Cable Management for Your Standing Desk

Cable management at standing desks has been notoriously difficult since the beginning. While all of your power connections need to have enough slack in them to work while you are seated in addition to when you are standing, it can feel as though it is impossible to keep everything looking nice.

Cable management is essential for a safe and sane workstation, and its importance extends beyond simply maintaining a tidy appearance. As we continue to delve deeper into the topic of aerodynamics in this introduction, there are two primary dangers that may be mitigated with proper cable management: tripping and bending.

Because bending over an excessive amount puts strain on the back, the longer you remain in this position while attempting to sort out your tangled cables, the greater the likelihood that you will sustain a back injury.

The majority of people who look for a cable management kit are motivated primarily by aesthetic concerns, despite the fact that safety is unquestionably more vital. Working at a standing desk naturally results in less area to hide your cords, and many standing desks wind up looking like they are standing on a jumble of wires. This is a natural effect of working at a standing desk. But you shouldn't be satisfied with this. The snarl can be tamed by us.

Do not listen to anyone who tries to convince you that cable management for a standing desk is not an art form. But how exactly do you go about making significant changes, and what tools do you utilise to do so?

So Where Do You Start with Standing Desk Cable Management?

Cable management solutions are devised with the intention of taming this unsightly spaghetti of connections and providing a workspace that is both more attractive and more secure. Quite a few companies that make height-adjustable desks have designed their very own cable organiser kits. These kits can be as simple as a few adhesive clips and zip ties, or they can be more complex and feature a wide variety of tools, such as surge protectors, cable sleeves, and cable troughs that attach to the underside of the desk. Many of these kits are sold separately from the desks themselves.

The componentry and level of complexity of the various cable management kits that are commonly available vary, but the majority of these kits share a number of the same flaws. The first concern is associated with the capabilities of the kit. In many cases, the basic kits contain too few components and not enough variety in those components. These kits do not contain the varied weaponry that is required to deal with the huge variety of workstation configurations that are currently available.

Another prevalent disadvantage is that the majority of them are made up of components that only need to be used once. Once the cable guiding components have been fitted, the majority of them cannot be undone or repositioned: the zip ties are fastened in a secure manner, and the adhesive clips are adhered to the appropriate locations. When it comes time to add or remove wires, this causes a significant amount of frustration for everyone involved. You will also need to go out and get more ties or clips after you run out of the ones you already have.

Another very common user complaint that we hear about cable management kits is that the adhesive on the cable clamps tends to fail after many cycles of raising and lowering the desk. This adhesive might have been fine on a fixed-height desk that never moved, but it tends to fail on desks that move up and down frequently.

Either that, or the plastic breaks down over time to the point that parts fall off when you are attempting to add or remove wires. When the desk is moved, even a cable clamp with a rating of only 20 pounds may be subjected to far greater pulling pressures than its rating indicates. This is especially true if any of the cables that pass through it become entangled when the desk is being raised.

Lastly, cable spines have a more streamlined appearance compared to cable sleeves. These vertebral chains are available in two different price ranges. The kinds that are most likely to be found on Amazon are low-quality, made with flimsy plastic parts; they are frequently difficult to operate; they are too short; they have an excessive number of openings in the chain; as a result, they contribute to visual clutter rather than reducing it; and our expert ergonomic accessories review staff does not generally recommend them.

Then there's the superior variety, which is, of course, the one that's going to set you back a lot more money and is utilised by experienced commercial office furniture salespeople and installers. These are frequently utilised on huge corporate installations when connections were placed in very specific locations when the entire office was initially laid up. This is a common occurrence on large corporate installations.

The vast majority of individuals, however, do not have such a luxury available to them; therefore, they require a method to lower the power cables from the desktop to the floor, where they can then be discreetly routed to the closest wall outlet. Due to the fact that our readers are less likely to spend $1,500 per workstation on custom electrical installation, we concentrate our reviews in this area on those components that can be purchased via e-commerce and installed by the customer themselves. To read more, click here.

What is wire management for standing desks?

Since the majority of electric standing desks do not come with full modesty screens, there is no way to conceal the cords for all of your gadgets when using one of these desks. In order to address this widespread issue, manufacturers have developed a variety of wire management solutions, each of which is intended to accomplish precisely that: bring order out of the wire mayhem. Wire management can be broken down into its two primary subcategories: vertical wire management and horizontal wire management.

Both sorts of wire management can be accomplished with the assistance of certain items, such as zip ties and Velcro straps. These kinds of straightforward approaches to cable management are commonly considered in tandem with more powerful vertical and horizontal solutions.

How much wire management do I need?

The answer to this question, which is frequently asked by our clients, is not straightforward at all. Due to the fact that each workstation is unique, the quantity of cable management that is required for each desk will also be unique. Both of these approaches to wire management are ones that I would recommend to a business that is either attempting to meet the requirements of each and every customer or is merely looking to standardise its appearance. On the other hand, if you are simply attempting to organise some wires in your home office and you only use a laptop, you might be able to get away with using only zip ties if that is the case.

Common Cable Management Bits & Pieces

Cable ties: We believe that these very minor components (cable ties and cable mounts) are the strongest indicators of the overall quality of a kit since they demonstrate how much the manufacturer cares about the minutiae. Standard plastic zip ties are the beginning of the range of cable ties. These ties are not reusable, they are difficult to remove, and they can even harm cables if they are attached too tightly. The reusable plastic zip ties are the next rung on the ladder. Again, it's great that these may be reused, but it's important to note that this does not mean that they are simple to reuse and that they might cause harm to wires if they are put too firmly. The best solution, in the end, is to use felt cable wrap ties. In addition to being incredibly simple to reuse and adjust, these won't do any damage to the cables.

Mounting solutions for cables The most common mounting method for cables is a plastic mount that is attached using glue. There are often two issues associated with using a mount of this kind. To begin, there is no way to modify them. The amount of space that one cable and ten cables take up is drastically different from one another. Second, they are not intended to be used on a desk that is moved frequently throughout the day, which will cause the adhesive to degrade over time. Velcro is included in the most advanced design of cable mounts, which enables users to adjust the degree to which their cables are secured. A premium option will additionally contain a screw hole in addition to an adhesive patch, allowing for flexible installation via either method.

Cable trays: Cable trays can be tough to select from because some of them are quite flimsy without seeming that way on a product page. Therefore, when it comes to cable trays, it is recommended to read an in-depth review that will elaborate on this topic. The length is another crucial factor. Keep in mind that you will most likely be placing a power strip as well as a number of wires in the tray, so you will want one that is approximately 24 inches or longer.

Cable sleeves: We are not huge lovers of cable sleeves because some of them require a specific tool to get cords in or out of the sleeve. When you already have a limited amount of space due to the use of standing workstations, this is simply one more thing that you will need to store. Sleeves can be closed in a variety of ways, including with velcro, zippers, or by themselves using a self-closing mechanism. The self-closing variety is our top pick because it adapts to accommodate any number of cables that are stuffed within. Another intriguing feature of the zipper is that it enables the user to purchase numerous sleeves and then zip those sleeves together to create a much larger alternative.

Magnet mounts: When it comes to routeing wires up and down the legs and frame of an adjustable height desk, magnet mounts are an essential component. The most ideal solutions will include loops that spin, as this reduces the likelihood that they will become damaged when a desk is raised and lowered. Also, make sure you pay attention to how powerful the magnets are. In a perfect world, they should be able to support loads of about 15 pounds each.

When it comes to power strips, we prefer having outlets that are situated perpendicular to the strip. This is because when you use bulky adapters, they won't cover two of the strip's outlets. Other things to think about include the following: the length of the cord (you want it to be at least 12 feet), the surge protection (you want it to be at least 1,000 joules), and the wire gauge (you want 14 gauge). All of these factors will have an effect on the pricing, safety, and efficiency with which the strip will safeguard your electrical devices.

Cable chains: It is prefered to have a cable chain that does not require a special tool and instead opens with a simple flathead screwdriver. This is similar to the cable sleeve, which does not require a specific tool. Because of the broad variety of quality found in cable chains, you should read customer evaluations to determine how simple it is to adjust the chain's length, add or remove cables, and rearrange the order of the cables. When the desk is moved up and down, quality chains will maintain their vertical orientation, however less expensive chains will move to the side when the desk is moved. Cheaper chains are frequently either overly flexible or underflexible, depending on the circumstances. You can have a peek at this.