Just put some bloody clothes on if you're cold....

[woolythoughts]

Just that.

Air conditioning wars.

Office I work in is run by a south american, has two Italians, and a lot of British hot house flowers.

The temperature regularly gets up to 27/28 in here (its an all glass building) but within five minutes of turning the air con on, all we get is "its cold".

Me and one other person are working in light cotton trousers and light vests - nothing else. We literally cannot take any more clothes off and be decent. We have mini personal desk fans which help a little.

The problem doesn't end in winter though. Then they want to crank the heating up to 28 and we'd be quite happy with the window open -but we are willing to compromise at 22. But thats not warm enough apparently.

So we have to suffer feeling ill and tired just because they don't want to wear a cardigan in summer.

These arguments always annoyed me to.

I think it was Stalin who said people work more efficiently in the cold.

And yet another poster comes up with useful anecdotes such as put another layer on and drink tea. Not that simple, some people can’t regulate their core body temperature well. It’s a fact. No amount of layers will help.

I spent the majority of my access course bloody freezing because someone else in the room insisted on having the air con blasting. At one point I resorted to sticking heat packs on the inside of my jumper.

I joke semi-seriously that people in my office dont know my jumper comes off - they know if I say its warm then its HOT. My desk used to be directly in the draft from the aircon for the huge office and I bought fingerless gloves to try and stop my hands hurting so much, it was miserable. The draft is definitely what makes too-cold aircon truly miserable.

I think the ideal aircon setting should be one where everyone would choose to adjust it up or down but can cope as-is.

OMG! My PhD supervisor was Stalin then! Knew there was an explanation for him insisting we have AC set at 19oC. We all used to have a spare set of clothes to put on when we came into work

I'm sweating just thinking about aircon set at 22, the HEATING in my house doesn't go anywhere near that high in the depths of winter, and I live in the cold north!

But why would you wear a long sleeved top in summer? Theres loads of smart short sleeved cotton blouses

I'm probably not alone, although possibly am in a minority, in that I generally wear long sleeves even in hot weather; I don't like to burn and CBA messing with sunscreen. Plus, as I've said, I feel the cold and have quite poor circulation; I often get blue mottled arms if it's chilly, and I'd rather not show that off! And in an office long light sleeves and short light sleeves feel much the same temperature-wise IME.

There is no reason to have the air con on to the extent that it makes people uncomfortable. It's bloody freezing today. I put my heating on for a few minutes this morning...

I am genetically meant to live somewhere much hotter than this.

I suffer badly from the cold - painfully cold fingers and toes (Raynaud's syndrome) plus I really, really hate cold, damp, windy climates and wish my ancestors had chosen somewhere warmer to emigrate to!

For me, around 25 degrees is a comfortable minimum temperature outdoors, and 30 is fine.

OP here...

No there is no hyperbole - although I did lie a little. I do own a coat - it just hasn't been out of the wardrobe for about three years.

I'm lucky that where I work is fairly casual and I'm a naturally casual person also - which I get away with as a freelance contractor so can normally dodge the formal dress codes.

As I said, ideally I'd have the AC set to low at 16C but I know thats unacceptable. So 21-22 with it set to snowflake is a good compromise for me.

I am overweight but my fellow sufferer is a size 8 so a contrast in sizes - can't be blamed on my porkiness. I was, until a few years ago, also a size 10 and had exactly the same problem!

Basically I'm wearing these:

www.evans.co.uk/en/evuk/product/orange-vest-top-7658918?bi=0&ps=20&Ntt=vest

With:

www.evans.co.uk/en/evuk/product/clothing-250468/trousers-250500/black-wide-leg-trousers-7701641?bi=0&ps=20&intcmpid=Featured:EV%3ACategory%3AClothing%20%3E%20Trousers|(03R49ABLK)Black%20Wide%20Leg%20Trousers

There just seems to be no way to compromise.. I've bought myself one of these:

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00VFT5NUC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8

And it still gets complaints because one of the hot house flower can feel the draft.

I do wonder sometimes if its because in my formative years we didnt have central heating so did have ice on the inside of the windows in winter. Getting dressed under a blanket for warmth was also a frequent even. I'm only 42 so not ancient.

I do wonder if the "feeling the cold" is becoming more prevalent because we have warmer houses now as babies so we don't become conditioned to it.

At least I know I'm not alone...

Could be OP. Where I’m from the call you a ‘miners daughter’ if you feel the cold l, ‘cos the coal
Miners would cover free fuel.

It’s real though, no amount of layers will keep me warm if I’m sat still.

In our house we have the thermostat set on around 18, but that's because it's in the hall and we know that if it's 18 there it will be around 23 or 24 elsewhere. I wonder whether all the people who claim to like unfeasibly low temperatures have a similar set-up?

nope. Can categorically say it’s not that.

Have a mobile thermometer which I’ve often moved room to room.

To be honest, I only ever put the heating on when it’s really cold and I have a hive thermostat which moves with me and it’s never set above 18!

We do t have kids so it’s just me and DH and we tend to be in the same room

Love it! Fired for adjusting the air con...

Interfering with the building infrastructure. Our aircon is all balanced. If some womble adjusts the temp in Zone A, Zone B has to work harder to cool it's area & so on. Fucks everyone around & costs money....

Everyone knows the temperature work is, dress appropriately.

Simple.

I have this same problem at work. I have a cardigan on the back of my chair for when I'm cold, but often I'm too hot. Ended up in a full on argument with another woman about the Aircon. She told me I needed a desk fan to cool down, I told her she needed a cardigan. She said why should she have to buy a cardigan for work when we have heating, I said why should I buy a desk fan when we have Aircon? Apparently I'm wrong because it's worse to feel too cold that to feel too warm.
She doesn't see the irony

I hate being too hot, I’d far rather be cold, but chance is a fine thing.

Someone at work just needs to set the temperature to 22 and then tell everyone that deal with it.

Threads like this make me so pleased to be working for myself and thus the Master of the Heating/Cooling, It’s one reason I’d hate to go back to working in a shared office.

Clothes in the UK are so thin that what would have been normal clothing 15 or 20 years ago is thick nowadays. Until the early noughties there were these things called sleeves that are an endangered species. Now there is the idiotic fashion of trousers three inches too short.

People are more used as children or adults to travelling in a car instead of walking even short distances, so are less used to cool or cold weather.

All I expect contribute to the number of people who feel cold in what are actually normal temperatures for an office.

The OP in my opinion wanting 22C is perfectly reasonable.

The OP in my opinion wanting 22C is perfectly reasonable.

In summer? Not really.

Shouldn't people (if they're outside, walking from a - b instead of driving) be used to the heath as well?

*heat

I have the opposite issue when i go to one meeting area. I feel for the woman but she tried to set the aircon to 15 several times and wouldnt go without a cardi because she hates her upper arms. No one is allowed to touch the air con anyone. Last time she had a cob on when it was set to 21 and one of the other women had a terrible cold!

That said air con units can give people headaches and make them feel ill if fan speed and intensity is high and aimed to come down on someone's head and neck. Try swapping desks around so the person protesting is away from any intense current.

I agree. I get migraines and feel sick when it’s too hot inside - that being said, air con is horrible to be sat under and makes my sinuses hurt.

Honestly I’m a dream to work with

I get the hump at work because I'm always cold, but I'd be very happy with 21 degrees and no draft.

It's usually less than 18 and I'm sat in a constant draft. I

I had this too with a colleague - she wore sundresses in the winter and wanted the radiators almost at boiling point, and in the summer she got really silly if anyone opened a window when it was hot and stuffy. Bearly drove us all mad. Someone gave her an ultimatum one day and opened the window on a scorching hot summer day. She wrapped a blanket round her. Sad woman.

As someone who is always cold I think YABU. 28 degrees inside for me is heaven. I do put extra layers on if others are hot obviously but find it difficult getting stuff thick enough and office appropriate.

I’m British. I’m menopausing and our office gets as hot, I feel quite ill with it sometimes, sit wiping sweat from my face, proper boiling. The woman in the corner whines about being cold but refusing to put a fucking jumper on. I’m going to fake/faint one day to guilt her the fuck out.

Aircon has damaging effects on the environment. Open a window and use a fan. I think most people should be able to cope with working in an office environment at temperatures of 16 to 30 degrees without heating or aircon.