7 Things To Consider When Buying An Office Chair

7 Things To Consider When Buying An Office Chair

Most people are willing to pay more on a work desk than an office chair while purchasing office furniture.

Although if you know how many hours you spend sitting on the chair, and how important the chair is to your general well being and comfort, it really needs to be the other way around.

So in this post we will discuss 7 things to consider when buying an office chair.

7 Things to Consider When Looking For Small Office Chairs

These are the 7 things you should care about before buying an office chair:

Seat Height

The first thing you need to think about is the seat height of your office chair. You want to be able to get your elbows at 90 degrees, your feet down on the ground. Some of the office chairs would have a seat height of around 17 to 22 inches. 

This is going to be too big for people who are 5’6″ and under. You’ll have to select a chair with a minimum seat height of 16 inches if you’re 5’6″ and 15 inches if you’re 5’2″.

 If you’re shorter than 5’2″, so you’re going to want to choose a chair that’s as low as 14 inches if you’re planning to have your feet flat on the surface.

Seat Depth

The next thing to keep in mind is the width of the seat. You ought to be able to put the front of the seat about 1 to 2 inches from the back of your knees

Some general office chairs will have seats about 17 or 18 inches deep. This is going to be too broad for small people.

If you are 5’6″ or less, you ought to find seats with a minimum seat depth of 16 inches or less. Chairs with customizable seat depths of as little as 15 inches would be the best choice for this category.

Adding a Footrest

One of the most useful items for your workbench could be a footrest. Adding a footrest helps you to pull the floor up to your chair instead of forcing the chair back to the floor. 

By doing this, you can make it much easier to reach the 90-degree knee angle, while still opening the door to chairs with a higher minimum seat height. Most of the employees in our office are using a footrest, including me.

Desk Height

The height of your desk is another major requirement. You want your typing height to be about 8 inches above the height of your chair. 

If you’re going to use a chair at 16 inches, so your desk has to be as low as 24 inches to fit an ergonomic position. The regular desk height is 30 inches, so there’s a major gap.

There are a few options to help you with this. The first one is to go for the footrest discussed above. This will close the distance by a few inches by getting the height of the chair closer to the normal height desk.

The second is to have a height-adjustable desk that can be lowered to a position below the regular desk height. The last choice is to install something to lower your keyboards, such as a keyboard drawer or a keyboard tray.

Headrests

Be vigilant when buying headrest chairs whether you’re a thin or short guy. We’ve observed that for small people, headrests can always be in an uncomfortable position. 

Many headrests are designed to match the curve of your body. If you’re too short to use them properly, the headrest would just end up moving the back of your head down.

The same will happen on chairs with more traditional headrests. If you’re too low to hit the expected headrest, the chair won’t be comfortable because it wasn’t made to suit you properly.

If you just want a headrest, then look for chairs that have been specially built for short persons that also provide a headrest option. 

It should ensure that the headrest is made for short height individuals and gives you the best chance that it suits you properly.

Arm Width

The armrests are another significant thing to remember. You ought to be able to hang your arms naturally on your sides and then position your elbows at a 90-degree angle.

 You don’t want to be able to angle your limbs backward to meet the armrests. This can put undue pressure on your shoulders and neck.

Typical office chair arms would usually be between 17 or 18 inches apart. If you’re under 5’6″, you’ll want to look for arms with a minimum width of 16 inches or less.

 For most people in five feet and below height, arms as small as 13 inches are typically what you want to look for.

Arm Height

Height is the second important thing you need to look for when it comes to armrests. You just want to make sure that the arms on the chair you want to buy have a choice that’s going to fit you. 

Those who are under 5’6″ would like their arms about 9 inches above their seat so that they can meet the 90-degree angle of the elbow. Those who are five feet tall or less will want a minimum arm height of 7 inches or less.

Wrapping Up

The selection of office chairs for small people can be limited. There will not be as many alternatives as regular office seats, but there are things you can do to expand the range. Features like a footrest and a keyboard tray can be awesome tools.

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