Nannies: do you change thermostat at your work?

[Anonymous]

Wow. I mean, I knew I worked for a great family but this is crazy! Of course I adjust the thermostat - the kids and I are the only ones home during the day and thus it falls to me, AS THE ONLY ADULT PRESENT, to keep the home at a reasonable temperature. I also open windows if I feel it needs to be aired out and open/close blinds to allow/block sun as I feel necessary. While MB is home on maternity leave this summer it will be a discussion rather than an action ("Do you mind if I turn it down a few degrees or are you already too chilly?") but if there are no other adults at home, why wouldn't the nanny make adjustments as needed??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I mean, I knew I worked for a great family but this is crazy! Of course I adjust the thermostat - the kids and I are the only ones home during the day and thus it falls to me, AS THE ONLY ADULT PRESENT, to keep the home at a reasonable temperature. I also open windows if I feel it needs to be aired out and open/close blinds to allow/block sun as I feel necessary. While MB is home on maternity leave this summer it will be a discussion rather than an action ("Do you mind if I turn it down a few degrees or are you already too chilly?") but if there are no other adults at home, why wouldn't the nanny make adjustments as needed??

If the expectations are wildly different, it does need to come down to communication. I'd never expect our nanny to have the house a more extreme temp than we are willing to tolerate, but I also wouldn't be thrilled to keep the house much below 76 in the summer or over 72 in the winter. We go a few degrees above/below that when we are home in order to save money. Now, of course there are homes where a particular space just gets cooler or hotter, and if it were the case that our play space,that would be a different story. But the majority of our home is in line with the thermostat.

[Anonymous]

I change the thermostat about fifteen times a day! My charge is a baby in a cranial remolding helmet and he needs to be cool but not cold! I'd quit - honestly, if I had to work for a dick like your DB. 76 is TOO HOT inside the house.

[Anonymous]

I change the temp in my nanny family's house as needed. We're all pretty much on the same page: 70° in the winter & 76° in the summer but if its too hot or cold I will definitely adjust it. We also open windows to air out the house, though I tend to ask about that since MB & DB have pretty severe seasonal allergies and I don't want them to be uncomfortable when they come home.

[Anonymous]

I've explained to my employer that I'm extremely sensitive to heat due to a medical condition. I lower the temp to 73 and move it back up when I leave. If I can't adjust the temp I feel very ill. As long as the children's hands and feet aren't cold then I don't see what the problem is.

[Anonymous]

For the nannies: I'd like advice about what I'm supposed to do, because our nanny turns the heat up to 74 degrees during the winter (we prefer to keep it at 68-70) the entire day, AND now that the weather is getting warmer, she's got the thermostat down to 70 degrees (and she's wearing a sweater in the house--I'm wondering why she can't dress a little more sensibly!!!!) while we would keep it around 76 or so. I just don't understand. Our house is very uncomfortable for us, and also the heating/cooling bills are huge because of her. I mean, otherwise she is great and I don't want to hurt her feelings, but it's so annoying! It sounds like a lot of nannies out there are not open to the idea of leaving the thermostat alone, so what I am supposed to do?

[Anonymous]

I'm an employer. One of the first things I showed my nanny how to do was use and change the thermostat. She and the baby need to be comfortable, and she's welcome to turn it as high or as low as she wants. What is wrong with you people restricting your nanny's use of the thermostat?

[Anonymous]

I think if it is mainly for the kids comfort, that's fine. And you shouldn't have to work in an uncomfortable environment. Unfortunately, if the parents are home or have strong feelings about the temperature the thermostat is at (perhaps due to financial considerations), you will need to find a compromise. As a MB, I don't mind our nanny adjusting the thermostat, and I will often ask her if she is comfortable if I sense the house may be too hot or cold.

However, this reminds me of an experience where things did not go so smoothly: We had a trial live-in nanny a couple of years ago who kept on turning the a/c to full blast, and the rest of us including the kids were absolutely freezing. After asking her not to adjust it from the reasonable setting it we had it at, we had to put a sticky note directly over it with a message to that effect as she still kept on changing it, and even then she still kept on adjusting it. She was in the basement apartment, the coolest area of the house. We decided after one week that she was not a keeper, and she left another week later. When we went to the basement after she left, it turned out she had put the heaviest winter duvet plus a couple of heavy blankets on her bed - no wonder she was too warm at night! And during the day, I think she just couldn't cope with the warm weather as she was not physically fit enough to do summer activities and run around with the kids - she would come home complaining how hot and exhausted she was and would jack up the a/c when she came through the door, and the kids would soon start to complain they were too cold.

So my point is, if you are all reasonable human beings, you should be able to work out a compromise, but if not, good luck!