The purpose of an ergonomic Tiny Off-Grid House home office is to create a safe designated work environment that is physically and mentally isolated from the general living area. This is important for maintaining a healthy work life balance and a flexible schedule. The “creative space” will not share space for any other activity other than to perform office work from the comfort of home. Although not a focus of this discussion, but for purposes of relevance, according to IRS Form 8829 Instructions a business home office includes, but is not limited to, a dedicated area of a house, apartment, co-op, condo, boat, mobile home, or similar property that may be eligible for the home office deduction on your business or independent contractor (1099) tax return. *

According to Uplift Desk, Ergonomics is defined as “The process of designing and managing work spaces, tools and systems to fit the people that use them.”

The premise of Uplift Desk is the key to office ergonomics are posture and movement. A sedentary daily work environment negatively impacts health and diminishes energy. Sitting for long durations at a desk can put pressure on the spine and disk which can cause neck, shoulders and back pains or muscle spasms. An Uplift Desk, facilitates movement in to the design of their office furniture by allowing their desk to telescope up to standing height while working. The Uplift Desk Advance Comfort Keypad allows users to easily switch between sitting or standing positions using preset adjustable height settings on a keypad. Uplift Desk active movement devices includes, but are not limited to, their Anti-Fatigue Mats, Motion Stools and Bamboo Rocker-X Board which allows the user to rock side-to-side while performing task in front of the standing desk.

Uplift Desk claims their Auston, Texas warehouse operations and the heavy equipment in it, like electric forklifts, are powered exclusively from electrical generated by a rooftop solar array; with excess energy feeding 12 electric vehicle charging stations free for employees along with excess energy feeding the grid. The customizable desktops have ecofriendly options made from sustainable Moso bamboo. At the risk of going on a tangent, a brief explanation of bamboo sustainability is necessary. Bamboo is actually a “grass” which is the fastest growing plant on Earth—the giant sea kelp comes in second. Bamboo rapid growth rate makes it a prolific carbon sequester. Bamboo is a renewable resource that can easily reach its mature growth height in as little as three months; subsequently, it can be harvested every 5 to 7 years requiring very little cultivation. When Bamboo is harvested it can self rejuvenate; with no assistance from farmers. For individual customers whom select a solid wood option desktop 5 trees are planted in U.S. National Forests through a partnership with the National Forest Foundation; with over 330,000 trees planted as of 2024, according to Uplift Lift. The indoor air quality of the Auston warehouse is prioritized by remaining “Zero VOC’s, Zero HAP’s, Formaldehyde free, CARB-2 Compliant.” The environmentally friendly & sustainable manufacturing practices Uplift Desk invests in their products and employees aligns with the sustainable manufacturing practices intended for the Tiny Off-Grid House.

Orthopaedic research has shown standing and treadmill desks promote proper posture by keeping the monitor screen properly at eye level (About 20” from your face), maintaining back alignment by preventing slouching, while allowing the wrists to remain in a comfortable neutral position (Parallel to the floor) over the keyboard on the desk.

Standing at a desk while working can burn 100 to 200 calories per hour; in contrast while sitting at a desk only burns 60 - 130 calories per hour. As a reference, walking burns 210 calories per hour. Standing promotes circulation especially in the lower extremities. Sitting for long durations on a plane or office desk has been known to cause blood to pool in the lower extremities and in extreme cases lead to a blood clot.

Besides the amenity of armrests a well designed office chair should provide adjustable support for the head, neck, back & lumbar region by keeping these areas of the body in natural alignment; while the seat should not impose pressure on the back of the knees. A mesh fabric chair facilitates airflow keeping the seated person cooler and it has been rumored to help prevent the seat from harboring flatulence odor.

Speakers and subsequently, noise control is necessary in this creative space. Depending on preference, dual speakers should be positioned at seated or standing ear level position to enhance special audio features common is most entertainment speakers. “Sound proofing” focus is to prevent noise traveling between two spaces. Acoustic blocking material will help isolate noise from entering or exiting the creative space; especially, during video recordings. In contrast, “sound absorbing” material traps sound energy in the acoustic absorbing material. The material surface is marked by craters and pyramids that deflect sound within the crevices. This benefits optimizing the sound quality within the creative space with a lesser priority on isolation of outside noise. Acoustic sound panels can also serve as a privacy screen in an open living space.

The open floor design of the Tiny Off-Grid House allows for utilization and an unobstructed view of the ground level living space, laundry, kitchen, dining area and the creative space. Privacy of the creative space can be accomplished with mobile vertical screens made of built-in sound proofing material.

The office space ambient lighting will be illuminated by sunlight flowing through a low-E awning window or by slim LED ceiling lights; while the office standing desk will have a LED desk lamp attached for task lighting. The LED desk lamp has various settings to mimic sunlight or regulate the intensity of light lumens.

For more information on LED lights and task lighting please read “TINY OFF-GRID HOUSE LED LIGHTS”

A motorized standing desk is often contrasted against a manual or pneumatic desk due to concerns of high energy usage. Energy usage is a special concern in a Tiny Off-Grid House. It would make sense that a desk that relies on manual power instead of electricity would be the most logical option in an off-grid environment. The Uplift desk consumes 200 watts “only when” the height adjustment motor is engaged moving at 1.5” per second; while 0.2 watts is used in standby mode. To put in to perspective, 24 / 7 a laptop can consume 70 watts, a desk top computer 140 watts (iMac) and a gaming computer 200 - 500 watts.

During a power failure, the Uplift desk maintains its height position without collapsing. A manual or pneumatic desk would be at an advantage in this situation; but how often does power failures occur. For everyday use, the Uplift desk offers the convenience of making micro adjustments to the height easier along with 4 pre-set heights programed in to the Advance Comfort Keypad.

The Tiny Off-Grid House office space is designed with sufficient space that allows for the comfort of using full size furniture dedicated to their intended task without the need to fold away for storage when not in use or having to serve a dual purpose for another unrelated activity. The motivation behind most dual purpose furniture are often due to space constraints; which is not a concern with the Tiny Off-Grid House design. The repetitive physical motions required for transitioning between setup for use, or storage, or vice versa, requires repetitive physical movements and inhibits impromptu accessibility of the furniture.

The keypad buttons and display on the Uplift Desk allows the convenience of 1-touch adjustments for faster accessibility of individual user saved height settings. 4 Gyroscope sensors prevent collisions if the desk encounters an object while elevating or descending. A keypad lock can be enabled, locking motion, to prevent unauthorized use of the keypad control if the desk is installed in a house with children or a cat.

* The information provided does not constitute professional tax advice or professional financial guidance. Please consult a tax professional.

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