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.

"I keep extra layers at work to put on inside - when it's hot and sunny outside, but air con is blasting inside. I'll wear summer clothes on my commute, but have to wear sweaters etc at the office because it's frosty under Arctic a/c "

You have described my work situation prefectly. We don't need all this aircon. That's what windows are for.

"some windows dont open for safety reasons in tall buldings"

Our windows don't open wide enough to make them unsafe. so I don't buy that argument.

If the windows don't open then use a fan!

At work I hate that I can't open a window in winter when the heating is on too hot, then the same people who won't let me open the window in winter are complaining about the heat in summer!

I think you can't please everyone, so if it's between 16 and say 26 degrees (I'm perfectly comfortable myself up until 30), then the default should be to keep the heating and aircon off and use a fan if need be. Aircon set to 22 in summer is ridiculous and harmful to the planet.

Why summer is women's winter - office a/c wars:

m.youtube.com/watch?v=d2NNm8MTboA

My daughter and I let a friend and her daughter live with us for a year ..long story.but she paid rent for herself,her daughter of 19 to lazy to get a job.however we had the same heating problem .they both walked around in the winter in short strappy tops .no dressing gowns ect at night and cranked the heating up to 27 at night.i was sweating with my window open so I would turn it down, we ended up with a massive row,her saying she's paying rent so can have the heating set at whatever she wanted.

My point is you can put clothes on but can't take too much off,there has to be some give and take but common sense must prevail, tell them to put on a cardi or jumper and keep the air conditioning at a normal temperature and just know this argument is going on all over the place you are not alone on this.xx

I've always said i'm never as cold as i am in the Summer and never as hot as i am in the Winter. This is because i dress seasonally, expecting the temperature to reflect the season wherever i go. But wearing a summer dress in a place with air con colder than it is in the winter makes you freezing. Then the same happens in winter. Jumpers, wool trews etc and you go into a shop and it's a fucking sauna and all the staff are in short sleeved cotton shirts for their uniform.

Now i have summer woolly jumpers and winter t-shirts. It's madness. Turn the air con and the heaters down and just dress for the time of year!

I may be accused of being sexist but as an building design engineer, we never get called out if an office full of men are complaining about too hot/cold. I am the only female in my team and in my area of the office. I am menopausal as well so when i’ve opened the window, i’ve had males asking me to close it. They’re the ones just wearing a shirt! Luckily just now, when I get in to work in the morning, someone has already opened the window so if anyone (males, if I am going to be sexist!) complains....I can just say ‘I didn’t open it!

But yes - I have a fleece in the office for days when it is cooler.

I've had this when I worked in an office. I was feeling sick and sleepy and headachy with some people still refusing to have the air con on (but not wearing even a cardigan). I ended up sitting there in a thin cotton vest top and then they complained that it wasn't work attire. Several meetings with hr and bosses and it was agreed to keep the office at 21.

I now have a lovely air conditioned house and it is around 17• in here. In winter it drops to -40• here and I still don't have my house warmer than 18•.

Oh and can I just say...in these days...companies have to be more compassionate towards menopausal women....try telling your all-male team that!!!

This has driven me mental in offices (okay major exaggeration). Why would anybody want to sit in 22 in winter? That's a pretty warm summers day, it's certainly not an average temperature.

I'd be happy at 18C. There is absolutely no need to be in the 20's. I hate being too hot.

Air con is bloody awful. I have a reasonable adjustment in place now so that the air con can't be set too low. My body temp is a degree lower than normal so it can make me really unwell.

Thankfully the bosses agree that it's better for someone to be warm than for me to have to get signed off.

Being cold is no less of a problem than being hot and as many others have pointed out, putting on more layers does not solve the problem. Compromise, yes but don't expect those who suffer when it's cold to roll over to your wishes. There is no hierarchy here.

Actually, if all you are doing is sitting still 18 degrees doesn't feel that warm.

Why would anybody want to sit in 22 in winter?

Er, because some of us feel the cold and like to be comfortable. My heating at home is 20-22, I hate being cold.

Yesterday I was wearing a long sleeved heat tech thermal top, under a long sleeved shirt, plus a leather jacket and lightweight scarf. Winter is exactly when I'd want to sit in 22 because it's freezing outside, and heating means I can be warm and cosy inside.

21/22 degrees is probably the majority of people’s comfort zone. Think there is something in the Health and Safety at work act about 16 being a legal minimum but don’t think there is an upper limit. Have seen so many adults having rows in the workplace over whether the window should be open (preferred by a some who wear several layers or a jumper) or closed (preferred by those who insist on having a seat near the window but feel the cold). When the heating broke down most of us felt chilled and wore coats / scarves and when it was on too high felt sick and lethargic - really hard to concentrate in both cases. 27 is way too high and people can be very selfish about this. Always thought that in large companies rather than putting people in teams according to their work, they should just sit those together who like it hot and those together who like it cold!

Put a layer on!! What's the matter with people! Try working in our hospital where there's no working AC ( unless you're on executive floor) and it's beyond hot!!

H&S say ‘twenty (degrees c) is plenty’

Amused reading this. I work in a school. In winter it is either freezing until we get to the date we are allowed the heating switched on - sometime in November. And then we all boil and have the windows open as it’s on/off rather than set at certain temperatures. A very old building and some rooms hotter than others, some classes often have their doors opene for students to have free access in and out. We continue to boil until after Easter when the heating is eventually turned off, but despite being simmer the building is still freezing if you’re in a class that doesn’t get the sun.

I wear my dress and cardigan and then a school fleece as well. When I’m teaching I get quite warm as it’s physical on class however if I’m sat in the prep room I often have freezing numb feet and my outside coat over my legs, even in the summer until the time of day when the sun comes round and over heats the room.

Good luck if your male they are normally stuck having to wear full suits as not to do so can seem unprofessional 32 degree heat the men in offices have too still wear suits with long sleeves as a man that came in a short sleeve shirt and tie was deemed not suitable and should of had the full suit.... (female manager wearing nice summer blouse and skirt).

Er, because some of us feel the cold and like to be comfortable. My heating at home is 20-22, I hate being cold.

I hate being too hot, how is 18C cold in an office environment when you don't have to factor the wind chill. I'd go for 16C. 20-22 is just daft, you don't need summer temperatures all year round.

I lived in a house with no central heating and no double glazing for 10 years until 18 months ago. Yes the winters were miserable, the kitchen registered minus 5C at one point. Going round to other people's houses though was stifling - radiators on in the summer if it dropped below 15. Madness.

I've felt the cold more than most, but I don't want to go from freezing to 20C and above - that's just insane in the winter. That's a summer temperature. Just dress accordingly.

lardy 16 degrees really isn't warm enough to sit around in unless you are dressed really warmly. I have done it and felt extremely cold even in a warm jumper.

Ah, open-plan offices and comfort wars! That's one of the reasons I'm so glad I work from home. It's not a matter of being reasonable or unreasonable - every individual has their unique sense of comfort. Personally I like being warm and hate wearing layers of clothes, so I prefer a temperature of at least 23. But that's me - I don't expect anyone else to be exactly the same.

Story of my life. Working in the HR department of my office, this is the topic that drives me up the walls. It's mostly men in the office, they're always, always hot. So the minority of us ladies have to put up with subzero temperatures in the office. Thankfully, we've learnt to compromise (after reading the Health and Safety guidelines of the governments regarding temperature in working places) and we've installed deferrals in the Aircon vents; us ladies put a million layers of clothing on whilst the boys rock into the office wearing their shorts and t-shirts. Not very comfortable for the girls, but hey, people has stopped moaning, hurrah!

It makes a big difference by what you mean by "office work".
If you are sitting still typing all day, you will cool quickly and feel cold a lot sooner. If youre constantly up and down getting things from the printer, on your phone, "popping over" to other offices etc then you'll feel warmer.

Well I guess it just depends on the temperature that the majority feel comfortable in. That's democracy,
Buy a bigger fan?