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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Air con in the office!

33 replies

overthinkersanonnymus · 08/06/2023 15:30

My office is absolutely freezing. The air con is on all day any I have to go outside every 20 minutes for a warm!

Anyway, our office is open plan but split in to two rooms by a divider. I asked my manager today if I could move to the other room for the summer (the other side doesn't have the air con blasting all day) and she said no, the team needs to stay together. She can literally see me over the divider if I moved.

I feel sick all the time and have a constant headache because the blower is literally on my face all day.

I feel like as a grown woman, I should be able to decide where in the room I can sit that's not massively uncomfortable for me. I'm such a people pleaser that I didn't even respond to her rejection of the idea.

Who's being unreasonable here and if it's me, what can I do about it?

OP posts:
Droppit · 08/06/2023 15:41

Start wearing your winter woolies and a balaclava to make your point.

123becauseicouldntthinkofone · 08/06/2023 15:43

Difficult one with the old 'aircon wars'. As a manager I struggle as half love it and half hate it but as a collaborative team we should be sat together. Without knowing more details about team structure, roles and office layout i would struggle giving options afraid. We have moved offices as a whole team which has slightly alleviated the issue as it is a larger office. Is it possible for you to swap desks, also have your maintenance team installed diverters so it isnt blowing directly down x

44PumpLane · 08/06/2023 16:03

Can you wear extra layers including fingerless gloves?

If the air is too cold for you to breathe you could wear a mask, and if your head is cold wear a hat.

Hopefully your manager will see how serious you are about being genuinely cold and will let you move .....if not you will be warm at least!

snowlady4 · 08/06/2023 16:08

Ridiculous being told you're not allowed to move seats.
Is there another manager or is she the only one?
I would be inclined to have a word with union or occupational health- it's really not unreasonable to ask to sit at a different place in the same room.
Failing that, I would get a letter from my GP to say the same. Bit of a carry on, but it seems this is the route you have to go down now to make a reasonable request!

BreviloquentBastard · 08/06/2023 16:09

Can we swap? Fucking heating on in my office today and I'm ready to commit a war crime.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 08/06/2023 16:10

It’s ridiculous they have it so cold in so many offices.

The male body is - in general - comfortable at a colder temperature than the female body (menopause aside!). That’s why it’s kept so cold.

Preps · 08/06/2023 16:16

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 08/06/2023 16:10

It’s ridiculous they have it so cold in so many offices.

The male body is - in general - comfortable at a colder temperature than the female body (menopause aside!). That’s why it’s kept so cold.

I find it's almost always women who complain about the temperature and it's the same ones who complain it's too cold in winter as complain it's too hot in summer Confused

What environmental policies does the company have? It should just be turned down.

whycantmenfindstuff · 08/06/2023 16:17

No solution but i feel your pain. As someone who hates air conditioning but sat directly beneath it for several years

megletthesecond · 08/06/2023 16:21

Yanbu. I refuse to work in the coldest part of our air con office. I can't concentrate or type when it's cold.
Hot is better than chilly.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 08/06/2023 16:21

Is the air blowing directly on you more than on other seats? If so I'd be telling whoever needs the ac on all day that they need to swap desks.

Or just drag your desk back a few inches and wait for the manager to complain.

Reugny · 08/06/2023 16:21

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 08/06/2023 16:10

It’s ridiculous they have it so cold in so many offices.

The male body is - in general - comfortable at a colder temperature than the female body (menopause aside!). That’s why it’s kept so cold.

This.

As I work in offices that are often 90% male in Summer I'm wear tights and a cardigan. Then before I leave I go into the toilets and strip them off.

A handful of guys have asked me over the years why I did this. I took the cardigan off for a few minutes and showed them the goose bumps on my arms.

Oh and guys clothes in general are thicker.

JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon · 08/06/2023 16:22

Urgh ours was chuffing out hot air yesterday. It was bloody roasting, really unpleasant (and I like to be warm normally)

Newname2323 · 08/06/2023 16:22

You have my sympathies OP. I spent 3 years sat under air con through to October, the worst part was it must've been blowing dust as my allergies were constant. I would get such watery, itchy eyes I couldn't even look at the screen, complaints did not work and wasn't allowed to move seats, luckily we started working from home over COVID and I refused to go back into the office if they wasn't going to look into the air con issue. The whole team were freezing and my colleague also sneezed all day. Theyre very flexible now so all worked out.

I don't know why offices insist on either overheating you or freezing you to death. The care taker said he was told not to make it too warm to keep production levels up🙄

Setting · 08/06/2023 16:23

People have had neck injuries from being in the firing line of the aircon directly. Ask to swap seats with your manager if it’s not a problem or get them to change the direction of the aircon vent

Original poster
overthinkersanonnymus · 08/06/2023 16:25

I'm already wearing my coat!

It's definitely the men in the office who want it on. It's a pretty relaxed office so no real policies or Procedures for this type of thing.

I'm not even asking for it to be switched off! Just to be able to go to the other office which is 20ft away. Ridiculous

OP posts:
EmpressSoleil · 08/06/2023 16:41

As someone who hates air conditioning but sat directly beneath it for several years

So why didn't you swap seats with someone who loves it? This really peed me off when I worked in offices. People who sat directly beneath the air con and then wouldn't let us switch it on, but also didn't want to swap desks as they liked "their spot". Luckily now I wfh and have the portable air con right next to me!

Noodles1234 · 09/06/2023 20:37

I am female and LOVE aircon, I am always hot even in the winter, I just run warm. If I feel chilly (can happen!) I can pop a cardigan on. If I feel hot I also feel sick, dizzy and cannot remove more clothing generally to alleviate the issue. I could never understand people coming in wearing stringy tops then complaining they’re cold. Also ladies in menopause literally were being sick and near fainting from the heat and that is not fair either.

That aside, I always said hot people should sit one end and cold the other, they could house the teams in two sections?

SurfingNovice · 09/06/2023 20:39

Office temperature baselines for today were set in the 1970s based on the resting metabolism for a 80kg man, when fewer (if any) women were in the offices. Believe it or not...it's still based on this today. There's a whole section on it in the amazing and very thoroughly researched book by Caroline Criado Perez called Invisible Women, about the gender data gap. Trust me, youre not alone! Quote the relevant section to your boss and say that the temperature is disproportionately adversely affecting more women in the office than men, and ask, formally, for the AC to be reduced/the overall temperature to be increased.

Aslanplustwo · 09/06/2023 21:11

Yet again, more complaining about nothing. In my whole working life there have been people who find the office environment too hot or too cold. Unfortunately it is a case of the majority rules, just deal with it. Honestly, it seems to me that people in the UK just can't cope with anything!!

gazpachosoupday · 09/06/2023 21:43

SurfingNovice · 09/06/2023 20:39

Office temperature baselines for today were set in the 1970s based on the resting metabolism for a 80kg man, when fewer (if any) women were in the offices. Believe it or not...it's still based on this today. There's a whole section on it in the amazing and very thoroughly researched book by Caroline Criado Perez called Invisible Women, about the gender data gap. Trust me, youre not alone! Quote the relevant section to your boss and say that the temperature is disproportionately adversely affecting more women in the office than men, and ask, formally, for the AC to be reduced/the overall temperature to be increased.

Came onto say this, but SurfingNovice said it better.

JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon · 09/06/2023 21:50

EmpressSoleil · 08/06/2023 16:41

As someone who hates air conditioning but sat directly beneath it for several years

So why didn't you swap seats with someone who loves it? This really peed me off when I worked in offices. People who sat directly beneath the air con and then wouldn't let us switch it on, but also didn't want to swap desks as they liked "their spot". Luckily now I wfh and have the portable air con right next to me!

All well and good if you hot desk but at most of my jobs we have been assigned seats. Even now we have a couple of bays per team so you can't just take yourself off elsewhere.

ThisNameIsNotAvailable · 09/06/2023 22:00

Bring in a little fan heater? I’d be properly pissed off with this.

Augend23 · 09/06/2023 22:04

My office is ridiculous. When the heating is on in winter it's so warm you don't really even need a jumper. In the summer the air con is so cold you need a jumper and something to cover your legs up and probably a scarf. The only plus side is the entire building is covered in solar panels so we are at least not also committing a terrible eco-crime as well. Or at least not as much of one.

JudgeJ · 09/06/2023 22:08

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 08/06/2023 16:10

It’s ridiculous they have it so cold in so many offices.

The male body is - in general - comfortable at a colder temperature than the female body (menopause aside!). That’s why it’s kept so cold.

Is it really hot enough for air con? I detest shops that have smug notices We have air conditioning! and then have all the doors open rendering it useless.

Jem123456789 · 09/06/2023 22:09

Bring a thermometer in - if the temp at your desk is below 16 Celsius then it’s too cold and you can ask to move due to health and safety regs.

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