Who is being unreasonable about the heating?

[Adizona]

Two colleagues work in a clinic.
A works in the clinic which is large room, open plan with no windows, 2 adjustable setting radiators and air con.
B works on the reception desk which is medium room, floor to ceiling windows which do not open and a door along the front, one non adjustable radiator and air con.
All radiators are controlled by hive which is set to 22 degrees (temperature only reaches 21 degrees with the heating on) and the hive thermostat is in reception.
The on/off button for the heating is in the staff room which can only be accessed via the clinics.
A is constantly complaining that they are hot and keeps turning the heating off via the on/off button leaving B complaining that they are freezing and keeps going back to turn on the heating back on.
A says B can put on extra layers, B says that they are already wearing thermals and has a blanket as the door keeps being opened by patients and the windows let a lot of cold in.
B says that A can turn the radiators down/off, A says this doesn't work as the radiators are still slightly warm if the heating is on and she want them cold.
Both women are perimenopausal age (if that is at all relevant)
So who is being unreasonable and how can this be resolved?
Management are useless, avoid confrontation and will not get involved.

Ask the customers?

21 degrees seems quite warm for a work environment.

Is A's role more active, and B's role more sedentary? If so that will be a big contributing factor.

That's far too warm for a working temperature imo. Stuffy and horrible. Also a massive waste of energy costs if its all getting blown out the door.
Suggest b gets a small electric radiator/fan heater or sth to go under the desk. Heat the person, not the entire room.
If B is sat at a computer all day and A is moving about seeing patients then that will make a huge difference, sitting at a desk is freezing after a while.

A should bring in a couple of portable heaters and plug them in. Management will bitch which A should respond to by repeatedly saying “it’s too cold in here to work”. (Been there, done that, got the thermals).

Can be use a small portable heater ?
There are also bodywarmers that have built in heaters .

I get cold very easily and have routine circulation so have had to learn how to adapt. It's fecking miserable tho

A and B does my head in. Can we not just call them Anne and Brenda or something.

Yes I almost resigned a few years ago when the maintenance people would not believe that the air conditioning came on full blast at 5:30, I used to work until about 6:00 or 6:30 and by the time I left the office I was freezing cold and in the winter going out into the freezing cold when you're already freezing, cold is absolutely horrendous. Luckily I persuaded one of the maintenance people to stay after 5:30 and then he could see exactly how cold it got and they were able to solve it.

Someone sitting still for hours next to a door that’s constantly opening should not be made to freeze and be miserable. The person who keeps turning off the heating is a selfish arse.

Management needs to find a better solution to keeping the reception area warm.

22 is far to hot for a working environment! That’s stuffy! I’d be asleep!

Why can’t hive temp be set to 18C and the cold person gets a heater?

I'd feel really unwell if I had to work in 21-22 degrees all day, but I'd be happy just to have the radiators turned down and to use a fan.

21/22 is far too hot for a work environment. I'd go insane.

What does the temp go down to with the heating off?

I'd say B should get a heated blanket, they get roasting in about 5 minutes.

Turning off the heating completely is silly - surely patients will be cold, too?
22C is far too hot.

IMO both rooms should be around 19 to 20C for patient comfort, with a fan directed at the too-hot person and a blow heater directed at the too-cold one, when/if either is really essential. It's pretty poor not to be sorting this out amicably whilst being s bit mindful of both patients and the environment.

I don't think that would be too warm or stuffy if there's a door constantly being opened and the windows are old. There would be a lot of cool air coming in. I think the person who keeps turning it off is being unreasonable, they need to turn them down as if they are just slightly warm they should be able to cope with that.

Stand alone plug in heater for person who is cold surely?

A does slightly more walking around than B, both are desk based but different jobs.
Hive is set at 22 but the reception area averages 18.5 daily, can reach 21 at lunchtime when the door is closed for 1 hour.
Not sure what temperature the clinic area reaches as the the thermometer only shows when the air con is on, C who works with A in the clinic and does a fair bit of running around doesn’t complain about being hot or cold. They also wear an additional layer of clothing.
Portable heater not allowed following recent fire assessment.
Only one or two patients a week say something about being hot but that doesn’t mean that being too hot isn’t a problem, most will sit with coats on though.

I should also mention that the reception area was 12 degrees today without the heating on.

Get an oil filled radiator for the reception area. Turn the radiators down in the clinic room.

22 when sitting still and not moving is cold, especially if a door keeps being opened! Being cold is miserable.

B says that A can turn the radiators down/off, A says this doesn't work as the radiators are still slightly warm if the heating is on and she want them cold.

this is a good compromise and A is being unreasonable. Slightly warm is very different from on! It would cool down the room she works in significantly without the other employee being freezing because the heating is off completely.

so my opinion is A is being very unreasonable.

Do patients wait in the reception area that is 12 degrees which is far too cold

Yes, there was a complaint today about it being cold from a patient.
B told A but A refused to put the heating back on because patients aren’t waiting to long compared to them who were working in it all day, B escalated to management who weren’t on site and they said A and B need to figure it out.
Average wait time is 10 mins.

If patients are complaining and B is unhappy then of course A needs to turn off her radiators and cope - patients cannot wait in 12 degrees

A is being unreasonable. I'm a cold preferer and hate it being too stuffy but A has the option to turn the heaters off. If they are completely off and never come on there's no way they will still be 'a little bit warm' and even if they are it's going to be negligible.

If the reception area only reaches 18.5 even with the heating on all day then the clinic room without any heating on is not going to get much hotter (if it even gets that hot), and that's a completely reasonable temperature to work in. If patients are sitting with their coats on then the reception area can't be that warm.

I appreciate there's a reason you didn't specify but are they noticeably different weights, as that can affect how much you feel the cold but can also be harder to address sensitively.

We'd be having the same argument! My ideal working temperature is 23.

B needs to get a hot water bottle to stick the the jumper or rest on the lap.