6 ms·

3c doesn't sound like much, but reducing from 20c to 17c would be the different between comfortable and miserable.

LightG 5y ago
Can confirm. My wife doesn't mind it at 17c ... I need it at least to be 20c, preferably 21/22c. We're talking to our lawyers.
- petercooper 5y ago
  Back when we used to have offices rather than WFH, we eventually had employees sit in different rooms by their preferred room temperature rather than any practical function. There was so much silly behavior over the matter that was resolved by this (like people insisting on wearing coats and blankets in a 20C room because it was "freezing").
  - VBprogrammer 5y ago
    That's really amusing. Did it have any positive effect (aside from solving the AC control war). Wondering if it improved cross pollination of ideas between teams.
    - petercooper 5y ago
      Not really. The company was reasonably small at the time (about 10 people) and most work done in the cloud anyway, so resolving the temperature dispute was the biggest win.
PedroBatista 5y ago
"Miserable" is a bit too much no? An extra layer of light clothing or getting up a doing a few steps will more than compensate for that. I personally thing that "huge" sacrifice is feasible specially when the comfortableness is directly related to democratic countries being invaded on what is just the first step of something even much more sinister.
- Brian_K_White 5y ago
  '"Miserable" is a bit too much no?' No.
- Flankk 5y ago
  No. 17°C is ridiculously cold. Do you suggest wearing gloves as well? Room temp in the winter is 23-25°C.
  - sealeck 5y ago
    17 degrees might _feel_ cold, but it's definitely not cold at a level that's problematic to the human body. If it's a choice between wearing your coat inside or Russia taking over Ukraine, I think we should seriously opt for the former.
  - gherkinnn 5y ago
    No. 25c is ridiculously hot. Do you suggest I drape a wet rag over my forehead as well? Room temp above 20c borders on criminal.
    - durovo 5y ago
      Yeah, this is the right place to fight about who has better tolerance for either extremes of heat without recognizing that people grow up in and adapt to very different climates.
      - gherkinnn 5y ago
        That was my point.
        durovo 5y ago
        My apologies. Point taken
  - b112 5y ago
    As a Canuck, who lives where June is 17C, and doesn't wear anything but a tshirt and pants, and often shorts at 17C, this gloves comment amuses me. Gloves get worn at maybe -5C, -10C. Maybe.
Freak_NL 5y ago
At 21°C I can work normally at home (21.5°C to 25°C means absolute comfort to me), sitting behind a desk. At 20°C I am uncomfortable. Extra clothing doesn't help: anything beyond the thick jumper and fluffy slippers annoys me just as much as the lower temperature. I usually have to stop and take a hot shower in the middle of the day to get back to some semblance of comfort (not really conserving energy there then). At 19°C and lower I am miserable. Something to do with being tall and slim I guess. In summer heat my range of comfortable temperatures lies a few degrees higher too, so that evens out. 19°C is fine if I'm remodelling, hoovering, doing the dishes, or anything else that involves not sitting behind a desk, and I don't mind being out in freezing cold as long as I'm moving and have very, very good gloves on, but working behind a desk with my brain requires my body to be comfortable, relaxed, and not annoyed by stiff fingers hitting the wrong keys.
- andai 5y ago
  When the gas prices went up a few months ago I decided to turn off the heating in my apartment completely and see how far I could get. In the beginning it was about 16-17C which felt unpleasant, but by the time the indoor temp dropped to 12-13C a few weeks later, my metabolism had adjusted and it felt quite comfortable.
  - Freak_NL 5y ago
    Great! My body doesn't adjust to that. It's only a minor hindrance in the grand scheme of things, but it sometimes does annoy me (and others whose comfort zone starts at a slightly higher temperature than the majority) when people think the problem is purely one of lack of acclimatization or grit. I can adjust to higher temperatures just fine, but not sitting still (even with regular active breaks) at anything below 21°C. Our company used to rent office space when we were a startup in a place that didn't turn on the heating until temperatures outside dropped below a certain threshold. Sometimes this meant 19°C or 20°C for weeks: I don't get used to it; it just stops me being productive (and nice).
    - HWR_14 5y ago
goodpoint 5y ago
17 is perfectly ok. Just wear thermal underwear and a sweater.

Can confirm. My wife doesn't mind it at 17c ... I need it at least to be 20c, preferably 21/22c. We're talking to our lawyers.

petercooper 5y ago
Back when we used to have offices rather than WFH, we eventually had employees sit in different rooms by their preferred room temperature rather than any practical function. There was so much silly behavior over the matter that was resolved by this (like people insisting on wearing coats and blankets in a 20C room because it was "freezing").
- VBprogrammer 5y ago
  That's really amusing. Did it have any positive effect (aside from solving the AC control war). Wondering if it improved cross pollination of ideas between teams.
  - petercooper 5y ago
    Not really. The company was reasonably small at the time (about 10 people) and most work done in the cloud anyway, so resolving the temperature dispute was the biggest win.

PedroBatista 5y ago

"Miserable" is a bit too much no? An extra layer of light clothing or getting up a doing a few steps will more than compensate for that. I personally thing that "huge" sacrifice is feasible specially when the comfortableness is directly related to democratic countries being invaded on what is just the first step of something even much more sinister.

Brian_K_White 5y ago
'"Miserable" is a bit too much no?' No.
Flankk 5y ago
No. 17°C is ridiculously cold. Do you suggest wearing gloves as well? Room temp in the winter is 23-25°C.
- sealeck 5y ago
  17 degrees might _feel_ cold, but it's definitely not cold at a level that's problematic to the human body. If it's a choice between wearing your coat inside or Russia taking over Ukraine, I think we should seriously opt for the former.
- gherkinnn 5y ago
  No. 25c is ridiculously hot. Do you suggest I drape a wet rag over my forehead as well? Room temp above 20c borders on criminal.
  - durovo 5y ago
    Yeah, this is the right place to fight about who has better tolerance for either extremes of heat without recognizing that people grow up in and adapt to very different climates.
    - gherkinnn 5y ago
      That was my point.
      - durovo 5y ago
        My apologies. Point taken
- b112 5y ago
  As a Canuck, who lives where June is 17C, and doesn't wear anything but a tshirt and pants, and often shorts at 17C, this gloves comment amuses me. Gloves get worn at maybe -5C, -10C. Maybe.

Freak_NL 5y ago

At 21°C I can work normally at home (21.5°C to 25°C means absolute comfort to me), sitting behind a desk. At 20°C I am uncomfortable. Extra clothing doesn't help: anything beyond the thick jumper and fluffy slippers annoys me just as much as the lower temperature. I usually have to stop and take a hot shower in the middle of the day to get back to some semblance of comfort (not really conserving energy there then). At 19°C and lower I am miserable. Something to do with being tall and slim I guess. In summer heat my range of comfortable temperatures lies a few degrees higher too, so that evens out. 19°C is fine if I'm remodelling, hoovering, doing the dishes, or anything else that involves not sitting behind a desk, and I don't mind being out in freezing cold as long as I'm moving and have very, very good gloves on, but working behind a desk with my brain requires my body to be comfortable, relaxed, and not annoyed by stiff fingers hitting the wrong keys.

andai 5y ago
When the gas prices went up a few months ago I decided to turn off the heating in my apartment completely and see how far I could get. In the beginning it was about 16-17C which felt unpleasant, but by the time the indoor temp dropped to 12-13C a few weeks later, my metabolism had adjusted and it felt quite comfortable.
- Freak_NL 5y ago
  Great! My body doesn't adjust to that. It's only a minor hindrance in the grand scheme of things, but it sometimes does annoy me (and others whose comfort zone starts at a slightly higher temperature than the majority) when people think the problem is purely one of lack of acclimatization or grit. I can adjust to higher temperatures just fine, but not sitting still (even with regular active breaks) at anything below 21°C. Our company used to rent office space when we were a startup in a place that didn't turn on the heating until temperatures outside dropped below a certain threshold. Sometimes this meant 19°C or 20°C for weeks: I don't get used to it; it just stops me being productive (and nice).
  - HWR_14 5y ago

goodpoint 5y ago

17 is perfectly ok. Just wear thermal underwear and a sweater.