Improve the comfort of your home office

Discover 6 simple tips to improve the comfort of your home office and discover how your indoor environment affects your efficiency and alertness!

Did you know every 1°C deviation from your optimum temperature comfort can decrease your efficiency by 5%?

We are now all working from home a lot more than we are used to and prepared for. To no one’s surprise the state of our indoor climate can affect our alertness and efficiency. As indoor climate experts here at IMI Hydronic we thought we could share some tips on how to enhance your indoor comfort and most importantly your efficiency.

1. Balance your thermostats
Make sure indoor thermostats or radiator heads in the same rooms are set to the same value. If one has a setting of 5 while the other at 3, inefficiencies will arise in terms of performance and costs.

		2. Change the temperature slowly
		If you are cold it is tempting to jack up your thermostat to the highest setting, but all this will do is guzzle up energy. It takes time for the heating system to adapt. So, if you turn it up all the way in one go, you might be comfortable in 30 minutes, but by the next day you will be too hot and tempted to open a window to relief the stuffy room. To avoid this, we suggest you change temperatures gradually to find your sweet spot, with the additional benefit of being more energy efficient.

2. Change the temperature slowly

If you are cold it is tempting to jack up your thermostat to the highest setting, but all this will do is guzzle up energy. It takes time for the heating system to adapt. So, if you turn it up all the way in one go, you might be comfortable in 30 minutes, but by the next day you will be too hot and tempted to open a window to relief the stuffy room. To avoid this, we suggest you change temperatures gradually to find your sweet spot, with the additional benefit of being more energy efficient.

3. Careful opening windows
Opening a window can also be counterproductive not only in terms of costs, but also in terms of heat equilibrium. When opening a window to get fresh air or to reduce the temperature of a room you, you are also sending your system into overdrive. Radiators are usually placed underneath widows and the sensor inside the radiator head will notice a decrease in temperature and to try and get that indoor temperature back to its optimal setting. Nothing wrong with some fresh air but be mindful of the heat loss and its effects on your system.

3. Careful opening windows

Opening a window can also be counterproductive not only in terms of costs, but also in terms of heat equilibrium. When opening a window to get fresh air or to reduce the temperature of a room you, you are also sending your system into overdrive. Radiators are usually placed underneath widows and the sensor inside the radiator head will notice a decrease in temperature and to try and get that indoor temperature back to its optimal setting. Nothing wrong with some fresh air but be mindful of the heat loss and its effects on your system.

		4. Free your radiators
		Do a tour of your house to identify any radiators that are being obstructed by things such as a pile of toys or some ignored laundry. While they might seem minor, these types of obstructions have a crucial impact on the dissipation of heat. Even if they are in different rooms, they add additional resistance that is unnecessary and contribute to your discomfort and energy inefficiency.

5. Protected windows save your heat
We often tend to focus on creating more heat than saving the one we already have. Windows are the biggest source of heat loss in a building, by adding for example a rolled towel to the edge of a less-isolated window you can optimize your heat preservation and increase your comfort and productivity.

		6. Set the ambiance
		Never underestimate the power of the mind when it comes to your comfort. By setting the right ambiance with a candle, a cozy pillow on your chair or even a fluffy rug under your feet you can help give your body the illusion that it is warmer than it is.

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