According to the recent US Government census, more than 8 million people work from home in the US. While typical office lighting is handled by professionals, many people who work may not have the right light to ensure a productive work environment. So what makes a great desk light for a home office?
High-Quality Light Output
The highest quality light is pure natural sunlight, but newer LED lamps are getting better at replicating natural light. The way manufacturers measure this is through an obscure metric called CRI (Color Rendering Index), and you want to look for a desk lamp that has at least 90 CRI (pure sunlight is 100) to ensure your documents are easy to read and photos don’t look washed out.
Eliminates Monitor Glare
The vast majority of home offices have at least one – and usually more – monitors and screens that we use to conduct our daily business. Bright desk lights with traditional designs often end up creating annoying screen glare – making you move your light- or not using it at all. The best-LED desk lamps today use sophisticated optics to put the light on your desk – and keep it off your screen.
Intelligent Brightness and Color
Most of us don’t think of white light as having color – but color “temperature” can impact your focus and mood. Early morning light tends to have bluer –, and our body responds with higher focus, while evening light tends to create a more relaxed environment. Look for a lamp that can change color to fit your work style – or time of day.
Throughout the day and year – ambient light levels constantly change. Working near a window at 6 pm in the summer might be brightly lit, while in January, it might be completely dark. The best desk lamps can sense the ambient light – and adjust your light automatically to keep it at the right level.One more thing - zero footprint
The hottest new desk lamp designs don’t sit on the desk at all. The ScreenBar light from BenQ uses the space above your monitor to light up your entire desk area – without creating screen glare. Packed with every cool new feature – including a CRI of 93 – this is a desk lamp that every home office user should consider to help productivity – and reclaim a little extra desk space for a larger coffee mug.
