I recently ran into an article in the Chicago Sun-Times describing the peak efficient working conditions of an office worker. In the article they say the peak perfect temperature is 71 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. As I sit here shivering while grasping my hot cup of chai tea, I think, “That would  be perfect right about now.”

The same effect happens in the opposite direction of the spectrum; if the temperature reaches 87 degrees office productivity decreases as much as 10%. Sandra goes on to state that most office buildings often have poorly controlled temperatures. My office experience has taught me to prepare for any temperature whether it be hot or cold because you never know what the temperature might be during the course of one day.

Loss of productivity is bad no matter what the temperature is, but most importantly, it will result in the loss of money annually. To accurately keep your office in peak working conditions its good to get a temperature monitoring device that is more than just a thermometer connected to an air conditioning system.

With a temperature and humidity sensor connected to a sensor probe you can not only trigger your air conditioning unit but you can trend the data over a period of time. This feature is very useful because you need to be able to historically look back while actively monitoring your offices. In the long run you will save your company money and create happier employees.

At present, we are testing the alarming features and the threshold parameters for our device’s temperature monitoring function.  We want to ensure the device will alarm and send notifications when our office temperature drops below the set parameters. 

However, we didn’t set the parameters for customary office temperatures.  That would be too easy. 

Instead, today’s tests are designed for more extreme environments, like those our customers may have when monitoring remote locations, such as observatories and storage facilities.

Today, our device is set to alarm when temperatures drop much lower than standard office temperatures.  And by “much lower,” I mean it feels like it’s near 0 Kelvin in here. 

It is insanely, ridiculously cold in the office.

Soon enough, we will be readjusting the sensors to alarm at more office-friendly temperatures.  But until then, I’ll wear two sweaters and a scarf and drink hot chocolate.

Even with all the shivers, we know that our experience is not in vain because it confirms again that our products work the way they are supposed to work.  We stand behind our products and know that we offer quality. 

If you’d like more information about any of our products and services, feel free to give us a call.

~Angela
207-324-8173
www.Ravica.com 
Follow us on Twitter!
Find us on Facebook!

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.  According to a study by Cornell University, they could be spending a lot more money on lost productivity than the energy costs of raising the temperature a few degrees.  The study estimates that it costs employers up to $2 per hour per employee in lost productivity if the temperature in the working environment is too cold.  For a mid-sized company with 100 employees— that’s over $384,000 per year!

With those types of numbers, it makes sense to invest in a reliable temperature monitoring system.  Ravica has a number of options for web-based monitoring systems that can work for your large or small company.  Give us a call, and we’d be happy to help you find the best options to meet your company’s needs.  In the long run, it will make both your budget and your employees very happy.

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

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

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!