the room too cold then I think your boss should be having a word with him about being more thoughtful of others. Everybody else shouldn't have to suffer to make one person comfortable.
In the meantime op, hot water bottle?

I do sympathize. It's all very well for people to say "put on a jumper" but if you are susceptible to cold then it is the extremities that feel it. Having to wear gloves inside in June is a bit ridiculous.

I'm the one who is always cold in our office but I just keep a spare cardi at work in case I get cold; they say they are boiling (tbf the thermometer says 26/27 but I don't believe it!) and I can be really cold! It's easier for me to put more layers on to warm up though than it is for them to cool down.

Liliannna1 what makes you think you would know if it was hereditary?

It doesn't turn everything to ice. Because it's a fan, not air conditioning. If it's not pointing at you, it shouldn't make you cold. So why can't it point the other way?

I would hate this. I suffer badly with raynauds and wear 2 layers of gloves 350 days of the year. It would be impossible for me to do any kind of work in your office. Why does his needs trump yours and your other colleagues needs?

Get a thermometer and check the temp. It really shouldn't be colder than 16 degrees for an office. Here is a link that might help www.hse.gov.uk/temperature/law.htm

Thermometer is useless. The fan will mostly just be blowing normal temperature air around, not cooling it!

OP & PP try a dyson fan heater. Excellent things. (Powerful fan setting and hot setting! Bloody expensive though.)

It's a fan, Not a aircon. Put up a barrier of some sort. So the fan doesn't blow on you.

ps, the Fat shaming is really unkind

To all the people saying "unless you fell the heat you don't understand"
the same goes for people who are sensitive to the cold.

i have an underactive thyroid so i'm very sensitive to the cold, and i also suffer from a circulatory condition raynauds. When i get cold, i turn purple, i lose a major percentage of the use of my hands and can't even hold things, or type, i find it difficult to walk as i can't feel my feet and i lose use of them same as my hands, and my jaw locks with uncontrollable shivering causing extreme headaches in my temples.

Putting on a jumper doesn't do anything. I need multiple water bottles made with boiling water, a space heater, multiple dressing gowns, and it takes a very, very long time to warm up and get full hand function back, we're talking several hours.

There needs to be a compromise that works for OP and her colleague. He absolutely can downgrade to a smaller fan that won't blow on the OP. Nobody is saying he can't use a fan, but it shouldn't be negatively impacting on those around him.

As I understand it, fans don't actually lower the temperature in a room at all - the cooling happens by evaporating sweat and by moving warmer air away from your body. If the room is 18 degrees for example it's still 18 degrees with a fan going. Can you not just ask him to make sure the fan doesn't point directly at you? Ofc you'll still feel the air moving around but not having it blowing on you should help loads.

Oh, and for the record, i'm a good 5 or 6 stone over weight, not all us "fatties" radiate like the sun.

I assume that if the OP had Raynaud's, she would have mentioned it. I worked with someone who had it and we worked round it so we were both comfortable. It sounds like the OP hates fatties doesn't want to wear more clothes and turn the fan around.

I have always been the cold one at work. I don't ask them to turn down the air con, but I have been on the receiving end of a few hostile looks when I put on a second sweater.

This is an interesting one as I fall into both categories. When I am moving I am really warm and when I am still I get cold. Even on a bitterly freezing day if I am walking somewhere I need to take my gloves off after about 5 min walking as my hands get so hot. But then I stand at a bus stop and after 5 min lose the feeling in my fingers and toes (they go white and lose all sensation, I've assumed mild raynauds but never had it looked at). It's like I have extremes of circulation. So I sympathise with both sides.

My job, whilst not highly physical, mostly involves being on my feet and I really struggle with the hot air fan heating that I cannot turn off in my room. However when I have a period of time and have to sit still at a desk in another room I can be freezing. The solution - windows for air and layers of clothing. And for me, taking a quick walk round the building if I'm cold.

I'm in the normal weight range now, but was the same when much slimmer in my 20s and overweight post-DC, so I don't think that's a factor, although it would be disingenuous to suggest that having an extra layer of fat for insulation couldn't make a difference in some cases (that being one of fat's main purposes) but it hasn't affected my own temperature issues noticeably.

There is a compromise - a smaller fucking fan!!!