There may be no snow on the ground but in offices across the city women are saying it feels like Christmas in August.

They are wrapping themselves in wool blankets and plugging in heaters below their desks to counter the air-conditioned chill in their cubicles. Meanwhile, male colleagues — many oblivious to the cold — tease them about the extra layers.

Yes, women have long suspected the gender divide encompasses air conditioning. Now, after years of grumbling, science suggests that might be true.

A recent study says that “females prefer a higher room temperature than males in home and office situations,” but thermostats in offices are still set to satisfy the average 154-pound, 40-year-old man whose comfort was a priority in the 1960s when standards were drawn up.

Researchers at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, in the course of studying energy consumption in buildings, also found that offices should “reduce gender-discriminating bias in thermal comfort predictions.”

Their study looked at women who work while seated and wearing light clothing. The researchers found the women had metabolic rates 20 to 32 per cent lower than that of male workers — for whom air conditioning levels are set.

Their findings don’t surprise Dr. Paula Harvey, interim chief of medicine at Toronto’s Women’s College Hospital.

She keeps two scarves and an extra jacket behind her own office door. Her nearby assistant has a desk heater, and one of the hospital’s office managers is known to rock a shawl atop her outfits.

Sometimes, Harvey said, the difference in the way that men and women perceive temperature comes down to the way we dress — women are likelier to have bare legs and sleeveless blouses, while the dress shirts, suits and pants worn by men cover more skin.

Plus, she said, most men have a higher metabolic rate than women, which often means a higher body temperature.

There are exceptions, of course, based on body types. Some men feel just as cold as their female colleagues, and some women are immune to frigid air conditioning. But overall it explains why the average woman with a low metabolism is no stranger to the office chills.

When freelance television producer Shy Ahmed heard of this, she said it explained why she totes a portable heater to every office where she works, piles on the sweaters and sips lots of hot tea and soup at her desk.

“I feel so lucky to live in a place where we get four seasons … so I don’t get why, when we get great hot summer days, the temperature is set so mind-numbingly low in most indoor places,” she told the Star in an email.

But she doesn’t let the air conditioning or coworkers’ mocking get her down — she knows she’ll have the last laugh.

“Even though I get teased about my block heater, there is always a point in time when everyone wants to borrow it.”

Four women feeling the cold at GTA offices:

Desiree Buitenbos: Marketing agency employee Desiree Buitenbos always keeps a sweater on her chair at work. She once complained when the office was only 16C — her fingers were so cold she could barely type.

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Dr. Jessica Kim: Jessica Kim has yet to find a way to keep warm in her air-conditioned office without wearing shawls or a sweater.

Dr. Ruby Alvi: For Ruby Alvi, shopping for summer clothes is a favourite pastime, but she rarely gets to break out those light dresses or skirts because the office is so cold.

Iris Jacobson: Next time you visit career counsellor Iris Jacobson’s office, look for her collection of sweaters and shawls and the portable heater — her weapons in a battle against the big chill.