Working from home can’t beat the heat

How summer heat is driving remoter workers out of their home office

At least according to a recent Wall Street Journal article. It seems employees nationwide who had the opportunity to work at the office or at home chose the former this summer. Ultimately, better HVAC with somebody else paying the electric bill has won out—particularly in many parts of the country that have endured prolonged heat waves.

“I admit, I came to the office for a week before my AC was installed in my new place haha. #guilty” posted Matt Confer, Associate Strategy Director at Wunderman Thompson on LinkedIn.

It’s not that people don’t have air conditioning in their homes or apartments. Yet a window AC and fan can hardly compete with a commercial system.

Adds Jonathan Johnson, director of workplace education at Guild Education on another LinkedIn post, “Funnily enough, last year when we opened the office it stayed dead until Summer hit. Then we were bombarded w/ employees. Baffled, I started making the rounds asking questions. I'd say at least 90% were junior level workers living in apartments w/ poor HVAC systems or none at all and they came to the office solely as a respite. Always super interesting how these things happen.”

Now in my second decade of being a home-based business, summer has always been a dreaded season. It’s the double whammy of it being so nice outside you’d rather be doing anything other than working and the noise of air conditioning and fans. Or embracing the expense of central AC.

In one of the early My Home Office Hacks, we covered my dilemma. The basement office where the humidity was actually causing my webcam to malfunction, producing tiles. That was remedied by running a dehumidifier at night.

Still, the dog days of summer present a challenge for anybody working from home. If you don’t have an office to go to, there are shared space offices where you can enjoy the AC. Most Panera Breads are as cold as meat lockers. If you have the flexibility to work at night that can also be a solution.

If you’re looking to invest in a new air conditioner, you can’t go wrong with a portable AC. You can install these in any size window. Most come with 4-6’ long hoses so you have some flexibility in where you put the unit. You can install in the window without leaving the screen open and welcoming in the little buggies that add a different challenge to working at home during the summer months.

Downside, most are loud and you will not be able to conduct a phone call with them on. Fortunately, you can cool a smaller space enough to remain comfortable for the average hour- to two-hour call. Most of these units come with remotes so you can turn it on and off as necessary if you’re only listening to a call.

Forbes Magazine ranked the Whynter Elite Dual Hose Portable Air Conditioner as the best overall portable air conditioner. For smaller rooms, Forbes chose Black & Decker 10,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner with Remote Control, White. Both offer reasonable solutions to the dog days of summer. But here’s the best one:

Take some vacation time!

Seriously, it’s summer. It’s hot. Go to the beach! Fall/winter will be here before you know it!

If you have a moment, please scroll down to the end of the newsletter to take our poll about taking time off in the summer.

Do Gen Z and Millennials look at working from home the same?

A recent edition of The Chase asked that very question: Remote Work: is it a generational divide? While it’s easy to speculate and say yes, the article by Matteo Cellini cites some prominent studies that quantify the gulf between how Gen X and Baby Boomers view remote work and Millennials and Gen Z. It’s a great read and well worth your time. And if you’re looking to switch jobs or careers, you will definitely want to subscribe to The Chase for job searching advice.

Inspiring quote of the week

“We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”

—Bob Ross