Heating and Cooling

Many offices can be too cold or too hot, which wastes a lot of energy and creates air pollution. Sometimes it is possible to regulate the temperature in your own office or work area. Most times, however, a building manager must adjust the temperature. Follow the tips below to reduce energy use your own office or influence those who manage your building to take steps towards greater energy conservation.

Tips

•If possible, adjust the temperature settings for the heating or air conditioning system to ensure a comfortable environment at work.
•If you do not have control over your own temperature, find out who manages your building and discuss ways of saving energy with them.
•Use a programmable thermostat at work to turn your heating and cooling system on and off as required. Lower/raise the temperature at night and program the heating or cooling system to turn on half an hour before you arrive at the office in the morning. Program the thermostat so there is no heating/cooling on the weekend.
•Avoid drastically turning up or down the heating or cooling. The space will not warm up/cool any faster, and you might forget to turn down/up the thermostat again, which will waste energy.
•Make sure rooms that are unused or that are used for storage are not being heated or cooled.