Hello Frisco,
So, Static lighting refers to baked lighting that is calculated by UE4 light build. Everything is calculated from shadows to light rays, and fall off, etc…
In terms of performance Static Lighting will result in offering the best FPS. Dynamic will offer the most expensive solution because it is constantly updating it’s shadows and calculating for objects that move in the world such as the player.
Often times games will create a light that is an actor that follows the player for dynamic lighting associated with the characters movement.
If you are simply looking for ambient lighting. Then you may try turning off the shadows on all but the one light you want illuminating the whole room.
I will refer you to our lighting troubleshooting guide :
As well as official documentation on understanding how lighting works inside of UE4 :
Thanks,