I am going to buy a new computer chair and I have a condition that has to be just right to justify the cost. I am on my computer for 10-12 hrs. a day and I have a spinal fusion just below the half way point (low thoracic) so I need a good lumbar adjustment feature, also, I need a seat that is very, very cushy (like I said, I am on the computer 8-12 hrs. a day)
I also would like to get one that has a good tilt feature that you can lock into a certain position.
I wouldn’t want to sit on a cushy chair for 12 hours a day. I find that moderately firm seating is the most comfortable for long periods.
I like my Aeron chair. It has great lumbar support, and a locking tilt mechanism that goes both forward and back. Even sitting in it all day, I don’t get uncomfortable.
I don’t know about lumbars at all, but for work I use an “aerobics ball” (not sure what the technical term is - it looks like this). All you need is to find one that can be inflated to be just the right size. I’m fairly tall, so I have one with a 75 cm diameter - inflating it fairly hard makes just the right hight when I sit down on it - which is for some reason a bit higher than the usual chairs I use.
It’s exceptionally cushy, and it “destabilizes” your position slightly, preventing you from keeping too stationary - this may or may not help you, as I said, I don’t know anything about your condition. Best of all, they’re extremely cheap compared to really good desk chairs. I got mine for less than 20 euros, so if you think it may work but you’re not sure, you can probably afford to try it before splashing out on a 500+ euro chair.
I recommend visiting an office furniture store and trying out several chairs. The mass market stores like Staples and Office Depot have a few chairs on display, but you might want to find a higher-end store.
When I was looking for a new chair a couple of years ago, I considered getting the Aeron chair, but in the end I bought a Steelcase Leap chair. Neither is cheap, so you really should try them out before deciding.
I am getting myself a Sitmatic chair, because I sit here for 10-12 hours a day, too. I went to an office furniture supply company and tried out a bunch, along with my co-worker. I forget what brand he got, but all of the chairs were too tall for me (I have short legs). The rep at the office supply place showed me Sitmatic and since their chairs are totally customizeable, I was able to get what I needed.
If you look at their Beta line options you’ll see they have “Air Lumbar” and “Visco Elastic Seat” which might be what you need. The same options come in the Alpha models but so far I haven’t figured out the difference between the models.
I haven’t gotten the chair yet, as I just placed the order. But I really liked being able to customize it.
Make sure you go through an office supply place. We were able to choose 2 models and have them delivered to our office (our homes, actually, since we work from home) and try them out for 2 weeks before we bought. That’s soooo worth it if you’re going to be spending $600+ on a chair.
