Best Smart Lightings for a Smarter Living Experience
Smart lighting in today’s world is becoming increasingly popular. Smart connectors, controls, and lights enable you to manage the lights in your home using your phone or other cellular modems from anywhere around the globe. However, consider what you like your smart lights to do in your home. What problems are you trying to solve?
There’s a lighting option for you, whether it’s to prevent lights from being left on, to make your house safer, or to help you beat the winter blues by simulating outdoor light. Some are also compatible with smartwatches and virtual assistants, allowing you to operate them with only your voice or wrist. Yet, with so many smart home alternatives to choose from, how do you know which is best for you? To assist you in making your decision, we’ve compiled a list of the quality smart lighting in 2023 and some factors to consider while buying.
Buying Guide to Finding Smart Lighting
Smart lighting is a great way to get a taste of home automation without committing too much money to see whether a Smart Home is right for you. Not only are wirelessly linked LED lights long-lasting, but they can also be managed via an app on your phone or voice commands from a smart assistant like Alexa. You may also program them to turn on and off, change colors at predetermined periods, or create a specific mood. After a short and simple setup process, your lights connect and are ready to use.
What Are the Types of Smart Lighting Available in the Market?
It’s critical to do your homework to choose which smart lighting solution is best for you. Here are some basic smart lighting types on the market to get you started.
Receptacles and smart plugs
These are simple and affordable methods to begin automating your house. They plug into normal wall outlets and maybe set up using an app to control any gadget, light, or appliance that is hooked into it. Some smart plugs have functions such as energy usage monitoring and reporting, which may help you optimize your use and save money.
If home security is essential to you, search for a smart plug with an “away” mode, which turns lights on and off at random over a predetermined amount of time to mimic someone being at home. Smart plugs may also be configured to perform simple tasks such as turning on and off a lamp at dawn and sunset. They’re also suitable with smart home devices and can be operated with a smartphone.
Smart switches
Traditional switches are being replaced with smart switches. Dimmers cut energy usage by roughly the same amount as they lower light output if you use LED light bulbs. Lights that are 50% brighter, for example, would require about 50% of the electricity.
If you have many switches that control a lot of lights, smart switches are a good idea. For people who have numerous lamps linked to a single switch, it may be more cost-effective to replace the switch rather than several light bulbs. Some feature built-in occupancy and vacancy sensors, which can help you conserve energy because they are only activated when motion is detected. Remember that replacing switches might be difficult.
Smart bulbs
Smart lights offer a variety of uses, including dimming and assisting with sleep. LEDs, which live at least 15 times longer than typical incandescent lights and consume less energy, are used in smart bulbs.
Furthermore, LED colors are a major feature, which can be used to establish the mood for any event, including parties and holiday celebrations. Consider purchasing smart lights that link directly to your Wi-Fi network if you want a few in your house.
What Are the Benefits of Smart Lighting?
Control from the couch
While eliminating the need to flip a light switch may appear to some as a kind of sloth, there are some actual advantages to be obtained, particularly for those with restricted mobility.
Voice control or app control
When leaving the house, having a single location to manage your lights makes life easier since you can turn off all of your lights at once rather than going from room to room.
You may ask a question or issue a command on your smartphone using voice assistants embedded into devices like smart speakers and phones. You may modify the hue, and shading, activate scenarios you’ve already made, and turn lights on and off. As long as it can connect to your home network, a smart speaker or another suitable gadget may be placed anywhere in your home.
Variations in color
Many smart lights can alter color and hue. This can range from a limited white light spectrum to a million colors, which you can choose from a simple palette.
Have you ever had difficulties locating light bulbs with the same color tone? The specific nature of words like “cold white” and “warm white” differs amongst different conventional lighting companies. Depending on the time of day, you may even switch it up, such as using white light while the sun is shining and warmer colors as the evening approaches.
Creating the atmosphere
Smart lights allow you to build pre-set scenarios that you can activate with a single button push or a voice command. When it’s movie time, switch off all of your lights, and save the corner lamp. If your scene allows it, you may even change the color of the lights.
During the day, use a whiter light, while at night, use a warmer light. Perhaps a futuristic purple and blue motif would impress your house guests.
Unpleasantly bright
Set your smart lights to turn on with your alarm if you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning.
Remote access
Many IoT devices allow for remote access. This can only be done by persons you’ve given your smart light account login information.
What Are the Colors Available in the Best Smart Lightings?
White
These are usually the most affordable bulbs.
Adjustable white
With these, you can match your smart lights to other bulbs in your home or alter the color temperature based on the time of day.
RGB color
Some smart lights, usually among the more costly models in a manufacturer’s line, come with a full spectrum of color selections.
How Much Does Smart Lighting Cost?
Smart lightings are more costly than standard bulbs since they employ light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and several technologies to function. This is crucial to remember, especially if you want to renovate your entire home. Smart lighting, on the other hand, uses less energy and lasts far longer, allowing you to save money in the long term. As you can see, most of the alternatives on this list are around $50, so the barrier to entry isn’t as high as it was a few years ago. You can now discover sub-ten dollar alternatives, including some of our top favorites.
Our Favorite Smart Lighting of 2023 Reviewed in Detail
Philips Hue Smart Lighting
– Best Overall
With 16 million hues to choose from, you can create the perfect atmosphere. To manage your Philips Hue Smart Lights, you require a tap on your smartphone or your preferred virtual assistant. To link a voice recognition, click on the App’s Options and Add a digital assistant.
This Bluetooth-enabled smart light is energy star certified to save you a lot on utility bills. You can use the Hue Hub to manage up to 50 smart lights in your house and even outside. It also enables you to set schedules and patterns to manage your entire smart home lighting system. Moreover, you can set your lights from all over the globe or enhance your pleasure with extras like activity sensors and smart controls.
- Color accents can freshen up your home design
- You may adjust the lights with the touch of your smartphone
- The color start fading with time
Govee Smart Lighting
– Runner Up
The Govee LED Light Strips are the finest smart light bulbs for anybody seeking to add some RGB to their environment. Whether you choose to illuminate your living room or alter your bedroom decor, these lighting strips are the inexpensive option for your needs.
Like other lighting strips, these light strips have a sticky ceiling surface and include convenient holding pins. The strips have a built-in mic that integrates the LED lights to tunes. The application has a variety of programming and setting possibilities.
- The music sync function is a nice touch
- The settings are easily adjustable
- Isn’t compliant with Apple’s HomeKit system
SYLVANIA Smart Lighting
– Honorable Mention
These light bulbs are Alexa, Siri Shortcuts, and Google Home compatible to ensure that anybody can use them without any inconvenience. Simple voice commands may turn on the lights, dim them, and change the colors – no hub necessary. You can also program routines, alarms, and bedtimes into your smart light bulbs.
Turn down the lights while you’re not at home to protect your home securely anytime. It makes no difference whether you’re on holiday, as you can operate these lights from anywhere. You may change the look of your guestrooms, office room, entertainment, and living rooms with these bulbs. They provide a wide range of light, color, and dimmable functionality, allowing you to set the atmosphere in every room in the house.
- You can effectively regulate your home’s lights from anywhere
- Hands-free voice control to connect lights and accessories
- Flickers on some setting
Lighting Ever Smart Lighting
– Also Consider
With these amazing bulbs, you may choose from a range of white light temperatures, warm to cold, or a palette of 16 million colors. It connects to your home gadgets and lets you manage your smart light with easy voice commands. You do not need to use dimmers since you can adjust the brightness through the app or voice control.
You may control the light with your phone as long as it is linked to Wi-Fi. When the family is away from home, these bulbs are ideal for deterring thieves. There are four pre-set settings and four DIY scenarios for varied light effects.
- Set schedules to switch the lights on and off at specific intervals
- Installation does not necessitate the use of a hub or bridge
- Can be difficult to connect to the Wi-Fi
Ring Smart Lighting
– Affordable Option
To use smart features like mobile notifications and personalized settings, you need Ring Bridge. All you have to do to attach it is plug it into an appropriate socket. When connected to the app, you can get smartphone alerts, establish routines, switch the lights on and off, change preferences, and connect to other Ring devices.
The bulb is expected to last for 25,000 hours. You can attach these smart bulbs to any indoor or enclosed outdoor fixture to shine where it’s needed the most.
- A better approach to linking your home security system
- The Ring app gives you complete control
- The bridge does not work properly
People Also Asked
A: Your smart lights must be linked to the internet in order to function, so make sure you have a reliable Wi-Fi network.
A: When compared to non-smart houses, smart homes consume less electricity and potentially save up to thirty to forty percent on energy. This may save you as much as one thousand dollars each year.
A: Smart lights allow you to operate a light bulb from afar using an app on your phone, a smart speaker, or even by speaking to it. You can set when the lights turn on and off, alter the color of a bulb, and come up with your own unique uses.
