Do Weight Ratings On Electric Desks Really Matter? The Surprising Truth

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When I first bought my electric desk, I was really nervous about the weight ratings – I mean let’s face it… I have a lot of stuff that I put on my desk! So I was curious to see if the weight ratings were in line with the manufacturers guidelines. 

Weight ratings on electric desks matter as most electric desks have weight capacity limits to take into consideration the wear and tear on their electric motors. It is best to stick within manufacturers frameworks when purchasing an electric desk and placing items on them. 

So why is it important to stick to these weight ratings? Is it possible to increase the weight rating on your current standing desk?  Keep reading to find out more. 

Now it’s worth mentioning that I’ve done a fair bit of research into electric desks/standing desks and so if you want to see my recommendations on which is the best in the marketplace click here to find out more.

Do weight ratings on electric desks matter? 

Electric stand up desks. What once started out as the hipster in your office wanting to be different has turned into a mini-phenomenon with many people using these as a great way to stay fit and healthy in the office. When I purchased mine I was surprised to learn about the weight ratings on them. I mean how much weight can these desks support before the electric motors fail? 

Do these weight ratings matter? 

Weight ratings on electric desks are important as they actively tell you how much weight your adjustable standing desk can support without caving in.

I mean standing electric desks aren’t usually the cheapest item of furniture so you want to make sure that your desk can support the amount of weight provided. The main way this happens is with the amount of power provided to your desk, but increased power load going into your motor can lead to parts wearing out. 

To understand exactly why, we need to break down the different elements of standing electric desks. These fall into 3 key areas, to help break them down I’ve put them into a chart :

1. 1. 1. 1. Tabletop
         2. Legs
         3. Electric Motor/Actuators

Type	Function
Tabletop	The top of the electric desk that will hold the most amount of weight. This will typically be made of MDF or solid wood and will likely be the heaviest part of your standing desk
Legs	The support and foundation of your electric  desk that holds your foundation up. These are typically made of steel or another strong metal to help support the weight
Electric actuators	Think of this as the brain of your electric desk that will allows your standing desk to change it’s height,

 

What are weight ratings on electric desks? 

Weight ratings on electric desks are the amount of weight an electric desk can support comfortably without it’s motor, desktop or other parts from damaging. Manufacturers usually stipulate these on their websites or owners manuals of their products. 

Why are weight ratings important for electric desks? 

Now that we have broken down the 3 elements of electric desks it’s important to understand how these factor into weight ratings, and potentially how we can increase them. You see whilst most weight ratings from manufacturers have gone through a degree of testing, you can’t ever be too sure.

On top of this, you never know what home office furniture and equipment you might end up buying, heck you might even end up using your stand-up desk for something else (analogue TV stand anyone). 

As electric stand up desks are on the pricier side of desks, usually coming out significantly more then other devices, you want to make sure that you will have no problems going forward. I mean if you spend 1k on a new desk only for it to cave in I’d be pretty upset. 

In my opinion the following elements need to be considered when addressing weight ratings: 

• Tabletop Weight 
• Stresses 
• Electric motor capacity 
• Unevenness 

Let’s break these down individually:

Tabletop weight

Tabletops come in a wide variety of materials and sizes. Typically they weigh  support between 3-5 pounds per square foot (again dependent on the material they are made of) so a tabletop

That is 36 inches x 46 inches should weigh upwards of 57 pounds. 

This is important as some manufacturers don’t state if the weight support includes the table top so be sure to calculate this for yourself. 

Stresses

Okay, another interesting thing you might need to consider is the stress of your desk. Most weight loads manufacturers provide are focused on you placing your weight on the intersection between your frames. 

Obviously if your desk is leaning to one side or on an uneven surface, this could cause all your weight to be focused on one part of your desk instead of spread out and can make the manufacturer’s guidelines inaccurate.

Electric motor capacity

Electric motors for actuators are used all over the world (think electric beds) to simply increase or decrease the size/shape of an item. 

What’s important to look at when considering the weight loads is where you get the desk from. Unfortunately some manufacturers make their motors in very cheap bad conditions which can have a knock on effect to longer tabletops. 

Actuators and motors made in the medical industry are the best so try to secure items who use the same motors. 

Unevenness

We talked about this a bit earlier on, but let’s say if your desk is on an uneven floor or lopsided for lack of a better word. It’s more than likely that your desk weight might be stressed in certain areas, almost making the manufacturer’s guide null and void. 

Now you have a good idea of some of the things you need to consider when we talk about weight rating on electric desks. Can we increase the power of our desks? 

How much power do you need for an electric stand up desk? 

Most electric desks will be powered on 200 watts when active and 0.2 watts when on standby mode. This is more than enough to lift your tabletop all the way up to the 2 meter or 6 foot mark. 

So what if you want to boost the power, make your desk stand up a little bit faster and smoother? 

How to increase the weight load of your standing electric desk? 

Well there are a few options:

• Reduce the amount of weight on your desk. This can either be done through using lighter materials for your table tops and legs
• Increase the motor from a 200 watt to a 400 or 500 watt motor.
• Increase the size of your tabletop which will have a larger surface area
• Place any items on your desk on the strongest points of your desk so where your frames meet
• Ensure your desk is level

These should give a significant boost however it is worth noting that any changes you manually make to your desk can result in any warranty you have being void. Something you might want to avoid, especially as you know, they cost you an arm and a leg!

What are the weight loads of current standing electric desks? 

Standing electric desks have an average weight load of about 82.25 pounds or 37.3 kg

Now you have a good idea on manufacturers and their weight ratings on electric desks, let’s have a look at some. Below I’ve put together a list of my favourite standing desks which have a higher weight load then most and are devices I personally can get behind.

I’ve put them in a table to make  things a bit easier: 

Brand Name	Weight Limit
Flexispot	154 pounds
AVIX	225 pounds
Vivo	176 Pounds

What will electric stand up desks usually hold? 

In my opinion, most people who have home offices will struggle to max out the weight capacity of their standing desks. Mainly because most people only have a set number of items which fall well within the range of the weight capacity limits: 

• Laptop 
• Monitors 
• Printer/scanner
• Mouse
• Keyboard 
• Paper/notepad 
• General stationary

Typically speaking the total amount of weight listed above might come to 30 pounds. Well within the 80 pound weight limit we suggested earlier. 

What are the problems with standing electric desks? 

Now as good as electric stand up desks are, I have to be honest and highlight a few of the problems that come with standing desks. Again I’ve put them in a table to make things easier:

Type	Why
Motor wear and tear	Unfortunately any motor, even those provided by the medical industry, have a habit of breaking in a few years. Not so much of an  issue for a standard desk but then they can be quite expensive you need to make sure you are taking good care of your actuator
Short warranties	A lot of the standing desks I’ve come across only offer 2 year guarantees. Compare this with other furniture items which can go upwards of ten years all the way to lifetime guarantees.
More time spent sitting then standing	A lot of electric standing desks have the ability to both move for sitting and standing up. As such without paying careful attention you might find yourself doing a lot more sitting than you had originally anticipated
High cost	Yeah, there is no getting around this, good quality standing desks are on the pricey side. It really is a case of you get what you pay for so there is no skimping out on cost when it comes to these. Luckily some retailers do offer financing options if you really are in a pinch
Difficult to move	Because they are not standard desks and have more parts, they can be difficult to move. Most standing desks have large table tops and can cause significant damage to your house when moving around … be careful!

My Recommendations  

Standing desks have heaps of health benefits such as burning 8 more calories per hour then traditional desks. If you can get over the price of desks, they really are a great way to stay active. In my opinion you should definitely stick to desks that have higher weight loads, just so you have to worry about your desk caving in anytime soon. 

Once again you can find my recommendation for an electing standing desk (the Flexispot des) here. 

Finally a lot of people reading my blog want to know what products I recommend for a home office/remote working. You can find out my recommendations here and learn how I make money whilst working remotely on the side here.

I’d love to hear what you think about standing desks, and if you have had problems with their weight loads in the past, leave a comment in the usual place and stay safe!