As I walked into work this morning I noticed that the heat was going strong and the office temperature was toasty in my corner of the building. This is an unusual but welcome occurrence. However, as I exclaimed “Wow, it’s so nice and warm in here!” a coworker nearby responded, “Are you kidding? It’s so hot I can barely breathe!”
And there you have it. I think that pretty much sums up the never-ending office temperature war that most workplaces suffer all year long.
To me, it feels like the office temperature in my building is controlled by a barely functioning furnace and an air conditioner that has one setting: Arctic Chill. Summer, winter – I’m always cold. But ask one of my warm-blooded coworkers and they’ll tell you that this building is a sauna.
Fortunately, I work for a company that specializes is personal heating devices. So those of us who run a little colder have our own desk heaters for individual office climate control. This way, the company can keep the thermostat at a lower temperature to save the warm folks from sweating through their t-shirts – and my cold companions and I can leave the blankets and fingerless gloves at home.
My desk heater of choice is the Cozy Legs flat-panel heater. Here’s why:
Cozy Legs is a radiant heating device. It’s a sleek metallic panel (about 2 ft wide by 1.5 ft tall) that stands right in front of my feet and legs under my desk – giving off constant, gentle heat.
Cozy Legs is a silent heating device. Most space heaters have fans that are loud and irritating but this desk heater is as quiet as can be.
Cozy Legs is classified as a Zero Clearance item. This means if I touch it accidentally, or if any item (paper, cloth, wood) is resting against the heating device, it will not burn or start a fire.
Cozy Legs uses only 150 watts. This energy-efficient desk heater uses as little energy as a light bulb. Many offices across the country have banned the use of space heaters because of the drain on the power system and the high cost of electricity. However, Cozy Legs meets ETL safety standards (UL equivalent) and poses no threat to office safety or efficiency policies.
Because energy-efficient space heaters are our specialty, my company encourages the use of personal heating devices to better regulate office temperatures.
Does your office ban or discourage the use of space heaters? Perhaps a low-wattage safety-certified alternative could be considered in order to bring a peaceful end to your ongoing office temperature war.