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Air con and working from home

docstocker

docstocker

pfm Member
This may just be a bit passe as the heatwave is supposed to be about to break, but my daughter is working from home in her small flat where the temperature is very high. No proper thermometer, but their meat thermometer is showing the temperature of 'rare beef'!

Health and safety does not give a maximum safe working temperature only a minimum and advice on working in hot environments.

Anyone working from home persuaded their employer to fund an ir conditioner?

John
 
I'm in the same situation - top floor flat with poorly insulated flat roof. Communal staircase has a large south facing glass area and no curtains. It's 33C outside and warmer inside; not conducive to work. I haven't asked but as I'm working full time on 90% salary and my employer is currently laying people off I don't think it would go down too well.

The only advise I can give is to switch off any extraneous heat sources where possible. Turn the work laptop off when she finished work in the evening; they really do create a lot of heat.
 
docstocker said:
This may just be a bit passe as the heatwave is supposed to be about to break, but my daughter is working from home in her small flat where the temperature is very high.
Anyone working from home persuaded their employer to fund an ir conditioner?
John
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No, but I did pay for a portable a/c unit myself, as my daughter was studying from home In a spare room & it’s then wheeled into my bedroom at night.
£300ish for a decent nights sleep for a few months of the year & making home study/ work a lot more comfortable as well.
Money well spent, I reckon.
 
As an interim you can use tap water - latent heat of evaporation. Hang some towels up that have been wetted with water and the room will cool down as the water evaporates. Even better blow air onto the towel with a fan and for longer use have the bottom of the towel in a bowl of water.

I saw a similar technique used in Jerez to keep the sherry casks cool. They just wet the floor!

Cheers,

DV
 
manicatel said:
No, but I did pay for a portable a/c unit myself, as my daughter was studying from home In a spare room & it’s then wheeled into my bedroom at night.
£300ish for a decent nights sleep for a few months of the year & making home study/ work a lot more comfortable as well.
Money well spent, I reckon.
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We got one for the shed/office and its soooo noisy same price, how the hell do you sleep with it lol!
 
Yea, it’s called “silent” but that should definitely be investigated under the trade descriptions act!
However, we previously had a pedestal fan which wasn’t silent either.
Whilst the air con unit is louder, the windows are now closed so no road noise etc & the Mrs quite likes a bit of “white noise”type sound to send her off to sleep.
I had my doubts, but both of us have slept SO much better than without it.
 
our portable AC is too noisy to sleep by. It is quite old, and gets the office down to about a bearable 24.

Seem to be able to sleep with the ceiling fan on.......
 
I am currently staying on a canal boat...could not get to sleep until 4am this morning when the temperature naturally dropped to a decent level. I thought it might be better than the motorhome but it is worse.
 
richardg said:
I am currently staying on a canal boat...could not get to sleep until 4am this morning when the temperature naturally dropped to a decent level. I thought it might be better than the motorhome but it is worse.
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I have done a lot of sleeping on narrow boats and it is brutal when it is hot. I have slept on the roof on occasion but only in quiet areas.

Love everything else about them though. My brother has a share in one.
 
Darth Vader said:
As an interim you can use tap water - latent heat of evaporation. Hang some towels up that have been wetted with water and the room will cool down as the water evaporates. Even better blow air onto the towel with a fan and for longer use have the bottom of the towel in a bowl of water.
DV
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Only really useful when the relative humidity is low; currently with a lot of the uk hovering around 30degC+ and 75-80%RH +, there's just not enough space on the psychrometric chart to make the apparent sensible heat drop useful; you are trying to swap hot wet air for wet hot air... forget it.

A little air movement though, goes a long way in comfort terms.
 
cutting42 said:
I have done a lot of sleeping on narrow boats and it is brutal when it is hot. I have slept on the roof on occasion but only in quiet areas.

Love everything else about them though. My brother has a share in one.
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I prefer motorhomes. He said his mooring fee is 250 euros a month and if he wants to take it one way to Holland....5000 in diesel:eek:
 
richardg said:
I prefer motorhomes. He said his mooring fee is 250 euros a month and if he wants to take it one way to Holland....5000 in diesel:eek:
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Different objective in the UK and mooring is not a concern for a rental boat and we don't go very far, diesel is included.
 
One of the best things I ever did at work was install heat pumps for both cooling and heating.
This afternoon, walking into the office for some work was just bliss at circa 18-19' from the full blast of the sun in the yard at somewhere like 37.
I actually want to go to work now, (and probably do some work) as it is so comfortable - it really is condusive to working.
I also invested heavily in getting the building fully (and I mean fully) insulated so as not to lose too much heat or gain when not wanted.
That had started to work nicely right up until March..
 
My son recorded a temperature of 44 in his work , they are not allowed fans . I am not a happy dad as he has to do 12 hours a day in this. Of course if you complain you just get sacked and jobs are hard to find right now
 
Working from home. 4 storey house does get a tad warm during the day, one long side is almost pure South facing. But the basement where I hang out remains deliciously cool. The North facing rooms, our bedroom and two bathrooms remain reasonable in temperature. There is a first floor lounge which can get very warm, but we keep the curtains closed up there - partly to avoid furniture getting bleached, but it does make a big difference to getting the temperature gain down.

The teenagers live in the attic rooms - they get roasting hot. Fans and open skylights the order of the day and night up there. In extreme heat the kids have retreated to mattresses elsewhere in the house - not done that for about 5 years now. Perhaps their boyfriends are keeping them cool?

My office back in the factory would be hot and the air con unit in it rather noisy. So happy to WFH!
 
Fatmarley said:
I've no idea what safe temperatures are but I thought 33 was incredibly hot today. Isn't 44 dangerous?
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No. Requirement is for ventilation and water. You want to try unloading a travelling oven all day when it's 30 outside, we provide water, a big fan and the guy wears disposable overalls and boxers. The fan's vital. I was wet through after an hour in the bakery today.
 
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