Tape
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I've been in my current job for a couple months and a half now.
For some months, people have been arguing about the air-conditioning. The equipment props (or whatever they're called, the parts that direct airflow) would blow uncomfortably cold air towards some, while others would still suffer from heat in other parts of the room. They can be adjusted upwards, downards and to both sides, but still you don't hit everyone the same way.
Then there was the issue of temperature, because those not hit by cold air felt hot and wanted to decrease it, and those in the way of said cold air wanted to increase it.
Workstations were moved, teams were split, so that some people could find a zone of thermal comfort.
The most agreeable configuration had the air-conditioner blowing air upwards. It hits the ceiling and gets down in a manner that is pleasant to everyone. Well, everyone but the unlucky fellow who happens to be sitting closest to the air-conditioner, because an opening in the props also causes part of the air to flow directly downwards and it's chilling to the bone. Thus, this configuration was forbidden way before I got here.
The guy who used to sit in that spot moved to the other side of the room when I was hired, and I got the position right under the cooling gear. Today people were arguing about the air-conditioning again, and were talking about having a meeting about it. Argh.
So I just got the air-conditioner in the setup that would doom me to a freezing death. For the sake of my own health, however, I got some tape (ok, a lot of tape) and sealed the lower half of the machine. The workplace is much more peaceful now, and for the first time in weeks I feel more comfortable inside this room than otherwise.
Pragmatism FTW.
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I keep a sweater at work and slip it on when I get too cold.
Not taping up vents FTW.
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[quote user="Renan "C#" Sousa"]So I just got the air-conditioner in the setup that would doom me to a freezing death. For the sake of my own health, however, I got some tape (ok, a lot of tape) and sealed the lower half of the machine. The workplace is much more peaceful now, and for the first time in weeks I feel more comfortable inside this room than otherwise.[/quote]
Most places just hang an umbrella from the AC unit, to block the downwards air. Marginally less ugly than the tape.
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[quote user="Renan "C#" Sousa"]
I've been in my current job for a couple months and a half now.
For some months, people have been arguing about the air-conditioning. The equipment props (or whatever they're called, the parts that direct airflow)
<<snippage>>
[/quote]
Baffled by... "baffles."
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We moved into our new location just under a year ago. We were all told (via agency-wide email) that we could no longer have individual heaters or fans because it would negatively affect the "state-of-the-art" climate control here. Well, we have the same issues: some people too cold; others too hot. I'm one of the hot ones. A few weeks ago someone got cold and decided to unilaterally crank up the heat. Large, vocal and contentious conversations ensued with a slight majority calling for increased heat. I finally spoke up telling all and sundry that while the cold people can always put more on, there is a definite limit to what the hot ones can take off. After I threatened to walk around mostly naked, the cold people agreed to lower the temp and wear sweaters. Victory at the expense of self esteem. FTW!
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@blakeyrat said:
Most places just hang an umbrella from the AC unit, to block the downwards air. Marginally less ugly than the tape.
Either my sarcasm detector overflowed, or we have a very different sense of aesthetics.
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Stuffing manila folders into the ceiling vents also works. Could be a bit of a fire hazard, though...
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One of the places I worked at didn't have ceiling mounted air-con but wall mounted.
My first day on the job and my desk was up against the wall right in front of the air-con unit (as in, the desk was touching the casing) so it was blowing cold air under my desk and cold air over my desk.
I literally couldn't work.We put some cardboard in front of the unit under the desk but it was still blowing over the desk. I had to take a break every 5 minutes to warm my hands up again and I had to wear a sweater in the middle of summer while everyone else was in T-Shirts (Which meant I had to constantly take it off / put it on as I went to meetings etc.) AND a small blanket to cover the legs
Even if we could divert the airflow I still don't think it would have been enough. The desk was so cold to the touch it was insane.
Luckily I moved to our nwely open floor after a month and could actually get some work done.
I always wondered why air-con units had directed airflow instead of say, having a series of vents spread all over the ceiling powered centrally by a hidden unit somewhere to provide even cooling.
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@mrgaijin said:
I always wondered why air-con units had directed airflow instead of say, having a series of vents spread all over the ceiling powered centrally by a hidden unit somewhere to provide even cooling.
Cost and ceiling space would be the two main factors.
@mrgaijin said:
My first day on the job and my desk was up against the wall right in front of the air-con unit (as in, the desk was touching the casing) so it was blowing cold air under my desk and cold air over my desk.
WTF? All wall-mounted air-cons I've seen are up high (head height+ when standing). But then I live in a hotter climate and they are usually on "cool" mode: Cool air sinks so it shoots the cool air across the room and makes it fairly even.
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After I threatened to walk around mostly naked, the cold people agreed to lower the temp and wear sweaters.
I had that backfire on me once.
"Who wants it warmer in the fishbowl?", asked the VP, who was only involved because someone asked him to moderate. "If it gets any warmer, I'll be coming to work naked, sir.", I said.
Sally, the 50-something secretary with the desk across from mine looked at me straight in the eyes and said "More heat. I'm cold, I could do with some more warmth in the room.".
In the end, the decision was to adjust the thermostat colder by two degrees.
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Sally is an awesome gal.
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I should be alarmed that a meeting was called and moderated by a VP just to decide what temperature the office AC should be set at, but somehow I'm not.
If this keeps up I may even lose my sense of surprise at the pre-meeting meetings where everyone from the department head level up had to discuss what shape the table should be at the Thermostat Selection Meeting.
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In a former life, we had a similar problem.
With access to cutting edge parametric design tools, a huge Kongsberg cutting table, and a near endless supply of white E-Flute corrugate, we built a custom baffle (with parameters set up such that we could re-size the thing to fit almost any air duct/vent). After installing them in the design room we were deluged with requests from the rest of the building.
Then we moved on to cutting carshades and gluing silver mylar to them. And then we started getting real (customer request) projects ==----
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Clearly you need to hire more Minnesotans. A/C blowing straight on me just reminds me of my natural habitat.
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Related A/C (minor) WTF: it seems that all remotes for A/C units store the state independently from the unit. So unit is off, you try to turn it on with the remote but don't point correctly: A/C doesn't turn on but your remote thinks it is. So you press the remote again and nothing happens, because the remote thinks it had to turn it off.
Which also makes me wonder: if you change the temperature on the remote, does it tell the unit to go +1 or -1 or does it say "25 C"? If the former, and you don't always point the right way, temperatures are screwed - which they always are. 26 C in my bedroom is colder than 25 C in my daughter's bedroom.
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@b-redeker said:
if you change the temperature on the remote, does it tell the unit to go +1 or -1 or does it say "25 C"?
Mine, at least, sends the entire state every button press: temperature, fan speed, mode, and "energy saving" status, probably timer setting as well.
The one here at work has no display and stores nothing, so works like a TV remote (+1/-1, etc).
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I'm surprised nobody has brought up the problem of meddling idiots turning the thermostat down to 60 on hot days, because they think that will help cool things off quicker (and don't seem to realize that it will eventually become uncomfortably cold).
My office has 6 large AC units, at any given time approximately 4 are in working order, so I just sit in whatever cube is getting AC. We've been down to 0 on more than one occasion and it gets close to 110 in here.
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I interviewed at a place for simple architectural CAD job back in school. It was a part time gig and didn't expect the place to be spotless but the three-man office/pod/cubical area had a big thermometer on the wall with a "Top 10 Hotest Day" whiteboard next to it. As score of 89F had been recorded there three days before it was only the #5 score.
Glad they didn't call me back for that spot. - 89F inside and office building - in SEATTLE....
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@Ex-Navy Dude said:
This would probably have been more amusing had I known: 1) What the normal temperature was prior to reading the punchline (looks like it's 75F for the record [25C]) 2) You used real temperature units.I interviewed at a place for simple architectural CAD job back in school. It was a part time gig and didn't expect the place to be spotless but the three-man office/pod/cubical area had a big thermometer on the wall with a "Top 10 Hotest Day" whiteboard next to it. As score of 89F had been recorded there three days before it was only the #5 score.
Glad they didn't call me back for that spot. - 89F inside and office building - in SEATTLE....
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@Lingerance said:
@Ex-Navy Dude said:
This would probably have been more amusing had I known: 1) What the normal temperature was prior to reading the punchline (looks like it's 75F for the record [25C]) 2) You used real temperature units.I interviewed at a place for simple architectural CAD job back in school. It was a part time gig and didn't expect the place to be spotless but the three-man office/pod/cubical area had a big thermometer on the wall with a "Top 10 Hotest Day" whiteboard next to it. As score of 89F had been recorded there three days before it was only the #5 score.
Glad they didn't call me back for that spot. - 89F inside and office building - in SEATTLE....
Is there another Seattle somewhere? It's 80F right now. The record has to at least be in the mid-90s-- it was 88F a couple weeks ago.
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@blakeyrat said:
Is there another Seattle somewhere? It's 80F right now. The record has to at least be in the mid-90s-- it was 88F a couple weeks ago.
Source. 1) Monthly avgs/totals 2) Seattle Area 3) Max temp 4) 1971-2000
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@Lingerance said:
@blakeyrat said:
Is there another Seattle somewhere? It's 80F right now. The record has to at least be in the mid-90s-- it was 88F a couple weeks ago.
Source. 1) Monthly avgs/totals 2) Seattle Area 3) Max temp 4) 1971-2000So by "record temperature" what you mean is "record monthly average temperature." Which isn't even close to the same thing. And, since we're all telepathic, of course we knew that's what you meant.
Check.
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Since I bothered to click the link and click on radio buttons and click the view button, I'll post the results here:
Seattle Area (ThreadEx Station) Extremes Highest Daily Maximum Temperature (degrees F) Days: 1/1 - 12/31 Length of period: 1 day Years: 1948-2010
Rank Value Ending Date
1 103 7/29/2009
2 100 7/20/1994
3 99 7/23/1991, 8/9/1981, 8/9/1960
6 98 7/11/2007, 9/2/1988, 8/10/1981, 7/16/1979, 8/16/1967Last value also occurred in one or more previous years.
This station's record may include data from more than one, possibly incompatible,
locations. It reflects the longest available record for the Seattle Area.
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@blakeyrat said:
So by "record temperature" what you mean is "record monthly average temperature." Which isn't even close to the same thing. And, since we're all telepathic, of course we knew that's what you meant.
I think the navy dude was referring to inside temperature.
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@belgariontheking said:
I think the navy dude was referring to inside temperature.
Yeah.
@blakeyrat said:So by "record temperature" what you mean is "record monthly average temperature." Which isn't even close to the same thing. And, since we're all telepathic, of course we knew that's what you meant.
So I grabbed the wrong data source and assumed since it had highs and lows it was the record temperatures. What I meant is what I said. No telepathy needed.
