Why cold fingers at the computer?

Can everybody be happy with the same temperature in the office? We are all different in many ways but our body temperature is 36,5 – 37,5 degrees in the morning and then it increases about one degree during the day. Human beings are endotherm creatures that keep the temperature constant regardless of the environment. Our temperature is also known to depend on the metabolism.

How we experience the temperature around us is of course also connected to how we dress. The scientific unit for this is called clo. As an example of this the japanese authorities recommended a new dress code called ”smart casual dresscode” = without tie, after the disaster of Fukushima to reduce the need for air conditioning. It feels like it is about one degree cooler if you dont wear a tie. Another trick is to let your wrists be free from clothing - it also makes you feel cooler.

>But the experienced temperature is also depending on blood circulation, stress och mood. Some sources say that women have more subcutaneous fat, which makes women freeze more and some say that womens metabolism is less. There are also theories that women find it "more problematic" to sweat than men do and and dress less warm because of that.

No individual adjustments of temperture in landscape offices

Regardless of the reason we know that the surface temperature on the top of the hand varies a lot from person to person. With an ir-temperature meter we measuered the temperature on 33 persons in the same meeting room with 21 degrees room tempeture: the measurements varied from 24.5 och 30.5 degrees. It is kind of obvious that everybody won't be happy with 21 degrees.

In landscape solutions the temperature sensors that controll the heating is normally placed on a wall closer to the middle of the building. It can´t possibly measure the deviations from close to the window and positions closer to the heating/cooling sources. So it is impossible to make everybody happy with that setup.

The Solution – individually heated deskpad

The smart, simple, cheap and easy installed solution for this heats where the impact is the best and on top of this it is demand controlled. It is individual, intuitiv and quick. And the heating costs is on the tenants electricity bill as lamps and computers. Our heated deskpad gives a adjustable temperatur and have a nice, soft and elegant material that feels good. The power can be adjusted from 0,5 - 85 W with a maximum surface temperatur of 55 degrees. It even creates a nice radiated heat on the thighs through the desk. The position is optimal from a physics point of view. The heat is radiated to the fingers, hands and lower arms and the rises to the upper body. The direct contact with the hands and arms makes it very efficient compared to a heat source placed on the floor far away. To make it even more efficent the heated deskpad is automatically turned off after 4 hours after the latest adjustment of the temperature. No unnecessary heating at night or weekend because it was forgotten. The small red LED indicates operation.

		Cold desk 27,8 degrees on the surface of the hand. The desk is about 22 degrees. The hand heats the desk.
		Heated deskpad 55 W give a surface temperature on the deskpad of 41 degrees. The deskpad heats the hand.

Energy usage and economy

The heated deskpad has 0,5 W standby power. With the controller the power can be adjusted from 0,5 - 85 W. The auto-off funktion turns it off after 4 hours of no activity on the wheel.

If the heated deskpad would be used 100% at office hours from october to march it would mean: 40 W x (8 h á day + 0,5 h lunch ) * 5 days / week * 4,33 week / month * 6 months = 50 kWh / year Nobody wants it to be about 40 degress celsius all the time and with normal absence from the office of 15% (ill, vacations, bank holidays and travel in work) and a lot of meetings the heating costs is maximum 10 € annually. This should be put in relation to the labour cost of a office worker. Research says that a percieved temperature deviance of about 2 degrees reduces the productivity with 2%. This could mean a 1000 - 1500 € productivity loss. The advantage of the position of the heating source is the direct contact with the skin makes the efficiency much higher than an oil radiator positioned far away from the person. An oil radiator has a power of about 1500 - 2000 W to do the same work. The deskpad never needs to be hidden or stored in summer. That saves money too.

Recommendation

The indoor climate of the building should be controlled and optimized in the best way to provide the tenants with a good and energy optimal climate. But there are always some people or postions in an office that needs extra heating for various reasons. If they are freezing their productivity and mood is decreased. By provididing them with a heated deskpad you don't need to:

• increase the temperature generally with higher energy costs and complaints from others that think it is too warm.
• install oil radiators that are ugly and takes space away. They also heat the room more and reduce the humidity, which also causes irratation and problems. 
• buy gloves for indoor use
• no extra cardigans at work
• have employees coming first at 10 because it is too chilly in the office in the morning.