Thermostat Wars

[Portia]

My two coworkers and I have different ideas of a comfortable office temperature. It's a small office, and the door is usually closed to reduce noise from the cube farm outside. Tomorrow i will take a thermometer to work to determine how warm it is. I don't want to subject them to unreasonable temperatures, but last Friday it was quite warm and Ian had his floor heater on. That was fine and dandy with Rebekah, but she's always cold no matter what. I just suffered and struggled through the afternoon.

The way I see it, if they are cold they can put on a sweater or a jacket. I can't very well take off my clothes to cool down. Trust me, nobody wants that, haha. I'll be wearing light pants and a t-shirt all winter long and still be dying in the office.

I just googled ideal room temperature. Most studies say it's between 68 and 73 degrees, some as high as 75. It had to have been close to 80 in the office on Friday. We don't have a thermostat to adjust. We must call the boiler room and request a change. I don't want to just do it without telling my coworkers. But they will probably get an attitude.

Any advice as to how I should handle this?

[Temagami]

print out the article that states that MS over heating leads to a 70 percent decline in cognitive function?

[KatW]

I would bring in a thermometer. In my opinion, 80 is not an appropriate temperature for an office with or without a health problem. Then, I would go to a supervisor or to HR.

I don't think there are any laws or rules but I read that, "OSHA recommends temperature control in the range of 68-76 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity control in the range of 20 to 60 percent." I found this on google.

Good luck.

[Jules A]

It might be difficult especially since its 2 against 1. Definitely bring a thermostat in for objective data in the event you would like to pursue it further. Good luck.

[Portia]

Thanks to you both. I found the article, and I will find the OSHA recommendation at work tomorrow. My thermometer is by my phone charger . I will just tell my coworkers that I need the temperature to be no higher than 74 and go from there. See what happens. I may have to speak with my supervisor.

[Tia1]

You could get a small fan to help you feel more comfortable.

[Jules A]

I will just tell my coworkers that I need the temperature to be no higher than 74 and go from there. See what happens. I may have to speak with my supervisor.

I'd try asking them before you "tell" them. In my experience it is never a good idea to alienate co-workers even if they are dolts.

MS or not in my experience unless dictated by a governing body office politics seem to be largely driven by majority rules.

[Poppy7402]

Would wearing some kind of cooling device be an option too? Even these can make a surprising difference to how we feel when it's too warm.

[Portia]

I really don't see anything wrong with telling them what I need. They both know that I have MS and and one knows that heat beats the crap out of me. They were surprised that I brought a thermometer today and surprised that it was over 80 degrees in there this morning. I spoke briefly with my supervisor just to give her a heads up that there might be some conflict. As for majority rules, I think seniority and special health needs ought to trump, but I guess I'll find out.

How cruel would it be that I'd have to carry my cooling vest (and the packs and ice and cooler) to work when it's 8 degrees outside? Plus the fact that it wouldn't even last half my work day before I'd need to refreeze the packs?

[Jtx The Don]

Question :

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[Seasha]

Question :

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Hi Jtx and welcome! To start your own thread, first find the forum where you want to be. Once there, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page (beneath all the other threads). On the left hand side you will see a box that says New Thread. Click on this and you will be given a box to write your message. Write away and then submit!

[alice-bo-balice]

How Miserable for you! I would definitely point out how detrimental the heat can be to your health and offer to buy them both a hot water bottle for Christmas!

[Cat Mom]

I love the idea of wearing your fashionable cooling wear, even better that it won't last the whole day!

Personally, seeing a coworker all decked out in cooling wear would make me feel like garbage for having the heat too high. Going to that extreme to stay cool would do it for me.

Passive aggressive? Yup, you betcha!
Jen

[Larry K]

This sounds terrible but where I work is a manufacturing environment. We have a machine room and an assembly department. In the assembly dept there is always complaints about temperature.
What I have done in the past was I went into work during the weekend where the department wasn't working. I removed the working thermostat and installed another non-working thermostat in the same place as the original one was. I moved the working stat in a location where the ladies couldn't see it. I set the zone to 72 degree's winter time to summer time. The ladies constantly change the temperature on the fake thermostat and are happy because they think that moving the temperature around works!!!! I know it's mean but I get a chuckle out of it. EVERYONE is happy!!!!!

[Portia]

Jen, I actually considered that and will keep the idea in my back pocket if I continue to get push back.

And yes, it has been detrimental to my health already. All day Friday, Monday, and half of today in the heat, and i'm having more muscle spasms and nerve pain than I've had in months and months. Lhermitte's sign and tingling hands have returned. Haven't had those in more than a year.

I called the boiler room yesterday to request an adjustment. They said ok. It was still 80 degrees in the office by 10:00 this morning, so I called back and asked if they'd had a chance to adjust it. They hem-hawed around and said "well, yes, but only a couple of degrees because we don't want to freeze anyone out." I don't think they adjusted it at all.

Turns out that when I was in Kansas City last week for my neuro and drug study visits, one of my coworkers called down there and asked them to turn up the heat. Well, I convinced the guy in the boiler room to adjust it, and it got down to 75 today, which I can live with. The minute it goes up I'll be calling again

Yes, one of my coworkers is a complete dolt. The other one is a drama queen. Unfortunately we have to share an office due to shared departmental duties or I would request a cube in the middle of the cube farm where the temperature seems to be remarkably consistent and comfortable.