What is the importance of natural light in the home office?

Work has changed for many people away from the office towards working from home. Because of the pandemic, most of us need to set up our home workspace quickly and sporadically to work from home.Besides an individually adjustable desk and office chair, lighting conditions, especially natural daylight, play an important role in workplace ergonomics allowing you to work for long periods of time and, above all, to concentrate. Because if you or your eyes get tired, it directly affects the performance and results of the work.

Therefore, it is important to position the desk in your home office in a way that ideally allows daylight to enter without blinding you. In addition, we should always provide an additional artificial light source to ensure optimal illumination in the home office, even in the evening or in cloudy weather.

Tageslicht als Schlüssel für eine bessere Leistungsfähigkeit?

Tageslicht bzw. natürliches Licht ist wichtig für den menschlichen Organismus und das menschliche Wohlbefinden. Denn Tageslicht steuert viele Vorgänge im menschlichen Körper, darunter die Produktion von Hormonen oder die Steuerung des Schlaf-wach-Rhythmus. Studien belegen zudem, dass Menschen, die bei Tageslicht arbeiten, wesentlich produktiver sind.

For this reason, the room in which you work in your home office should have sufficient daylight. Special daylight luminaires that simulate natural sunlight (Human Centric Lighting) and support the human biorhythm are particularly useful here. The possibility of adjusting the light individually to personal working hours means that sufficient natural light can be provided in the office even at late hours.

So what do you need to consider for artificial lighting in the office?

When buying office lighting, you should choose daylight luminaires that simulate natural sunlight and provide sufficient light at the desk. Daylight luminaires are those with a colour temperature of more than 5300 Kelvin, which ideally can be additionally regulated and adjusted to the course of daylight. In addition, the luminaire should achieve an illuminance of at least 500 lux according to DIN standards. From experience, however, we recommend choosing a much higher illuminance. Finally, care should be taken to ensure that artificial lamps do not flicker and are mounted so that they do not dazzle. In order to save energy, modern LED lamps are ideal, as they have proven to be much more economical in practice than, for example, halogen lamps.

In summary, daylight has an activating and performance-enhancing effect on people and is, therefore, an important factor for ergonomics at the workplace. By taking a few basic principles into account when lighting your desk, you can benefit from the positive effect of natural light and also work long hours and with concentration from home.

Tips in summary for the correct use of natural light in the home office

Supplement daylight with artificial light sources for sufficient light at the desk (at least 5300 Kelvin and a high illuminance of at least 500 lux).
Artificial light sources should be able to simulate daylight and be individually adaptable to the user.
The light should be placed in such a way that you are not dazzled in any way.
Light coming in from outside through a window should come from the side.

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