To not put the heating on for the cleaner?

[Falcon1]

It's 13 degrees today and feels very mild. I work from home and I'm perfectly comfortable. I don't like being too hot and we only put the heating on if it drops below 16 in the house. It's about 18 currently.

Anyway, just had an arsey message from the cleaning company saying my cleaner has complained about the cold and that all clients must ensure their houses are heated to at least 22 degrees whilst the cleaners are there.

AIBU to think this is ridiculous? I'm in the bloody house myself! Surely if I'm comfortable sitting at my desk, the cleaner (who is being active) should be able to cope?

18 is reasonable if moving around. Our house is usually 18 degrees.

Does she actually dress for the temperature too? I would sooner have a jumper on than heat my whole house for the room I'm working in. I only ask as I know some people who heat their houses to mid 20s because they want to walk around in a light t shirt, which is fine if it's their house but not when it's someone else's

Crikey not Cricket !

22 in the UK you would need your heating on most of the year , and certainly overnight.

People wander round outside on summer evenings in shorts and T shirt when the temp is less than that. You get people on the beach Mayday etc when it’s cooler than that

ANice I am the same and I still have many layers on. I feel the cold. I would not be able to function if I had to be in an environment where the temperature was 16.

Well I don't know because I'm feeling really cold today in my house. Just checked temperature and it says the house is 23! So I can imagine that if your house is like mine then 18 is going to feel very cold. However, when I was doing the housework earlier i wasn't hot but I didn't notice the chill at all. Some people just really feel the cold I guess.

That’s crazy yes. I don’t put the heating on like that when I’m home.

I have a hive so usually know the temperature

I never heat my house to 22°. I have my thermostat set to 20°. Any higher and I would boil.

I wouldn't be dictated to by any cleaning company.

It’s a good job some of you have never worked outdoors, on a building site etc.

I regularly work in new build houses where the heating (or windows, or roof) aren’t installed yet. That’s cold.

I’m shocked at how many people think 18 degrees is a comfortable temp - I’d be frozen!

I keep mine at 21-22 degrees when I’m at home. Any lower and I get really cold if I’m sat at my desk doing work. That being said, if I got up to hoover, I’d soon get hot. But 18 degrees indoors is miserable, except overnight. Don’t your hands and feet get cold if you’re sat still?

@Falcon1 No to 22 C. That is stifling IMO.

Never more than 16 in the day for us, and 13 at night.

Unless it's 1 or 2 degrees C or less outside, and then we crank it up a couple of degrees. So 18 in the day, and 15 at night.

22 is not too hot , my thermostat is set at 25 all day in winter. It’s miserable being cold.

Well I like it warm and will probably have the heating about 22C if I'm working at the kitchen table or watching telly, but it is soon turned right down once I start doing housework.

I could understand a specific person liking a warmer house, but for it to be company policy seems very odd.

Are the cleaners allowed to turn the heating down?

If she feels cold at that temperature whilst doing a Laborious job, she clearly isn't working hard enough. I feel the cold badly, but could not clean properly in 22 degree heat. They are nuts & as you are employing the agency, I'd be telling them in no uncertain terms that tge year are being ridiculous & if they insist, you'll be finding another cleaning firm with more realistic ideas

I'd send them this link

22 seems ridiculous to me. My thermostats are set at 18. If I’m having a very sedentary day I might turn them up to 20 but if it’s an active day (which cleaning certainly is) 22 would be uncomfortably warm.

I’d tell the company that if that’s a condition you are ending the contract.

@MyDcAreMarvel

If the thermostat was set at 25 C, it would be way too hot for me.

I would feel sick, with it that warm in the house all the time.

Now that would make me feel miserable.

Luckily, me and DH like it the same temperature (roughly.)

I could not live with anyone who wanted the thermostat left at 25 C.

I’d say 20 would be a reasonable compromise. I can’t work if I’m cold, my body shuts down and all I can think of is getting warm.

I find it hard to believe that anywhere in the country at the moment, it is warm enough to not have the heating on. It is almost December. It's cold. You, specifically may not need the heating on but people in general, in late November, NEED THE HEATING ON!!!

damnthatanxiety
On the whole I would agree, however the cleaner has zero right to dictate how people heat their homes as long as it's above the health and safety minimum and certainly not to say it has to be over 20 degrees.

I think 22c is pretty high.
24c and I'm on the beach!

I'd find another cleaner. That's too hot. I'm from a hot country. You know the UK is chilly.

I have the opposite problem. I work from home so have the heating on all day bit my cleaner gets too hot, so I need to dial it down while she's here

22° is far too hot. The temperature where I work is 18 to 20° for environmental reasons apart from anything else. As I have an office job it seems odd that a cleaner who moves around would need it to be 22°. Are you sure the message was actually from the cleaning company as that seems like a good way of losing their business. I would confirm it was them and state that there is no way you will have a higher than 20°. If they insist on 22° I would take your business elsewhere.

22 is madness. Even when I'm working from home, very sedentary, 19 is about the maximum and our thermostat is usually set at 18.5! Our cleaners have often preferred it cooler, opening windows as they get hot working physically.

AIBU to think this is ridiculous?

No but equally, somebody else who has a preference about the temperature they work at isn’t being ridiculous either. Now the cleaning company has specified their terms, you either abide by them or else find a new company.