The best floor lamps in 2024

Floor lamps serve a specific purpose, usually occupying those dimmer corners of your house where the installed lights won’t reach. Thankfully, floor lamps are not a new technology, limited to a few super expensive items. There are tons of them. Whether you are after a nice energy-saving LED floor lamp, a dimmable floor lamp, or a unique floor lamp made from random metal scraps, these things will surely bring some light into your living room, bedroom, mudroom … your life in general. The best floor lamps are the ones that fit your space and budget and satisfy your need for illumination, and we’ve collected them below.

How we chose the best floor lamps

Choosing the best floor lamp is like choosing the best flavor of Slurpee at 7-Eleven: There are multiple similarities between brands and styles of floor lamps and, at the core of it, they’re all refreshing. So, it really comes down to reviews and ratings. Considering the fluctuations in price and the multitude of floor lamps available, the best on this list comes from Amazon and Wayfair based on personal usage, peer recommendations, customer reviews, and purchase volume.

The best floor lamps: Reviews & Recommendations

These are some of the most popular floor lamps for living rooms and beyond on the market, certainly found within a room you’ve walked into. If not, it’s only a matter of time. Modern floor lamps are easy to assemble, generally fair priced, and don’t require any electrical work besides plugging something in. While we didn’t take each of these floor lamps home to make shadow puppets, we are confident they are solid buys and will perform their requisite function of providing light. 

Best overall: PESRAE Floor Lamp 

Specs

• Height: 70 inches
• Dimmable: Yes
• Remote control: Yes
• Temp range: 3000-6000K

Pros

• Stepless adjustment
• Memory function
• 1-hour timer
• Full range of brightness

Cons

• No reading light
• Remote isn’t great

The PESRAE Floor Lamp is exactly what you’d think of when picturing a floor lamp. It might not have that mid-height reading light arm, but it is the top overall pick on Amazon, and that’s saying something when there are hundreds of these things to choose from. It is adjustable, dimmable, and comes with a sometimes-it-works remote control. 

But the best part of this floor lamp is not its ability to bring some much-needed light to the cobwebs on your ceiling; rather, it’s the temperature range. With a proper bulb, you can adjust the temperature range from 3000K to 6000K, from middling light to bright as the sun. Plus, it’s generally on sale for half-off, which makes the PESRAE Floor Lamp a great overall buy.

Best value: Allensville 71″ Torchiere Floor Lamp

Specs

• Height: 71 inches
• Dimmable: Yes
• Remote control: No
• Temp range: 2700K

Pros

• Task light
• Adjustable arm
• Socket switch

Cons

• Balance is iffy
• Low wattage reading light

The Allensville 71″ Torchiere Floor Lamp brings value to the table with its built-in secondary reading or task light. That’s two lights for the price of one. The main light illuminates the room above your head, keeping the ghosts and ghouls at bay on those especially dark nights. While the reading or task light hangs over your shoulder as you peruse the Necronomicon or just the latest book to top the New York Times Best Seller list.

Like many floor lamps in this price range, there is a general stability issue. They tend to be slightly shaky on the stand, but it’s not too hard to readjust them into a more stable position. This lamp also comes with a socket switch style on/off knob, which is much more reliable than one of those tough lamps. With its adjustable reading light arm, the Allensville 71″ Torchiere Floor Lamp is a multipurpose floor lamp that satisfies most light generation needs.

Best eco-friendly: SIBRILLE Tree Floor Lamp 

Specs

• Height: 68 inches
• Dimmable: Yes
• Remote control: Yes
• Temp range: 2700-6500K

Pros

• Adjustable light heads
• Remote control
• Touch control
• Individual control

Cons

• Remote range isn’t great
• Cord gets stuck in bottom

The SIBRILLE Tree Floor Lamp has three individual lights that rotate 350 degrees and vertically adjust up to 180 degrees. Each light has its own controls for temperature and brightness. It’s quite a stylish little lamp, but that’s not the main selling point. Though, it should be a consideration if you pride yourself in how you compose your living room.

The true selling point of this lamp is its eco-friendliness. It uses modern LED lights rather than bulbs, which translates 36W into the equivalent of 200W incandescent. Basically, you get temperature changes from warm white to daylight without paying extra for fancy bulbs at a fraction of the energy use. For that bit alone, the SIBRILLE Tree Floor Lamp is the most energy-efficient floor lamp on this list. 

Best design: Ebern Designs 61.5″ Mid-Century Modern Tripod Floor Lamp 

Specs

• Height: 61.5 inches
• Dimmable: Yes
• Remote control: No
• Temp range: N/A

Pros

• Linen shade
• Rotary switch
• Long cord

Cons

• Legs are tough to assemble
• Maximum 150W bulb

The Ebern Designs 61.5″ Mid-Century Modern Tripod Floor Lamp is one of those lamps you buy when you are more concerned with aesthetics than true light. It’s a bit mid-range regarding available light, but it supports dimmable bulbs. But we’re not buying this for a reading lamp, not with those legs and the required floor space.

The legs can be a bit janky to set up based on how well the holes were bored. They just don’t make things like they used to. But whatever, it looks nice next to your well-maintained Mid-century modern furnishing, like whatever that thing is with the record player built-in. When it comes to style, you really can’t do much worse than the Ebern Designs 61.5″ Mid-Century Modern Tripod Floor Lamp. 

Best splurge: Trent Austin Design Richarson 75.5″ Task/Reading Floor Lamp 

Specs

• Height: 75.5 inches
• Dimmable: No
• Remote control: No
• Temp range: N/A

Pros

• Cool industrial style
• Adjustable height arm
• Solid metal 

Cons

• 100W maximum bulb
• Pulley system can stress the cord

The Richarson 75.5″ Task/Reading Floor Lamp is a solid lamp at a premium price. But for that money, you get a sturdy lamp with a really unique industrial design. It has a pulley system holding the lamp itself, which can stress the cord a little bit, but only if you are bumping it a lot. 

The one downside besides that is the bulb strength maxes out at 100W, but you don’t want a super bright bulb in this lamp anyway. You want one of those yellow diffused lights because this lamp creates ambiance in a space rather than just plainly lighting a room. For its sturdiness alone, the Richardson 75.5″ Task/Reading Floor Lamp is definitely a splurge worth spending.

Best smart: Dyson Solarcycle Morph

Specs

• Height: 49.2 inches
• Dimmable: Yes
• Remote control: Yes (via app)
• Temp range: 1800-3400K (docked), 2700-6500K (undocked)

Pros

• Motion sensor
• 3-points of rotation
• Integrated USB charger
• Slide touch controls

Cons

• A bit short
• Expensive

The Dyson Solorcycle Morph isn’t as tall as most floor lamps, but that’s a minor issue for a premium lamp with high-tech features that tower over the competition. This smart-home accessory features several very handy modes, all controlled via Bluetooth through the Dyson smartphone companion app. Use it as a glare-controlled, low-optical flicker task light at a desk or reading/studying nook, or rotate the head for some indirect light. Want to highlight some treasured art, family portraits, architectural details, etc.? Revolve it further—it adjusts at the stem, elbow, and head—and increase the brightness for a feature light, or magnetically dock the optical head above the perforated stem to bask the room in a warm, relaxing ambient light with reduced blue light.

As for where the product’s name comes from, there’s a very calming wake-up mode, which brightens the light gradually as your day begins. So it’s right there with you as your coffee does the same thing with your brain. And the intelligent day tracking feature continues morphing the light in relation to available natural light. There are also slide-touch controls for color temperature and intensity, as well as an integrated USB charger. And if you don’t even want to remember you have a lamp and just want light to appear when you walk in a room (and turn off when you leave to conserve energy/the halogen bulb), the Dyson Solorcycle Morph has a built-in motion sensor. (And it comes in a desk lamp if that’s more your speed.)

Best budget: Addlon Floor Lamp

Specs

• Height: 64 inches
• Dimmable: Yes
• Remote control: No
• Temp range: 3000-6500K

Pros

• Adjustable angle
• Linen lampshade
• Easy to assemble

Cons

• No remote control
• Questionable stability

The Addlon Floor lamp has three color temperatures, from warm yellow to bright white, so it’s dimmable. It’s also quite cheap, even when not on sale. You can’t get more budget when it comes to floor lamps. And this one stands apart as it’s not a ceiling-focused bulb but rather a hanging bulb behind a linen lampshade.

The linen lampshade keeps the light, no matter the temperature, fairly tolerable. A lot of floor lamps suffer from being too bright, too in-your-face. But that linen lampshade keeps out the worst of it. Even if the frame of the Addlon Floor lamp is a bit shaky, it’s still a great budget buy. 

What to consider before buying floor lamps

Since the purpose of a floor lamp is to provide one of the most basic human indoor needs, you’ll want to consider some very light-focused options before purchasing. Of course, it’s all based on your particular needs, but it’s wise to consider whether a lamp is dimmable, how bright it can get, and the type of compatible bulb.

Dimmable

Most floor lamps are dimmable when paired with a compatible bulb. Some aren’t, and if you prefer variable light ranges, you’ll want to skip those. Dimmable lamps offer users the ability to adjust the intensity of the light, which is handy as the sun goes down or your needs change from cleaning to reading.

Kelvins

A Kelvin (K) is a unit of absolute temperature, not just a starship in the Star Trek universe. Some lamps list the Kelvin range, while others don’t. But for those that do, it indicates the color temperature range of a particular lamp. From light yellow to bright white and daylight, the bigger the range, the more available lighting options you’ll have. 

Bulb type

Outside of color temperature, several types of bulbs work with different lamps. Some lamps are limited in available wattage, while others are made with LED bulbs that never need replacing. It’s smart to pay attention here so that you don’t purchase a lamp that doesn’t provide enough light, or the inverse.

FAQs

Final thoughts on the best floor lamps

Like sunset lamps, light-therapy lamps, and ring lights, floor lamps serve a specific purpose in your life, making them almost a standard buy-in homes across the country and throughout the world. They bring light to the corners of our homes where there is none. They are a great solution for lighting solutions when we don’t want to pay for expensive alterations to the current electrical setup in our homes. And floor lamps are generally inexpensive and extremely varied in style, color temperature, and utility to boot.

Why trust us

Popular Science started writing about technology more than 150 years ago. There was no such thing as “gadget writing” when we published our first issue in 1872, but if there was, our mission to demystify the world of innovation for everyday readers means we would have been all over it. Here in the present, PopSci is fully committed to helping readers navigate the increasingly intimidating array of devices on the market right now.

Our writers and editors have combined decades of experience covering and reviewing consumer electronics. We each have our own obsessive specialties—from high-end audio to video games to cameras and beyond—but when we’re reviewing devices outside of our immediate wheelhouses, we do our best to seek out trustworthy voices and opinions to help guide people to the very best recommendations. We know we don’t know everything, but we’re excited to live through the analysis paralysis that internet shopping can spur so readers don’t have to.