Temperature Monitoring in the Office
I recently ran across an article about a union clause for workers in the New York Public Libraries that requires compensation to its workers if the temperature in the library drops below 68°. As I sit at my desk wrapped in my scarf and gripping my warm coffee cup to fend off growing icicles on my fingertips, I think: Where do I sign up?
I would be surprised if any office I have ever worked in has been kept at a regular temperature over 68°. It seems that most facility managers feel that cold office temperatures are good for building character or maybe they just don’t want to spend the money to heat the building adequately in the cold of winter. Read more
~JessicaFollow Me on Twitter
Running a computer in a sub-zero environment
Filed under: Data Center, Intelligent Sensors, SensorProbes, environmental monitoring, temperature monitoring
I just saw a post on Slashdot that was asking the question, “How to Run a Computer in a Sub-Zero Environment?” Since network design is a passion of mine, this exercise interested me. It was a simple question, definitely not common. Even here in Maine, we are always trying to cool down our servers. I never considered someone might need to do the opposite.
Anonymous Coward (7548) gave us a real world answer. “Putting heaters (computers) in an environment meant to be cold is just adding to the cooling workload. If the computer is at any decent operating temperature, it’s going to be heating up the immediate surrounding area, and you don’t want that.” He advised people to mount the computer outside of the cold environment and put the sensor probes inside.
Although this appeared to be a sensible idea, the discussion added a new variable – building size. People were quick to point out that the original question required that he needed monitoring for a warehouse. Most warehouses are large, some larger then a football field. Clearly the above approach would not be applicable.
Embedding the PC inside of the sub-zero environment presents another issue – condensation. How are we going to protect the electronics?
BobPaul (710574) points out:
“Since cold air has a lower capacity to hold water, warming the air should decrease the relative humidity of the air, bringing you farther from the dew point and make condensation less likely. Just let everything sit in the cooler to get nice and cold before you turn anything on and I think it should be just fine.”
This response produced quite a bit of traffic. Quite a few people disagreed with BobPauls theory. Although this could be an answer, its validity is still in question.
The best solution to humidity was pointed out by Detritus (11846). He points out that “Military equipment often uses conformal coating, which is a spray-on plastic coating that protects the components from the environment.” This method encases the electronics protecting it from moisture. To the best of my knowledge, it doesn’t provide any thermal benefit, nor is it a life long solution. I would make sure to have a humidity sensor in the enclosure to ensure longevity.
The last post that I read made the solution clear. munpfazy (694689) writes, “For what it’s worth, we’ve always built room-temperature enclosures to house electronics gear and PCs for the work we do in Antarctica.” You can’t get much colder than that.
My conclusion, build small micro enclosures for the computer that includes the required environmental conditioning and monitoring equipment.
Let me know what you think . . .
- Jimmy D
Ideal office temperature
Filed under: Intelligent Sensors, SensorProbes, environmental monitoring, temperature monitoring
It has been very cold in our office lately despite temperatures of over 70 degrees outside. Check out this picture I took last week:
Seems like an awful waste of energy doesn’t it? What is the ideal office temperature?
We decided to move one of the BitSight temperature and humidity sensors to our work area:
We used Denika Performance Trender to monitor the SNMP OIDs on the device. Take a look at these temperature fluctuations. Crazy!
Cornell University did a study on this topic and found that warm offices lead to fewer typing errors and higher productivity. I’ll have to show this article to the boss. 
- Mike
Using SensorProbes to prove the office temperature is too low.
Filed under: General, Intelligent Sensors, SensorProbes, environmental monitoring
I was angry. Well, maybe just a little mad, but no matter what, I was still upset. The office was unbelievably cold, and it had been going on for way too long. By cold, I mean goose bumps and jackets every afternoon. When I would go for a lunch time walk (as I often do), my muscles would cramp, due to the drastic temperature change. As I said, it was cold.
Needless to say, something had to be done. I complained to the powers that be, but their first response was less then rewarding. Answers like “It’s in your head,” or “You are right under the vent,” were explored; but I knew that they were wrong.
Luckily, things got worse. The temperature was getting colder and for longer periods of time. More people were saying things like “Gee it’s cold,” or “Hey, are you cold?” and “Turn up the heat or I am breaking up the conference room table and building the biggest bonfire this side of Boston.” In one remote section of the office there were a group of dissidents that wanted to change the company dress code so that it included a L.L Bean Arctic Parka.
At this point I decided to throw on my Jimmy D detective hat and get some proof. Since I am Uber Geek, I decided to use the tools of my trade, I would need technology!
I integrated a high scale, super conductive data collection station into my work environment. To be honest with you, it surpasses the one that I once viewed at MIT that is currently used to monitor global warming. In reality, I secretly moved my BitSight2 temperature probe from the server room over to my desk. I then setup Denika to trend its SNMP data. With Denika I was able to set a minimum temperature threshold, which would alert me when the temp fell.
I diligently collected data for two weeks. I even adjusted the threshold, as I saw the temp get lower and lower. The data was conclusive. I had my answer. I could now confidently register my complaint to the powers that be and demand change! At the same time, I now had the ability to defuse the previously described uprising. Viva Data! Viva Jimmy D! Maybe I need to get out of my cube more often?
Again, in reality, I took this data to my boss and quickly showed him that in the afternoons were seeing an average of 54 degrees, mornings were a bit higher. He took this to building management and they are currently in the process of finding out what the issue is.
The good news is that my cube is getting warmer, the bad news is the I got my BitSight taken away!