The lighting in your office is an often overlooked detail, but it should be made a priority. The lighting you choose plays a big role in the way your employees feel about coming into the office. Good lighting can increase productivity, decrease the health risks of your employees, and improve the aesthetic appeal of your office. At the same time, bad lighting can cause fatigue, headaches, and depression, and create an unpleasant work environment. While investing in high-quality lighting is vital, you should integrate as much natural light into your office space as possible.
We spend most of our time at work, with most of us spending more than eight hours a day there. When you’re spending this much time in a space, you want the environment to be pleasant. The best way to make yourself and your employees feel comfortable while at the office is by improving the lighting. Having a bright, well-lit office space will make everyone in the office feel happier, improve their concentration, and boost the overall mood of your workplace,
Benefits of Good Lighting
Good lighting does more than boost productivity. Some of the benefits of having good lighting in your office space include:
- It has a positive impact on your sleep cycle.
- Chases away feelings of depression.
- It reduces the negative effects of fluorescent lighting, such as irritability and migraines.
- Produces more attentive employees, reducing the number of errors made.
- Reduces the number of employees who suffer from eye strain.
- Reduces drowsiness.
Enhancing the Lighting In Your Workplace
Having effective lighting in your office takes more than setting up a few lamps and calling it a day. There are many factors that need to be considered before you start installing light fixtures, but if you’re unsure of what to do, you can always get in touch with a commercial electrician in Reno to help you get sufficiently set up with your lighting.
You don’t want your lights too bright or too dim; you need to find a balanced lighting setup. If possible, match the brightness of your artificial lights with the brightness outside. Depending on your space, you should consider opting for various types of lighting. Use overhead lights, desk lamps, wall sconces, floor lamps, whatever is needed to achieve optimal lighting in your office.
Every office will have different lighting needs, but there are a few guidelines you can follow to ensure your workplace has the best lighting possible.
Ceiling Lights
Your ceiling lights are going to be used all over the office and in the largest quantity. When choosing an overhead light, be sure to find one that isn’t too bright and doesn’t produce a glare. When you’re placing your ceiling lights, make sure that none of them are placed directly above any workspaces, as this can be uncomfortable for the employee sitting beneath it.
Corrective Lighting
You can consider corrective lighting as the middle ground between two different light intensities. If there’s a section that has too much shadow, you can place a lamp there to balance it out. If you need to make the natural lighting from the outside blend better with the artificial lighting, you will use corrective lighting. Any changes or balances that need to be done between the color temperature and brightness can be done with corrective lighting to ensure that employees don’t strain their eyes due to harsh lighting and can eliminate the need for blue light glasses.
Natural Light
Whether you’re trying to increase productivity or boost morale, natural lighting is always the best solution. There are a number of studies done on the benefits of natural light, so wherever possible, you should allow as much natural light into your office space as your building allows. Unfortunately, it’s getting increasingly more difficult to find office buildings that provide a decent amount of natural light. If this is the case for you, finding lighting that’s as close to a natural shine as possible is the best option. Choosing LED lights that can be adjusted will work perfectly if you’re trying to mimic natural light.
White Lights
When shopping for lights, you’re often met with two options: white or yellow. While yellow lighting can be soothing, what you need for your office is white light. Employee vitality and alertness have been found to be linked with white lights that are brighter and warmer. While dim lighting might occasionally make someone drowsy and lethargic, bright lights help people perform and be more productive.
This doesn’t mean that yellow lights should be avoided, though. Your goal is to find the perfect balance between white and yellow lights. You can use yellow lights as corrective lighting, or you can place them in recreational areas to encourage relaxation.
Task Lights
Occasionally, even the most well-thought-out lighting plan needs some extra help. Adding smaller lights to certain areas of your office, like on employees’ desks, will make things feel even more comfortable. Smaller lights are great because they can be unplugged and moved whenever the need arises. It also gives your employees the feeling of autonomy because they will have control over how bright or dim their workspace is.
It’s essential that some consideration goes into the lighting of your office space. After all, it’s where you and your employees spend most of their time, and you want everyone to feel comfortable. Lighting may be overlooked, but it has both physical and psychological benefits and can lead to the overall happiness of everyone who enters the building.
Another benefit of optimizing the lighting in your workspace is that you can use the lighting as interior decorating features that will elevate your office. So why not get in touch with a Reno electrician and turn your workspace into the envy of every neighboring office building?