Are you in the market for a new office chair? Are you overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices available? We get it, which is why we devoted an entire article to the topic of how to choose an office chair.
Start here, and we’ll step you through everything you need to know to help you cut through the clutter, quickly eliminate models that are just poor fits for you, and zero in on two or three “finalists” you can compare against each other, selecting the one you’ll be happiest with from that.
If that sounds good to you, read on, and let’s start developing a sensible methodology to shorten your search.
How To Choose An Office Chair—Initial Considerations
Choosing the right office chair begins by asking yourself whether you genuinely want an office chair and if you’ll be willing to experiment with different kinds of seating. After all, there are other options available. You could get a stool, a kneeling chair, or one of those exercise balls to sit on.
All of those are viable alternatives to the conventional office chair. If you haven’t spent any time looking at the alternatives, you owe it to yourself to glance in their direction, if only so you can confirm to your satisfaction that that’s not what you’re interested in.
Assuming you’ve done that or are otherwise sure about what you want, the next step in picking the right office chair is to break out your trusty measuring tape and take a few quick measurements. Specifically, you want to know:
- How high off the ground do you need the seat of your chair to be so you can sit in it with your feet firmly planted on the floor in front of you
- How wide your hips are informs you how wide the seat in your perfect chair needs to be
- And how deep the seat should be
Armed with those facts, you’re well on your way to thinning the ranks. The next question is, how much do you weigh?
No, you don’t have to tell us, but you do need to keep that number in mind. One of the first things you look at as you seek to find the right office chair is the user weight it supports.
The good thing about the numbers you collect via the measurements above and your weight is that specific chair models are binary. They’ll either fit with the parameters these measurements create or won’t.
If they do, put them in your “maybe list.” If they don’t, then it doesn’t matter how much you may like them; they’re just not going to work for you, so set them aside.
How To Choose An Office Chair—Use Levels
The next thing to consider as you wind your way through the maze of possibilities to choose the right ergonomic chair for you is how much time you’ll realistically spend in it each day.
At the root, this is really about two things: the material that the base is made of and the upholstery.
Broadly speaking, you can break usage levels into three categories: light, moderate, and heavy.
Light usage would be 2-3 hours a day. Moderate usage would be 4-6 hours a day, with possibly a couple of 8-hour stints in the chair over a given week, and heavy usage would be anything more than 6 hours a day.
If you’d classify yourself as a “Light Daily Use” person, get what you want. Even if your favorite chair has a nylon base, that’s fine. It doesn’t hold up as well as a solid steel base, but it doesn’t have to.
As long as your measurements are a good fit for the chair, the upholstery won’t matter as much because you won’t spend extended time in it anyway. So, if you’re a fan of leather or vinyl, go for it! It’s not breathable, but again, it won’t matter based on your average daily use.
If you’d classify yourself as a “Moderate Daily User,” then the sturdiness of the base and the upholstery on the chair matter more.
At a minimum, you’ll want a reinforced, heavy-duty nylon base, but steel is even better.
In terms of upholstery, Moderate Daily Use is really where mesh shines because it’s breathable, which helps keep you cool and comfortable. Conversely, leather/PU starts looking less attractive because the longer you spend in the chair, the hotter and sweatier you’ll get, and by the end of the day, you’ll hate it.
Fabric upholstery is a good middle ground and is the best choice for those who want some breathability but don’t like mesh chairs.
Finally, if you consider yourself a power user and plan to spend long stints in the chair every day, you won’t want leather or PU upholstery.
Fabric is likely the best choice because all mesh chairs have no padding, and at some point, the breathability becomes less important than some good, old-fashioned padding, although there is a caveat here…
Some mesh chairs use mesh for the seatback, and a mesh-like material stretched over padding for the seat, giving you the best of both worlds. These are absolutely worth considering if you’re a power user.
Steel is the optimal choice for the chair base, but ruggedized nylon can work if you’ve really got your heart set on a particular model and that’s your only base option.
How To Pick A Good Office Chair—Proper Positioning
When evaluating different office chair options, your best bet is to go to an actual showroom where you can physically try different chairs for size.
If you can’t do that, your next best bet is to remember exactly what you’re looking for and how you’ll (hopefully!) use the chair in question once it arrives at your door.
Your feet should be firmly on the floor when sitting in the chair. Your back should be straight, and the small of your back should be lightly pressed against the lumbar support pad—assuming you get a chair with lumbar support.
Your arms should be able to rest on the armrest, with your forearms extending toward your desk at a 90-degree angle from your body, where your fingers will find your keyboard.
Your monitor should be placed at eye level, so you neither have to bend forward and down to see the screen nor crane your neck to see it. If you have a chair that allows you to sit like that, it fits you like a glove. Don’t accept anything less.
How To Find The Right Ergonomic Chair—Features And Adjustability
Now, it’s time to discuss ergonomic features. These can take various forms, but ergonomic features fall into two basic categories: active and passive.
Active features are those you can adjust yourself—the seat height, the angle of the armrests, the tilt angle, and the like.
Passive ergonomic features are those that are built into the chair and give you benefits simply by existing—the shape of the seat, ergonomically sculpted armrests, and so on. Also, note that some features are a bit of both.
A chair may come with a lumbar support pad, which is amazing all by itself, but it may also allow you to adjust either the level of support or the physical position of the support itself.
Generally speaking, the more ergonomic and adjustable features a chair has, the better.
Ergonomics is the study of workplace efficiency, and a big part of that is comfort and proper posture. These aim to keep people comfortable (and thus more productive) throughout the day.
If you pay attention as you sit in your current chair, you’ll note that you don’t spend every day in the same position. You move, bend, pivot, and twist.
Your chair needs to be able to support you as you shift and change your seating position throughout the day. Typically, a chair with more adjustment options and boasting more ergonomic features can do that better than a chair with fewer.
Of course, not all ergonomic features were created equally, and your personal situation will undoubtedly shade and color how you view the major features a given model offers. For example, if you already suffer from chronic lower back pain, then you will definitely want an office chair with dynamic, adjustable lumbar support.
On the other hand, if you have a long work table that goes from one side of your room to the other, then you may find that having a good tilt, lock, and tension control, plus high-quality casters to allow you to roll freely, is the big keystone feature you’re looking for.
Or perhaps you’re a little fidgety and want a chair with super adjustable armrests that allow you to adjust the angle at will.
Only you can answer those kinds of questions; each person is different, so the “right” chair for you will undoubtedly be different from the “right” chair for me.
Case in point: the author of this piece is writing from a Flash Furniture Hercules 24/7 office chair with fabric upholstery. I spend 10+ hours a day in the chair, so I need fabric for breathability, good lumbar support—which this chair has—and an all-steel, ruggedized frame, which this chair also has.
I didn’t care about adjustable armrests or the rest of it. The Herc is perfect for me and virtually indestructible, to boot. If you’re shorter than 6’4” or so, it’s probably too big a chair for you, so it really does pay to take those measurements we discussed at the start and let them be your initial guide.
How To Choose An Office Chair—Conclusion
There’s a lot more to choosing the right ergonomic office chair than first meets the eye, and the sheer number of options on the market today can make the process daunting.
It doesn’t have to be. The initial measurements we mentioned will help you thin the herd and focus on chairs you know will be a good general fit. Your specific ergonomic needs and preferences, combined with how many hours a day you plan on using the chair, will guide you the rest of the way.
Follow those basic steps, and you’ll be staring at the perfect office chair for you in no time. Here’s to your good posture and productivity!
References & Resources:
- What is Ergonomics?, International Ergonomics Association.
- Ergonomics Expert Says Work Smarter at Home, Science Daily.
- How Ergonomics Increase Productivity, Lead Change.