Refrigerative Air-conditioning

I am at wits end about A/C temperatures in an office setting. I work in an office environment, with the A/C thermostat located in my immediate office area. Connected to my office are several other offices and a training room and kitchen and lounge area. There are at least 8 people working in these areas on a daily basis with varied jobs. The men who are “physically” working are always hot while the office people who are “mentally” working are comfortable. Hence the problem. What is the average or comfortable range to set the thermostat for this environment. There are many who feel that it should be set at 66 degrees (ludicrous) and others that feel 70 degrees is the right temperature and even others that feel 72 - 74 degrees is right. I find myself in a thermostat war. As soon as I walk away from my desk someone from the “physical” working class change it to 66 and then I turn it back to a cool 70 degrees!Sometimes I come in in the morning and it is set at 64 degrees and my leather chair is stiff. ARE THERE STANDARDS???? Please let me know!

In a situation like this there can only be recommendations, not standards. There are a number of factors contributing to this issue. As you have identified, people doing physical work like to be cooler than people who are sitting. In addition men tend to prefer to be cooler than women. There are also of course individual variations between people’s prefered temperatures.

There are a couple of other factors that may also contribute to the problem. For instance men often wear longer and thicker clothes than women and hence want a lower temperature. In addition it is often the case that different rooms are at slightly different temperatures, particularly if rooms have windows facing in different directions. If either is the case this would be exacerbating the problem. Without altering the air conditioning system, the best you are going to do is try and reach a mutually agreeable compromise and agree to stick with it.
If cost is not a problem, it may be possible to alter the air conditioning to allow different temperatures in different areas. (This depends on building design and air conditioning system design.)

A cruder option would be to get pedestal (or ceiling ) fans for the areas where the heavy workers are. Getting electric heaters for the desks is not recommended as it usually disrupts the air conditioning controls, causing heating to fight cooling and leading to dramatic energy cost increases.
I am sorry there is no magic wand to fix this all too common problem.

The following are the most important actions to reduce air conditioning costs:
1-make sure direct sunlight doesn’t get into the house by using shade of some sort.
2-insulate the ceiling or roof as much as possible
3-in new homes insulate the walls
4-consider installing an evaporative cooler, to use most of the time and save the refrigerative air conditioners for times when the evaporative cooler doesn’t work well.
5- solar power is expensive to try and operate a refrigerative air
conditioner because of the size of solar panels that would be required.

The first thing to check is for any other source of moisture into the room- consider leaking pipes, leaking roof or gutters etc. Also consider any major air leaks into the room which would bring moisture from outside in during humid weather.
check that the drain from the indoor unit is working correctly (it is possible for moisture to re-evaporate into the room).
If it is none of the above, then the most likely cause is that the air conditioner is oversized, and so it cools the room down before it has a chance to remove the moisture. If this is the problem, you will find that it performs OK for humidity in hot weather but not as well in warm humid weather. If this is the case, changing the air conditioners the best solution. (If it is a zoned ducted system you will have to ensure you cool a larger rather than smaller area of your house.)

This sounds like you have a blocked drain on the indoor unit. If you are handy and have the manufacturers instructions you may be able to clear this yourself. Otherwise you will need to call a refrigeration mechanic.

If the outdoor fan is not working but the indoor is, then first check the temperature you have selected for the room. Make sure you have selected a temperature above the room temperature (if you are heating).

Check that you have not inadvertently selected fan only on the control (or selected cooling when you want heating -some of the icons used look very similar). I recommend you set it to automatic, but check your instructions if you are not sure.
If it was working and then stopped, it may be because the air conditioner is in the defrost cycle. Check if the outdoor unit has ice on it. If it has and it appears to be defrosting, wait for the heating to come back on and away you go.
If this doesn’t locate the problem, try resetting the control.

If that doesn’t solve the problem, I am afraid you require a refrigeration mechanic.

If the air conditioner itself is operating correctly, with the correct gas charge, it may be a problem with the location. If the air from the outdoor unit is trapped by a fence or similar, then cold air enters the coil causing icing up at a much warmer temperature than it should. This can happen when the air conditioner is located at the side of the house, particularly if the passageway is blocked off to prevent through winds. If this is the problem the only solutions are to locate the outdoor unit higher, or to completely relocate it.

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