Best ergonomic chair that isn't crazy expensive?

[Kingslayer Kyle]

Hey all,

 

I'm from the UK (Thought I best mention this in case somebody sends me a link to purchase something from another country with high shipping costs)

 

I currently find it hard to sit for over an hour as my chair is so uncomfortable and doesn't adjust at all.

 

Looking for the best affordable ergonomic chair suitable for sitting for periods of time whilst maintaining proper posture and being comfortable at the same time,

 

Something < £200 GBP would be good for my price range 

 

Thanks in advance for any help

[DJ46]

Bit of an unusual suggestion:

At that price, you're not going to find many ergonomic chairs, and the ones you will find probably won't last that long. High end used chairs from offices are hard to come by, nevermind at that price.

 

You might want to consider getting a used car seat from a higher end model.

That's what I did, and for around half your budget I got an electric ventilated passenger seat with adjustable backrest, lumbar support, headrest and seat angle.

That would leave plenty of budget around to build a basic stand for it with some industrial caster wheels.

 

It does require some DIY fabrication, and if you're not comfortable with soldering and wiring stuff without instructions, you might want to consider a manual seat instead. There are plenty of manual seat options with adjustable lumbar support, in fact, those should be a lot cheaper and easier to find than an electric one.

 

And honestly, I don't think I've ever heard of a car seat falling apart due to cheap materials, unlike cheap office/gaming chairs. Perhaps a really old one will have ruined foam, or a torn up cover.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

9 minutes ago, DJ46 said:

Bit of an unusual suggestion:

At that price, you're not going to find many ergonomic chairs, and the ones you will find probably won't last that long. High end used chairs from offices are hard to come by, nevermind at that price.

 

You might want to consider getting a used car seat from a higher end model.

That's what I did, and for around half your budget I got an electric ventilated passenger seat with adjustable backrest, lumbar support, headrest and seat angle.

That would leave plenty of budget around to build a basic stand for it with some industrial caster wheels.

 

It does require some DIY fabrication, and if you're not comfortable with soldering and wiring stuff without instructions, you might want to consider a manual seat instead. There are plenty of manual seat options with adjustable lumbar support, in fact, those should be a lot cheaper and easier to find than an electric one.

 

And honestly, I don't think I've ever heard of a car seat falling apart due to cheap materials, unlike cheap office/gaming chairs. Perhaps a really old one will have ruined foam, or a torn up cover.

I don't understand why more manufacturers don't take inspiration from the automotive industry. These seats are designed to keep your posture when seated for an extended period of time. Those gaming chairs people are crazy about are horribly padded and are made of the cheapest plastics and faux leather one could find. 

 

[Vishera]

What about business office chairs?,those chairs are meant for office workers that sit for long hours doing office work.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

19 minutes ago, Vishera said:

What about business office chairs?,those chairs are meant for office workers that sit for long hours doing office work.

Depends on which one you get. They too tend to be cheaply made and don't last that long. It's pretty comon to find those with soft cushons that just deflate in a year or so and you end up feeling the plywood backing. And you really have to step up to an expensive one to get a proper head rest which for me is a necessity. Sure I can lean back, but if my neck snaps backwards when I do so... is that really comfortable? Basically giving my self whiplash. 

[papajo]

23 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

I don't understand why more manufacturers don't take inspiration from the automotive industry. These seats are designed to keep your posture when seated for an extended period of time. Those gaming chairs people are crazy about are horribly padded and are made of the cheapest plastics and faux leather one could find. 

 

The same reason Nvidia reached to the point where it's stocks worth more than Intel....

 

There are people that are paying ridiculous overpriced items as long as they are labeled gamer XXX best of da best and are sprinkled with leds.... 

 

Why bother making an actual comfortable chair when you can make one decent enough not to brake in a few months and label it as "Gaming" for a 300+% profit margin? 

 

The only reason as to why not make such a thing is that people wont buy it... but practice shows us that people indeed buy it... so yea... 

[Lurick]

Unfortunately the Ergo Chair 2 from Autonomous is about £100 over the budget you have but if you can get a bit more I would highly recommend them. I sit in mine for a good 12+ hours a day now that I'm working from home and I don't have any issues.

[Drama Lama]

38 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

I don't understand why more manufacturers don't take inspiration from the automotive industry.

because gaming chairs are cool

all the cool kids have them

even Aldi sells them( also a gaming table and a gaming bed )

[Drama Lama]

@Kingslayer Kyle 

I‘d go the used office- or car- chair route 

[Kingslayer Kyle]

Hey guys, thanks for the comments

 

I think I'll have a look at office chairs just unsure what exactly to look for specifically but I can do some research on Google

 

6 hours ago, Drama Lama said:

@Kingslayer Kyle 

I‘d go the used office- or car- chair route 

 

I'd actually love to get a car chair but unsure where I'd even start to be honest lmao

 

 

[Bombastinator]

I don’t know if this works in the U.K. , but in the US If you don’t care about looks all that much the move in this situation is to hit a used office furniture place.  Office chairs often care a lot about ergonomics and adjustability and the used offic furniture places get their stock from auctions for near free.  It’s often ugly though.  Lots of purple and fusica for unknown reasons. Stuff can be quite cheap though.  Pick up a $400 office task chair for $50.

[Quinnell]

10 hours ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

I don't understand why more manufacturers don't take inspiration from the automotive industry. These seats are designed to keep your posture when seated for an extended period of time. Those gaming chairs people are crazy about are horribly padded and are made of the cheapest plastics and faux leather one could find. 

 

% agree.  I have a Maxnomic chair and it's not very comfortable at all.  I just wish I knew what kind of chair I should get next.

[Vishera]

3 hours ago, Keith W said:

 

Everybody's needs are different, including yours.

 

Go out and try loads of chairs, think about what you like and dislike when trying them out, go home and think about it for a bit, go out and try loads of chairs.

 

Rinse and repeat for as often as necessary.

 

It is all about what suits you, not what others think might suit you.

The problem with it is that some chairs are comfortable at first,but after a few hours you start to feel back pain...

 

4 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

I don’t know if this works in the U.K. , but in the US If you don’t care about looks all that much the move in this situation is to hit a used office furniture place.  Office chairs often care a lot about ergonomics and adjustability and the used offic furniture places get their stock from auctions for near free.  It’s often ugly though.  Lots of purple and fusica for unknown reasons. Stuff can be quite cheap though.  Pick up a $400 office task chair for $50.

True,I only use office chairs,the last time i tried a gaming chair i had a back pain (wasn't a cheap one).

Like i said earlier:

13 hours ago, Vishera said:

What about business office chairs?,those chairs are meant for office workers that sit for long hours doing office work.

 

[shaz2sxy]

i know some people rate the ikea Markus high

 

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/markus-office-chair-black-glose-robust-black-20103101/

 

 

[papajo]

4 hours ago, Keith W said:

Everybody's needs are different, including yours.

I beg to differ on that.

 

Everybody's needs are more or less the same (except if they have an orthopedic issue or generally an issue related to their health/condition but those cases are the exception) 

 

 

It's just that everybody has a different reaction to sales pitches... some people might get lured by the "gamer" label others by the included leds or some want something because their favorite youtuber/pro gamer uses it etc. 

 

 

And that's why this market (as most niches ) gets exploited.

 

What an average human needs is a comfortable chair, comfortable chair means thick padding that is hard enough to support your weight (and not flatten ) but soft enough to allow your bottox to sit for a bunch of hours without them getting flatted

 

It has to be able to support average weights without the components to get bend or get out of alignment (which will lead in scratchy noises and or failure/broken parts. )

 

 

It needs to be able to have an adjustable back (so that you can lean when you want to or sit upright if you want to )

 

It needs to have side arms that get not in the way (e.g not allowing your legs to move like sitting on one leg or something like that) while being able to rest your arm on them.

 

It has to have a cushion for your neck and waist 

 

 

Something optional would be an expandable rack to put your feet on and assume a more snugly relaxed position 

 

 

 

Most of the "gamer" chairs out there (that dont cost an arm and a leg and even those are not even close to be perfect) dont have those features...

 

They seem to have a thick padding in the pics but in reality only the front side of them(the side that is visible to the camera) is kinda thick and the middle is much thinner witch results in your bottox to hit a flat metallic surface once they sit on them...

 

 

They are not exactly able to hold an average adult male weight especially if you are on the heavy side (e.g from 85 to 100 kgr which by no means is considered to be obese especially if you are tall or atleast slightly above average in height) 

 

which results in screechy sounds and failure of components in less than a year (if you are a gamer or use your office regularly) 

 

They are adjustable but they fail because of what I said in the previous line above

 

usually if they are on the cheap side they dont provide cushioning 

 

 

 

 

[Doobeedoo]

I mean crazy expensive as Herman Miller I can understand. Though nice alternatives to those check Vertagear Triigger line and NeueChair also. 

[geo3]

Get a Herman Miller Aeron. It's cheaper than anything under $200 because it will vastly outlast them all and not need to be replace 3 or 4 times over the course of 10 years. 

[Exidor]

On 8/12/2020 at 9:59 PM, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

I don't understand why more manufacturers don't take inspiration from the automotive industry. These seats are designed to keep your posture when seated for an extended period of time. Those gaming chairs people are crazy about are horribly padded and are made of the cheapest plastics and faux leather one could find. 

 

 

I would actually be interested in trying this out as a hobby project....

How heavy is that chair? I for some reason thought that car seats are heavy due to reinforcement and what not.

Would height adjustment still work? I assume you got a normal chair bottom? Also for stuff like power you would run it from the outlet?

You would also probably need the control surface from the car to actually control that thing?

And heating venting that works over air so do you like run a fan with heating coils?