Office lighting ideas and recommendations

An average employee spends six to eight hours daily at the office. Moreover, rush jobs often happen, with overwork and visits to the workplace on legal weekends. That is why, according to modern standards, lamps must provide not only sufficiently bright lighting, but also create a certain psychological comfort.

The office room, during the planning of which the lighting fixtures were not taken into account, makes a depressing impression. Even if the lamp itself is flawless, choosing the wrong lighting negates all efforts to create the right atmosphere, both active and welcoming.

Here, you will learn how to choose the right lighting fixtures, refresh your knowledge of the difference between cool and warm lighting, and also learn about how to maximally protect the eyesight of employees with the right lighting.

Lighting is the most important part of an office interior design

Long-term studies of the biological and psychological characteristics of the human body have shown that artificial lighting is more than just a few lamps with shades, randomly scattered across the ceiling, in order to illuminate office tables. Correctly selected luminaires have a complex impact on employees:

Speed up thought processes, allow you to focus on really important tasks;
Stimulate imagination and unleash creativity;
Allow you to maintain a positive mood and good spirits during the working day;
Contribute to a calmer, more productive work, without quarrels and nervous breakdowns;
Have a positive effect on health in general;

Psychologists say that lighting seriously affects the psychological, inner world of a person. Too bright light is irritating, and too dim, with an unsuccessful color cast, can cause prolonged depression. This is why good leaders know that quality office lighting is no small matter. And they hire specialists who will painstakingly make all the calculations and develop the ideal lighting scheme in the working rooms. However, knowing all the nuances, you can purchase and install the lamps yourself.

Organization of an office lighting

Color temperature (emission spectrum) of lamps:

Significantly affects concentration and performance;
With colder, bluish and whites, employees work more purposefully;
Such light sharpens attention, helps to find the smallest details, mistakes;
Warm light range makes the room more comfortable, promotes relaxation, calms. At the same time, critical thinking decreases, attention is scattered;
Measured in Kelvin. The range is from 1500 to 3400 degrees - these are warm, yellowish shades that create a cozy atmosphere. They are close to a fireplace or candle flame. Typical for weak incandescent and LED lamps with a low temperature range. 3500-4200 is the temperature of natural white light, which produces the least color distortion. It works great with this light, eyes do not get tired. Ideal for overhead lighting. Anything above 4500 is cool, piercing shades, including bluish ones.
Suitable for technical and industrial premises. The range from 4 to 5 thousand degrees is widely used in offices and institutions as the main lighting.

When choosing lamps for an office, it should be borne in mind that white and glossy surfaces make the light more saturated. And the dark and textured finish "eats" excess brightness.

Illumination level

Another important indicator for a working room, because shading, twilight is unacceptable here.

The illumination level of the entire office space should be 300 lux or more.
Office tables are equipped with table lamps or pendant lamps so that the combined lighting is 500 lux or more. This takes into account not only the overhead light and lighting, but also daylight from the windows.

Experts do not recommend limiting your office or yourself to one single type of luminaire. Multilevel lighting is used, consisting of different types of lighting fixtures.

Light control in the office

The ideal option for the office would be models with installed dimmers. They allow you to adjust the saturation of light fluxes, according to the need. This improves the comfort for employees and helps to save energy.

Tips for choosing office lighting

Each employee should have their own space at the office. And light is an excellent tool for creating an optimal, comfortable environment for a person. The employee should be able to adjust the light level and color temperature to their preferences and biological rhythms. After all, someone's eyes are sensitive to bright light, while someone, on the contrary, needs powerful, white lighting.
For relaxation and rest rooms, where office team members relax during their lunch break, they need lamps with yellowish lamps, reminiscent of the color of the setting sun. The lighting color temperature should be around 2-3 thousand Kelvin. Such devices perfectly relieve nervous tension, set the one in an optimistic mood.
Table lamps with a temperature of 4500-60000 K (bright, cool white light) are excellent for office places. Thanks to this kind of lighting, employees are more productive, stay focused and alert throughout the working day. If a person needs a break or has got a free minute, the lamp can be turned off, limiting itself to a softer general light.
It is believed that soft, warm light is not suitable for the office. After all, it casts a sleepy, peaceful state. However, things are not so simple. Constant exposure to cold, bright colors can quickly tire. A person cannot be at the maximum of their capabilities all day. And chronic overwork is a very insidious condition, which is fraught with failures of all body systems. Therefore, for the main lighting, experts recommend choosing lamps of moderate brightness - in 3500-40000 K. It is even better to install dimmable models, which will allow to reduce the saturation of light fluxes to a more comfortable, chamber one from time to time.
You can not use only table lamps to illuminate workplaces, abandoning ceiling lamps. They emit a sharp, directional light flux, and the rest of the room will be in partial shade. The contrast between the illuminated area of the tabletop, the computer screen and the general semi-darkness will very quickly affect visual acuity.
Fluorescent lamps (including compact ones on a base) should be used with great care. Their light is very bright and overstrains the eyes. In addition, their inherent flickering negatively affects vision. They are appropriate to use for specific work that requires a lot of attention and many small, painstaking actions.
The power of the table lamp should not exceed 60 W (or 8-10 W for LED), as otherwise it will dazzle. But even less power is undesirable.
Right hand writers place the lamp on the left. And left-handers are on the right. So the shadow from your fingers and pen will not interfere with writing and editing documents. The height and position of the shade are adjusted so that the lamp does not shine in the eyes or is reflected in the monitor. Since the usual screen brightness is 50-100 cd / m2, the overall illumination of the desktop surface should be at least 300-500 lux.
The same goes for positioning windows as sources of natural light at the office. Do not place tables in such a way that the window is in front of or behind the employee. Ideally, the window opening should be on the left for right-handers and on the right for left-handers. It is undesirable to completely cover the windows with blinds or curtains. Natural light is very important. It stimulates performance, increases the protective functions of the body, improves overall health.
Under no circumstances should lighting sources be mounted behind office workplaces: the shadows from a seated person and the back of a chair create discomfort.