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Ask HN: Standing desks – still using over the long term?

by ishbits on 10/31/16, 5:08 PM with 8 comments

• by bnycum on 11/1/16, 2:30 PM

  Beware of the sit/stand Bekant desk, unless you live near an IKEA. The power supply in them goes bad, and it's not a standard power supply either. While they do give you a 10 year warranty on the desk, the replacement of the power supply proved to be difficult for me. My first lasted maybe ~6 months of light use, and took another 4-5 months to get a replacement.

  I live ~4 hours away from the nearest IKEA. They completely acknowledged there was a power supply problem when I was able to chat with them on the phone, but only wanted me to bring the whole desk back in for replacement. It's easy to prove it's just the power supply that stops working because the green light goes out on it, and unplugging it a few hours makes it work again. I finally raised enough of a storm they sent me a new one and it's worked since.

  https://www.reddit.com/r/IKEA/comments/3h92d6/bekant_sitstan...

  https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/192585/fault...

  http://www.workwhilewalking.com/ikea-bekant-standing-desk-re...

• by cauterized on 11/1/16, 1:17 PM

  How does a standing desk represent a loss of desk surface space? Unless you're talking about one of those tiny podium-style desks, which, yeah, you may find yourself resenting.

  I've used a sit-stand setup for about 4 years now and will never go back. My neck, back, and wrist pain are significantly reduced. Note that a standing desk alone will NOT suffice. Neither sitting not standing for extended periods is particularly healthy or comfortable.

  Always make sure that whatever height desk you use, you're rising your monitor to an appropriate height above the desk surface to allow you to look straight ahead at it instead of downwards. This is especially important with laptops, but even external monitors tend to be too low by default. With a laptop, use an external keyboard and mouse whenever you're at your own desk, and put the laptop itself on a riser.

  Previously I used two risers on top of a normal height desk. When sitting I would put the laptop on the low riser and the keyboard and mouse on the desk. When standing, the laptop would go on the upper riser and the keyboard on the lower one.

  I finally got a hydraulic desk, and love it. I never could find a riser quite tall enough to raise a laptop quite to eye level atop a normal height desk. And I'm not very tall.

  There's more space to spread out the keyboard and mouse even when standing. It's also easier to set up an external monitor to work at both heights. Not cheap but totally worth the investment.

• by afarrell on 11/1/16, 3:19 PM

  I use an Ergotron adjustable standing desk and find it works well to hold MacBook, external monitor, Lenovo keyboard, and lab notebook. It is sturdy and switching between sitting and standing works well for me.

  https://www.ballicom.co.uk/33-397-062-ergotron-workfit-t-sit...

• by shanecleveland on 11/1/16, 4:08 PM

  I made the move to a standing-only desk about three years ago. I made a riser to go on my existing desk, so it cannot be lowered. I reserved an area for sitting if I need it.

  It takes some getting used to, but I would not go back now. Invest in a good standing pad.

  I primarily made the move to relieve back pain from sitting for long periods. I don't know if I buy all the sitting-will-kill-you talk, but I figure it can't hurt.

• by spajus on 11/2/16, 2:31 PM

  Yes! Using every day for ~3 years. Thinking of going even further with treadmill desk.

  My story about it here: https://www.fitnessblip.com/how-standing-desk-can-change-you...

• by Gustomaximus on 11/2/16, 5:37 AM

  Rather than getting an expensive lift/drop standing desk, consider getting a tall desk and hi-chair. This was you get the best of both worlds and it's cheaper and quicker to transition between standing/siting

• by BOOSTERHIDROGEN on 11/3/16, 5:24 AM

  is there any recent study about standing desk?