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?

Why on earth can you not just say 'Fred, I'm freezing, please could you turn the fan so it isn't blowing on me? Thank you'

Unless you are sat on his lap there must be some space between you - put the fan with its back to you.

Me too deckoff, I would feel so unwell. Luckily my dh is lovely and would never moan about me having a fan on, I have one on now.

dowser I'd say in all honesty you should see a doctor because above 23/24 degrees would make most people far too warm. If I had to sit in that heat and my husband wouldn't allow a fan or to turn the heat down I'd have to live separately from him.

cant you just tell him that having an industrial fan is fucking ridiculous and selfish because youre freezing your arse off

17C is far too cold if you are sat doing a sedentary job. No problem if you are on the move all the time, but not sitting.

How many in the office? If there are only three of you and two are being adversely affected, then the guy is being unfair. He should not require an industrial sized fan, it's ridiculous if it's blowing round paperwork.

As a morbidly obese person, yes, I m affected by the heat, a short dog walk this morning made me sweat a lot. The OP is not fat shaming, get over yourself saying that, it's right, a fat person will be more affected.

Minimum workplace temperature. The Approved Code of Practice suggests the minimum temperature in a workplace should normally be at least 16 degrees Celsius. If the work involves rigorous physical effort, the temperature should be at least 13 degrees Celsius.12 Jun 2015

17 degrees is about my perfect temperature. Anything above 20 is uncomfortably warm.

I'd rather share an office with an industrial fan than a sweaty colleague!

I'm a naturally warm-blooded person, but there's always at least one reptilian colleague in any office who needs constant heating. Coincindentally or not, they often tend to be the ones who:

• Choose options for getting to/from work that don't involve much walking.
• Use the lift instead of the stairs.
• Sit at their desk during lunch hour instead of going for a walk/run/gym.
• Don't consume hot food or drinks at work, or avoid food altogether.

Ambient temperature isn't reduced by fan usage anyway so you shouldn't be THAT cold. You shouldn't need layers either, as long as you're wearing something thick enough that the breeze can't get through. The air temperature is the same, you don't need to wrap up, you just need to keep the breeze off your skin.

I've been both as hot and cold person. Currently hot, which is uncomfortable. Cold though was painful. I would wear lots of layers, even use hot water bottles. I found it hard to type and my error rate would go up. My hands would be in actual pain.

We all need different temperatures. Saying a fan doesn't cool the air may be accurate but it doesn't stop you feeling colder. Even though I'm now hot I couldn't work in 17degrees. I would be in pain.

Sorry for waffling but the point is these things aren't simple and the OP's colleague appears incapable of considering others.

I think moving cold wind is way worse than cold still air. I used to sit in the path of the office air conditioning fan and resorted to using fingerless gloves in the end because my hands were physically hurting from the constant cold wind chill.

I'm always cold, due to a medical condition. Many of my colleagues feel too hot in the office. They tend to get their way over air con and fans on the grounds that it's easier to warm up than cool down.

I take in scarves, fingerless gloves and extra jumpers and think that's fair enough.

If someone turned the air con up to the max it would be really mean, though, as a lot of people would struggle. And if people insisted on keeping the office at 17 degrees, I would have to hand in my notice as I wouldn't be able to work (sedentary job).

I prefer a warmer office than 17 degrees, but really surprised at the amount of people saying this is really cold. It isn't. 25, 26 degrees though is incredibly warm. 19 to 21 degrees is I think reasonable.

I keep my classroom at 24 degrees otherwise the children complain about the cold.

OP - have you asked your colleague not to use it or yell him how you feel?

17 is normal for walking around. Cool rooms.

20 is considered 'room temperature'. Should be fine for work.

25 is perfect holiday weather. The best places in the world are around that temperature. Too cold for malaria, too hot for a sweater. That is NOT what I want a normal room in a northern climate to be!

30 is for people who like to lie on sun loungers all day.

40 is for weirdos. Outback, desert, sweltering jungles.

you should see a doctor because above 23/24 degrees would make most people far too warm.

WHO are these people?
It's barely warm enough and most people are very happy with that.

I hate these entitled people at work who refuse to feel a bit warm but have no problem making their colleagues ill with stupid air-con or ridiculous fans. Why should anyone end up with migraines/ ear infections/ chest infections etc... because of selfish idiots? It drives me nuts.

I take in a heater when the fans come on here. The office is so cold it's unbearable.

Nothing worse than freezing your tits off at work! Being a heater for your own well-being

I'm guessing you've never been overweight op, your comments regarding his weight are awful.

Put extra layers on, buy yourself a heater in June if you must and stop exaggerating, we had one of those fans, they aren't that bad. It's far easier to warm up than it is to cool down.

Why should anyone end up with migraines/ ear infections/ chest infections etc... because of selfish idiots? Just for the sake of clarity Air Con cannot (under any circumstances) give you any of these medical conditions

st for the sake of clarity Air Con cannot (under any circumstances) give you any of these medical conditions

bollocks

I can show many people (me included) who are ALWAYS ill after being in the path of cold air-con. It's simply not true that it has no effect. I don't know if it's a combo of dry and cold air, or other reasons, but it does make people sick. You being immune to it doesn't mean everybody else is.

However, there are often still more of us who get sick - especially me with migraines - from being in a boiling hot environment, particularly if it's caused by central heating.

No one had the moratorium on what's makes different people unwell.

May I ask what medical research you are using for this assertion. Anecdotal evidence using a small group known only to you does not, unfortunately, count.

If your office has the central heating on in GB in June you should have a word with facilities. I (sadly) know that it's a standard thing for Southern trains, but it's not that common anywhere else.

Why can't people compromise? 15 is clearly too cold, 30 too hot, 23-24 is a perfectly acceptable temperature for an office.