Smart Light Bulbs

Smart light bulbs for smart homeowners

Smart light bulbs are remotely controlled LED lights that can be scheduled, customized, and controlled through a mobile app or a hub.  Smart light has become a popular it-item on the market and there are many options currently available.

From changing the color of the light to turning it on and off remotely, smart light bulbs offer many features that can make your home not only easier or fun, but also safer by scheduling light to be on when arriving at home or when you are on vacation.

How do smart light bulbs work?

The main difference between a regular light bulb and a smart bulb is that it can be paired with a smartphone or similar mobile device and be controlled remotely. Often the connection goes through a hub which acts like a gateway between the bulb and your home/phone/tablet, but not always.

The bulb has a built-in wireless technology that can make it turn on itself on or off, change its colors, dim, or brighten itself through the hub and your device.

How do I benefit from smart lights?

Installing smart light bulbs in your home has several benefits beyond low energy consumption:

- Installation is easy and you are in no need of a technician

- It has a long life span as it’s a LED light

- It’s great for security as they have motion detection features and will be turned on when someone enters the room

- You can schedule the light, this makes it perfect for when you go on vacation but also when arriving home after work and you want to have the light to be on.

- You can adjust the color and brightness depending on your needs and mood

Decide on a platform

Most smart lightbulbs offer their own app through where they can be controlled. Easy when you want to group them together and schedule them to be turned on and off.

But many people decide to upgrade to a wider smart home platform that can handle a variety of devices. By setting up a home control point with a smart display or smart you can control all your smart devices such as thermostat, cameras, and security system. And why not use Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant and through voice assistant control the light?

What to look for in a smart bulb

There are features and settings you would need to consider when choosing your smart bulbs, the first one we already mentioned and that is if it requires a hub. As some bulbs already have the hub build in.

There are also different ways the bulbs connect with your device, most common is through the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Remember that if you decide to control your light through Bluetooth, you can only adjust the light when you’re at home as if you would leave you would be out of reach from the lights Bluetooth.

When connecting through your Wi-Fi, remember that your smart light is another device connected that takes up bandwidth and if the Wi-Fi or internet would be out, there lighting would also be out! So there are both pros and cons with the options.

Different bulbs also come with different color, scheduling and other features so be sure to get the details of which are included!

Smart plugs are an alternative

Believe it or not, you can make your not so smart device smart!

A smart plug is an adapter that you plug into your wall outlet and then you connect your electronic device through this adapter. The adapter can then be controlled remotely through an app or a remote-control and that way be turned on and off.

Smart switches

There are also smart switches on the market that are connected to the wall like a normal light switch but can be controlled remotely, the same way as the bulb. These are a bit more complicated to install compared to the smart bulb, but the main benefit is that you can control overhead lighting like spots and chandeliers through the device.