How to Transform Your Home Office with High- Efficiency Task Lighting: Hire the Pros

Table of Contents

• Why Offices Benefit from Overhead Reading Lights
• Common Office Lighting Problems
• Why Installing New Office Lighting May Need Electrical Work First
• Office Lighting Options to Ask About
• Overhead Reading Lights Electrical Mistakes to Avoid
• Call Santella Electric for Office Lighting Setup

Why Offices Benefit from Overhead Reading Lights

A home office can look great with the furnishing alone, but the proper lighting elevates the whole look. Good task lighting can make the whole room much easier to use. Most home offices need more than one big ceiling light. But adding new lights is never a DIY project. It involves a new fixture, switch control, outlet, or wiring from a professional electrician. The goal isn’t to figure out how to install the lights yourself, it’s to figure out what you want from your office and then talk with an electrician about the safest way to make it happen.

Common Bedroom Lighting Problems

A lot of home offices weren’t originally built with offices. Maybe you turned a spare bedroom into a workspace. Maybe the office is in part of a basement or bonus room. That can leave you trying to work around lighting that was never meant for a desk setup.

Wrong Lights and a Lack of Control

One of the biggest problems is simply having the wrong type of light. A bright ceiling fixture may fill the entire room with light while still leaving shadows across your desk. On the other hand, a small desk lamp may light only one little section of your workspace. You may also have no control other than on and off.

This is when you turn to an electrician about how you use your office. Tell them where you sit, what type of work you do and when you usually use the space. They can determine what types of fixtures and controls will work best with the setup of your home.

Inconvenient Switch Placement

Switch placement is another issue that becomes obvious once you start spending hours in the room. Maybe the only switch is next to the door on the opposite side of the office. You sit down, start working, decide you want another light on, and have to get back up. Or maybe a spare bedroom was converted into an office and the switches still make sense for a bedroom layout instead of the way you’re now using the room. 

Most electricians can provide a more convenient control setup. But moving or adding switches means dealing with the electrical system inside the walls. It is best to explain the problem to an electrician and let them determine what can safely be changed.

Lamps, Cords, and Table Space

Desk lamps can work well, but they can also start taking over the room. There’s the lamp itself and then there’s the cord. Then you need an outlet close enough to plug it in. Add a computer, monitors, printer, phone charger, speakers, and everything else on a modern desk and suddenly there are cords everywhere. Mounted task lighting may help free up desk space and reduce some of that clutter.

Why Installing New Office Lighting May Need Electrical Work First

Sometimes adding a light is more involved than choosing a fixture. The electrician may need to look at the wiring that is already in the room before deciding what should be added. That’s especially important when an office has several electrical devices running at the same time.

Inadequate wiring/power supply

Home offices can use a surprising amount of electrical equipment. You may have a desktop computer, multiple monitors, chargers, a printer, lighting, a small TV, speakers, or other equipment running in the same room. Before adding more electrical equipment, an electrician can evaluate the existing setup and determine whether the circuit and wiring are appropriate for what you’re asking them to install.

Older wires may need to be checked

Older homes can add another layer to the project. You may have no idea what kind of wiring is behind the office walls or what changes previous owners made over the years. That’s another reason lighting installation should start with a professional. 

An electrician can inspect the parts of the system related to the planned work and identify concerns before adding another fixture or control. Electrical safety groups also recommend having qualified electricians inspect older electrical systems rather than homeowners trying to assess wiring themselves.

Office Lighting Options to Ask About

Once an electrician knows what they’re working with, you can talk about what you want from the finished space. Do you want less clutter on your desk? Do you want the light focused directly on paperwork? Do you need something you can dim later in the day? Those are useful questions to bring up.

Dimmable Lights

A dimmable fixture can give you more control over how the office feels at different times. You might prefer brighter task lighting while reading paperwork and softer lighting while working on your computer later in the evening. But not every fixture, bulb, dimmer, and electrical setup automatically works together.

Easy-to-Use Controls

Maybe you want a switch close to the desk. Maybe you’re interested in lighting that can be controlled without walking across the room. There are several types of controls available, and the right choice depends on both your preferences and the electrical setup.

Moveable Sconces

Adjustable wall sconces can work well around a desk because the light can be aimed toward the area where you need it. They can also keep the desk itself more open. That may be helpful in a smaller office where every inch of desk space matters.

Overhead Reading Lights Electrical Mistakes to Avoid

The biggest mistake is treating electrical lighting work like a weekend DIY project. Online videos can make adding a fixture or replacing a switch look easy. But a few minutes of video doesn’t show you what is happening inside your own walls. 

Every house is different. You may have older wiring. The circuit may already have other electrical loads on it. Previous work may have been done incorrectly. There may not be an electrical box where you expected one. The fixture you bought may not work with the control you want. There are a lot of things you can’t tell just by looking at the outside of a light. And electrical mistakes can have serious results.

Call Santella Electric for Office Lighting Setup

If your home office needs better lighting, you don’t have to keep adding lamps and cords just to make the room usable. A professional electrician can look at the room as a whole. That includes the lighting you want, where you work, the controls that would be convenient, and the electrical system that needs to support it. At Santella Electric, we provide residential electrical services, lighting recommendations and maintenance to homeowners.