It is sweltering outside, but inside the office, employees are reaching for sweaters, rubbing their hands together and trying to avoid the blast of cold air from the nearest vent.
A July 10, 2026, article in The New York Times, “You’re Freezing in Your Office Building. Here’s Why,” examined this familiar workplace paradox and found that the answer is more complicated than someone simply setting the thermostat too low.
Most office buildings are set between 71 and 73 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer, according to experts cited by the newspaper. Yet where an employee sits, how efficiently the building’s cooling system operates, and how air moves through the space can make one workstation feel comfortable and another feel like what the article calls a “mini Arctic tundra.”
The larger issue is simple: people experience temperature differently, but most workplaces still rely on shared temperature controls.
That makes personal comfort increasingly important.
Why do some parts of an office feel colder than others?
A thermostat reading does not necessarily reflect how every part of a building feels.
The New York Times article identified several reasons one employee may feel significantly colder than another:
- A desk may sit directly beneath an air-conditioning vent.
- Poorly insulated windows can create hot and cold zones.
- Nearby office equipment may distort a temperature sensor’s reading.
- Cooling systems may blast cold air in the morning after temperatures rise overnight.
- Air must continue circulating to maintain indoor air quality, even after the office reaches its target temperature.
This means two employees on the same floor can experience very different conditions without the building’s thermostat showing anything unusual.
Are office buildings being overcooled?
In some cases, yes.
Cliff Majersik, senior adviser at the Institute for Market Transformation, told The New York Times that many office buildings are being overcooled, wasting energy while also making occupants uncomfortable.
The article cited research showing how difficult it can be for office buildings to reduce energy consumption. In New York City, office occupancy fell by an estimated 60 percent during 2020, but energy use declined by only 14 percent.
Heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting systems continue to operate even when fewer people are in the building.
However, the article also noted that the thermostat setting itself is not always the primary problem. Inefficient equipment, poorly positioned sensors and uneven airflow can make a reasonable building temperature feel much colder in certain areas.
What is a comfortable office temperature?
There is no universal office temperature that will satisfy every employee.
ASHRAE, the organization that develops widely used standards for heating, ventilation and air conditioning, uses factors such as:
- Clothing
- Activity level
- Humidity
- Air movement
- Radiant heat and sunlight
- Indoor temperature
Its goal is generally to create conditions that feel comfortable to approximately 80 percent of occupants.
That also means a meaningful percentage of employees may still feel too warm or too cold—even when a building is operating within recommended standards.
As Darrin Bacon of CBRE told The New York Times, heating and cooling systems have become more precise, but people have not changed.
People simply experience temperature differently.
Why one thermostat cannot make everyone happy
Most offices still use centralized systems that control the temperature across an entire building, floor or large section of a workplace.
That creates an unavoidable compromise.
One employee may prefer a temperature near 65 degrees. Another may be most comfortable closer to 80 degrees. A single thermostat cannot satisfy both people at the same time.
The New York Times article suggests that more personalized temperature controls may represent the future of workplace comfort.
Some new buildings are already moving in that direction. JPMorgan Chase’s headquarters at 270 Park Avenue reportedly uses an underfloor air-delivery system with adjustable diffusers that allow employees on its trading floor to control conditions near their individual workstations.
But most employees do not work in a newly constructed, technologically advanced headquarters.
For them, localized personal-comfort products can offer a more practical solution.
The case for personal workplace comfort
Personal comfort products warm the employee rather than the entire office.
That distinction matters.
Increasing the temperature across a whole floor may make employees who already feel comfortable too warm. It may also increase energy consumption.
Localized warmth allows an employee to address cold hands, feet or legs without changing conditions for everyone else.
The Heetz Office Comfort Collection from Victor Technology Brands was developed around this idea: help people create a more comfortable workspace within a shared environment.
How can you stay warm in a cold office?
Use a heated desk pad
A heated desk pad creates gentle warmth across the work surface beneath your hands, keyboard and mouse.
This can be especially helpful for employees who sit near vents or whose hands become cold while typing.
Heetz heated desk pads are available in different sizes to accommodate a range of office and home-office setups.
Warm your feet and legs
Cold air often settles near the floor, and employees may feel coldest in their feet and lower legs.
A Heetz foot and leg warmer provides localized warmth beneath the desk without raising the temperature of the entire room.
Keep your coffee or tea warm
A cold office can cool a beverage quickly.
The Heetz cup warmer helps keep coffee, tea and other drinks warmer throughout the workday.
Create a personal comfort zone
Instead of fighting over the thermostat, employees can combine warming products based on where they personally feel the cold.
One person may benefit most from a heated desk surface. Another may need warmth under the desk. Someone else may simply want to keep a beverage warm longer.
Personal comfort is personal by definition.
Can personal comfort products help save energy?
Potentially.
The experts interviewed by The New York Times argued that more precise and personalized temperature controls could improve employee comfort while also reducing wasted energy.
The same principle applies to personal warming products.
Heating one workstation requires a fundamentally different approach than changing the temperature of an entire office floor.
Personal comfort products will not replace efficient HVAC systems or good building management. However, they can help address the gap between the temperature a building provides and the temperature an individual employee prefers.
What should employers do about cold offices?
Employers and facility managers can take several steps:
- Ask employees where and when they experience discomfort.
- Check whether vents are blowing directly onto occupied desks.
- Inspect the placement of temperature sensors.
- Identify hot and cold zones across the workplace.
- Allow safe, approved personal-comfort products where appropriate.
- Avoid assuming that one temperature will work equally well for everyone.
Employees should always follow workplace policies regarding electrical products and personal heating devices.
The future of workplace comfort is more individualized
The cold-office debate is not likely to disappear.
Buildings are complicated. HVAC systems must respond to changing weather, occupancy, airflow and indoor air-quality requirements. At the same time, employees have individual comfort preferences that cannot be solved by a single thermostat.
The New York Times article points toward a future of smarter buildings, more precise controls and even artificial intelligence systems that predict how a building should operate based on weather and historical data.
Until those technologies become commonplace, employees still need practical ways to stay comfortable today.
The answer may not be making the entire building warmer.
It may be giving people more control over the space immediately around them.
Explore heated desk pads, foot and leg warmers, cup warmers and other personal workspace solutions in the Heetz Office Comfort Collection from Victor Technology Brands.
