During the months of autumn and winter, the drastic change in weather can have an adverse effect on the mind and body, leaving our mood and ability to concentrate in a deficient state. Where our bodies feel the cold in terms of a temperature drop, cold and flu, hypothermia and frostbite, our state of mind also suffers resulting in confusion, tiredness, negative moods and a lack of focus. All of these have proven to be undesirable consequences of a cold indoor setting and can affect both our personal and professional lives.
Where the most effective approach in fighting against the cold is to use a heating system in order to warm the environment, there are a number of sensible and slightly quirky techniques that people adopt when battling the cold. Often devised from the comfort of our homes, these methods of keeping warm may not necessarily be conducive to an office environment. Nevertheless, the unique approaches that people take have prompted widespread discussion!
Extra clothing
Where the majority of office-based roles see the requirement of shirts, trousers and other items of formal dress, it can sometimes be difficult to get away with thicker, conspicuous garments. This isn’t always the case, though. People have been known to wear an extra set of clothing beneath their working attire, often in the form of tracksuit bottoms, leggings, vests and t-shirts. While a jacket and scarf do go a long way in providing that extra bit of heat, sometimes it’s just not feasible indoors!
Gloves
While it may not display the most professional look, abusing the keyboard as you type up emails in your mittens, there’s no debating the instant feeling of warmth from a decent pair of gloves. This is actually more common than most would think, with a large number of office workers taking to finger-less gloves in order to do their jobs more effectively without having to sacrifice their fingertips.
Tea
Where the winter weather encourages us to drink plenty of fluids, those such as soup, hot chocolate, tea and the like often have people taking trips to the kitchen more frequently – particularly when the office is cold. Widely regarded as the go-to beverage, the cup of tea communicates with our bodies and provides a unique dose of home comfort that juice and plain old water simply cannot! Whether you’re at your desk typing away or you’re with your colleagues having a conversation in the kitchen, it’s generally a trusty cup of tea that’s reached for when the cold weather sets in. Thankfully, this is accepted at any point of the day in most offices, and without any risk of discouragement.
Portable heaters
This isn’t new or revolutionary and is frankly the most sensible and effective option when it comes to overcoming low readings on the mercury! It’s common for people to place their own portable heaters beneath or on top of desks, depending on personal preference.
Blankets
Perhaps the strangest method of keeping warm in the office is the growing tendency for people to take blankets into work to cover their legs under the desk. Often accompanied by a hot water bottle, this technique is popular because of its simplicity and is becoming more and more common.
Food selection
The consumption of spicy food is slightly unorthodox and an often-overlooked means of beating the cold despite its proven ability to raise the body’s internal temperature. The receptors in our organs, skin and tongue send a signal to our brain that tricks it into thinking that the body is overheating or burning, which in turn can spark a noticeable improvement in a person’s ability to cope with cold temperatures.
While these wacky tricks are useful to a degree, it must be said that the need to take such drastic measures could be avoided by installing a temporary heating system instead.
A study previously conducted by Andrews Heat for Hire concluded that around 80% of office workers complain about the temperature, meaning distress and discomfort is a recurring theme that can only be addressed by deploying a dedicated heating arrangement. As health and safety regulations state that office temperatures must be at least 16°C in order to be considered appropriate for working, it’s easy to see how this can cause problems amongst staff during the winter season.
In recent years, Andrews has worked alongside a countless number of offices and provided tailored heating solutions to ensure staff are satisfied and output is maintained. As productivity is the key to the successful functioning of any business, Andrews Heat for Hire offers a broad selection of equipment designed for use in an office environment. A central heating fault can occur at any given time, but we excel in delivering replacement equipment at short notice and with minimal interruption. Along with a 24-hour service, our expert engineers are here to help and can reach any UK location within hours of an emergency being brought to our attention. This guarantee is supported by the provision of a free, no obligation site survey to ensure an appropriate recommendation is made to suit a customer’s unique requirement.
For small and medium sized offices, our portable range of electric heaters offer a variety of models with a great feature set and simplicity in mind. Our DE25 units, for instance, offer a light and compact solution with fully automatic operation and require only a standard 230V power supply in order to function. This guarantees a high level of efficiency but also allows instantaneous set-up, providing an immediate source of heating once plugged into an available socket. Elsewhere, our oil-filled radiators provide safe, reliable and crucially – quiet – spot heating via plug-and-play set-up, with our portable convector heaters equally as suited to offices and other environments where space is limited.
For more information on the Andrews range of heaters for hire, click here for our extensive range of products. Alternatively, you can receive direct assistance with your heating enquiry by calling us today on 0800 211 611.