Short Version
We fight over the temperature at the office. All the time.
Long Version
I think 72-74 is perfectly acceptable, but honestly, most times 72 seems too cold and I’m sitting there shivering because I’m so cold—and I can’t type because my fingers are too cold. But I swear, John would keep it at 68 if we’d let him. What gets me is that he and Sue are often out of the office for HOURS at a time, so why should we keep the office freezing the whole time they’re gone? So I usually end up turning it up a few degrees. And then John comes back and about 10-15 minutes later, he yells out “Why is it so damn hot in here?” Of course, the rest of us are comfortable.
So today, he left about 9:30 and about 10 or so, I bumped the thermostat up to 74. And it was still a little chilly, but tolerable. And the three of us in the office (the only ones all day!) were actually comfortable for one. I warned them to watch—when John got back into the office, he’d pitch a fit about it being soooooo hot.
Fast forward to him returning to the office about 4:00. By 4:15, he was yelling from the office: “What happened? Why is it hotter than blazes in here?” Hotter than blazes? Really? Maybe if it was 90+ outside and we had no A/C at all… So then he stomps out to the thermostat, sees it on 76 and totally blows his lid:
THIS THERMOSTAT SHOULD NEVER GO ABOVE 72. ESPECIALLY WHEN WE HAVE CLIENTS IN THE OFFICE. THIS IS RIDICULOUS!
Okay, calm down. You haven’t been in the office ALL day and the three of us who WERE here were freezing…so we turned it up. And there were no clients (we’d turn it back down if there were). We tell him this, and he “just can’t believe it.” Whatever. Like we’re lying about being freezing cold? (Sometimes it’s just chilly, but most times it’s really cold.)
So he and I went around and around and around with this—like we do each and every time he leaves and we’re freezing and we turn the thermostat up a few degrees and he comes back and it’s not an artic blast when he walks in the door.
It’s frustrating to say the least.
Edited a few weeks later to add: We now set the thermostat to 72 consistently. Why? We all have heaters at our desks. š