Comfortable working temperature

Hi

You are missing one important factor here...Realtive Humidity

Our comfort levels are always based on two factors temperature & RH. Taking one without the other is meaningless.

Another important factor is air-motion. Moving air exchanges heat much better than stagnant air. Hence electric fans, punkahs in india and and hand fans used for ventilation (and signalling amorous communication by 19th century coquetish ladies).

I had complete control over the thermostat in our computer lab... I always set it cold enough to hang meat in!

As for local, my avatar say it all.

When I was stationed in Singapore in the middle 60s on a converted RN Aircraft Carrier, we had to dress warmly if the temperature dropped below around 90°F.

We had day temperatures that could get to over 120°F with a standard of 100% Humidity. Anything under 100% Humidity was considered a "dry day".......

I worked for my first 6 months in the engine and boiler rooms, with temperatures approaching 190°F in the boiler rooms on a cool day (ship at anchor, only producing enough steam to make electricity).

My next 6 months, was working on the upper deck cranes, which baked in the tropical sun and had only one tiny ventilator for the whole rig....it was no cooler there than in the boiler rooms.....

I am 5'11" tall and normally weigh around 11 1/2 to 12 1/2 Stone, I came back from Singapore weighing about 9 Stone - and I had eaten well the whole time!!!! I soon put the weight back on again.....

I still like a hot climate, we went sailing around Turkey this year on a small (8 double cabins) Yacht, with temperatures up to 54°C........GREAT!!

The point of this all is that a comfortable temperature is relative, where as an Inuit would probably die of heat exhaustion in 30°C, a native of Africa (or myself in the 60's) would consider this to be next to freezing.....and need to be very warmly dressed.....!

So I really feel that the point of this blog, from a worldwide standpoint, is useless....sorry.

You can really only use infos and comparisons for a small area as comparison.....and you forgot to key in the effects of humidity on your "comfort zone", as somebody else also mentioned....

I live and work in Germany, and have done since 1981. Middle European weather....too cold in winter for me and too hot for most others in the summer as anything over 30°C is considered by the natives to be too hot!!!....

Well said Andy.. I agree with you 100% and probably more

This sort of survey can be meaningful only for a small geographical area. Even in the US I think it would differ from area to area..LA,Miami, NY

Given a certain area now we have come up with 3 factors which influence comfort factor temp, humidity and air movement

May I add another minor point.... our mood

Years ago friend of mine also told me of his USAF tour where he was stationed at some place purportedly the highest annual average temp., where he would feel chill at otherwise high temps. I always wondered how much truth there was to that story. I cannot for the life of me remember what islands it was.

It was during the 80's......memory lost.

Office work: 70°F it looks like the right temperature for men...women at 72°F.

If we got to warm in the office people gets dizzy.

Ivan Ochoa - Arizona

You should read all the posts carefully again, there is no "best" temperature that works everywhere....some people would find 72°F Much too cold to work in......others would find it far too hot!!!!

Very true, if I have my office at a 'comfortable' temperature my colleague has to wear his overcoat. At the moment he's off with flu & I have the office at a cosy 22°C.

Which is a standard UK office temperature I would have said.....sounds completely normal to me. Your sick colleague must be a real "Cold Fish!".

Hey Guys and Gals

All attempts to change working environment to suit personal preference (whether to increase or decrease temp) involves considerable amount of energy.

Energy comes at a price ( perhaps a small hole in your purse and a BIG hole in the Ozone layer)

So why not we divert this thread towards something of more value.

Why not we all try to share and spread the concept of minimising working environment changes unless unavoidable.

Here I am in Sri Lanka at home working in a closed room at a temp around 30Centigrade and RH 80plus. I am sweating a bit but I know a small shower later will make it easy for me. I refuse to switch on the Air conditioner.

May be on a worse day I will switch on a small fan.

Unfortunately in my office I cannot yet garner enough support to switch off the AC!

AC is the great bringer of cols, flu and other ailments.....and you feel worse when you have to go out in the heat!!

Creator manufactured machine called as "Human body" with various complex instruments

fitted inside.These instrument help to adjust any temp changes over a period.However He made some mistake in fabricating brain--kept few screws loose.That is why mind keeps on complaining.

Ratnagiri

Ha!

"The reason I have a trouble is that I have a body.

When I no longer have a body, what trouble have I?"

Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching

Imaging having only a working mind with all those nice thoughts without a body to make those thoughts real. Imagine how frustrated your mind would be.

Get my point. Trouble is not with the body but with the mind. By the way where exactly is the mind?

mmm.... I am lost