Having lights that can be switched on or off with the tap of a button on a remote, or even with a simple voice command is always fascinating. This is the kind of stuff you see in movies. But other than movies you also find these in rich people’s homes, like those with million-dollar mansions with massive driveways and the beach for a backyard. Let us be clear, you don’t need a mansion or an insane amount of wealth to have an auto lighting system in your home.
Technology over the years has made so many things possible for people of all income backgrounds. And with that, we can tell you that there is a way to automate the lights in your living space, whether you live in a mansion by the beach, in the suburbs in a decent-sized family home or you’re a student living in a student accommodation.
Say Hello to Smart Devices
Smart Devices have made it easier to automate aspects of your home in a very inexpensive manner and with easy installation. So no millionaire can enjoy this technology solo, not anymore! You’ll find that there are different categories of smart devices, ranging from anything like smart thermostats to smart smoke detectors, smart sprinkler controllers to smart door locks, and well smart lights too. But smart lights are not your only source of automating the home lighting.
Here are 3 devices that we’re listed down for you that are great for automating the lighting in your home.
3 Devices to Automate Your Home Lighting
1. WIZ Smart Plug
The Wiz Wi-Fi smart plug is one source of turning your ordinary home lights, or any device and appliance for that matter, into a smart device by proxy. What do we mean by that? The Wiz smart plug is plugged into a power outlet, after which you can plug any device or lamp into the smart plug. What it does is that it connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth and allows you to set schedules for the plug to follow, or even switch the plug on or off whenever needed.
This way, the Wiz smart plug lets your lamps or any light plugged into it, work like its automatic. Not only can you control the smart plug via your smartphones, but also through voice-enabled commands since it works well with voice assistants.
2. Sengled Smart LED Multicolor Bulb
The most obvious thing you can do is replace your ordinary light bulbs with smart light bulbs. Without the need for a smart plug or anything external, smart light bulbs are literally the definition of smart lights. The Sengled Smart LED bulbs are one of the best smart bulbs on the market. With the ability to change between warm and white tones, it also has the option for you to pick a color from any of the 16 million possibilities of shades available! So you can basically set the vibe of the room.
Sengled’s LED bulbs consume much less energy as compared to ordinary light bulbs anyway, but the energy efficiency factor isn’t the only benefit it boasts. These light bulbs can individually be controlled via the Sengled Home mobile app, and while that makes them controllable remotely (meaning even if you’re not home) they can also be controlled via voice-enabled commands. That’s not only complete automation but also leaves zero room for carelessness.
3. Philips Hue Bridge
The purpose of the Philips Hue Bridge is just like that of a central hub – but on a smaller scale comparatively. It can connect and allow control of around 50 lights and other accessories. That’s definitely enough for a domestic household.
Once the lights in your home are connected to the Philips Hue Bridge, you won’t have to worry about which brand it is, or having to control the settings of each through its own app – instead, you can collectively control the lights through the Hue app. This makes the integration easier and allows you to set routines, timers, or any custom light settings for different rooms, at different brightness levels for that matter.
What’s more is that through the Hue Bridge, you can sync your lights with voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, and even Apple HomeKit. In case you were also wondering what protocol the Hue Bridge uses, it’s ZigBee. Any hub, whether it uses ZigBee or Z-Wave or any other protocol for that matter, essentially makes your home smart by serving as a control center for your home. These hubs connect to all smart devices present under the roof.
The Bottom-Line
See? It’s quite easy and not all that expensive to automate the lighting in your home. Don’t let TV and movies fool you into thinking smart technology is something of the future. The future is now – look around your home, you probably already have multiple smart devices around you that you weren’t even aware of that get categorized as smart devices, or provide automation in some manner at least. Like the voice assistant of your smart TV, or the baby cam you use for the nursery.
Find a collection of smart lights and other devices that facilitate the automation of your home’s lighting right here at www.firstenergyhome.com.