My new gallery in Killarney, where we had an adventure with the heating
Over the course of the winter, it became apparent that the new gallery space was in need of heat. So I brought in a specialist heating engineer to install a new heating system. He confidently told me that I needed to get six electric radiator units that could be mounted into the ceiling. He told me they came in two types and that I should order the more powerful of the two.
I know less about putting in a new heating system than I do about putting in a new kidney, so I took his advice at face value and ordered the heating units. The supplier said he only had the less powerful units in stock. I should have known something was up when the heating engineer subsequently said the less powerful units would actually do the job. Instead of quizzing him about his change of heart, I ordered the units and had them installed, happy that my team would now enjoy the luxury of a warm working environment. Employer of the year awards would surely follow?
Hot staff, heated words
No. Instead of showering me with adulation, my gallery manager rang up to tell me (in what I can best describe as articulate yet colourful language) that the gallery was ever so slightly on the warm side. I went to investigate and was almost blown back into the street by a torrent of blast-furnace air when I opened the door.
Six heating units, even the less powerful ones, were far too many. Not only that, I hadn't had a thermostat installed because in the old gallery, the temperature never got high enough to trigger it. I'd assumed the new space would be the same. Wrong. The new gallery warms up a treat. It gets so hot, it may, in fact, be the sole cause of global warming.
Needless to say, I have installed a thermostat now and the gallery team are once again able to do their jobs without wilting.
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