Buying advice and tips for selecting office lights and office lamps
You should consider the following aspects to optimise your office lighting. In the following text you will find purchasing advice and recommendations for selecting the right office lamp and office lighting.
Here are some selection criteria for choosing office lighting
1. architectural conditions and existing lighting installation
- There may be installations from the previous tenant that can be used under certain circumstances. These would be, for example existing track for track spotlights or linear luminaires for a 3-phase track.
- Installed grid ceilings / Odenwald ceilings can be utilised quickly and cost-effectively. This means that old louvre luminaires can be replaced with highly efficient 60x60cm LED panels at low cost. This can be done without major assembly work or complex installations.
- In buildings with large window areas and daylight incidence, dimming can be installed by utilising the incidence of sunlight. This also saves electricity and energy costs. The service life of the lights is also extended.
- In old buildings with fragile or poorly finished or uneven ceilings, pendant office luminaires or large office floor luminaires are certainly more suitable. This is also suitable for rooms with vaulted ceilings.
2. Work tasks and visual tasks: this is what you should look for in the right task light:
Office lighting planning recognises a number of requirements that should be met.
Brightness:
Occupational health and safety guidelines require 500 lux at computer workstations. Accordingly, an office lamp needs to have the corresponding performance. Not every product can fulfil this requirement. At workstations for technical drawings, the brightness should also be somewhat higher.
If the brightness at the workstation is permanently too low, this leads to fatigue and reduced performance. If the workplace is illuminated far too brightly, annoying glare and reflections can occur.
Lighting quality and ergonomics:
Anyone who spends many hours a day under an office ceiling light will appreciate the quality of light. A modern LED office ceiling light should be able to reproduce good colour rendering without distorted light with a green or blue cast.
Companies such as advertising agencies that attach great importance to colour fidelity use office luminaires with CRI90+ for the most realistic colour rendering possible. In normal everyday life, however, a colour rendering of CRI 80+ is usually sufficient.
Flicker-free light:
Power supply units without 50-heart flicker should be afforded. The same applies to glare-free light emission, which avoids disturbing reflections on screens and monitors. This is also required by the occupational health and safety directive.
UGR value: The glare value of UGR<19 should not be exceeded.
Our low glare-free office ceiling lights have micro-structured surfaces that ensure pleasant, diffuse light emission.
Which light colour for office lighting?
In the vast majority of cases, the 4000 Kelvin neutral white light colour is used. The 4000K still has some red in the light and not too much blue. It is very pleasant to work in.
In the last 1-2 years, however, 3500 Kelvin has become more and more popular. The light colour is slightly warmer but still a very good working light for office lighting.
3. uniform illumination:
In addition to the required brightness at the VDU workstation of 500 lux, uniform illumination should be taken into account. Constantly switching from light to dark and adapting the eye causes rapid eye fatigue and loss of concentration. Accordingly, sufficient and uniform ambient lighting of between 250 and 300 lux should be provided.
4. Reliability and quality
Compared to the private use of lighting in a commercial environment and use for many hours a day, it is subject to significantly higher requirements. This should be taken into account during planning and selection.
Robust and reliable power supply units with a high level of electrical safety
The power supply units of the luminaires should have appropriate test certificates such as ENEC, TÜV/GS or VDE certification,
Long guarantee periods from the manufacturer:
The luminaires for commercial use should have the longest possible guarantee period from the manufacturer. Ideally at least 5 years. Then you also know that their products are designed accordingly.
Very good light quality:
When working for hours under artificial light, the light quality and ergonomics of the luminaire are very important. See point 2 Work task and visual task.
We at cologne-led.de will be happy to advise you on the selection of suitable products for the desired application
5. Cost, appearance and design of office lighting
Nowadays, cost-effective office lighting can be realised very well and relatively easily. LED panels 60x60cm for Armstrong grid ceilings or surface-mounted LED panels with ceiling frames generate a lot of light and are affordable. If all quality and occupational safety requirements are met, this can be planned and realised quickly. LED office ceiling lights are widely sold and used in everyday life.
The disadvantage is the rather functional appearance. A 60x60cm surface-mounted panel or a 120x30cm ceiling light is more of a functional object on the ceiling.
In some sectors, such as lighting for law firms or doctors' surgeries, a somewhat higher value is often placed on design and a prestigious appearance.
Narrow, elegant linear luminaires, narrow LED track spotlights or LED pendant luminaires are suitable for this purpose. Depending on the design of the office and the structural conditions on site.
6. Dimming and dimmability of office lighting and workplace lighting
Dimming LED office lamps is often recommended in order to adapt to the brightness throughout the day. Dimming office lamps also saves additional electricity and extends the service life of the LED lights as they are operated at a lower power level.
Nevertheless, dimming office lighting is not always technically straightforward. Dimming via power supply units is more difficult than with classic filament lamps and does not always deliver the desired results. Customers often complain about poor dimming results when dimming LEDs.
This can be:
Flickering light when dimming
Poor dimming curve with jumps in the dimming curve
Humming power supply units and dimmers
The reason for this is usually inferior power supply units but also a non-existent standard for dimming LED luminaires via the power line. We at Cologne-led.de will be happy to recommend a dimmer to match your switch series and select suitable dimmable LED office lamps for you.
7. Flexibility and modification of the workplace lighting: supplement with desk lamps for direct light on the work area
If offices are constantly changing or the arrangement of desks is constantly changing, then you should think about office floor lamps. They can be quickly rearranged in the office and moved with the desks. They produce a lot of light and are perfectly adequate for any desk as the required working light.
Our office floor lamps can also be dimmed and, depending on the model, the light colour can be adjusted between 3000K - 4000K and 5000K. Dimming helps to better adjust the brightness in daylight. Changing the light colour of dimmable office floor lamps makes it possible to stimulate the daily biorhythm and adapt to the brightness throughout the day.
8. consider or involve employees in the planning process
As an important asset in the company, employees should be taken into account in the planning process. Older employees may need a little more brightness in the workplace than younger colleagues.
However, this does not mean that every employee should adjust and adapt their light by remote control.
9. Office furnishings and architecture
- Existing window areas can be used to utilise daylight. Desks should be positioned at right angles to the window in order to make optimum use of the light coming in from the side.
- If possible, an office ceiling light should cover the shape of the desk. An office light 120x30cm would be ideal as an office lamp, as this reflects the length of the desk
- Office furniture with shiny surfaces should be avoided as they reflect the light and can cause annoying glare
- Dark furniture and floor coverings absorb some light of up to 20-25% of the required brightness. This must be taken into account when planning office lighting.
- The use of office ceiling lamps with an indirect light component is particularly popular with customers with high ceilings. Indirect light creates a room-filling effect for a larger room volume
- Large round ceiling lights for direct ceiling mounting or as large round pendant lights make rooms with high ceilings appear bright and modern. The indirect light component makes rooms appear voluminous and light-filled.
10. selection support and technical advice from Cologne-led.de
We at Cologne-led.de will be happy to advise you on choosing the right office lighting and office lamps. Give us a call on 0221-29821660 or send us a short e-mail.
