Axe the ZZLP - Home office chairs

NYCBlueBlood

NYCBlueBlood

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Just like the rest of the world, I bought myself a new home office chair 5 years back during Covid. I decided to try something a little different, and went with a "gaming chair" instead of an office one. I figured gaming chairs were designed for people to sit in them for extended periods of time without getting up.

I went with this one... or an older model of it, anyway. It served me quite well for about 4 years. I've had minor issues I've been able to solve for over the past year, but now it seems to be shot. I don't know if it suddenly just hit a breaking point, but all of a sudden it's shot... seat starts hurting my butt after a couple hours, it's got a weird lean forward I can't correct for, and the armrests have oddly drifted out to the side, making them uncomfortable to use.

I've done some online research, and all the forums seem to point toward chairs in the $1500 - $2000 range. While I'm not unwilling to spend that much, it seems like a quite a bit for a chair... even one I sit in for 8 to 12 hours a day, depending on the work season (still predominantly working from home).

I also am hesitant to spend too much, as my cats have periodically had obsessions with my last two chairs... ignoring them for years, then suddenly scratching at the seat cushion and pulling out foam for a couple weeks... then suddenly ignoring them again.

I feel a little conflicted. Ideally I'd spend more and get a chair that will last 10+ years instead of paying less than one that will be in a landfill in 3 to 5 years. But I do worry that my cats will destroy a $2000 chair in a few years, just the same they would a $200 one.

TLDR: What office chair do you use at home... do you like it? Would you recommend it?
 
I use a Herman Miller Aeron chair that I bought new in 2010. Currently a few things need attention, the arms slide down due to the friction levers being worn. I can take it to an authorized repair shop for a "tune-up" and cleaning for a few hundred bucks, since it is outside of its 12 year warranty.

ETA: I worked from home at least 50% of the time since I bought this chair in 2010 and full time since 2019, and other than the things mentioned it has held up very well. The webbing on the seat and back isn't visibly worn, the hydraulics still work perfectly. I recommend it without reservation.
 
We have Aeron's and Herman Miller Setu in our office. I switched to the Setu recently because the Aeron seat started to feel too deep for some reason. Setu has much less adjustability and the arms are not padded, but very comfortable otherwise. I had read that armrests aren't great for wrists and shoulders anyway. Not sure how true that is....
 
Wow, how often do the first 3 posters on a thread here all agree???

The Aeron seems to have a dizzying number of options. Do you need all the upgrades, or is the stock version just fine?
 
We've had (2) refurbished Aeron's for over 10yrs. Stock, no mods. As one other poster mentioned, the arm rests slide down at this point. They'll slowly slide down during the course of the day. I think the lumbar adjustment might be non-functional on one of them as well.
 
NYCBlueBlood said:
Just like the rest of the world, I bought myself a new home office chair 5 years back during Covid. I decided to try something a little different, and went with a "gaming chair" instead of an office one. I figured gaming chairs were designed for people to sit in them for extended periods of time without getting up.

I went with this one... or an older model of it, anyway. It served me quite well for about 4 years. I've had minor issues I've been able to solve for over the past year, but now it seems to be shot. I don't know if it suddenly just hit a breaking point, but all of a sudden it's shot... seat starts hurting my butt after a couple hours, it's got a weird lean forward I can't correct for, and the armrests have oddly drifted out to the side, making them uncomfortable to use.

I've done some online research, and all the forums seem to point toward chairs in the $1500 - $2000 range. While I'm not unwilling to spend that much, it seems like a quite a bit for a chair... even one I sit in for 8 to 12 hours a day, depending on the work season (still predominantly working from home).

I also am hesitant to spend too much, as my cats have periodically had obsessions with my last two chairs... ignoring them for years, then suddenly scratching at the seat cushion and pulling out foam for a couple weeks... then suddenly ignoring them again.

I feel a little conflicted. Ideally I'd spend more and get a chair that will last 10+ years instead of paying less than one that will be in a landfill in 3 to 5 years. But I do worry that my cats will destroy a $2000 chair in a few years, just the same they would a $200 one.

TLDR: What office chair do you use at home... do you like it? Would you recommend it?
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You have touched on something I have been ruminating about for a few months.

I live in my office 6-8 hours/day sitting in an office chair I have had for around 15 years. I think I paid around $100 for it.

but I have been looking for an upgrade for the last year. I am willing to pay $1500, but when I do on-line research every review is a mixed bag.

Here's hoping someone has a super chair they can recommend🙏
 
bassydude77 said:
We've had (2) refurbished Aeron's for over 10yrs. Stock, no mods. As one other poster mentioned, the arm rests slide down at this point. They'll slowly slide down during the course of the day. I think the lumbar adjustment might be non-functional on one of them as well.
Click to expand...
Where did you purchase refurbished ones from?
 
www.madisonseating.com

Aeron Chair by Herman Miller - Highly Adjustable - Carbon - Madison Seating

Stock Photo Only. Chair design may vary slightly from photo. Only features listed will be included with this promotion. Features Graphite Frame Tension
www.madisonseating.com www.madisonseating.com

I think it was Madison seating, but it has been a long time. Admittedly, we went to buy a 3rd maybe 5 yrs ago and had a horrible buying experience. They sent the wrong color and would not exchange. I wrote a poor review and then because we had ordered the chairs for our business they turned around and wrote a very negative review of our business....I finally had to pull our review in order to get them to delete the one they wrote. It was crazy and infuriating. So....fair warning. The first 2 were purchased without issue.
 
bassydude77 said:
www.madisonseating.com

Aeron Chair by Herman Miller - Highly Adjustable - Carbon - Madison Seating

Stock Photo Only. Chair design may vary slightly from photo. Only features listed will be included with this promotion. Features Graphite Frame Tension
www.madisonseating.com www.madisonseating.com

I think it was Madison seating, but it has been a long time. Admittedly, we went to buy a 3rd maybe 5 yrs ago and had a horrible buying experience. They sent the wrong color and would not exchange. I wrote a poor review and then because we had ordered the chairs for our business they turned around and wrote a very negative review of our business....I finally had to pull our review in order to get them to delete the one they wrote. It was crazy and infuriating. So....fair warning. The first 2 were purchased without issue.
Click to expand...
Don't think I want to go through them if they refused to correct their error and retaliated against you for calling them out on it.
 
Couldn’t afford the Herman Miller one so did a lot of due diligence about affordable but good ones. Now I’m having back issues from sitting in $150 chair from Staples.

*sigh*
 
This is what my wife does for a living.

As much as she loves HM, she won’t recommend a specific chair without knowing a bunch of personal info such you weight/height, hip or back pain, hot/cold natured, etc.

Don’t buy anything until you sit on it.

She did say if you want the best bang for your buck (and still good quality), check out Wyatt Seating.
 
Rock said:
Couldn’t afford the Herman Miller one so did a lot of due diligence about affordable but good ones. Now I’m having back issues from sitting in $150 chair from Staples.

*sigh*
Click to expand...
Same here. I probably should have paid the extra money to begin with.
 
When my mom was decking out her home "office", I advised her to go with the Herman Miller. Its held up really well over the years.

We went with slightly cheaper office chairs for our home office (maybe about $350). Don't know the brand but they've held up really well. The best advice is to go sit in a few chairs and find one that gives you the right support.
 
NYCBlueBlood said:
$50?!?! :oops:
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May not find that price but I bet listings pop up quite a bit in the city. As transient as this place is for families/individuals and as much corporate office space as is being condensed and consolidated, probably a lot of second-hand inventory.

What are the best online local marketplaces for that kind of thing these days?
 
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