Good Chair Guide

The office chair is one area where you definitely get what you pay for. You can often find standard office chairs for less than £50, or you can pay up to £1,000 or more for a fully functional ergonomic office chair. You probably spend as much time in your office chair, as you do in bed; so it is well worth giving some thought to what you need before you purchase.

Being sat down at the office desk for long periods of time during the week is certainly not what we were designed to do. Lack of movement in the joints and muscles reduces the flow of natural lubricants in the body, this can cause Joints to wear prematurely, muscles to become shortened or stretched which in turn causes poor posture. Not only is this poor posture damaging to the body, it isn’t the most attractive sight to look at either, rounded shoulders, forward head and a hunched back definitely wouldn’t be seen in any glamour magazine.

Although more and more people are finding themselves seated at the desk as we sink closer and closer into the world of computers, email, facebook, web design, Christmas on-line and anything else that can be done without really moving. It is important that we make the best of a bad situation by at least making the chairs we sit on for a good part of out lives – sturdy, comfortable, supportive, fully adjustable and long lasting.

Cheap office chairs are often imported in bulk from the Far East. They often have mechanisms which are described in the same way as quality office chairs, but the quality of the mechanisms themselves are usually not the same. A good height adjuster will allow you to accurately regulate and maintain the height of the chair; a poor quality height adjuster will often leak gas and gradually get lower as time goes by. A good quality backrest tension adjuster maintains the set tension over time, while a poor quality one will rapidly deteriorate. A good quality chair will have body-weight adjusters and a poor quality chair will not.

If you are buying chairs for a large office, you will probably want continuity of supply, that is you will want to buy more chairs as time goes by. If you buy cheap office chairs you probably will not be able to find the same chair six months later, however if you buy a quality chair from a reputable dealer you will almost certainly be able to find the same, or similar, chair over a much longer period of time.

One very important component of a standard office chair is the foam padding on the seat base and backrest. Good quality foams that do not degrade over time are considerably more expensive that cheap foams, if you want to remain comfortable in your chair over several years it is certainly worthwhile spending the extra to get a good chair.

Many people see a leather chair as a sign of quality, however cheap leather is often much less expensive than a good quality fabric. You also have to be aware that many cheap leather chairs are actually described as leather faced as 'leather-faced' or similar. This usually implies that the seat top and backrest front may be made from real leather but the other elements are made from artificial materials such as PVC.

You will also need to look at warranties and the availability of replacement parts. A good quality chair will probably be guaranteed for five years and will have spare parts and accessories available for at least that period of time. A cheap chair will probably only be guaranteed for two years and you will be unlikely to be able to buy accessories, such as arms, headrests etc, after you have made the initial purchase.

Finally, be aware that some descriptions may be misleading, there is no formal definition of 'ergonomic' for example. There really is no substitute for trying out the chair before you buy. If you are buying a quality chair from a reputable office furniture dealer you will almost certainly have the opportunity to try it out in a showroom or even brought to you at the office before you place the order.

OsteoHealth can recommend Acorn office interiors and furniture who will gladly help with any queries you have, as well as advice on office designs and seating and will gladly bring examples of chairs to you to 'try before you buy'. Ask for Paul Jackson.