At my company, the programmers who sit in the same area are constantly fighting over whether the lights stay on or off. Because there is no official policy it makes it a particularly sticky situation.

We are a typical cube-farm and we have those typical cube-farm fluorescent lights and smaller ones at our desks. With the lights off, it is difficult to read and you would probably need to turn on your desk light (which some people do anyway). All programmers in our department do most of their reading on their monitor because of the nature of our business.

Some feel that we should have a vote to decide whether the lights stay on or off. A couple who prefer 'lights on' feel that the vote would need to be unanimous to turn them off as having them on is the more natural office setting. Those who want them off point out that all other departments keep their lights off.

I have heard all of the arguments:

-Fluorescent lights cause eye strain

-Reading in dark causes eye strain

-The desk lights can be used if light is needed

-People from other departments feel uncomfortable approaching us in the "dark"

-The monitors are harder to see in the light

...

Right now, some of the developers turn off the lights and some turn them on. It really just depends who last walked by the switch. I am a bit sick of the controversy as it feels a bit childish at the moment. I'm tired of hearing about it and I'm tired of having to talk about it. I tried to help them decide but as I explained, voting wasn't enough.

Do other programming departments have this same argument?

What is the standard or traditionally accepted option in a programming area?

Are there any good reasons for one way or the other outside of preference?

How can we decide fairly?

EDIT

Just a little more info... We do not have clients/visitors come into our office.

We do have windows and hall lights that make our environment plenty bearable with the lights off. It kind of resembles a meeting room that has the lights off during a powerpoint presentation.