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Find out moreWith smart technology today, everything is going smart including water bottles, cars, refrigerators, and many more. To make your home smart, using smart bulbs is the fastest and easiest way to start. How you use the smart bulbs will depend on the smart lighting system in your home. Some smart lighting systems will let you use an app to control the bulbs while giving you the chance to monitor the energy consumption, usage through the same application. In this post, we talk about the benefits of smart lighting and dive more into what smart bulbs are.
With smart bulbs, you will be able to control your lights remotely, this means you can control them from anywhere even when you are not at home. Usually, they use an app that is downloaded on your mobile phone.
Essentially, what you have to do is to use your smartphone, by simply tapping a certain button on your phone you can turn on the lights or even turn them off. This helps to deter burglars.
You may also turn off the lights without having to get up. They also have some amusing features, such as the capacity to illuminate your living room in every colour of the rainbow. Why not, after all?
You may even control your lighting system so that it turns on and off or becomes brighter (or darker) at specific times of the day. This is a useful feature if you prefer the notion of your lights gently going on in the mornings, similar to your dawn. Many smart light bulbs are compatible with voice assistants such as Amazon Echo and Google Home.
Smart lights can interact wirelessly with one other, as well as with your phone or other devices. This wireless technology is integrated right into the bulbs, which is why they're so smart!
Some smart lights achieve this by connecting to your home network through WiFi or Bluetooth. Some systems use their own ‘mesh network,' which is generally Zigbee, a wireless network utilized by many smart devices. In this situation, the bulbs will almost always require the assistance of a ‘hub.' This is a tiny gadget that connects to your router and enables your lights and app to communicate with one another (so to speak).
The type of hub you purchase is determined by the brand of bulb you select. Philips Hue smart lights, for example, maybe utilized with Bluetooth or Zigbee. You don't need a hub if you pick the former, but you need it if you choose the latter. Philips refers to their hub as the 'Hue Bridge.' It's a little more expensive than just buying the bulbs, but it provides you with more alternatives and a wider selection of smart lighting solutions. After you've installed your hub, all you have to do now is download the appropriate app and establish an account. Your smart bulb's maker will provide you with directions as to how to simply and easily set it up. Then you'll give different lights and rooms names and modify your settings accordingly.
Smart light bulbs may originally be more expensive than conventional compact fluorescent or LED bulbs, but they provide several benefits that can outweigh the higher initial expenses in the long term. The finest smart lighting solutions save energy, last considerably longer than standard light bulbs, and provide entertaining and useful customization possibilities.
Smart lights replace incandescent bulbs with CFL or LED bulbs, lowering the amount of power used to light a space. A smart bulb with the ENERGY STAR® label consumes 70 to 90% less energy than a conventional bulb.
Incandescent bulbs have a lifetime of 750 to 2,000 hours on average. LED lighting systems, on the other hand, can operate continuously for 35,000 to 50,000 hours, extending the life of your lights.
Several of the finest smart-lighting solutions have motion-detection capabilities, which allow lights to switch on or off based on whether or not someone is present in the room. When unusual movement is detected inside or outside, this function may be set to send notifications to mobile devices.
You undoubtedly utilize particular lights at specific times, whether your property is a company or a private house. Smart lights may be programmed to turn on when you get home from work, fade as the night progresses, or turn off at predetermined intervals.
Smart lights are as much a source of entertainment as they are of utility. Many may be programmed to change colour or change the atmosphere of a space, with options ranging from bright and efficient to soothing and romantic.
Smart light bulbs with Bluetooth function by communicating instantly through the bulb's application to a smartphone. The lighting may not be controlled remotely due to the limited range that Bluetooth has. However, as long as you are at the property it should function well. On the other hand, smart bulbs that use wifi connectivity can be connected to other devices through the use of a router. With these devices, you will be able to control your devices from any location as long as you have an internet connection.
Smart bulbs are customized bulbs that work with a wide range of light sockets. Smart switches, on the other hand, are put in place of standard light switches and have most of the same characteristics as smart bulbs, as well as the ability to operate with any light bulb. Smart switches can also be used with ordinary conventional bulbs.
Smart light sockets between conventional light sockets and light bulbs are fitted and they may be used to activate and deactivate ordinary light. Every type of intelligent socket has its unique characteristics, which enable the user to dim or establish schedules with intelligent home hubs. Because smart sockets provide added weight between both the light fixture as well as the light bulb, they may cause bulbs to stretch too far out in some light fixtures.
Smart plugging devices may be utilized for floor lamps, desk lights, and decorative lights, therefore it is worth mentioning it. By turning electricity on and off at the source, you may make any object a clever gadget and can be managed by voice aids or applications. Intelligent plugs are particularly useful when used indoors or outdoors in combination with energy-efficient string lights.
The finest smart lighting offers an ever-increasing selection of options meant to boost both energy efficiency and personalization, as the technology underlying smart bulbs continues to develop. Here are some of the most useful features right now.
Because LEDs consume considerably less energy as compared to traditional light bulbs, the smart light bulbs are connected to motion detectors and could save far more electricity. When areas are not being used, motion sensors will turn the lights off automatically.
Control smart lighting anytime, anywhere. If you forgot to switch the lights off at home, you don't need to worry because, with smart bulbs, you can be able to control the lighting from any location. The application installed on your phone allows you to turn off lights from the outside to avoid energy-burning while nobody is on site.
Intelligent aid procedures could be used to remotely lower lights under certain situations. Lights can fade at a cafe, for example, to generate a beautiful, intimate atmosphere.
While incandescent lights may only generate one hue, LED lights can offer a variety of colours. Smart-color light bulbs may be programmed to change colour to match your mood. Green is good for relaxing, red is good for invigorating, and blue is good for setting a calm mood, to name a few examples.
It is also possible to transfer your voice instructions to your smart home hub. Therefore, you may be able to use your speakers to play music, podcasts, and stories in your home. They can sync to music & media and flash or fade in rhythm with the beat, transforming any space into a tiny dance party.
Light may look warm or cold, based on the type of bulb, and it might affect your space. For example, blue lights are extensively established on wakefulness. Blue light can interfere with the circadian rhythm of the body—the internal sleeping clock. Try suppressing blue wavelengths with intelligent coloured light bulbs to increase sleeping quality and minimize your exposure to bleak light at night – look like oranges in warm hues instead.
Here are a few of the most popular lighting systems to brighten your day:
This is a wireless smart lighting system that has received a lot of positive feedback from experts and customers. The Hue Connected version is rather pricey, but the Hue Lux Starter Kit allows you to get your feet wet for approximately half the price. It's quite clever, and you can use it to automate a variety of tasks, especially with the IFTTT integration. You may use the "if this then that" formula to accomplish several things, such as have a light blink or flash blue whenever you get a Facebook notice. Yes, it's that adaptable.
It's incredibly helpful even in its most basic form, and its settings may be rather complex. The lights may be used as an alarm for everybody in the household, allowing you to wake everyone up at a certain time, with lights flashing. For your event, play music and have the lights flash in sync with it. The starting kit includes three light bulbs and a wireless foundation that can support up to 50 light lights around the home.
It's still a little pricey, but not nearly as much as the Hue Connected. Three 11-watt LEED bulbs with the equivalent lighting as a 60-watt incandescent are included in your initial purchase. However, it consumes 80% less energy than an incandescent bulb and has a 25,000-hour lifespan.
You can manage up to 250 lights with one kit. It's simple to set up, and the TCP website has many tutorials to walk you through the process of installing, configuring, and controlling the lights. You may download an app to have the settings on your smartphone. Overall, everything can be set up in a couple of minutes.
This home lighting control system is similar to Philips Hue, however, it is less expensive. The requirement to replace present light bulbs with WeMo bulbs, the WeMo Link's 50-bulb restriction, the usage of the WeMo app for smartphones, and connectivity with IFTTT are all commonalities. You may also lower the lights, however, you may not have the ability to modify the colours at this time. These 60-watt bulbs, on the other hand, may endure a long period. You may count to use them for close to 23 years, according to Belkin.
This solution appears to be tailored to novices in the field of home automation. It's quite inexpensive, and your beginning set includes four light bulbs right away. Two C-Life lights and two C-Sleep bulbs are included for the living area and bedroom, respectively. The C-Life version is noticeably brighter and lacks a dimming feature. The dimmer is just for the C-Sleep light, which is already dull. They each have a 25,000-hour lifetime. You don't need a hub for your connection since your smartphone can utilize the application and Bluetooth to regulate your brightness.
But, there are many significant disadvantages. One thing is that there is no support for Android currently. The Bluetooth usage restricts the control range, which means that you cannot alter the lights while you are not home. And you're eventually not even able to utilize a lighting schedule.
It is, without a doubt, the most cost-effective smart light bulb available. You can purchase one for as little as $10, and it can change colours without the use of a hub. Its proportions are similar to ordinary incandescent bulbs, so you won't have to undertake a complete overhaul of your lighting system if you're finally getting rid of your incandescents.
All you need is free software and an Android or iOS device to manage it. Ensure Bluetooth is turned on, open the app, then press "Add Device" to connect easily and without issues. At any given moment, your gadget can manage up to 32 bulbs. Of course, owing to the Bluetooth range limitation, you'll have to be close by to control the lights. Although there is no IFTTT connectivity, you can do a lot with the lights as they are. The Colorful function causes the bulb to change colours from one to the next, and you may choose the rate at which it does so.
It's only compatible with Bluetooth-enabled iOS devices, but you won't need a hub. The lights can change colours, and the system's most remarkable feature is that it comes with pre-programmed colour scenarios that you may utilize (or modify). You may also use many lights to create a scene. The "wake up" feature, which tends to increase the brightness in the morning, is a wonderful arrangement. This may be used to imitate dawn so that you aren't surprised by a bright light so early in the morning. The Avea has a 25,000-hour lifespan, albeit it is a little dimmer than comparable smart LED bulbs.
Why not read our article on how to create a smart home.
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