Does your thermostat look like this?
Does your thermostat look like this?
It probably does if my experience is anything to go by! I can’t tell you how many businesses, offices, and even warehouses I have gone to and seen a thermostat like this photo. It starts simply enough….someone is cold and turns the thermostat up a bit, and then someone else is too hot and turns it down. Then a note gets added, and then another. Soon the boss is getting tired of this and sticks on a note saying “DO NOT TOUCH’, so then everyone starts sneaking in to change the stat!
In the end this does not lead to a happy work place, staff fighting staff and management against staff. One solution is that no-one touches the stat except management or the HVAC tech, which can work if the rules are followed (there are still the sneaky people though!). Other options are that the thermostat’s settings can be ‘locked’, or you can install a thermostat guard which is a clear plastic box that needs a key to open.
A better solution is an Energy Management system, which means the thermostat can be locked out or even removed all together. If, for any reason, a member of staff is unhappy with the setting they can e-mail their manager and ask for the temperature to be adjusted. The manager just needs to login on-line and change the stat if required. One thing we have noticed over the years is that by just removing the thermostat and replacing it with a sensor staff seem to be happier. With no number to see and fixate on people don’t seem to get so hot and cold! One more advantage to the Energy Management System.
Caledonia Integrated Services is an Energy Management, HVAC and Electrical company, serving Vancouver and BC area.
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