Lighting Ergonomics: Lighting Quality in the Office
No matter if you're old or young, most people spend a majority of their time indoors whether that would be at home, work, or school, and lighting is an important, but often overlooked, factor in providing a comfortable environment. Appropriate lighting can reduce eye discomfort and headaches while simultaneously improving motivation and efficiency.
This time we'll be focusing on office lighting and how LED lighting can improve the overall comfort and productivity of the space.
What is Considered "Poor" Lighting?
Poor lighting doesn't necessarily mean dark. If a room is too bright, that can be considered poor as well. So what exactly constitutes poor lighting in an office? There a number of factors, but here are some of the major ones you can use to recognize poor lighting:
obscuring shadows
inadequate lighting of upper walls and ceiling
flickering
eye discomfort (strain, blurred vision, etc.)
headaches
What is the Significance of Good Lighting?
Office work is visually demanding and requires good lighting for maximum comfort and productivity. By providing enough illumination so that people can read documents, printed and digital, it will reduce eye strain significantly and consequently improve focus. Of course good lighting also refers to lights not being excessively bright and causing glare.
Proper lighting in interiors will definitely improve workplace health and efficiency.
How a LED Retrofit Can Improve Your Lighting
Fluorescent lamps, the most common type of lights used in offices, are a cheap, longer-lasting alternative to incandescent lamps, but they come with their own set of problems. As fluorescent lights are used and grow older, a number of issues can arise like the light dimming with some of the more major ones being flickering and the changing of light colour. Depreciation is a characteristic present in all forms of lighting, LEDs included, but a fluorescent lamp will have dimmed to about 70% of its original light output in less than half the time it takes for a LED to reach the same level of depreciation.
You can read through our other post about lighting depreciation to learn more.
Colour temperature also can play a role in increasing productivity and reducing eye strain. With colour temperature adjustable LEDs, you can adjust the CCT of the light to suit your needs. Many LEDs also have the capability to be dimmed which further allows you to adjust the brightness to a suitable level.
Book a complimentary lighting energy audit with us here and see how you workplace can benefit from a turnkey LED retrofit project.
