Cost effective way to improve home office lighting?

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rscole86

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#315478 20-Jul-2024 12:47

I want to improve the lighting for two people working from home.

The room is south facing, and has a single bayonet led 13W bulb in the middle of the ceiling.
The room is small, about 9 square metres, most of the room is painted quarter tea (or similar) and the largest unfinished wall is a dark grey.

There are two desks, one in each corner on the wall with the window, both users are facing the window.
We are unable to move the desks, so the light will always be at our backs.
Desk space is at a premium, but would happily consider pedestal or fixed lighting options. I forgot to mention the is a small led wall light behind each monitor too.

Any recommendations to improve the lighting for both users, without spending big money, as we may only use it as an office in the short term?

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#3261809 20-Jul-2024 13:12

Paint might be the best solution. Hopefully the ceiling is a brighter white than the walls already.

Small room with a good ceiling - a pedestal uplight can work wonders in that situation. A temperature and brightness adjustable bulb in that will give you some additional tuning if you want it.

Depending on the existing bayonet fitting I might be instead tempted to add one of those dinner plate diffuse things instead although I really never like direct led light from anything and probably would not like that either. A fancier half uplight half sidelight ceiling fitting might work for me I don't know.

gehenna

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#3261810 20-Jul-2024 13:26

I like strip lighting. I have some under my desk and in shadowy corners, and behind things as bias lighting. Works well to supplement the main light in the room.

elpenguino

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#3261860 20-Jul-2024 16:33

rscole86: I want to improve the lighting for two people working from home.

The room is south facing, and has a single bayonet led 19W bulb in the middle of the ceiling.

Replace the bulb with the most powerful you can get.

Replace the light fitting with a double strip fluorescent style.

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timmmay

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#3261862 20-Jul-2024 16:37

Can you do a basic diagram of the room, or post a photo?

tweake

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#3261864 20-Jul-2024 16:39

you can get bigger bulb for the room, but that would put shadows over the desk. i would simply use desk lighting, even if means bolting something to the sides of the desk or floor stands.

JimmyH

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#3261872 20-Jul-2024 17:17

I had the same issue with my home office. I got 8 nanoleaf hexagon panels - a base 5 panel kit and a 3 panel expansion. They are a couple of mm thick, click together in whatever pattern you want, and stick to the wall with some 3M-type tape. Not the cheapest solution in the universe, but I got them on sale and they worked. Fairly bright, fully brightness and colour temperature controllable from the app, and made a big difference.

I just looked, and Noel Leeming currently has the 5 panel starter pack on sale at $185, and I see they also have the 3-panel expansions on sale for $80. Which is a good price. Actually, I'm tempted to add a few more panels. I think I can go up to 27 without needing a new power adapter.

rscole86

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#3261874 20-Jul-2024 17:25

I have corrected a few errors...

Office is 9m²not 6.
The existing bulb is 13W not 19W.

@timmmay Floor plan is below, with the light being more or less centered to the floor plan.

@gzt - The ceiling is white.

@gehenna - strip lighting is an idea, but would require a bit of faff with the power, is the rooms sole power point is between the two desks. And we have curved coving around the room.

@elpenguino - certainly can go bigger, but I would get bigger shadows surely, and the next size up A80 bulbs look a bit stupid without a shade. Not so keen on a fluro strip light for a temporary fix.

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lxsw20

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#3261877 20-Jul-2024 17:34

Indirect lighting is probably what you want, I have something like this in my home office: https://www.mitre10.co.nz/shop/nouveau-chrome-floor-lamp-remo-d-25cm-h-180cm-warm-white/p/346343 and put a bright cold white led lamp in it as a cheap solution. Between the desks would probably work well.

wellygary

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#3261881 20-Jul-2024 17:53

You could try something like this bulb in the ceiling fitting,, along with the stand lights others have mentioned

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/philips-24w-warm-white-ceiling-led-bc-bulb_p0161041

Johnk

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#3261882 20-Jul-2024 17:57

You mentioned you are not keen on a fluro strip light, does that inc LED?

Could look at replacing the central Lamp holder with a new surface mount LED Batten, something like a 5ft "Sarah" from Eurotech Lighting, or the LED445 from Halcyon Lighting.

Relatively cheap, quick, and ok to look at solution.

With limited outlets in the room for using direct plug in lighting to help, replacing the existing single unit with a LED Batten may be the best bang for buck option.

tchart

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#3261895 20-Jul-2024 18:29

My lighting was terrible in my office - which is one of those timber sheds. I tried all kinds of bulbs and lamps but nothing beats overhead lighting.

I went with these from mitre 10.

https://www.mitre10.co.nz/shop/ecolife-led-under-cabinet-light-25-watt-cool-white/p/321145

They are easy to install and are chainable so you only need one plug. I’ve linked 3 of them together and problem solved.

timmmay

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#3261904 20-Jul-2024 18:40

My desk faces a north facing window but on winters days it can be quite dark. I've put an LED strip above the window which works ok, but creates weird light on my face where the light goes down through my glasses lenses. It's the best I've come up with so far.

I wonder if tall floor lamps could help you. Perhaps a couple of the Nouveau that lxsw20 suggested, as most lights goes up and it could go between your desks, but a bit going at the wall directly might help if it's not too bright.

What exactly are you trying to improve? Video calls? General room feel? Shadows?

SomeoneSomewhere

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#3261947 21-Jul-2024 01:15

Consider something like an Ecopoint Batten G3, probably in the 1500mm length: https://ecopoint.co.nz/products/surface-mounted-suspended/show/surface-mount-batten-g3

This specific one has variable colour temperature and power output, so it's fairly flexible. There's other options like a Thorn College or RX Meteor, and another manufacturer who I can't remember for the life of me.

A long, wide light spreads the light out from as large an area as possible. This reduces glare and shadows.

The parabolic reflector types are better at reducing glare (near zero) but are much more expensive and seem to be less popular since LEDs have taken over.

gehenna

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#3262038 21-Jul-2024 10:13

This space gets no direct sun until after lunchtime. I have no direct lighting other than a ceiling down light, but it's not strong. The hexagons on the wall are always on low setting (and pro-tip - their high setting is VERY BRIGHT) and not really there for brightness, more for warmth depending on the setting or time of day. There's LEDs stuck to the back of the monitors pointed at walls to give them bias, and there's strip lights under the desk pointing down to give the dark areas some warmth and depth. All of this can be achieved very cheap, depending on what level of automation and smarts you want. There's also a strip light under the windowsill to give that some definition. If I had to prioritise, the under-desk and back-of-the-monitor lights are the most impactful for working in the space during the day. Everyone's preference is different but a similar approach would give you the foundation of what you want, then it's just about playing with temperature and location.

Below was an earlier view before some changes. You can see the bias lighting better.

rscole86

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#3262162 21-Jul-2024 13:50

@JimmyH - The nanoleaf looks a little expensive for mostly nice to have features (automations), and I may need two sets, for both desks.

@wellygary - thanks, had not seen those at Mitre10, but looks like a good solution as it is marketed as replacing several bulbs.

@Johnk/@SomeoneSomewhere - the ceiling is Pinex, so want to avoid damage as repairs are unsightly. Would like short term solutions, but not a fan of the look of a batten in a square room.

@tchart - thanks, looks like they are hard to come by, and would like to see it in person first.

@timmmay - Would like to combat eye strain, with the contrast of half the monitor being over a wall and the other half over the window. Followed by the shadow/darkness when drawing the curtains and when overcast. No about video calls, but it would be an added bonus.

@gehenna - thanks, any recommendations on underdesk or back of monitor lighting? - Also, did you consider a led strip light for the pelmet? We have one that goes across the width of the room behind the monitors.

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