8 ms·

Driving less is good. I hate my commute anyway. However, I did wonder whether having everyone's houses being actively heated/cooled because you are at home vers

Driving less is good. I hate my commute anyway. However, I did wonder whether having everyone's houses being actively heated/cooled because you are at home versus the business office would result in more net carbon.

ryukafalz 3y ago
Depends on how much you blast the AC/heating while you're home I suppose, and whether or not you have pets and so need to keep your house somewhat heated/cooled all the time anyway. The office I used to work at had the thermostat set far lower in the summer than I ever would at home.
LazyMans 3y ago
This is pretty easy to figure out by looking at grid energy use. I think a lot of producers make that public info. Not sure there was much impact.
jrace 3y ago
Personally,my homes heat and ac use us u changed whether or not I am home. There has been minimal savings (from my own small sample size) to reducing either while I am away, as when I would return the system would have to work longer to restore the desired temps. So my situation it actually is a net benefit to work from home.
- ghaff 3y ago
  I think that’s typical. I can drop my thermostat about 7 degrees F in the winter if I’m not home. Just have a window unit AC which I rarely use and don’t even put in some years. But I’m probably about 40 miles RT to go into my closer office which I have basically not done for years. Sometimes go into the urban one to meet with customer which is about 2x the distance and 3x the time. For most people commuting costs dwarf the costs of being home for the day—unless they move to a bigger and more expensive place.
  - theandrewbailey 3y ago
    > 7 degrees F Typo? Pipes freeze and burst at that temperature.
    - ghaff 3y ago
      Drop by not to. To about 55 degrees.
- brennaw1 3y ago
  Same, most people keep their home in a narrow temperate range, especially if you have pets at home.
- ejvincent 3y ago
  If you have a modern heat pump system, it's often more energy efficient to keep it at a steady temp. They become more efficient the less they have to work. This means if you're changing the temp while at work, there's a spike when you return where it has to work harder. The efficiency loss there is often worse than what was saved by changing the temps while you were away.
tmpz22 3y ago
[flagged]
- ye-olde-sysrq 3y ago
  On the days you don't commute, you could plug your foreman grill into a wall socket and sit in a chair staring at the wall for the same length of time to simulate the same effect.
  - Spastche 3y ago
    maybe they live in their car? what a bizarre comment from them
    - lesuorac 3y ago
      Pretty sure they were being sarcastic. It's common for people to bring up "well I like seeing all the people on the bus" or whatever activity they do during their commute as a reason why nobody should ever WFO. I think they're just making fun of such comments.
  - foobarian 3y ago
    There is an excellent hotplate available that plugs into USB. Though I believe you need about 20 free USB slots.
- notsurenymore 3y ago
  Do you not pay your power bill or something?
- soupfordummies 3y ago
  You can do better than that, pal! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_HR_o0jDqw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_HR_o0jDqw
- lpapez 3y ago
  What if I told you grills could be plugged in at home as well?
jimbob45 3y ago
The commute is what killed me. Doing what is essentially unpaid work to get to/from work seems pretty unfair when you’re losing potentially an hour each day doing it. I have to imagine companies would quit this RTO nonsense if they were forced to pay hourly rates for commutes.
- SubiculumCode 3y ago
  1.5 hours driving a day * 5 days a week = not going to the gym ever.
  - Jcampuzano2 3y ago
    I'm a pretty big gym rat, so I went even when i did go to the office. All that to say that having the freedom to go in the middle of the day/lunchtime and also having more energy for it was one of the single biggest benefits I enjoy from remote work as someone who lives alone. I can also go for short walks around my neighborhood for small breaks without feeling like I'll be judged for not being at my desk/making smalltalk with people who don't wanna be active. Normally those breaks would just be sitting around the coffee maker, or people standing at desks. Remote work opens up so much for human health in my opinion. I do understand some jobs can't be done from home, but in my opinion that should be reason to compensate them even more.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  >Doing what is essentially unpaid work to get to/from work seems pretty unfair when you’re losing potentially an hour each day doing it. I do not agree with this framing. People have agency to choose where they live and what tradeoffs they want to make in their life. No reason someone willing to live in a certain location should subsidize someone wanting to live further away.
  - tjpnz 3y ago
    Tell that to the person cleaning your offices.
lotsoweiners 3y ago
I keep my house the same temp whether I’m home or not. I figured most people probably do the same.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
standardUser 3y ago
I would just ask that anyone who makes such a calculation consider that, in the SF offices I used to work in, they heated the fucking garages. They literally heated the massive, multi-level car garages that were, for the vast majority of the time, completely unoccupied by human beings. In San Francisco. That's not the mention the sprawling lobbies, long hallways, unused conference rooms and so on.

ryukafalz 3y ago

Depends on how much you blast the AC/heating while you're home I suppose, and whether or not you have pets and so need to keep your house somewhat heated/cooled all the time anyway. The office I used to work at had the thermostat set far lower in the summer than I ever would at home.

LazyMans 3y ago

This is pretty easy to figure out by looking at grid energy use. I think a lot of producers make that public info. Not sure there was much impact.

jrace 3y ago

Personally,my homes heat and ac use us u changed whether or not I am home. There has been minimal savings (from my own small sample size) to reducing either while I am away, as when I would return the system would have to work longer to restore the desired temps. So my situation it actually is a net benefit to work from home.

ghaff 3y ago
I think that’s typical. I can drop my thermostat about 7 degrees F in the winter if I’m not home. Just have a window unit AC which I rarely use and don’t even put in some years. But I’m probably about 40 miles RT to go into my closer office which I have basically not done for years. Sometimes go into the urban one to meet with customer which is about 2x the distance and 3x the time. For most people commuting costs dwarf the costs of being home for the day—unless they move to a bigger and more expensive place.
- theandrewbailey 3y ago
  > 7 degrees F Typo? Pipes freeze and burst at that temperature.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    Drop by not to. To about 55 degrees.
brennaw1 3y ago
Same, most people keep their home in a narrow temperate range, especially if you have pets at home.
ejvincent 3y ago
If you have a modern heat pump system, it's often more energy efficient to keep it at a steady temp. They become more efficient the less they have to work. This means if you're changing the temp while at work, there's a spike when you return where it has to work harder. The efficiency loss there is often worse than what was saved by changing the temps while you were away.

tmpz22 3y ago

[flagged]

ye-olde-sysrq 3y ago
On the days you don't commute, you could plug your foreman grill into a wall socket and sit in a chair staring at the wall for the same length of time to simulate the same effect.
- Spastche 3y ago
  maybe they live in their car? what a bizarre comment from them
  - lesuorac 3y ago
    Pretty sure they were being sarcastic. It's common for people to bring up "well I like seeing all the people on the bus" or whatever activity they do during their commute as a reason why nobody should ever WFO. I think they're just making fun of such comments.
- foobarian 3y ago
  There is an excellent hotplate available that plugs into USB. Though I believe you need about 20 free USB slots.
notsurenymore 3y ago
Do you not pay your power bill or something?
soupfordummies 3y ago
You can do better than that, pal! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_HR_o0jDqw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_HR_o0jDqw
lpapez 3y ago
What if I told you grills could be plugged in at home as well?

jimbob45 3y ago

The commute is what killed me. Doing what is essentially unpaid work to get to/from work seems pretty unfair when you’re losing potentially an hour each day doing it. I have to imagine companies would quit this RTO nonsense if they were forced to pay hourly rates for commutes.

SubiculumCode 3y ago
1.5 hours driving a day * 5 days a week = not going to the gym ever.
- Jcampuzano2 3y ago
  I'm a pretty big gym rat, so I went even when i did go to the office. All that to say that having the freedom to go in the middle of the day/lunchtime and also having more energy for it was one of the single biggest benefits I enjoy from remote work as someone who lives alone. I can also go for short walks around my neighborhood for small breaks without feeling like I'll be judged for not being at my desk/making smalltalk with people who don't wanna be active. Normally those breaks would just be sitting around the coffee maker, or people standing at desks. Remote work opens up so much for human health in my opinion. I do understand some jobs can't be done from home, but in my opinion that should be reason to compensate them even more.
lotsofpulp 3y ago
>Doing what is essentially unpaid work to get to/from work seems pretty unfair when you’re losing potentially an hour each day doing it. I do not agree with this framing. People have agency to choose where they live and what tradeoffs they want to make in their life. No reason someone willing to live in a certain location should subsidize someone wanting to live further away.
- tjpnz 3y ago
  Tell that to the person cleaning your offices.

lotsoweiners 3y ago

I keep my house the same temp whether I’m home or not. I figured most people probably do the same.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

standardUser 3y ago

I would just ask that anyone who makes such a calculation consider that, in the SF offices I used to work in, they heated the fucking garages. They literally heated the massive, multi-level car garages that were, for the vast majority of the time, completely unoccupied by human beings. In San Francisco. That's not the mention the sprawling lobbies, long hallways, unused conference rooms and so on.