If you WFH in winter, would you rather?

[WFHinWinter]

1. Go into the office (assuming there is an office space available) and use their light and heat to keep warm.

Or

2. Still work at home despite the added heating costs or faff to try to stay warm without using heating?

I feel like it would just be easier (cost and warmth wise) to go into the office, but at the same time I love home working and not sure I can be arsed to get myself into the office.

You?

Home working. Hot water bottle under feet in the day. Evenings I have a duvet on the sofa, electric blanket at night. Means not much need for heating.

2 depending upon how much time/money the commute was.

Wfh!!

But I can afford the heat etc at home so maybe I'd feel differently if I couldnt.

A heated throw is the answer. Cheap to run and toasty warm. No need to go back to the office.

Surely it depends on your travel costs. I work a 20 min drive away so easy commute. It costs £2.24 each way to drive based on the rac fuel calculator. So then it comes down to does wfh cost more that £5.50 vs the fuel cost and time for commute.

There is a real benefit in the heat though as there is air con

WFH but my commute is £25/day.

Prefer wfh and so much easier to concentrate, but won’t be able to afford to this winter, I really feel the cold. Commute is short though so cheaper to go into the office if we have a bad winter.

I might do a hybrid working pattern although I do end up spending more when I'm in the office. Coffee, snacks & a shopping for unnecessary work clothes all adds up. So it might be cheaper putting the heating on instead.

Wfh. Your petrol costs to get to the house will outweigh the heating bills, well mine do. And not every office is warm, and theres always the one twat who wants a window open, even when they don't sit beside it.

If I commute from home it’s £33 a day or if DP drives me half way on his way to work (meaning I get in really early and then have to wait around for him to finish) it’s £16 a day.
Cheaper and much more comfortable to just turn the heating on when needed.

Wfh. The bus fair will cist more than my heat because the house is insulated and i have collection of mega hoodies if needed.

If i added bus costs for a week to my heating i could probably just heat to 25 permanently.

WFH. I can wear warm unstylish clothes (fluffy hoodie), I have a heated throw and a heated pad, sheepskin slippers.

At £57 a day travel/parking, I'll stay at home as much as possible.

I'd prefer DH WFH, as a bit of extra gas and electricity will easily be counteracted by less petrol, and an extra 2 hours at home with him.

Wfh as commute would cancel any heating savings. Plus DH wfh anyway. We don't use any extra lighting during working day? Extra electricity for computer and phone is probably offset by the less laundry.

We camp so we have warm layered clothing/sleeping bags to stick your legs in etc so will try to keep heating low.

To go into the office I have to pay 40 miles of petrol (round trip) and £3 parking so home is still much cheaper (yet they wonder why I’m not keen to go back)

It's not actually that warm at work and they don't even turn the lights on...

So I'd probably rather WFH two days a week - it's only a small room that heats up quickly and a hot water bottle works wonders!

Personally I never find it all that cold during the day in the winter, I live in Essex and been WFH since COVID started and the last two winters have been fine, that said the extra costs for lighting etc are more than cancelled out by the saving of not having to get the train into London.

DH WFH. Its c£100 a day ticket to the office at peak travel time (£6800 annual ticket) so we don't spend anywhere near that on fuel.

We also live in a cottage that's cool in summer and doesnt get super cold in winter as it has lovely thick walls.

WFH. My commute is expensive!

I WFH three days a week, I can walk to work so nil cost but WFH allows me to do all sorts of things, like swim before work because I don’t have to look corporate by 8:30, start at 7:30 and go to a 4pm yoga class.

My house is well insulated and nor particularly cold but I use a little oil filled radiator in my office if I need to top it up.

WFH every time. I can wear my thermal leggings, oodie, hot water bottle at home. Get myself quite toasty without the heating. Rather that than business wear and sit in a great big open plan barn of an office that the fires of hell could not heat up.

WFH the saving on the commute costs pays for the heating and lighting.

@thechiefstew

I'm sorry you feel like you can't afford to WFH when that's what you prefer.

as your commute is short you probably won't save much on that, but even a small amount will make a dent in extra warmth at home.

remember you need to keep YOU warm, not the entire house.

I guess it depends on how motivated you are to WFH, but there are loads of good suggestions on how to stay warm on loads of threads. Hot water bottles are cheap and pretty cheap to fill and last ages (especially if wrapped in a towel or something. Electric blankets (throws not ones you put on beds!) are very very very cheap to run. Etc etc. surely you can find affordable options to avoid a cold commute?

Going to flip this.
In the current weather, I'd rather go to the office to avail of the aircon!
My home office os sweltering!