Skip to content

Office AC is what’s missed the most by those working from home: BC Hydro

B.C. has a ways to go to meet the national average for home air conditioners
26122371_web1_210629-rda-heat-reax_1
Only 40 per cent of British Columbians have AC installed in their home. (Photo by The Associated Press)

It’s not the perks of company, shared focus or maybe an office dog. The coolest thing to B.C.’s office workers is that which makes it so – the air conditioning system.

A survey of 600 British Columbians showed that of the half who planned to work entirely from home this summer, a quarter said they missed the office air conditioning more than anything. The brains at BC Hydro say this tracks with the numbers: only 40 per cent of British Columbians have AC in their homes, and thus the capacity to stave off this year’s record heat.

Of the 20 per cent of those working from home who bought air conditioners last summer, nearly half (42 per cent) wished it was yet again their employers footing the heavy bill for their comfort. But they can nonetheless be glad they’re helping to raise the number of air conditioners in the province to the national average, which B.C. homes fall woefully behind on; 60 per cent of Canadians have home AC, with 80 and 74 per cent keeping cool on the couch in Manitoba and Ontario respectively.

ALSO READ: POLL: Do you have an air conditioner in your home?

For those who usually rely on the ocean breeze to keep cool, BC Hydro recommends closing drapes, blinds, doors and windows when it’s warmer outside than it is in. Installing a heat pump, which can be rebated by CleanBC for up to $2,000, also isn’t the worst bet, they say.


 

Do you have a story tip? Email: vnc.editorial@blackpress.ca.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.