Poor lighting can be disastrous for your business. Not only will it make your office look gloomy, but it will affect your employee’s mood and productivity. Recent data shows that poor lighting is a regular complaint among employees from around the world and it won’t do your product displays any justice either.
You want your lighting to be clear and brilliant but not too overwhelming. If you’re struggling with the lighting in your commercial space, read on for our helpful guide on how to properly illuminate your commercial space.
Types of Lighting
There are different types of lighting available for office owners to choose from nowadays. Each option is unique and suitable for different spaces. As with anything, there are advantages and disadvantages to using each type of lighting and we’ll try to touch on that as we describe each option for you.
- Natural light: Windows are often few and far between in most office spaces. This might explain the low work morale that is so prevalent in most working environments. What you need to understand is that exposure to natural light is essential to creating a productive work environment. A recent study from “The Responsible Workplace” journal shows that natural light can significantly improve productivity because it makes people happier to be at work. Plus, most of us tend to be gloomy when it’s grey and we light up when it’s sunny. So exposure to natural light lifts the mood in a way that fake lighting simply cannot. Even if your office doesn’t have a lot of wide windows, you could always maximize natural light by placing office furniture close to the available windows.
- Task Lighting: If your office is lacking in the natural light department, task lighting is the next best thing. This type of lighting usually comes in the form of small lights that you can place on individual employee desks. For best results, try and look for LED task lights because they imitate natural light more effectively.
- Overhead Lighting: Although overhead lighting can wonderfully illuminate your office space, it’s not very efficient when used on its own and lends itself to creating shadows. That’s why it should always be combined with ambient lighting to soften and balance it out. For best results, choose lensed indirect overhead lights.
- Ambient Lighting: As the name implies, ambient lighting is a great way to create a peaceful and comfortable atmosphere in your office.
- Corrective Lighting: Corrective lighting is widely utilized in commercial spaces because it helps to reduce screen glare. Exposure to screen glare is a problem that’s very common in the modern day workplace because most employees spend a majority of their time glued to their laptop screens. Corrective lighting has been shown to reduce migraines and eye strain associated with extended exposure to digital screens.
How to Light Your Commercial Space Properly
Here are a couple of tips to help light up your commercial office appropriately.
- Look for spaces in your office with poorly distributed light. Try and balance out the light using the different types of lighting featured on this article. Ideally, your office should have consistent lighting so that there isn’t too much glare in one particular area.
- Wall paint: You might be surprised to learn that the wall paint color in your office can significantly affect your lighting. For example, vibrant paint colors can lead to an uncomfortable glare no matter how good your lighting is. That’s why it’s recommended to opt for neutral paint colors like “greige”, cream and beige.
Does Your Office Need Better Lighting?
A good way to find out if you’ve got a poorly lit office is to ask your employees if they’re experiencing any of the usual symptoms associated with poor lighting.
Perhaps they’re having a hard time concentrating and seeing things clearly as the day progresses. Or maybe they’re experiencing frequent headaches at work. These are all indications of poor lighting and will let you know which areas you need to improve upon.
Conclusion
Poor lighting can negatively affect your business’ bottom line by disturbing employee productivity. The good news is that you can always improve your lighting by focusing more on natural light and using the right combination of artificial lighting solutions. Eektra LTD lighting offers a wide range of commercial lighting options that are tailored to each space and they have years of experience working with different property owners.
